



\ 







t 


4 


The International Geography 


Let things be — not seem, 

I counsel rather, — do, and nowise dream ! 
Earth’s young significance is all to learn : 
The dead Greek lore lies buried in the urn 
Where who seeks fire finds ashes. 

Robert Browning. 


V 


Tb? 


International 


—f. r 


ZA. 

//$*> 

By 


Geography. 

Seventy Authors. With 489 
Illustrations. 


Edited by Hugh Robert Mill 

D.Sc. (Edinburgh), LL.D. (St. Andrews), F.R.S.E. 

Fellow or Honorary Corresponding Member of the Geographical Societies of 
London, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, Budapest, Amsterdam, Brisbane, and Philadelphia 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1909 


library of Congress 
Two Co oies Received 

JAN 7 1909 

~ Cypyriit.it entry-, 
CLASS CC XXc, No, 

T-\<* «5°ll 

copy'' tt! ' 



Copyright, 1899, 1908, by 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 


A ll rights 0/ translation and reproduction reserved 


AUTHORS 


OF THE INTERNATIONAL 
GEOGRAPHY 

i 


— 

AITOFF, D., Paris.— The Russian Empire. 

BAILLIE, A. F., Consul for Paraguay, London. — Paraguay, Uruguay. 

BAINES, Sir Athelstan, C.S.I. — The Indian Empire. 

BARTON, C. H., Maryborough. — T he Continent of Australia, 
Queensland. 

BATALHA-REIS, J., London. — Brazil. 

BERNARD, Professor A., Algiers. — New Caledonia. 

BERTRAND, Professor A., Santiago. — C hile. 

BISHOP, Mrs., F.R.G.S.— Korea. 

BRYCE, Right Hon. J., O.M., F.R.S. — Natal, Transvaal, Orange 
River Colony. 

CARNEGIE, Hon. D. W. — Western Australia. 

CHAIX, Professor E., Geneva — S witzerland. 

CHISHOLM, G. G., Editor of The Times Gazetteer . — The Continent of 
Europe, Chinese Empire. 

COLE, Professor Grenville A. J., Dublin. — I reland. 

CONWAY, Sir Martin. — The Arctic Record. 

DAVIS, Professor W. M., Harvard University. — T he Continent of 
North America, the United States. 

DICKSON, Dr. H. N., Reading. — C limate. 

DOWNING, Dr. A. M. W., F.R.S., Director of the Nautical Almanac . — 
Mathematical Geography. 

DU. FIEF, Professor J., Brussels. — Belgium. 

ERODI, Dr. Bela, President of the Hungarian Geographical Society. — 
Hungary. 

FERGUSON, The Hon. John, C.M.G., Colombo. — Ceylon. 

FISCHER, Professor T., Marburg University. — Italy, Spain.—* 

FORBES, Dr. H. O., Director of the Liverpool Museum. — T he Malay 
Archipelago. 

GOLDSMID, Major-General Sir F. J., K. C.S.I. —Persia. 

GREGORY, Professor J. W., F.R.S., University of Glasgow. — The Plan 
of the Earth, East Equatorial Africa. 

HE A WOOD, E., Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society. — The 
Continent of Africa, African Islands. 

HEILPRIN, Professor A., Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia. — M exico. 

HERBERTSON, Dr. A. J. , Reader of Geography in the University of 
Oxford. — The Continent of Asia, The Continent of South 
America. 

HILL, R. T., U.S. Geological Survey. — Cuba, Porto Rico. 

HINDE, Capt. S. L. — The Congo Free State. 

HOSKOLD, H. D., Buenos Aires. — The Argentine Republic. 

HUME, Dr. W. F., Egyptian Geological Survey. — Egypt. 

JOHNSTON, Sir H. H., G.C.M.G., K.C.B. — British West Africa, 
British Central Africa, Tunisia. 

KAN, Professor C. M., University of Amsterdam. — The Netherlands, 
Dutch New Guinea. 


vi Authors of the International Geography 

KEANE, Dr. A. H. — The Distribution of Mankind. 

KELTIE, Dr. J. Scott, Secretary to the Royal Geographical Society. — 
Political and Applied Geography. 

KIRCHHOFF, Professor A., University of Halle. — The German 
Empire. 

KOLBE, Rev. Dr. F. C., Cape Town. — ( See Dr. T. Muir.) 

LAPPARENT, Professor A. de, Member of the Institute, Paris. — 
France (Physical Geography). 

MACGREGOR, Sir W., K.C.M.G., formerly Lieutenant-Governor of 
British New Guinea. — British New Guinea. 

MARKHAM, Sir C. R., K.C.B., F.R.S.— Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia. 

MASON, W. B., Tokyo.— Japan. 

MILL, Dr. H. R. — Geography : Principles and Progress, Land- 
Forms, The United Kingdom, etc. 

MOCKLER-FERRYMAN, Lieut.-Col. A. F. — Nigeria. 

MUIR, Dr. T., C.M.G., F.R.S., Superintendent of Education in Cape 
Colony (and Dr. F. C. KOLBE). — Cape Colony. 

MURRAY, Sir John, K.C.B., F.R.S., of the “ Challenger.” — The Oceans^ 
The Antarctic Regions. 

MYRES, Professor J. L., University of Liverpool. — Tripoli. 

NANSEN, Dr. Fridtjof, G.C.V.O. — The Arctic Regions. 

NIELSEN, Professor Yngvar, University of Christiania. — Sweden, 
Norway. 

PENCK, Professor A., University of Berlin. — Austria. 

PETHERICK, E. A. — New South Wales, Victoria, South Aus- 
tralia. 

PFEIL, Count. — The German Colonial Possessions. 

PHILIPPSON, Professor A., University of Bonn. — The Danubian and 
Balkan States. 

PLAYFAIR, Sir R. Lambert, K.C.M.G. — Marocco, Algeria, Aden, 
Malta, Gibraltar. 

RAVENEAU, Professor L., Paris. — France (General Geography). 

RAVENSTEIN, E. G. — Maps and Map-Reading. 

REEVES, Hon. W. P., Agent-General for New Zealand in London. — New 
Zealand. 

REGEL, Professor F., University of Wurzburg. — Colombia. 

ROBERTSON, Sir G. S., K.C.S.I., M.P., formerly British Agent in Gilgit. — 
Afghanistan. 

RODWAY, L, Georgetown, Demerara. — The West Indies, The Colonies 
of Guiana. 

SAPPER, Dr. K., Coban, Guatemala— C entral America. 

SELOUS, F. C. — Southern Rhodesia. 

SIBREE, Rev. J., Antananarivo. — M adagascar. 

SI EVERS, Professor W., University of Giessen. — Venezuela. 

SMYTH, H. Warington, formerly Director of the Department of Mines 
in Siam. — Siam. 

THOMSON, Professor J. Arthur, University of Aberdeen. — T he Dis- 
tribution of Living Creatures. 

THORODDSEN, Dr. Th., Copenhagen. — I celand. 

TYRRELL, J. Burr, formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada. — The 
Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland. 

VASCONCELLOS, Capt. Ernesto, Portuguese Royal Navy. — Portugal, 

P(10TfTPITfi' { iP Pai amjpc 

WILSON, General Sir. Charles W., K.C.B., F.R.S.— Asiatic Turkey. 

ZIMMER MANN, Maurice, Paris.— T he French Colonies. 


i 


PREFACE 


Early in 1897 I was requested by the publishers to prepare and edit a 
compact handbook of geography on a new plan, the suggestion being 
made that each section should be written by a specialist or recognised 
authority of high standing. Subject to the limitation of getting the whole 
world into one volume, I was given a free hand. As the value of the 
work depends so much on its composite authorship, it may be well to 
explain at the outset how the book was planned and carried out. Every 
page is new, each section being written expressly for this work and never 
previously published. 

The allotment of space was made after comparing a number of the 
leading systematic text-books in all languages, and taking account of the 
area, the population and the degree of accurate knowledge regarding the 
different countries. The original allocation of space has, however, been 
slightly altered at the representation of the authors. As the book is 
intended to appear at first in the English language only, the parts of the 
world occupied or controlled by the English-speaking nations have been 
treated more fully than the rest ; but without giving the excessive promi- 
nence to the native country which is characteristic of books intended 
only for school use. 

The United Kingdom, though occupying much less space than in most 
English text-books, is treated in greater detail than any other large 
country. This is because the materials for its geographical description are 
perhaps more ample and as yet less studied than those of almost any 
other region. The United States could not be considered in equal detail, 
but the novel and scientific plan adopted for the chapter dealing with 
them makes it perhaps the most instructive in the book, and it is also the 
longest. The countries of Europe, especially those recognised as Great 
Powers, have also been treated more fully than is usual in English or 
American books, and from a point of view that cannot fail to throw new 
light on their nature and people. No part of the world dominated by 
Western civilisation is viewed as a foreign land ; but is opened to study 
from within. 

General rules as to style and method of treatment were drawn up as 
follows : — 

RULES FOR CONTRIBUTORS. 

1. Each author should write in the language most familiar to him. The contributions 
shall be translated under the superintendence of the Editor. 

2. Every contribution must be written continuously, not in the form of tables or dis- 
connected sentences. When statistics are given the tables should be placed at the end. 

o 


Preface 


• • • 

vm 

3. The Editor is solely responsible for the final form of the work, and in order to 
ensure uniformity he must be permitted to make any changes in literary style and arrange- 
ment of matter which he considers necessary ; but authors are held responsible for facts 
and figures, which are to be approved by them in the final proof. 

4. Subject to the possibility of minor alterations mentioned in No. 3, authors are 
given absolute freedom in their choice of facts and in the relative space devoted to the 
different divisions of the subject which they undertake. 

5. In the description of a country the following order should be adopted : — 

(i) The general configuration and geology of the country as a whole, including its 

river systems, its climate and natural resources, with a very brief outline of the 
fauna and flora. 

(ii) The people as to race, language, history, and mode of government. 

(iii) Manufactures, industries, and external trade, laying stress on the main staples of 

trade, and on the industries peculiar to the country. The system of internal 
communications. 

(iv) Political divisions considered individually, with notices of towns. All towns with 

populations of 100,000 and upwards must be noticed ; and all other towns 
which are of special importance. Care should be taken in every case where it 
is possible to indicate in a few words the characteristics of the site which 
determined the position of the town, or the geographical conditions which 
minister to its prosperity. 

(v) A statistical table, giving the area and population at the last two censuses of the 
whole country, or in federal countries of the constituent States ; the average 
values of exports and imports for three five-yearly periods, ten years apart, e.g. 
for 1871-75, 1881-85, 1891-95 ; the chief towns with their population at the two 
last censuses. 

6. The introductory general discussions of mathematical, physical, commercial, political, 
etc. , geography are to be written from a strictly geographical point of view, and in a 
purely general manner — t.e. y referring only to phenomena or conditions which are not 
restricted to particular regions. Only the most thoroughly established and vitally 
important facts should be stated. The object is not to give a treatise on the subject named, 
but to supply the few general facts and principles necessary to the comprehension of the 
special geography of individual countries. 

7. The general description of a continent must refer only to the largest and most 
determinative features, and these should be taken in the following order : Coasts, 
Surface, Geology, Climate, Flora, Fauna, Anthropology, History, including territorial 
changes of the largest order. 

A list of the most eminent geographical authorities was next drawn up, 
as a rule three names being selected for each subject ; and in October, 
1897, seventy-nine letters of invitation to contributors were posted, the 
latest date for receiving the MS. being fixed as July, 1898. Forty-seven 

of the authors first invited at once agreed to contribute. When a refusal 

was received a second author was applied to, and nineteen of these 
accepted. In ten cases a third author had to be applied to, and on three 
occasions four refusals were received before an affirmative answer. 
Altogether in order to secure the co-operation of the seventy authors whose 
work appears, letters, and sometimes many letters, had to be exchanged 
with 122 persons in all parts of the World from Norway to New Zealand. 

Each section bears the author’s name. Those which I compiled merely 
from literary knowledge are noted as “ By the Editor,” and in them I 

have to acknowledge the help of Miss E. J. Hastings ; those under my 


Preface 


IX 

name relate to subjects which I have specially studied. The first piece 
of MS. was received on December 13, 1897 ; the last not until March 11, 
1899. The MS. of fifty-three authors (to seven of whom English is a 
foreign language) was written in English, that of eight in German, of five 
in French, and one each in Dutch, Danish, Spanish, and Portuguese. 

The foreign contributions were translated, and the whole MS. for the 
book carefully revised in order to secure as much uniformity of terminology 
and spelling as possible. Proofs were then sent out to the authors and their 
corrections given effect to before the final revision in pages. In many cases 
page-proofs were also submitted to the author. 

The most serious editorial difficulty encountered was in the spelling 
of place-names. An effort has been made to secure a consistent system, 
but it has only partially succeeded. The transliteration of Russian names 
was adopted after much consideration ; the chief inconsistency it retains 
is the use of y as a consonant before e and a, and as a vowel before i. The 
spelling of native names in languages without a recognised alphabet has 
been brought into harmony with the Royal Geographical Society’s rules 
in all cases where the pronunciation is known. Indian names are given 
throughout the work, almost without exception, in the form preferred by 
the author of the chapter on India. As an example of the perplexities 
of spelling, it may be noted that different authors used the words — Maho- 
metan, Mahomedan, Mohammedan, Muhammedan, Musselman, Musalman, 
Moslem, and Muslim, for the people following the faith of Islam, and 
sheer despair of deciding as to the best form led to the nearly uniform use of 
what is certainly the worst — Mohammedan. It is inevitable that some incon- 
sistencies remain uncorrected. 

The arrangement of the subject matter in Part I. follows the natural 
order of the science. In Part II. the order is that of a natural sequence 
commencing with Europe on account of its historic claims, and taking the 
countries in geographical order from west and north to east and south. 
The Russian Empire having to be treated as a whole makes it necessary 
to anticipate part of the general description of the continent of Asia, which 
naturally follows, and leads on to Australasia. The Pacific Islands form a 
natural link with the American continents, and the circuit of the world is 
completed in Africa, and concluded by the Polar regions. 

The index has been prepared with the intention that it should include 
the name of every place about which any information is given in the 
text, every geographical term which has a technical meaning, references 
to the chief resources of countries, and the names of all authors and of the 
leading geographers cited in the text. But it has been controlled by the 
omission of casual references, which would occupy space and not repay the 
trouble of turning up. It is mainly compiled by Mrs. H. R. Mill, whose 
constant collaboration in all the work of translation and editing has materi- 
ally shortened the time of preparation of the book. 

The illustrations are limited to sketch-maps and diagrams. Views are 


X 


Preface 


excluded from considerations of space alone ; it is fully recognised that 
well-selected pictures are of great value in all geographical descriptions. 
The numerous sketch-maps are intended to bring into prominence special 
features not usually shown in atlases, or apt to be lost in the abounding 
detail of ordinary maps. They must be looked upon as of value only for 
the limited purpose for which they are put forward. All the maps have 
been specially drawn (with the exception of the plans of towns supplied 
by Messrs. J. Bartholomew & Co., which will be recognised by their 
fulness of detail) ; they are either original or adapted from official maps or 
from those published in geographical journals or other scientific works. I 
have particularly to thank my friend Mr. E. Heawood for the excellent 
maps he has prepared, and I am also indebted to Mr. B. B. Dickinson and 
Mr. A. W. Andrews for the drawing of Fig. 242, and to Dr. A. J. 
Herbertson for the map of the rainfall of Europe (Fig. 53). Mr. 
Skeaping, of George Newnes, Ltd., Mr. Addison, and Mr. J. Batchelor 
have also supplied a number of the drawings, and Messrs. Philip & Son 
those illustrating Chap. III. After the density of population diagrams 
had been prepared it was pointed out to me that the idea of representing 
this condition by the number of points on a square inch had already sug- 
gested itself to Mr. Holt Schooling, and been used by him in the Strand 
Magazine , vol. ix.— Jan. to June, 1895. The flags ofthe nations are introduced 
on account of the importance attaching to the flag in all countries as the 
mark of political unity and national individuality ; the colonial badges 
because of the apt manner in which they often give expression to the 
natural conditions of the region. These have all been drawn by Mr. 
Skeaping. The climate curves showing the mean temperature and rainfall 
for each month in a number of places, have been compiled from the 
original data by Dr. A. J. Herbertson and Mr. P. C. Waite, Edinburgh. 

The statistics following each section were, as a rule, sent by the author; 
but in a few cases they have been supplied or supplemented from the 
“ Statesman’s Year Book.” Statistics are given mainly to serve as an index 
to the growth of countries by the comparison of figures for different dates. 
It must be remembered that, except for Europe, North America, and the 
colonies, most of the figures available are only approximate estimates, or 
sometimes nothing more than expert guesses ; and they may be given 
variously in different sections. In no case are the odd units, tens, or 
hundreds in population of any importance, and, as a rule, the three first 
figures of any quantity are all that are of real value for purposes of com- 
parison. The values for countries using a gold standard are expressed 
throughout in pounds sterling in the English edition and in dollars in 
the American edition, conversions being made on the basis of £ 1 = $5. 

The lists of Standard Books are intended to give the titles of the best 
books dealing exclusively with the special subject or region under con- 
sideration. A selection of good general books on Geography is given at 
the end of this preface. Really “standard ” books are not very numerous, 


Preface 


xi 

and some which are cited occupy their place only in default of better. 
Care has been taken to exclude the titles of any works known to contain 
untrustworthy statements; on the other hand, many excellent books, 
perhaps more worthy to appear than some which have been given, are 
omitted inadvertently or through ignorance. 

I have to acknowledge gratefully the assistance rendered in reading the 
proofs by Professor W. M. Davis and Dr. J. W. Gregory for the chapter 
on “Land-Forms,” by Dr. J. E. Marr and Dr. J. Scott Keltie for the 
“United Kingdom,” by Dr. G. M. Dawson, C.M.G. , for “British North 
America,” by Dr. Francisco P. Moreno for the “Argentine Republic,” 
and by the Agents-General of several colonies for revising the sections on 
which they are authorities. 

Special thanks are due to Mr. Frank Mundell for his vigilance and 
care in reading the whole of the proofs, and in facilitating the task of seeing 
the first edition through the press in 1899. 

The results of the various Census Reports for 1900 and 1901 have been 
incorporated in the later editions, and the chapters have been thoroughly revised 
by the editor as well as by the authors or by competent specialists, thanks 
being due in particular to Mr. E. Heawood and Dr. A. J. Herbertson 
for much help. The illustrations have been revised and many of them re- 
drawn, and the lists of standard books improved. 

H. R. M. 

62, Camden Square, London, N.YV. 

July, 1907. 


STANDARD GEOGRAPHICAL BOOKS 

OF REFERENCE 


E. Reclus — “Nouvelle Geographie Universelle,” 19 vols. Paris, 1876-94. 
Also a translation, London. 

A. Kirchhoff (editor) — “ Unser Wissen von der Erde.” Vienna, 1876 — in 
progress. 

“Stanford’s Compendium of Geography and Travel.” New Issue. London, 
1899-1903. 

Vivien de St. Martin and M. Rousselet — “Nouveau Dictionnaire de Geo- 
graphic Universelle.” 6 vols. Paris, 1879-95. Also supplement 1898- 
1900. 

G. G. Chisholm — “The Times Gazetteer.’’ London, 1895, (reprint) 1899. 

“ Encyclopaedia Britannica ” (Geographical Articles in Supplementary Vol- 
umes), 1902. 

“Chambers’s Encyclopaedia” (Geographical Articles). 10 vols. Edinburgh. 
Latest edition. 

J. S. Keltie and I. Renwick — “The Statesman’s Year Book.” London — 
Annual. 

H. Wagner — “ Geographisches Jahrbuch.” Gotha — Annual [for trustworthy 

summaries of geographical progress]. 

O. Baschin — “ Bibliotheca Geographica, herausgegeben von der Gesell- 
schaft fiir Erdkunde zu Berlin.” Berlin — Annual. [Gives a nearly 

complete list of the geographical publications of the year.] 

L. Raveneau — “ Bibliographic Geographique Annuelle. Annales de Geo- 
graphic.” Paris — Annual. [An annotated list of the best geographical 
publications of the year.] 

“The Geographical Journal.” Published monthly by the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, London. [Original records of the most recent 
travel, and the fullest monthly geographical bibliography and list of 
maps.] 

“The Scottish Geographical Magazine.” Published monthly by the Royal 
Scottish Geographical Society, Edinburgh. 

“ The Geographical Teacher,” London. [The publication of the Geo- 
graphical Association.] 

“ The National Geographic Magazine.” Published monthly by the National 
Geographic Society, Washington. 

“Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York.” 

“ Journal of Geography.” New York. [For teachers.] 

“ Petermanns Mitteilungen.” Gotha — Monthly. [The Standard German 

geographical journal, remarkable for its excellent maps.] 


Geographical Books of Reference xiii 

“ Erganzungshefte zu Petermanns Mitteilungen." Gotha — published occa- 
sionally. [These separate numbers contain important geographical 
memoirs or records of travel.] 

“ Annales de Geographic." Paris — six numbers annually. 

H. Haack — “ Geographen-Kalender." Gotha — Annual [Handy summa- 
ries of geographical progress, names and addresses of the geographers, 
and geographical publications of all countries]. 

“ Lippincott’s New Gazetteer." London, 1906. 

REFERENCE ATLASES. 

“ Stielers Hand-Atlas.” Gotha, 1902-1903. [This finely engraved atlas is 
also issued in separate sheets. The plates are always kept up to date 
of publication and very few copies are printed at a time.] 

W. and A. K. Johnston — “The Royal Atlas." Edinburgh. [The finest 
British atlas, but expensive.] 

J. G. Bartholomew — “ The Twentieth Century Citizen’s Atlas.” London, 
1902. [The cheapest high-class atlas.] 

F. Schrader — “Atlas de Geographic Moderne.” Paris, 1890. 

O. Spamer — “Grosser Hand-Atlas.” Leipzig, 1897. [This is based on 
Schrader’s Atlas with additional maps. Both are characterised by the 
number of their small maps, town plans, etc.] 

H. Habenicht — “ Taschen Atlas." Gotha. [The most perfect pocket 
atlas. A new edition is published almost every year.] 

“ L'Annee Cartographique." Paris — Annual. [Maps showing all changes 
due to the explorations and treaties of the year.] 

Vidal Lablache — “ Atlas General.” Paris, 1894. 



CONTENTS 


PAGES 

List of Authors ....... v 

Preface ........ vii 

Books of Reference . . . . , . . xii 

Contents ........ xv 


PART I. 

PRINCIPLES OF GEOGRAPHY. 

CHAP. 

I. Geography; Principles and Progress. By Dr. H. R. 

Mill ....... 1-13 

II. Mathematical Geography. By Dr. A. M. W. Downing, 

F.R.S. ....... 14-25 

III. Maps and Map Reading. By E. G. Ravenstein . . 26-35 

IV. The Plan of the Earth. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S. 36-45 

V. Land-Forms; their Nature and Origin. By Dr. 

H. R. Mill ....... 46-59 

VI. The Oceans. By Sir John Murray, F.R.S., and Dr. 

H. R. Mill ...... 60-71 

VII. The Atmosphere and Climate. By Dr. H. N. Dickson 72-82 

VIII. The Distribution of Living Creatures. By Prof. J. 

Arthur Thomson ..... 82-95 

IX. The Distribution of Mankind. By Dr. A. H. Keane 96-108 

X. Political and Applied Geography. By Dr. J. Scott 

Keltie ....... 109-121 


Heraldic Colour-Scheme for Flags , . .122 


PART II. 

CONTINENTS AND COUNTRIES. 

BOOK I.— EUROPE. 

XI. The Continent of Europe. By G. G. Chisholm . 123-137 

XII. The United Kingdom in General. By Dr. H. R. Mill 138-152 

Scotland ...... 152-161 


xvi Contents 



England and Wales .... 

PAGES 

. l6l-l87 


Ireland. By Prof. Grenville A. J. Cole . 

I87-I96 

XIII. 

The Scandinavian Kingdoms 



Sweden and Norway. By Prof. Yngvar Nielsen 

. 197-208 


Denmark. By the Editor 

208-211 


Iceland. By Dr. Th. Thoroddsen 

. 2 I 2-2 15 

XIV. 

The Low Countries 



The Netherlands. By Prof. C. M. Kan . 

216-223 


Belgium. By Prof. J. du Fief 

. 223-230 


Luxemburg. By the Editor 

231-232 

XV. 

The French Republic : — 



Physical Geography. By Prof. A. de Lapparent 

. 233-239 


General Geography. By Prof. L. Raveneau 

239-255 

XVI. 

Switzerland. By Prof. £mile Chaix 

. 256-265 

XVII. 

The German Empire. By Prof. A. Kirchhoff 

266-297 

XVIII. 

The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy : — 



Austria-Hungary. By Prof. A. Penck 

. 298-301 


Austria. By Prof. A. Penck 

302-3 I 5 


Hungary. By Dr. Bela Erodi 

• 315-323 


Bosnia-Herzegovina. By Prof. A. Penck 

324-326 

XIX. 

The Danubian and Balkan States. By Prof. 
Philippson : — 

A. 


Rumania . 

327-330 


The Balkan Peninsula 

• 330-335 


Servia ...... 

335-337 


Montenegro . . . . 

337 


Bulgaria ...... 

338-339 


European Turkey .... 

. 340-344 


Greece ...... 

344-349 


Crete ...... 

• 350-351 

XX. 

Italy and Malta 



Italy. By Prof. T. Fischer 

352-365 


San Marino. By the Editor . 

. 365-366 


Malta. By Sir R. Lambert Playfair 

366-367 

XXI. 

The Iberian Peninsula : — 



' Spain. By Prof. T. Fischer . 

. 368-377 


Andorra. By the Editor .... 

377-378 


Gibraltar. By Sir R. Lambert Playfair 

. 378-379 


Portugal. By Capt. E. de Vasconcelios . 

379-385 

XXII. 

The Russian Empire. By D. Artofif 



General ..... 

. 386-389 


Configuration . . . . . 

389-401 


Climate and Anthropogeography 

. 401-409 


Towns ...... 

409-42 1 


Contents 


xvii 


BOOK II.— ASIA. 

PAGES 

XXIII. The Continent of Asia. By Dr. A. J. Herbertson . 422-438 
XXIV. Asiatic Turkey and Arabia. By Sir C. W. Wilson, 

F.R.S. : — 


Anatolia . . - . . , . 439-445 

Cyprus. By Sir R. Lambert Playfair . . . 445-446 

Mesopotamia . . . . 447-448 

Syria ....... 448-451 

Arabia ...... 451-456 

XXV. The Countries of Iran 


Persia. By Sir F. Goldsmid . . . . 

Afghanistan. By Sir G. S. Robertson, M. P. 

XXVI. India and Ceylon 

The Empire of India. By Sir Athelstan Baines 
Portuguese India. By Capt. E. de Vasconcelios 
French Possessions in India. By M. Zimmermann 
Himalayan States. By the editor 
Ceylon. By Hon. J. Ferguson 
XXVII. Indo-China : — 

Siam. By H. Warington Smyth . 

Straits Settlements and the Malay States. By the 
Editor ...... 

French Indo-China. By M. Zimmermann 
XXVIII. The Chinese Empire. By G. G. Chisholm 
Hongkong. By the Editor 
Macao. By Capt. E. de Vasconcelios 
Kiau-chou. By Count Pfeil 
Remote Provinces of Chinese Empire 
Korea. By Mrs. Bishop .... 

XXIX. Japan. By W. B. Mason . . . . 

XXX. The Malay Archipelago. By Dr. H. O. Forbes . 

The Philippines . . . . . 

British Borneo ..... 
The Dutch East Indies . 

Portuguese Timor. By Capt. E. de Vasconcelios 


457-463 

464-468 


469-502 

502- 503 

5°3 

503 

503- 507 

508-511 


511-515 

515-520 

521-536 

536-537 

538 

538 

538-541 

542-544 

545-554 

555-574 

558- 559 

559- 56o 

560- 573 

573 


BOOK III.— AUSTRALASIA AND POLYNESIA. 
XXXI. The Continent of Australia. By C. H. Barton . 575-586 

XXXII. Eastern States of the Commonwealth : — 

Queensland. By C. H. Barton . . . 587-593 

New South Wales. By E. A. Petherick . . 593-601 

Victoria. By E. A. Petherick .... 602-610 
Tasmania. By the Editor .... 610-613 


• • • 


XV111 


Contents 


PAGES 

XXXIII. Central and Western States of the Common- 
wealth : — 

South Australia. By E. A. Petherick . . . 614-620 

Western Australia. By Hon. D. W. Carnegie . 620-626 

XXXIV. New Zealand. By Hon. W. P. Reeves . . 627-634 

XXXV. Melanesia : — 

British New Guinea. By Sir William Macgregor . 635-638 
German New Guinea. By Count Pfeil . . 639-641 

Dutch New Guinea. By Prof. C. M. Kan . . 642-644 

New Caledonia. By Prof. A. Bernard . . 644-646 

Smaller Melanesian Islands. By the Editor . . 646-648 

XXXVI. The Islands of the Pacific Ocean. By the Editor 649-662 
Fiji ....... 651-653 

Western Polynesian Chain .... 653-656 

Marshall Islands. By Count Pfeil . . 654-655 

South Polynesian Chain .... 656-658 

Scattered Groups ..... 658-660 

Hawaii ...... 660-662 

BOOK IV.— NORTH AMERICA. 

XXXVII. The Continent of North America. By Prof. W. 

M. Davis ...... 664-678 

XXXVIII. Colonial North America : — 

Dominion of Canada. By J. B. Tyrrell . . 679-704 

Newfoundland and Labrador. By J. B. Tyrrell . 704-707 
St. Pierre and Miquelon. By M. Zimmermann . 707-708 

Bermuda. By the Editor . . . 708-709 

XXXIX. The United States. By Prof. W. M. Davis . 710-773 

XL. Mexico. By Prof. A. Heilprin .... 774-781 


BOOK V.— CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 

XLI. Central America : — 

The Central American Republics. By Dr. K. Sapper 782-789 
British Honduras. By the Editor . . . 789-790 

XLII. The West Indies : — 

- General Features. By J. Rodway . . . 791-793 

Cuba. By R. T. Hill . . . . 793 ~ 79 & 

Porto Rico. By R. T. Hill . . . . 798-801 

Haiti and Santo Domingo. , By J. Rodway . 801-802 

West Indian Colonies. By J. Rodway . . 803-812 

XLIII. The Continent of South America. By Dr. A. J. 

Herbertson ...... 813-823 

XLIV. The Andean Countries : — 

Colombia. By Prof. F. Regel . . . 824-829 


Contents 


xix 


XLV. 


XLVI. 

XLVII. 


Ecuador. By Sir Clements R. Markham, F.R.S. . 
Peru. By Sir Clements R. Markham, F.R.S. . 
Bolivia. By Sir Clements R. Markham, F.R.S. 
Chile. By Prof. A. Bertrand 
The Plata Countries : — 

The Argentine Republic. By H. D. Hoskold 
Uruguay. By A. F. Baillie 
Paraguay. By A. F. Baillie . 

The Falkland Islands. By the Editor . 

Brazil. By J. Batalha-Reis . 

Northern South America : — 

The Colonies of Guiana. By J. Rodway 
Venezuela. By Dr. W. Sievers 


PAGES 

829-833 

834-840 

840-843 

843-848 

849-856 

856-859 

859-862 

863-864 

865-877 

878-883 

884-888 


BOOK VI.— AFRICA. 


XLVIII. The Continent of Africa. By E. Heawood . 
XLIX. North Africa : — 

Marocco. By Sir R. Lambert Playfair 
Algeria. By Sir R. Lambert Playfair . 

Tunisia. By Sir H. H. Johnston 
Tripoli. By J. L. Myres .... 
Egypt. By Dr. W. F. Hume 
L. East Africa : — 

Eastern Equatorial Africa. By Prof. J. W. Gregory, 
F.R.S. ...... 

Abyssinia ..... 

Eritrea ...... 

Obok. By M. Zimmermann . 

Somaliland . . . . 

British East Africa .... 

German East Africa. By Count Pfeil 
Portuguese East Africa. By Capt. E. de 
Vasconcellos ..... 

British Central Africa. By Sir H. H. Johnston 
LI. West Africa : — 

Spanish West Africa. By E. Heawood 
French West Africa. By M. Zimmermann 
Liberia. By E. Heawood . • 

British West African Colonies. By Sir H. H. 
Johnston ...... 

Nigeria. By Lieut.-Col. Mockler-Ferryman 
German West Africa. By Count Pfeil 
The Congo Free State. By Capt. S. L. Hinde . 
Portuguese West Africa. By Capt. E. de Vascon- 
ccllos • ... 


889-903 

904-906 

906-913 

913-916 

916-918 

918-929 


930-940 

934- 935 

935 

935- 936 

936 
937-940 

940-944 

944-946 

946-951 

952- 953 

953- 959 

959- 960 

960- 969 
969-972 
972-974 

974-979 

979-984 


XX 


Contents 


PAGES 


LIL 


LIII. 


LIV. 

LV. 


South Africa: — 

Cape Colony. By Dr. T. Muir, F.RS., and Dr. 
F. C. Kolbe . 

Natal. By Right Hon. J. Bryce, F.R.S. 

Southern Rhodesia and Bechuanaland. By F. C. 
Selous ...... 

Orange River Colony. By Right Hon. J. Bryce, 
F.R.S. ..... 

Transvaal Colony. By Right Hon. J. Bryce, F.R.S. 
German South-West Africa. By Count Pfeil 
Islands of South Atlantic. By E. Heawood 
Islands of the Western Indian Ocean : — 
Madagascar. By Rev. J. Sibree 
Mauritius and Dependencies. By the Editor 
Reunion. By M. Zimmermann 

BOOK VII. — THE POLAR REGIONS. 

The Arctic Record. By Sir Martin Conway 
The Arctic Regions. By Dr. F. Nansen 
The Antarctic Regions. By Sir John Murray, 
F.R.S. ...... 


985-993 

993-997 

997-1003 

1004-1006 • 
1007-1011 

1012- 1013 

1013- 1014 

1015-1020 

1020-1024 

1024 


1025-1033 

1033-1046 

1047-1053 

1053-1088 


Index 


The International Geography 


PART i 

PRINCIPLES OF GEOGRAPHY 

CHAPTER I.— GEOGRAPHY: PRINCIPLES AND 

PROGRESS 

By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc. 

The Plan of the Book. — The object of this book is to present in one- 
volume an authoritative summary of the whole of Geography as fully as 
space permits. The limit of size makes it impossible to treat any part of 
the subject exhaustively, but by sacrificing such details as may be found 
better expressed in the maps of an atlas it is possible to give prominence 
to the essential tacts. Like most treatises on geography, this is divided 
into two unequal and contrasted parts. The first deals with the Principles 
of Geography and their applications in the most general sense. It is com- 
pressed into small compass, because the aim kept in view is rather to 
illustrate the principles by their application to actual cases than to produce 
a theoretical work. The second part accordingly deals more fully with 
the Countries of the World at the present day ; each article involving the 
application of some or all of the general principles stated in the first part. 

The book is neither a Gazetteer nor an Encyclopaedia, but is intended to 
give a readable account of the character of all countries as regards land 
and people in language which is neither technical nor childish. Such 
special terms as are necessary for the purpose of exact description are 
explained in the index. 

In the treatment of each country some deviation is made from the 
general plan common to all, in order to explain the peculiarities of its 
national life and to bring out its individuality. The structure of the region 
and its action on the race is the leading motive in the description of old 
countries ; the reaction of the race on the region takes the first place in 
the description of new lands undergoing development ; but in every case 
the ground-work is a true description of the country as it is to-day. Here, 
as well as in the avoidance of those errors which beset even the most care- 
ful compiler, this book has a special claim to consideration, because, with 


2 


The International Geography 

few exceptions, each country is treated by an experienced traveller, a 
resident, or a native. The authorship may indeed be viewed as part of 
the subject, being itself an outcome of the land described. 

Geography Defined. — The literal meaning of Geography — the 
Description ot the Earth — is limited by usage to the description of the 
Earth’s surface ; but the sense in which description is to be taken in this 
definition must be explained. That it is a graphy and not a logy has 
actually been brought forward by men otherwise worthy of respect as an 
argument against geography being a science. It need only be pointed out 
in reply that if a name derived from the Greek is necessarily a definition, 
astrology should still be held a science. The very first modern text-books 
of geography insisted strongly on the distinction between Chorography, or 

Topography, and Geography. A 
quaint diagram from the “ Cosmo- 
graphia ” of Apian and Gemma Frisius 
in 1584 (Fig. 1), illustrates choro- 
graphy, after Ptolemy by the meta- 
phor of a small detailed sketch such 
as that of an eye or an ear, while 
geography is like the complete draw- 
ing of a portrait. The chorography 
of the old writers has too often been 
expounded and taught under the name 
of geography, and hence misconcep- 
tions have arisen. Geography is a 
part of that greater science which 
was called Cosmography in the Middle 
Ages and Physiography 1 in modern 
times ; but it is something more. 
A formal definition of the modern 
science may be put thus : 

Geography is the exact and organised knowledge of the distribution of 
phenomena on the surface of the Earth , culminating in the explanation of the 
interaction of Man with his terrestrial environment. 

The Position of Geography. — In the field of knowledge geography 
occupies a peculiar, even unique position. As the meeting-place of the 
physical and the human sciences, it is the focus at which the rays of natural 
science, history, and economics converge to illuminate the Earth in its rela- 
tion to man. It is impossible to treat any natural, much more any human 
science as a portion of knowledge “ clean-cut from out and off the illimit- 
able, u for the margins of all sciences are confluent. Geography is akin to 
physics in its organisation, inasmuch as it is a generalisation, or rather a 

1 Prof. Davis confines the name physiography to that department of physical geography 
which has been termed by other writers geomorphology, but the word was used in the general 
sense by Linnaeus about 1736, and was popularised by Huxley in 1877. 


PETR! API ANI ET GEMMAE FRIS. 
Gcographia. Eius (imilitudo. 



Chorograptua. 


Bias (imilitudo. 



FIG 1 . — An Early Simile of Geography 


Geography : Principles and Progress 3 

synthesis, of units each of which may be viewed as a highly specialised 
branch of science in itself. The unity of physics results from the fact that 
the physicist looks on nature in the universal aspects of matter and energy ; 
the unity of geography results from viewing nature in the limited but 
still general aspect of the phenomena which affect the surface of the 
Earth. The materials for bringing the generalising science of geography 
to the dignity of completeness, are not yet all collected ; but the plan is 
already grandly outlined. Incompleteness of data, however, is an incen- 
tive to progress, and a guarantee of substantial advance being made when 
the right direction is foreshadowed by a theory. The theory of geog- 
raphy which gives life and unity to the details of topography, and the 
various facts borrowed from such cognate special sciences as astronomy, 
geology, oceanography, meteorology, and history is the far-reaching theory 
of evolution. Writing in the twentieth century it is scarcely necessary 
to point out that this theory is not antagonistic to the doctrine of 
creation. Evolution exhibits a constant succession of changes in a definite 
direction — from lower to higher, from simple to complex — inevitably sug- 
gesting some external guidance, and not touching the question of ultimate 
origin. 

The Departments of Geography. — The subject-matter of geography 
may be classified in various ways, each representing an aspect from which 
the whole may be considered, but it is simplest to follow the order of evolu- 
tion, selecting and arranging the divisions so that the classification becomes 
a statement of the principles of geography, in which each part depends on 
that which precedes and conditions that which follows. The fundamental 
department of geography views the Earth’s surface from the standpoint of 
the one absolute science — Mathematics. It deals with the measurement 
of the Earth, the whole question of geodesy and surveying, and that of map- 
projections and map-construction. It takes account also of the strictly 
calculable phenomena of the Earth’s movements and its relations to the 
other members of the solar system, ascertaining the times of the seasons 
and of the tides, and fixing the measure of time itself. Mathematical 
Geography presents us with a globe of a definite size, covered for a certain 
proportion of its surface to a particular depth by an ocean in which tides 
are raised by external attraction, rotating on a definite and practically 
unchanging axis and so acquiring the polarity which enables positions to be 
found both in latitude and longitude by reference to external bodies ; the 
axis being so inclined to the plane of the orbit as to bring the succession 
of the seasons and the reciprocal swing of day and night differently to every 
zone of the surface. 

This aspect passes directly into that of the less definitely known and 
less calculable phenomena of Physical Geography , which takes account of 
the differences in material and in function of the parts of the Earth — the 
rigid lithosphere, the mobile hydrosphere, and the all-embracing atmos- 
phere. Geology, oceanography, and meteorology contribute to supply the 


4 


The International Geography 

means of understanding the forms and functions of the Earth. The arrange- 
ment of the continental ridges above the hollow plains of the ocean, and 
the forms into which these ridges are wrought, acquire significance. The 
power of solar radiation calling into movement the currents of water and 
air, and the deviation in moving bodies due to rotation, firmly lock together 
the mathematical and physical aspects of geography. Physical geography 
finally shows us the spinning, tilted globe, throbbing with the innumerable 
activities which solar and telluric energy impart to terrestrial matter ; sea 
and air beating upon the land and fashioning its scenery, while the mathe- 
matical bounds of climate are almost neutralised by rearrangements due to 
the interchange of tropical heat and polar cold. Throughout these actions 
the immense control exercised by land-forms is to be traced in the disturb- 
ances of the movements of air and water from the order which would 
prevail if a smooth ocean or an uncrumpled land-surface covered the whole 
Earth. 

The carving of the crests of the land has yielded soft soil which 
swathes the lower slopes in flowing sheets warmed by the Sun and moist- 
ened by the shower ; but bare soil or vacant sea or air do not meet the 
eye over the greater part of the globe’s surface. Living things possess the 
world, and the purpose of Biogeography is to trace out the reasons why 
particular species occupy the regions where they are now found. The 
result shows that those conditions which form the subject of physical 
geography are the main controlling elements in the distribution of plants 
and animals. The regions of forest, steppe and desert are fixed by the 
form and position of the continents and by the climate, which in most 
cases is also largely dependent on the same control. Geography so far 
takes account of the greater part of one aspect of evolution, from the 
development of the solar system itself, following down the cooling Earth 
with its crumpling crust until the surface is covered with the products of 
life. Some geographers even bring in the layer of living matter to com- 
plete four parts of the physical globe — the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmos- 
phere and biosphere. 

Amongst all the species of animals which dwell upon the land subject 
to the severe control of geographical environment one rises so far superior 
to the rest as to require a special division of geography to take account of 
its distribution. This is the human species. Alone amongst the animals 
man, in virtue of his higher intelligence, has the power, while always under 
the control of his surroundings, to react upon his environment in such a 
way as to render its action more beneficial to himself. By cultivation and 
breeding he alters the character and the distribution of plants and animals, 
by works of draining and irrigation he modifies the natural watering of the 
land, by cutting canals and building dykes he changes the relative posi- 
tions of land and sea, even to the severance of continents. Engineering 
works enable him to overcome the resistance to 4 free movement presented 
by vast stretches of waste land, great rivers, mountains, and the ocean 


Geography : Principles and Progress 5 

itself. The object of Anthropogeography is to study the distribution of the 
varieties of mankind, their degree of culture, and the manner of their 
groupings and movements. It is obvious that the whole of the other 
aspects of geography are tributary to this, and the greatness of anthropo- 
geography and its practical importance make it necessary to subdivide it, 
the subdivisions being farther advances in evolution. 

The distribution of man as an animal is merely one of the problems of 
biogeography ; the consideration of human activity on the Earth’s surface 
is the main purpose of anthropogeography ; but when divisions of mankind 
acquire a higher civilisation and a firmer hold on definite regions of the 
Earth’s surface, occupying them to the exclusion of other tribes, and, it 
may be, extending the territory by annexing that of neighbours, Political 
Geography acquires importance. It takes account of boundaries of settle- 
ments, sites of towns and ports, and the lines of travel or migration. Up 
to this point geography may be studied as a purely physical science, but 
here history has to be appealed to in order to understand how boundaries 
came to occupy their present position, and how the people possessing a 
country have entered or been formed in it in the past. Many other con- 
siderations also have weight ; strategic value, for example, converts into 
determining factors many features which are of no particular significance 
physically. 

While the motives for distant travel have often been political — the out- 
come of military ambition — and often religious, at the prompting of 
missionary zeal, the chief cause which drives people to distant lands and 
guides migrations and colonisation is personal advantage. This may 
either take the wide form of economic necessity, due to the failure of 
supplies in the original home, or the more individual form of trading. 
Commercial Geography has to do mainly with the discovery, production, 
transport and exchange of useful and desirable things. In order to under- 
stand it the fashions and fancies of the various sections of the human race 
(<?. g. y the purely fanciful value set upon the diamond) have to be con- 
sidered, as well as the influence of historical tradition and of the laws of 
geographical distribution. 

Geographical Changeableness. — From each successive point of 
view the phenomena to be taken account of in geography have become 
successively more complicated, more changeable and less predictable. 
The rigid degree-net of the mathematical geographer with its definite and 
unchangeable frigid, temperate and torrid zones, was represented as 
accurately five hundred years ago as now, and no change in it can ever 
occur. The data of physical geography are harder to discover, more 
laborious to acquire, and to some extent liable to change. We cannot 
as yet produce a perfect topographical map of the continents, nor a 
passable hypsographical map to show their elevations, nor anything more 
than a foreshadowing of a geological map of the world. Within historic 
times new islands have appeared, stretches of coast have been submerged, 


6 The International Geography 

shores built up into land, and old mountains have been shattered into dust 
by volcanic explosions. The natural divisions which separate distinct 
faunas and floras are still questions of dispute ; no two biological maps are 
alike, and even if the distribution of species could be accurately charted 
to-day they would be antiquated to-morrow by natural changes. This 
tendency to grow out of date is still more marked in political maps. The 
frontiers of countries waver in the field of history ; maps of Europe which 
were perfect in 1800 became nearly useless in 1815 ; and those justly 
viewed as excellent in 1870 had to be superseded in 1878. No map of 
South America can be coloured into countries in a manner acceptable in 

any two of its contiguous 
States. But all these as- 
pects of geography are 
relatively permanent com- 
pared to the commercial 
as shown by the pro- 
ducing areas, markets and 
lines of transport and com- 
munication which appear 
in a commercial atlas. 
The customs barriers, 
more impenetrable in their 
way than any of nature, 
are continually shifting in 
position and varying in 
severity, old mines become 
exhausted and new ones 
are discovered, old lands 
pass out of cultivation, and 
new lands spring into importance through irrigation, even taste and fashion 
change, and with them the collecting grounds of the materials for their 
gratification. 

The Pyramid of Geography. — To summarise at a glance this 
scheme of the aspects and objects of geographical science we may consider 
them as forming a pyramid (Fig. 2), broad-based on the smooth hewn 
blocks of mathematics, rising through tiers of firmly laid stones from the 
quarries of the physical sciences, and the less sure products of biology and 
anthropology to the irregular courses of political geography and the rubble 
heap of commercial geography which caps if it does not crown the edifice. 
Here an extension of the metaphor may be permitted. The incoherent 
and shifting cap of the pyramid is not without its influence on the rest. 
As rain filtering through a great piece of masonry dissolves the mortar of 
the upper parts and redeposits it lower down, so the streams of economic 
interests have spread downwards through the whole structure of the 
geographical pyramid binding it together. Commercial motives consoli- 



FiG. 2. — The Departments of Geography. 



/ 


Geography : Principles and Progress 

date national life, accentuate racial differences, redistribute animals and 
plants, modify physical conditions, start investigations into the nature of 
the Earth, and even invade the solid ground-work of mathematics with 
practical suggestions. 

The Practical Value of Geography.— It may be that some readers 
are repelled rather than attracted by the foregoing attempt to explain the 
nature and contents of geographical science. If this be so it would be 
well to read carefully the description of some one country, and endeavour 
to trace out the part each separate aspect of geography plays in 
accounting for the character of the land, and the relation of its people to 
it. It is often supposed that while geography is very useful to the sailor, 
the soldier, the missionary, and the traveller, who have to go from place to 
place, or to the merchant who has trading interests in distant lands, it has 
little concern with the life of the stay-at-home citizen. This is quite a 
mistake. Many of the interests of the present day are largely geographical, 
and the daily paper acquires a fresh and fuller interest when it is read in 
this light. Even to know where the places one reads of are, what is their 
climate, and how they are peopled, is something; but, taking the wider 
view of geography as the science which aims at explaining the adjustment 
of people to land, there is scarcely a problem of past history or of present 
politics and economics in any country which cannot be elucidated by the 
application of its principles. When it is once realized that geography is 
not merely a description of the immobile surface of the Earth, but a com- 
prehensive study of the influence which the land exercises on its people, 
and of the reaction of the people on their own and on other lands, the 
value of the science and its practical utility will reveal themselves in 
many ways. Some may perhaps consider that geography is made to 
include too much, that it is made the centre and the circumference of 
human knowledge ; but this is simply an effect of perspective. Geography 
is not claimed to include the sciences whose results form its raw materials, 
any more than a house can be said to include the quarries, the forests and 
the mines which have yielded its stone and timber and metal-work. 

The Course of Geographical Discovery. — The history of every branch 
of inquiry is full of value, and in the following articles there are 
many paragraphs dealing with the past events which have led to present 
conditions. There is not space here to allow of any attempt to give even 
an outline of the history of geographical discovery or geographical 
theories; but a few of the greatest landmarks must be recalled. The 
most ancient civilisations were those of the great nations which grew up 
on the plains of the Euphrates, the Nile, the Ganges, and the rivers of 
China. Each of these formed a centre whence the surrounding lands 
were explored to a certain extent and the results placed on record. The 
records, however, did not affect the farther progress of discovery. The 
Mediterranean or Graeco- Rom an civilisation was the centre whence grew, 
like spreading water-rings round the spot where a stone has fallen, the 


8 The International Geography 

wave of exploration which has revealed the world, and rendered possible 
the Oceanic or world-wide civilisation of the present. 

Geography among the Greeks. — That the early Greeks viewed the 
world as a flat disc of land is revealed in Homeric poetry, and in the 
descriptions of the earliest maps like that of Hecatseus in B.C. 500 (Fig. 3). 

The Mediterranean Sea penetrating this 
land divided it into two parts — Asia and 
Europe. Round the circumference of the 
whole, at an unknown distance, ran the 
great Ocean River which connected all 
the seas. Herodotus recognised the Red 
Sea as separating the ancient “ Asia ” into 
two parts, Asia and Africa, and thus the 
three continents of the Old World were 
known and named before 430 B.C. 

The coast of the Mediterranean was 
fully explored at a very early date, and 
colonies of Greeks established at favourable 
points. About 330 B.C. Pytheas, a Greek 
colonist of Marseilles, sailed out into the ocean, and explored its shore 
northward, discovering the British Islands. About the same time the 
armies of Alexander the Great extended the knowledge of the Greeks 
eastward as far as India ; and 
the spherical form of the 
Earth, early suspected by 
Greek philosophers, was for 
the first time clearly proved 
by Aristotle. The attempt to 
fit the oecuynene or known 
world to the sphere revealed 
the immensity of the unknown 
surface of the Earth, and gave 
opportunity for speculations 
as to the existence of inhabi- 
tants beyond the zone of kill- 
ing heat to the south and 
near the region of fatal cold 
and darkness to the north 
(Fig. 4). It was easier from 
the development of mathe- 
matical astronomy to estimate 
the size of the globe than to measure the extent of the known lands, for 
although distances north and south were early found by astronomical 
observations, distances east and west could only be guessed at by estimates 
of the length of marches. Hence it happened that when Ptolemy of 



FIG. 4 . — The World according to Pompotiius 
Mela , A.D. 47. 



FlG. 3. — The World according to 
Hecatceus. 


Geography : Principles and Progress 9 

Alexandria produced his great work on geography in a.d. 150, he believed 
that the known land extended from west to east half way round the globe, 
for 180 0 instead of 130°, as is the case. As he also adopted 21,000 miles 
as the value of the equatorial circumference of the Earth instead of nearly 
25,000, he made out that the east coast of Asia was only about 9,000 miles 
west of the west coast of Europe. As he estimated the extent of the known 
land from north to south at only 8o°, it was natural for him to use a word 
corresponding to breadth for this direction, and one corresponding to length 
for extension from west to east, and thus our words latitude and longitude 
had their origin. The most curious feature on Ptolemy’s map (Fig. 5) is the 
great eastward extension of South Africa, which he believed to enclose the 
Indian Ocean on the south ; this belief in a closed ocean did much to 
discourage attempts to reach India from Europe by sea. Ptolemy’s work 
marked the culmination of ancient geography, and after it appeared no 
further advance was made for more than twelve centuries. 

Geography in the 
Middle Ages . — From 
the fall of the Roman 
Empire onwards geog- 
raphy shared in the 
general neglect of all 
natural science. The 
theory of the sphericity 
of the Earth was sup- 
posed to be in conflict 
with Scripture, and was 
consequently abandoned 
by the Christian monks 
who were the only up- 
holders of any form of 
learning in Europe during the Middle Ages. They made a few fantastic 
guesses to account for such natural phenomena as they could not overlook ; 
but they did some service to geography by recording the travels of many 
zealous missionaries, who penetrated to all parts of Europe and made some 
daring journeys through Asia. These records, however, were for the most 
part rendered ridiculous by the stories of mythical wonders which were 
accepted greedily in a credulous age. The great journey of Marco Polo 
(1 27 1— 1 295) across Asia and through the eastern archipelagoes was made 
possible by the conquests of the Mongol emperor Jenghiz Khan, whose 
power, though a menace to Christian Europe, was a guarantee of peace 
and security throughout the vast breadth of Asia. The one class in 
Europe who utilised correct geographical methods at this period was the 
seafaring population of the Mediterranean, whose compass-charts of that 
sea were remarkably accurate. The Arabs, however, had kept up the 
knowledge of Ptolemy’s work, which they had translated from the Greek ; 



Fig. 5. — The Known World according to Ptolemy , 

a.d. 150. 


io The International Geography 

Arab geographers throughout the Middle Ages were familiar with the 
spherical form of the Earth, and their travellers added much to the know- 
ledge of the interior of Africa. The power of this cultured people was 
broken by the crusading armies and by the incursions of the barbarous 
Turks who, sweeping across Asia Minor, threw themselves into Europe, 
and capturing Constantinople in 1453 scattered all over Christendom the 
learned men who had preserved there the Greek language and literature. 
From this time onwards Ptolemy’s work, which was translated into Latin 
and printed in 1462, was accepted as the standard in all matters of 
geography, until the great explorations of the succeeding period made 
fresh works necessary. 

The Era of Voyages of Discovery. — The desire to find a sea- 
route from the Mediterranean to the spice-yielding lands of the East was 
greatly strengthened in the first quarter of the fifteenth century by the 
hampering of the overland Eastern trade by the Turks. About 1418 
Prince Henry of Portugal, subsequently surnamed the Navigator, devoted 
himself to the encouragement of exploration along the coast of Africa with 
the object of seeing whether there might not be a passage into the Indian 
Ocean on the south. This work was continued after his death in 1460, 
until Bartholomew Diaz, in i486, rounded the Cape of Good Hope. About 
this time maps were constructed in which the exaggerated breadth of Asia 
assigned by Ptolemy was increased from the interpretation of Marco 
Polo’s routes, so that Japan was made to appear only 8,000 miles west of 
Portugal. From the study of these maps Christopher Columbus was con- 
vinced that Asia could most easily be reached by sailing west. In 1492, 
after years of effort, he succeeded in getting ships from Spain, and in little 
more than two months’ voyage he discovered new islands which he named 
the West Indies because he believed them to lie off the coast of Asia. 
The excitement created in Europe on his return was immense, and at 
once inaugurated a period of the most daring sea-voyages known to 
history. It was followed by the re-discovery of North America by Cabot, 
the gradual feeling out of the great continent of the New World which barred 
all prospect of sailing directly west, and by the first sea-voyage to India by 
Vasco da Gama in 1498, following up the Eastern route so long advocated 
by Prince Henry. The keenness of the rivalry of Portugal on the east- 
ward passage and Spain on the westward led to the rapid exploration of 
the new coasts and an almost desperate search for some way round 
America by the north or by the south. This culminated in the most 
splendid feat of human daring at sea, the voyage of Magellan through his 
strait and across the Pacific in 1520. The return of his expedition by the 
Cape of Good Hope, after finding the western route to the Spice Islands, 
placed the true form of the Earth beyond doubt for ever, even to the least 
imaginative ; and so closed the brilliant quarter century which had pushed 
the Mediterranean, from all antiquity the centre of the world, to one side, 
off the main tracks of trade. 


Geography : Principles and Progress 1 1 

Later Explorations. — Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies the merchant adventurers of northern Europe reaped the full advan- 
tage of their newly discovered position in the centre of the oceanic world, 
and planted their colonies and trading posts almost on every shore. 
Australia was discovered, though its importance was not recognised. The 
efforts to find a north-west and north-east passage to India were continued 
valiantly, but they failed to do more than open up new fishing grounds. 
While travellers brought back reports of their discoveries, the geographers 
and cartographers of Europe were engaged in producing annotated editions 
of Ptolemy and new text-books and atlases setting forth the new facts. 
Amongst them were the great cartographers of Flanders and the Nether- 
lands — Mercator, Ortelius, and Blaeu, and such authors as Waldseemiiller 
(who in 1507 first proposed the name America ), Munster, whose Cosmo - 
graphia of 1544 is a curious blending of old legend with new fact, and 
Varenius, who first gave expression to modern theories. Athanasius Kircher, 
though given to fantastic speculations, greatly promoted the study of physical 
geography in the seventeenth century. 

The Eighteenth Century. — Notable advances in the art of navigation, 
especially the invention of the sextant and the perfection of the chronometer, 
enabled the positions of distant places to be fixed for the first time with 
accuracy, and detailed surveys of coasts and countries were set on foot. 
Arcs of the meridian were measured with a high degree of precision, and 
the true dimensions of the Earth became known. Much of the interior of 
North America was explored, and the coasts of the Pacific charted for the 
first time. Captain James Cook stands out pre-eminent amongst the numer- 
ous bold maritime explorers of the century, for he combined for the first 
time scientific method, nautical skill and indomitable enterprise. In his first 
great voyage of circumnavigation (1768-71) he surveyed the coasts of New 
Zealand and the east of Australia. In his second (1772-75) he circumnavi- 
gated the world close to the Antarctic Circle and put a stop to the agreeable 
illusion that a vast temperate southern continent existed. In his third voy- 
age (1776-79) he surveyed much of the west coast of North America, and 
discovered the Sandwich Islands where his splendid career came to an 
untimely end. The French geographer, D’Anville, is memorable not so 
much because he filled the maps of the period with fresh details, but because 
he subjected all the data from which maps had previously been compiled to 
the most rigorous criticism, and rejected everything which was conjectural, 
or could not be verified. 

The Nineteenth Century and After, — The advances made 
during the nineteenth century were so great that this volume is largely 
a summary of the results then attained. Africa and Australia were com- 
pletely explored, parts of Asia were traversed for the first time since 
Ma^*co Polo passed that way; the area of the unknown polar regions 
was much reduced; the whole of America roughly surveyed, and 
practically all Europe mapped with high accuracy. Geological sur- 
3 


12 


The International Geography 

veys have followed the topographical in all civilised and in many 
undeveloped countries, and the distribution of plants and animals has been 
widely and systematically studied. The cruise of H.M.S. Challenger 
( 1 872-76) was by far the greatest voyage of purely scientific investigation ever 
attempted, and it has thrown a flood of light on the conditions of the oceans 
and of oceanic islands. Although separated by almost a hundred years A. 
von Humboldt, who explored Central and South America and parts of Asia, 
and Fridtjof Nansen, who approached nearer the North Pole than any man 
before him, may be taken as representative types of the scientific travellers 
of the nineteenth century. Of naturalist travellers A. Russel Wallace may 
be specially named. In the great army of missionary explorers David 
Livingstone stands pre-eminent ; and amongst those actuated by other 
aims, no name approaches that of H. M. Stanley. The modern develop- 
ments of cartography are best illustrated in the work of Stieler, Arrowsmith, 
Petermann, A. Keith Johnston, and J. G. Bartholomew ; and large modern 
text-books by the great works of Malte-Brun commenced in the first 
decade, and of Elisee Reclus completed in the last decade of the nineteenth 
century. The leaders in the science whose work has been most fruitful in 
guiding the researches and forming the opinions of recent geographers were 
Humboldt, Ritter, and Peschel, to whose influence the remarkable develop- 
ment of higher geographical learning in Germany may be directly traced. 
But Charles Darwin, not so much by his researches in physical geography, 
though they are important, as by his services in establishing and making 
familiar the theory of evolution, has done more than any geographer of the 
nineteenth century to advance the science by popularising the co-ordinating 
clue which unifies it. 

The Progress of Geography. — While progress in most sciences 
in all countries has been largely due to the work of University professors 
whose duty it is to study and to teach it, geography has, until very recently, 
been served rather by the voluntary association of persons interested, who 
have formed geographical societies in all parts of the world. The first was 
founded at Paris in 1821, the second at Berlin in 1828, and the third, which 
is now the most influential, at London in 1830. The largest is the National 
Geographic Society at Washington which had 30,000 members in 1908. There 
were in 1901 no less than 89 active geographical societies in Europe with more 
than 60,000 members, 6 in Asia, 8 in North America, 5 in South America, 3 
in Africa and 4 in Australia ; 1 1 5 altogether. There are also more than 1 50 dif- 
ferent geographical journals or magazines published regularly in all parts of the 
world. It may safely be said that this argues a more wide-spread interest in 
geography than exists in any other science ; and the reason for that interest is 
that geography is of practical every-day utility to the average citizen of the world. 

The accompanying map (Fig. 6) shows graphically how far the founda- 
tions of geography have been laid by exact surveys, and how in the polar 
regions, in the heart of Asia, Africa and South America there still remain 
somewhat extensive areas concerning which we are absolutely ignorant. 


Geography : Principles and Progress 1 3 

But these will be filled up before long, and the threat has been heard that 
then the geographer will have no more work to do. This is, however, a 
mistake. The geographer will only then be able to begin his real work. 
He will have to secure geological, biological and anthropological surveys 
of equal quality, and then at last all the data will be complete to his hands 



Fig. 6. — The Value of the Maps of the World. 


for perfecting the theory which explains the relation of man to his 
terrestrial home. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

E. Reclus. “ Nouvelle G 4 ographie Universelle.” Paris, 1878-95. 20 vols. 

M. Klar (and others). “Die Erdkunde” [to be completed in 30 vols.]. Leipzig and Vienna, 

1903. 

H. Wagner. “ Geographisches Jahrbuch.” Gotha. Annually. [This gives summaries of recent 
geographical advances.] 

“ Lehrbuch der Geographic. ” Vol. I. Leipzig, 1900. 

T. H. Huxley and R. A. Gregory. “ Physiography. An Introduction to the Study of Nature.” 
London. 

H. R. Mill. “The Realm of Nature.” London. New ed. 1807. 

“ Hints to Teachers and Students on the choice of Geographical Books.” London, 

1897. [Contains lists of books.] 

Sir E. H. Bunbury. “ History of Ancient Geography.” 2 vols. London. 1879. 

H. F. Tozer. “A History of Ancient Geography.” Cambridge. 1897. 

Vivien de St. Martin. “ Histoire de la Geographic.” Paris. 1873. 

C. R. Beazley. “ The Dawn of Modern Geography.” London. 3 vols. 1897, 1901, 1905. 

J. Jacobs. “ The Story of Geographical Discovery.” London. 1898. 

The volumes published by the Hakluyt Society in London contain annotated reprints or 
translations of all the more important early journeys and voyages of discovery. 


CHAPTER II.— MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY 


By A. M. W. Downing, D.Sc., F.R.S., 

Superintendent of the “ Nautical Almanac .” 

Mathematical Geography deals with the form and dimensions of 
the Earth, and the methods employed for determining and representing 
the positions of places upon its surface. In this chapter we shall also have 
occasion to refer to the Seasons and Tides as phenomena arising from the 
influence of the Sun and Moon upon the Earth, which are of the utmost 
importance in the economy of the latter considered as a habitable planet. 

The general idea of the rotundity of the Earth is one that has long 
been familiar, and may readily be inferred from a variety of easily observ- 
able phenomena. Probably the most convincing of these is the observation 
that the outline of the shadow of the Earth, as seen upon the disc of the 
Moon during a lunar eclipse, is that which only a spherical body could 
produce. The Earth, therefore, we may conclude is spherical, or nearly 
spherical, in form, and (as it can be circumnavigated) is limited in extent. 

To determine accurately the form and dimensions of the Earth — by 
which we mean those of the surface of the ocean as they would be if the 
ocean covered the entire Earth — recourse must be had to measurements on 
the Earth’s surface, in combination with observations of the stars. And it is 
to be noted that observations of the stars are valuable in this connection 
on account of their vast distances from the Earth. The Earth’s diameter 
is found to be insignificant when compared with the distances of the stars, 
and the latter can, accordingly, be used as fixed marks of reference, pos- 
sessing this important property — that lines proceeding from distant parts of 
the Earth’s surface to the same star may be considered to be strictly 
parallel. But this is not so in the case of bodies comparatively near us, 
such as the Sun or Moon. It is necessary to apply corrections to the 
observed positions of these to reduce them to what they would have been 
had the observations been made at the centre of the Earth. This is called 
the correction for parallax. 

Definitions of Terms. — At this point it will be convenient to intro- 
duce the definitions of certain terms, some of which will be frequently 
employed in the subsequent pages of this chapter. It is assumed that the 
reader is familiar with the ordinary phenomena due to the rotation of the 
Earth on its axis ; how each of the heavenly bodies appears to rise in the 
east, to attain a certain maximum altitude depending on its position, and 
then to set in the west ; how certain of the stars appear to observers in the 
northern or southern hemisphere never to rise or set, but to describe 

14 


15 


Mathematical Geography 

circles round points in the heavens called respectively the north and south 
poles. And we assume that the reader is aware that these phenomena are 
due to the fact that the Earth rotates round an axis which is situated in the 
direction of the line joining the north and south poles of the heavens. 

The Poles of the Earth are the points in which its axis meets the surface 
— north and south respectively. 

The Equator is the circle described round the Earth at an equal dis- 
tance from the poles, and dividing it into two hemispheres. The plane of 
this circle passes through the centre, and is at right angles to the axis. 

The Celestial Equator is the circle marked out in the heavens by the 
extension of the plane of the terrestrial equator to meet the vault of the sky. 

The Zenith is the point overhead of the observer where a plumb-line 
suspended at his station would pierce the sky if produced upwards ; the 
point opposite to the zenith (underfoot, of course) is called the Nadir. 

The Visible or Sensible Horizon is the circle traced out by the extremities 
of a plane passing through any place on the Earth’s surface, and perpen- 
dicular to the line joining the zenith and nadir of the place. The Rational 
Horizon is the circle traced out by the extremities of a plane passing 
through the Earth’s centre, and parallel to the sensible horizon. It should 
be noted that, on the immensely distant surface of the celestial vault, the 
two traces referred to sensibly coalesce into one single circle, which will 
hereafter be called the horizon. 

Vertical Circles are great circles of the celestial sphere (j.e. } circles 
whose planes pass through the centre of the sphere) drawn through the 
zenith and nadir, and perpendicular to the horizon. 

The Altitude of an object is measured on the vertical circle passing 
through it, and is its angular distance from the point of intersection of the 
vertical circle with the horizon. 

The Zenith Distance is measured on the same circle, but from the zenith 
instead of from the horizon. It is, therefore, the complement of the altitude. 

The Azimuth of an object is the angular distance of the point of 
intersection of the vertical circle passing through it with the horizon, 
measured from the north or south point of the horizon. 

Hour-Circles are great circles passing through the poles of the celestial 
sphere, and therefore perpendicular to the celestial equator. 

The Meridian is the great circle passing through the zenith and the 
poles ; the terrestrial meridian being the trace of the plane of this circle 
on the Earth’s surface. The meridian intersects the horizon at the north 
and south points of the latter. The meridian marks the point of greatest 
altitude in the apparent diurnal path of each star, due to the Earth’s rotation. 

The Hour- Angle of a celestial object is the angle at the pole between 
the meridian and the hour-circle passing through the object. It evidently 
is zero when the object is on the meridian. 

The Latitude of a place on the Earth’s surface is the angle between its 
plumb-line and the plane of the equator. If the Earth were a perfect 


1 6 The International Geography 


sphere, the direction of the plumb-line at any place on the Earth’s surface 
would coincide with the direction of the line drawn from the point to the 
centre. But, as we shall see presently, the figure of the Earth deviates 
slightly from that of a sphere, and geographical latitude must be referred 
to the direction of gravity, not to that of the Earth’s radius, at the place. 
Latitude is measured from o° at the equator up to 90°, north or south, at 
either pole. 

The Longitude of a place on the Earth’s surface is the angle at the pole 
between the initial meridian (that of Greenwich, for instance) and the 
meridian passing through the place. It is measured from o°, at the initial 
meridian, up to 180 0 , east or west. 

Determination of Latitude. — The fundamental proposition with 
regard to latitudes on the Earth’s surface (which is assumed in every 

method used for determining latitudes) 
is that the latitude of a place equals the 
altitude of the celestial pole. 

This will be clear from Fig. 7, in 
which ADBE represents the terrestrial 
meridian of the place (its ellipticity 
enormously exaggerated), AB the equa- 
torial, and DE the polar diameter of 
the Earth, O the position of the ob- 
server, Z his zenith, and OH the hori- 
zontal plane. Through O draw OP 
parallel to DE, which is the direction 
of the celestial pole. The altitude of the pole is POH, and the latitude 
of O is ZNA, from the definition given above. But these angles are equal, 
as OP is perpendicular to AB, and ZN is perpendicular to OH. 

To determine the latitude of a place it is, therefore, only necessary to 
find the altitude of the celestial pole at that place. The most obvious way 
of doing this is to select a circumpolar star, i.e., a star which appears to 
describe a circle round the pole without ever setting below the horizon. 
The altitude of this star should be measured at its upper meridian passage, 
and again at its lower meridian passage (between the pole and the 
horizon), and the half sum of these altitudes, when corrected for refraction, 
will be the altitude of the pole. 

The latitude can also be determined by observing the meridian altitude 
of a celestial body whose position is known. Let HZN (Fig. 8) be the 
meridian, Z the zenith, P the pole, S the known body passing the meridian, 
and HN the horizon. As the position of the body is known, the angular 
distance from the pole, PS, is known, and the angular distance HS is the 
observed altitude. Therefore PH is known, which, taken from 180 0 , gives 
PN the altitude of the pole, or the latitude. 

The latitude at sea, or in an unsettled country, is generally found by 
observing, with a sextant, the Sun’s maximum altitude, which of course 



*7 


Mathematical Geography 

occurs at noon. The sun is watched for some time before reputed noon, 
until it is observed that his altitude has ceased to increase. The maximum 
value is then recorded, which, when the proper corrections are applied, 
gives the latitude in accordance with the foregoing method. 

Determination of Longitude. — The 
difference of longitude between any two places 
on the Earth’s surface is simply the difference 
of local times at the two places at the same 
instant of absolute time. The determination ^ 
of the longitude of any place, therefore, in- 
volves the two operations of finding the local 
time, and comparing it with the corresponding time of the initial 
meridian. 

Time is measured by the rotation of the Earth on its axis. The interval 
between two successive passages over the same meridian of a star is called a 
sidereal day, and of the Sun a solar day. Owing to the fact that the motion 
of the Earth in its orbit round the Sun is unequal at different times of the 
year, the solar day, as above defined, is not of constant length. At one 
time of the year a longer interval elapses between successive passages of the 
Sun over a meridian than at another. On this account the actual solar day 
is unsuitable as a measure of time for practical purposes. In its place we 
use the average solar day as a standard of measurement, and time thus 
measured by a mean Sun is called mean solar time. It is to this time that 
our clocks are regulated. The time shown by a sun-dial is true, or, as it is 
called, apparent solar time. The difference between mean and apparent 
solar time is called the equation of time. When the Sun’s centre is exactly 
on the meridian of any place it is, of course, apparent noon at all places 
situated on that meridian. The equation of time being applied, we have, 
then, the instant of mean noon at all these places. Now in twenty-four 
mean solar hours the mean Sun passes over every meridian in succession, 
or over 360°, so that in one hour he moves from one meridian to another 
which is 1 5 0 to the west of it ; and so on at the same rate throughout the 
twenty-four hours. It is this consideration that enables us to convert 
differences of local times into differences of longitude. A little considera- 
tion will show that when it is noon on the initial meridian (that of Green- 
wich, for instance) it is earlier for places to the west of Greenwich by the 
amount of one hour for each 15 0 of west longitude ; and similarly it is later 
for all places to the east of Greenwich. 

The first requisite, then, for the determination of the longitude of a 
place is to find the local time. This may be effected by observing when 
le Sun or a known star passes the meridian. But the navigator or 
iveller generally determines time by observing, with a sextant, the 
itude of the Sun when at a distance from the meridian. This method 
umes that the latitude of the place is known. In the triangle PZS 
g. 9) where P is the pole, Z the Zenith, and S the Sun, the side PZ, being 


2 



i8 


The International Geography 



Fig. 9. 


the complement of the latitude, is known, also PS, the distance of the Sun 
from the pole is known, and ZS, the zenith distance, is the complement of 
the observed altitude. From these data the hour-angle ZPS is found, and 
hence the interval from noon, and finally the mean time. The difficulty 

in the determination of longitude consists in 
finding the corresponding time on the initial 
meridian. The most obvious way of doing 
this is to carry a chronometer, which indicates 
it ; and this is the practice resorted to on board 
ship. If chronometers could be constructed 
which would maintain their rate for an in- 
definite time, notwithstanding changes of temperature or other disturbing 
causes, there would be no further difficulty. But this is still far from 
being the case, and other expedients have to be resorted to either where 
greater accuracy than can be obtained by relying on a chronometer is 
desired, or where, from any circumstance, it is found impossible to 
employ this method. The most accurate method, and that which has 
superseded all others where its use is practicable, is the transmission of 
time-signals by telegraph. The local time, as determined on any meridian,, 
is telegraphed to the station on the initial meridian, which in turn sends its 
local time to the first station, and thus the difference of local times at the 
two stations is recorded at each station. Where the telegraph is not 
available, recourse must be had to the observation of some astronomical 
phenomenon, the time of the occurrence of which on the initial meridian 
is known, or may be ascertained. Of these we may mention the measure* 
ment of the distances of the Moon from certain bright stars, technically 
called the lunar-distance method, and the observation of the times of 
disappearance or of reappearance of stars at their occultation by the Moon, 
a method which is susceptible of great accuracy in the hands of skilful 
observers. 

It may be noted that all the mathematical and astronomical data of use 
to navigators and travellers are published annually in the Nautical A lmanac y 
compiled for the British Government, and similar publications issued by 
other nations. The necessary calculations are made so far in advance as 
to allow these ephemerides to be published two or three years ahead of 
the year to which they refer. 

It is evident that the exact position of a place on the Earth’s surface is 
known when its longitude and latitude are known. The longitude tells us 
on what meridian the place is situated ; the latitude, its angular distance 
from the equator measured on that meridian. These two quantities are 
called the co-ordinates of the place. With the third co-ordinate, i.e., the 
altitude of the place above the mean sea-level, we need not concern our- 
selves here. Two co-ordinates are always sufficient to fix the position of 
a point on a suface. 

Form and Magnitude of the Earth— Having the means of 


i9 


Mathematical Geography 

•determining the latitudes and longitudes of places on the Earth’s surface, 
we are in a position to ascertain its exact form and dimensions. In order 
to effect this, it is necessary to measure the exact number of feet or miles 
between points, in different parts of the Earth, which differ in longitude 
or latitude by an ascertained number of degrees. The methods employed 
to effect the accurate measurement of great distances on the Earth's 
surface by means of a trigonometrical survey form an essential part of 
geodesy, into the details of which we cannot enter. Suffice it to say that 
by means of an elaborate system of measurements, such as are referred to 
above, the general shape of the terrestrial meridians has been ascertained 
to be that of an ellipse ; and the general figure of the Earth to be that 
which would be produced by the revolution of an ellipse round its shorter 
axis, or a spheroid of revolution, as it is technically called. 

The semi-axes of these meridianal ellipses, or the equatorial and polar 
radii of the Earth, are 20,926,202 feet and 20,854,895 feet respectively, and 
the ratio of their difference to the equatorial radius, or the ellipticity of a 
meridian, is The uncertainty attaching to these values of the 

Earth’s radii may be taken to be about 235 feet in excess or defect. The 
length of a degree of latitude and of a degree of longitude in any latitude <p 
may be found in feet from the formulae : — 

i° of Latitude = 364,609*12 — 1,866*72 Cos 2 0 + 3*98 Cos 4 0 

i° of Longitude = 365,542*52 Cos <p — 311*80 Cos 30 + 0*40 Cos 5 0. 

A table giving the lengths for every 5 0 of latitude, computed from these 
formulae, will be found at the end of the chapter. It should be noted that 
some of the measurements that have been made appear to indicate that 
the equator of the Earth is not a true circle (as is assumed above), but an 
•ellipse differing slightly from a circle, the difference between the semi- 
axes being about 1,500 feet. In the present state of our knowledge, how- 
ever, it is better to assume a regular spheroid for the standard surface of 
the Earth, and to regard all variations from it as local or accidental 
phenomena. 

There are two other methods of ascertaining the form of the Earth 
which are quite independent of that referred to above, and of each other, 
which may be mentioned. One is from observations of the variation of 
the force of gravity at different places on the Earth’s surface ; the other 
is from observations of the Moon, some of the irregularities in whose 
motions are due to the deviation of the figure of the Earth from a 
sphere. The results of these methods are fairly in accordance with the 
more direct measurements. 

The flattening at the poles of the Earth is a necessary consequence of 
its rotation, and may be mentioned as affording evidence of it. 

The Use of the Globes. — In order to utilise fully our knowledge of the 
form and dimensions of the Earth, it is necessary that we should be able to 

represent the whole, or portions of it, on a convenient scale, to which refer- 
4 


20 


The International Geography 

ence may be made as occasion may require. Representations of the Earth 
in the form of a globe, or of maps, must now, therefore, occupy our Men- 
tion. The terrestrial globe is obviously the most simple, and in some ways 
the most accurate, form of representation. When constructed of an easily 
manageable size, it is not possible to represent the Earth as other than 
a perfect sphere, the difference between the equatorial and polar radii, 
which amounts to 13 £ miles, being too small a quantity to be shown 
on an ordinary globe. For the same reason the spherical surface is 
represented as everywhere perfectly smooth ; even the highest mountains 
being insignificant on the scale we are considering. It is important, 
however, to notice that it is only on a spherical surface that the different 
countries, seas, &c., of the Earth can be represented in their proper 
proportions throughout the whole extent of the surface. And that when 
represented on a plane surface, as in maps, there must necessarily be 
distortion of some of the parts. In this respect the globe has an immense 
superiority over the map. 

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the properties and 
ordinary uses of a terrestrial globe ; that he knows, for instance, that the 
circles of latitude are all parallel to the equator (hence called parallels 
of latitude), and are all, except the equator itself, small circles of the 
sphere. Also that the meridians all pass through the pole, and are all 
equal great circles ; that the degrees of latitude are equal to each other 
throughout, and that a degree of longitude in latitude <p equals the equatorial 
degree multiplied by Cos <p. The globe, as ordinarily used, affords a rough 
and ready method of solving problems, the accurate solution of which 
requires a knowledge of spherical trigonometry. 

Map Projections. — The globe is not, for most practical purposes, a 
suitable instrument for the representation of the Earth’s surface. For this 
purpose maps are usually employed, when portions of the surface are 
required to be represented in a more convenient form. A map is nothing 
more than a representation, upon a plane, of some portion of the surface of 
a sphere. But as it is impossible to make a spherical surface coincide exactly 
with a flat surface, no map can represent the different portions of the Earth 
in their true magnitudes and true relative positions. In the construction of 
maps, therefore, various methods of projection (as it is termed) are adopted, 
so as to give results that may be most suitable for the particular ends in view. 
Some of the methods are perspective representations of the Earth as it 
would appear to an eye placed in certain positions with regard to its 
surface. These are chiefly employed in the representation of hemispheres. 
Other methods are developments of parts of the Earth’s surface, and are 
only suitable for the accurate representation of restricted portions. We 
proceed to describe a few of the more important projections, premising 
that, in what follows, we neglect the ellipticity of the Earth. 

Perspective Projections. — The perspective representation of an 
object will be different according to the position which the eye occupies 


Mathematical Geography 


21 




with regard to the object, and to the plane of projection, or surface on 
which the representation is made. In projecting hemispheres the eye is 
supposed to be placed vertically above or below the plane of projection, 
which is always that of a great circle of the sphere. The position of the eye 
determines the character of the projection. Those 
most commonly employed are the Orthographic, 
the Stereographic, and the Equidistant. 

In the Orthographic projection the eye is sup- 
posed to be placed at an infinite distance, so that 
all lines drawn from it to the object may be con- 
sidered parallel. Every point of the hemisphere is, therefore, referred to 
the plane of projection by a perpendicular let fall on it, and in this way 
a representation of the hemisphere is mapped on its base. It is obvious, 
from Fig. io, that only the central portions are truly represented in this 
projection, whilst the outlying portions are greatly 
distorted and diminished in size. 

In the Stereographic projection the eye is sup- 
posed to be placed on the surface of the sphere at 
E (Fig. n), and to view the concave surface of the 
opposite hemisphere, every point of which, as P, is 
referred to the plane of projection by the line 
PME. In this projection the similarity of por- 
tions of the spherical surface is better preserved £ 

than in the preceding one. The projected dimen- FlG - n. 

sions are, however, distorted in a contrary manner, being unduly enlarged 
in receding from the centre. 

As when the eye is supposed to be placed at an infinite distance the 
outlying portions of the map are unduly diminished, and when the eye is 
supposed to be on the surface of the globe the 
outlying portions are unduly enlarged, there will 
be some intermediate position of the eye where 
one of these distortions will counteract the other. 

This is the principle of the Equidistant projection , 
or the Globular projection , as it is sometimes 
called. In this the eye is supposed to be at 
E (Fig. 12) on the diameter of the sphere per- 
pendicular to the plane of projection, and at a 
distance from the surface EB = radius x -*= If 

then P be the middle point of the quadrant AD, 
it is referred to the plane of projection by the 
line PME, and, by the principles of elementary 
geometry, OM = MD. And we shall find that other equal arcs on the 
hemisphere are projected into nearly equal lines. In the equidistant 
projection the relative dimensions of the objects delineated are therefore 
much better preserved than in those previously described. It does not, 


( 


V 0 

/m 1 

*3 



■0 


Fig. 12. 


22 


The International Geography 

however, exhibit figures similar to those on the sphere, and in this 
important particular is inferior to the stereographic projection. Its 
special value is for the representation of distributions in which it is 
desired to compare areas by measurement. 

Conical Projections. — It is a well-known property of a cone that its 
curved surface can be spread out, or developed on a plane, without any 
alteration in the figure and dimensions of its parts. This property is made 
use of in the Conical projection. A part of the Earth's surface lying between 
two parallels of latitude, not very distant from each other, ABCD (Fig. 13), 

will not differ much from part of the surface of a 
cone, OPQ, whose axis coincides with the polar axis 
of the sphere and which touches the sphere midway 
between the parallels. And if the latter surface be 
developed on a plane, the countries, &c., may be 
delineated in more exact proportions than in any of 
the perspective projections. The parallels of lati- 
tude will be represented on the surface of the cone 
by circles described with its apex (O) as centre, and 
passing through points on OP which are at dis- 
tances from the points of contact P, equal to those 
which the parallels occupy on the sphere. The 
meridians will be straight lines (OP, OQ) drawn 
from the apex to the points in which the meridians 
on the sphere intersect the middle parallel of lati- 
tude. It is obvious that, in this projection, the 
dimensions are strictly preserved for the middle 
latitude only. On this account modifications of it 
are often employed to obviate the increase in the distances measured 
along the parallel above or below the middle latitude. One of these 
consists in the subs L itution of curves for straight lines to represent meri- 
dians. In this modification the degrees of longitude are marked upon 
each parallel in their proper proportion, and curved lines are drawn 
through the corresponding points. 

Another modification of the conical projection consists in regarding the 
cone not as touching the sphere, but as intersecting it ; so as, for instance, 
to intersect it at two parallels equally distant from the middle latitude. This 
arrangement enables the geographer to embrace a considerably wider 
zone in latitude in his map, whilst preserving an extremely near approxima- 
tion to exactness in his representation. 

Mercator’s Projection. — The last kind of projection to which we 
will refer is that known as Mercators projection. In this projection a 
cylinder is supposed to circumscribe the sphere, touching it at the equator. 
The points on the sphere are referred to the cylinder by lines drawn 
from the centre. The cylinder is then unrolled into a plane. The 
equator is represented by a straight line, and the meridians by straight 



23 


Mathematical Geography 

lines at right angles to it, and all at equal distances from each other. The 
parallels of latitude are also straight lines. But as the degrees of longitude 
are, in this projection, made equal at all latitudes, in order to preserve the 
proper proportion, the degrees of latitude are increased on the map in the 
same ratio as the degrees of longitude are diminished on the sphere. 
This projection gives a true representation as to form, but varies greatly 
in the scale of different parts. The polar regions are, of course, enor- 
mously enlarged. Though not very suitable, therefore, for strictly geo- 
graphical purposes, charts drawn on Mercator’s projection are of the greatest 
importance for navigation, arising from the fact that the meridians and 
parallels are represented on them by straight lines. On this account the 
course of a ship from point to point will also be represented by a straight 
line ; the rhumb line, or line intersecting the meridians at a constant angle, 
being, in this case, a straight line. In the other projections considered the 
rhumb line would be, in most cases, an inconvenient curve. The advan- 
tages of Mercator’s projection, in laying down the course of a ship, are 
therefore sufficiently obvious, and, except for voyages in very high lati- 
tudes, charts constructed on this principle are always used for navigational 
purposes. 

Great Circle Courses. — The navigator, as a rule, guides his vessel 
between any two places by sailing along a line which corresponds in 
direction with one of the points of the compass. It is obvious, however, 
that this course will not, in general, lie along a great circle of the sphere ; 
in which case it will not be the shortest distance between the two points. 
It is sometimes found desirable, in practice, for a ship to adopt “ great 
circle ” sailing (as it is called) in preference to the more usual “ Mercator ” 
sailing. The direction and length of the arc of a great circle joining any 
two places are calculated by the rules of spherical trigonometry from their 
latitudes and difference of longitudes. And it is found that the economy in 
distance in great-circle sailing is greatest in high latitudes between places 
not differing much in latitude. Thus in sailing between Cape Horn and 
the Cape of Good Hope, a saving of 200 miles is effected by adopting the 
great-circle route. 

Duration of Daylight. — The variations of the seasons depend on 
the inclination of the Earth’s axis of rotation to the plane of her orbit, or 
the ecliptic. This inclination is about 66^°, and the axis remains sensibly 
parallel to itself during the year. About March 20th the Earth is so 
situated that the plane of her equator passes through the Sun, and 
therefore the line separating the illuminated from the unilluminated por- 
tions of the Earth passes through the poles, or day and night are every- 
where equal. The same thing happens on September 22nd, when the 
Earth reaches the opposite point of her orbit. 

On June 21st the Earth is so situated that its north pole is inclined 
towards the Sun by 23^°, so that that pole then receives sunlight throughout 
the twenty-four hours, as well as all the region lying within the Arctic 


24 


The International Geography 

circle, i.e., within a distance of 23^° from the pole. And everywhere in the 
northern hemisphere the day is longer than the night, the difference in 
length depending on the latitude. At the same time in the southern hemi- 
sphere the days are shorter than the nights ; whilst at the south pole, and 
over the region extending 23^° around it, which lies within the Antarctic 
circle, it is continual night. It will be understood, then, that from March 
20th to September 22nd the days in the northern hemisphere are longer 
than the nights, and it is summer for that hemisphere. During the same 
period, in the southern hemisphere, the nights are longer than the days, 
and it is winter there. 

During the winter months of the northern hemisphere these conditions 
are, of course, reversed, whilst at the equator the day and night are of 
equal length at all times of the year. 

These results are, however, somewhat modified when we take into 
account the effect of refraction in increasing the apparent altitude of the 
Sun, as is done in the table below. Thus in latitude 65° 55', owing to the 
effect of refraction in increasing the apparent altitude, the Sun’s centre 
appears just on the horizon at midnight at the summer solstice ; whilst at 
the winter solstice, in this latitude, the Sun’s centre is above the horizon 
for 2I1. 38m. In latitude 67° 10', owing to the same cause, the Sun’s centre 
appears just on the horizon at noon at the winter solstice ; whilst at the 
summer solstice, in this latitude, the Sun’s centre is above the horizon for 
twenty-four hours. Between these limits of latitude, therefore, there is a 
twenty-four-hour day at midsummer, but not a twenty-four-hour night at 
midwinter. 

Tides. — The Tides consist of the regular rise and fall of the water of 
the ocean, the average interval between successive corresponding high 
waters at any place being about 24I1. 50m. But this is also the average 
interval between two successive passages of the Moon across the meridian. 
It is also observed that, at a given place, the time of high water occurs 
when the Moon has passed the meridian by a certain interval, and again 
when the Moon has passed the anti-meridian (or the meridian 180 0 distant) 
by the same interval. These phenomena at once suggest that there is a 
causal connection between the Moon and the tides. 

The Sun produces a tide as well as the Moon, but much less in amount 
on account of its greater distance. The effect of the Sun’s action is 
apparent at new and full Moon, when the tide-raising forces due to the two 
bodies act conjointly and produce the magnified effect known as spring- 
tides. Also when the Moon is in the first or third quarter the forces act 
against each other, thus producing the neap-tides, in which the ebb and 
flow are less than the average. 

It is impossible within the limits of a short chapter, descriptive of the 
general features of mathematical geography, to discuss the theory of the 
tide-raising power of the Moon and Sun exercised by their differential 
attraction on opposite sides of the Earth. This must be sought for in 
special treatises. 


Mathematical Geography 25 

Table giving the lengths in British feet of i° of latitude and 

1 ° OF LONGITUDE AT DIFFERENT LATITUDES, AND MAXIMUM AND 
MINIMUM NUMBER OF HOURS PER DAY DURING WHICH THE SUN’S 
CENTRE IS ABOVE THE HORIZON, ALLOWING FOR REFRACTION. 

Length of Length of Above Horizon. 


Latitude. 

0 

10 of Latitude. 

of Longitude. 

Summer Solstice. 
H. M. 

Winter Solstice. 
H. M. 

Latitude. 

0 

0 



362,746 



365.231 ~ 


12 6 



12 6 


• • 

0 

5 



362,774 



363,851 . . 


12 22 



II 48 


• • 

5 

10 



362,858 



359,719 . . 


12 38 



II 30 


• • 

10 

15 



362,995 



352,866 . . 


12 58 



II 12 


• • 

15 

20 



363,180 



343.342 . . 


13 18 



10 52 


• • 

20 

25 



363,408 



331213 .. 


13 38 



10 32 


• • 

25 

30 



363.674 



316.569 . . 


14 0 



10 10 


• • 

30 

35 



363.968 



299,515 •• 


14 28 



9 44 


• • 

35 

40 



364,281 



280,177 


14 58 



9 16 


• • 

40 

45 



364.605 



258.698 


15 32 



8 42 


• • 

45 

50 



364,930 



235.236 . . 


l6 l8 



8 0 


• • 

50 

55 



365.245 



209,967 


17 16 



7 4 


• • 

55 

60 



365.540 



183,083 


18 44 



5 44 


• • 

60 

65 



365,808 



154,787 • . 


21 46 



3 24 


• • 

65 

70 



366,040 



125,293 .. 


24 0 



0 0 


• • 

70 

75 



366,228 



94 830 . . 


24 0 



0 0 


• • 

75 

80 



366,366 



63.632 . . 


24 0 



0 0 


• • 

80 

85 



366,451 



3 L 940 .. 


24 0 



0 0 


• • 

85 

90 



366,480 



0 


24 0 



0 0 


• • 

90 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir J. F. W. Herschel. “Outlines of Astronomy.” London, 1859. 

A. Souchon. “ Traitfe d’Astronomie pratique.” Paris, 1883. 

C. A. Young. “A Text-book of General Astronomy.” Boston, U.S.A., 1891. 

A. R. Clarke. “ Geodesy.” Oxford, 1880. 

W. R. Martin. “Navigation and Nautical Astronomy.” London, 1891. 

Sir G. H. Darwin. “ The Tides and Kindred Phenomena in the Solar System.” London, 1898. 
S. Gunther. “ Handbuch der Mathematischen Geographie.” Stuttgart, 1890. 

“ Hints to Travellers.” Published by the Royal Geographical Society. London, 1906. 

“ Encyclopaedia Britannica” (latest edition), Art. “Mathematical Geography.” 

S. Newcomb. “Compendium of Spherical Astronomy.” New York and London, 1906. 


CHAPTER III.— MAPS AND MAP READING 


By E. G. Ravenstein. 

Maps and their History. — A map (from mappa, napkin) is a 
delineation on a plane of the whole or of a portion of the surface of the 
Earth. A collection of maps is called an Atlas, a term introduced by 
Mercator, who explains the meaning of the word he chose by a figure of 
the Titan of that name bearing a globe upon his shoulders. 

Maps are of very ancient origin. The land surveyors of the civilised 
states of antiquity undoubtedly produced plans which met all practical 
requirements, whilst the needs of the navigator were served by Peripli and 
charts. At a very early age, too, these plans, combined with the informa- 
tion collected by travellers, were utilised in the production of maps of 
provinces and even of the whole of the habitable world. When Hecatseus 
(500 b.c.) warned his countrymen against engaging in a conflict with Darius, 
he enforced his arguments by pointing out the vast extent of the Persian 
Empire upon a map of the “ entire circuit of the world,” which had been 
engraved upon a brazen tablet. (Fig. 3, p. 8.) 

For the first maps with degree lines marked upon them we are probably 
indebted to Dicaearch of Messena (350-290 b.c.), who introduced the parallel 
of Rhodes as a diaphragm, or separator, between the northern and southern 
habitable worlds. But it was only after Eratosthenes (296-196 b.c.) had 
approximately determined the size of the Earth, and Hipparchus (190-120 
B.c.) had taught map makers to lay down places according to their observed 
latitude and longitude, that scientific cartography can be said to have come 
into existence. Thales (600 b.c.) had already invented the gnomonic pro- 
jection, Hipparchus introduced the stereographic and orthographic pro- 
jections, but map makers like Marinus, the great predecessor of Ptolemy, 
seem to have been contented with producing plane charts, the meridian 
differences of which were correct only along the parallel of Rhodes, until 
Ptolemy (140 a.d.) published his famous map of the world on a conical pro- 
jection. (Fig. 5, p. 9.) The principles laid down by Ptolemy for the compi- 
lation of maps apply in our time as they did in his, and to their development 
and the improvements of instruments and methods of observation modern 
maps are indebted for their comparative accuracy and scientific value. 

The most valuable contribution of the Middle Ages to the progress of 
cartography consists of the so-called “ Compass charts,” specially designed 
for the use of mariners, and based solely upon compass bearings and an 
estimate of distances, without reference to any latitudes that may have 
been available from actual observation. The coast lines on these charts 
are given with remarkable fidelity. 

26 


2 7 


Maps and Map Reading 

Scale of Maps. — The scale of a map, or the proportion which it 
lineally bears to the actual size of the region represented, is expressed 
either in the form of a fraction whose numerator is i, or by reference 
to some well-known unit of length. The former is the method more 
usually followed, and more to be recommended, as it is independent of the 
various measures of length in use among different nations. Thus, when it 
is stated that the scale of a map is i-ioo,oooth of nature, or i : 100,000, we 
know that every lineal unit on the map represents 100,000 such units in 
nature. Or it is stated that every inch, as measured on the map, represents 
one or more miles in nature. Thus, a scale of 1 statute mile to the inch 
(which is that of the British Ordnance Survey general map) is the same as 
a scale of 1 : 63,360, for 63,360 inches are equal to one statute mile. 

Measurement of Distances on Maps. — The scale to be found on 
nearly all maps is that of the equator or of the central meridian, and hence 
it follows that this scale can be used for measuring distances only when 
the area embraced within the map is small. In the case of maps of exten- 
sive regions or of continents, owing to the distortion or exaggeration 
inherent in all projections, its application would yield misleading results*, 
quite apart from errors resulting from an expansion or shrinking of the 
paper in the process of printing. In proof of this we may refer to a 
hemisphere laid down upon Lambert’s equivalent projection, whose scale, 
as measured along the central meridian or equator, we suppose to be 
1 : 125,000,000. The scale of the same map, as determined by the meridian 
encircling it, is 1 : 80,000,000, whilst a “ mean ” scale, equal to the square root 
of the proportion which the area of the map bears to the actual area on the 
globe, would be 1 : 112,000,000. The only exception from this rule occurs in 
the case of maps on an equidistant projection, but even in their case ap- 
proximately correct distances can only be obtained when measuring from 
the centre towards the circumference. 

In those few cases in which the distance to be measured follows the 
equator or a meridian, we may determine the interval in degrees and 
minutes, and thus obtain an approximate result in geographical miles, of 
which sixty are equal to one degree of the equator. The result would, of 
course, be only an approximation, except under the equator, where 
1 minute = 1 geographical mile 1 — 6,080*27 feet. The degrees, as measured 
along a meridian, vary in length from 59*594 to 60*204 geographical miles. 
As a rule, the distance desired should be measured on a globe of suitable 
dimensions, or calculated from trigonometrical formula to be found in 
every mathematical text-book. Where a globe is available, a scale should 
be drawn on a slip of paper, the edge of which is to be applied to the 
places the distance between which it is proposed to measure. 

The length of coast lines or of river courses should be measured on a 

1 The geographical or sea-mile, 60 to 1 degree of longitude on the equator, must not be 
confused with the British or Statute mile (used in this book when miles are mentioned 
without qualification) 69-2 to 1 degree or 5,280 feet in length. 


28 The International Geography 

globe, or, at all events, on a map of large scale. Errors due to the pro- 
jection may be in a large measure eliminated by treating each trapezoid, 
bounded by parallels or meridians, as a distinct map, the precise scale of 
which will, of course, have to be determined before the measurement is 
made. In the operation itself a “ space-runner,” such as can be obtained 
from any mathematical instrument maker, may prove of service. 

Measurement of Areas on Maps. — The measurement of areas is 
most readily effected when the map is on an equivalent projection. If a 
plate of glass have engraved upon it small squares the relation of which to 
the area of the map is known, the area is obtained by placing the glass 
over the map and counting the squares required to cover the country 
whose area it is desired to ascertain. Or the area may be calculated 
directly with the aid of a Bar or Polar Planimeter. Another way is to 



Fig. 14 . — Picture Map of Part of London, showing Blackfriars Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, 
Southwark Bridge, London Bridge , the Tower, and the Tower Bridge. 


take the areas of all full quadrilaterals from a table of the areas of quad- 
rilaterals of the Earth’s surface, such as is to be found in the “ Geographical 
Tables,” published by the Smithsonian Institution, and add to the result 
the areas of outlying portions of quadrilaterals. 

Plans. — It is obvious that the detail which it is possible to introduce 

9 

into a map depends more especially upon the scale to which it is drawrn. 
Accordingly we distinguish between plans, topographical maps, and 
general maps. The scale of a Plan should be sufficiently large to 
enable separate houses and plots of land to be clearly distinguished. A 
scale of 1 : 500 would suffice for this purpose, and occasionally even a 
much smaller scale, say 1 : 10,000. As a plan only embraces a very small 
area the sphericity of the Earth’s surface is not taken into account by the 
surveyor, the principles of plane trigonometry alone are involved, and the 
only instruments really needed are a chain, a cross-staff, ana (when alti- 
tudes or sections are required) a level. 



29 


Maps and Map Reading 

Topographical Maps. — Topographical Maps must be on a scale 
sufficiently large to enable the draughtsman to show plans of towns and 
villages, roads, and other features, without excessive exaggeration. No 
map on a smaller scale than i : 200,000 will enable this to be done. The 
details for such a map may be taken from available parish maps on a 
larger scale, from plane-table surveys, and even from rougher compass 
surveys. In combining these materials, in the case of a country of con- 
siderable extent, account has to be taken of the sphericity of the Earth, 
the position of at least one point has to be fixed by careful astronomical 
observation, the length of a degree has to be measured, and the country 
covered with a network of triangles starting from a base-line and checked 
in the course of the triangulation by one or more bases of verification. 
The first map produced on such scientific principles was that of France by 



Fig. 15 . — Topographical Map of the Part of London shown in Fig. 14. 


Cassini de Thury, the first sheet of which, on a scale of 1 : 86,400, was 
published in 1750, and the last in 1793. 

In England several counties had been triangulated about the same 
time, but a regular trigonometrical survey was only begun in 1784, when 
General Roy measured a base-line on Hounslow Heath. This survey was 
subsequently extended to the whole of the United Kingdom. In spite of 
the slow progress of the work of the survey, and some details which are 
open to criticism, it may be safely asserted that no country of so great an 
area possesses a map which can compare in accuracy with that produced 
by the “ Ordnance Survey ” Office. The surveyors have supplied the 
contoured lines of elevation from careful measurements, and not from 
mere estimates or barometrical observations, as is still the case with most 
official maps in other countries. The survey has produced town plans 
(1 : 500 or 1 : 2,500), parish maps (1 : 2,500), county maps (1 : 10,560 or 6 inches 
to the mile), and a general map (1 : 63,360 or 1 inch to the mile), as well as 
maps on the smaller scales of 2, 4 and 10 miles to an inch (1:126,720* 



30 The International Geography 

1:253,440, and 1 1633,600). The beautiful but tedious process of engraving 
on copper has been largely superseded by more rapid processes. The maps 
may be purchased at most post-offices in the United Kingdom. 

Trigonometrical surveys have now been extended over the whole of 
Europe, except northern Russia and portions of the Balkan Peninsula. 
The maps are published on various scales: 1: 100,000 in the case of Ger- 
many, Scandinavia, France, Italy, and Portugal; 1:75,000 in the case of 
Austria and Servia, &c. In addition to these general maps, the various 
survey departments issue plane-table sections ( planchette-minutes, Mess - 
tischblatter , &c.), usually on a scale of 1:25,000. The publication of 
maps or plans on a still larger scale is, as a rule, left to be done by locaL 
authorities. 

Trigonometrical surveys outside Europe have as yet been undertaken 
only in detached areas. India led the van in this useful scientific enter- 
prise, its trigonometrical survey being very complete. Japan may claim 
credit for being the first Eastern State to have a scientific Survey De- 
partment. In Africa a commencement has been made by the French in 
Algeria and Tunis, and by the British from Cape Colony. In the United 
States isolated surveys were begun in 1830, but the work has been 
carried on systematically only since 1879, partly by the Coast and Geodetic 
Survey, and partly by the United States Geological Survey, which has a 
topographical branch. In addition, surveys of some States have been 
carried out by the authority of the State legislature. The maps vary in 
scale according to the nature of the country, the north-western States 
being on a scale of 1 162,500, the Rocky Mountain region on a scale of 
1:250,000. The features of the ground are shown by contours: The 

relative degree of accuracy in the mapping of the continents is shown 
graphically in Fig. 6, p. 13. 

General Maps. — Under general maps may be included all those on 
a smaller scale than topographical maps. Their production, where regular 
surveys are available, is a very simple matter. The original materials are 
reduced mechanically by the use of squares, or more directly by panto- 
graph or photography, to the scale desired. The information which it is 
thought right to give in view of the object which the map is to serve must 
be selected with judgment. Many details have to disappear, the place of 
others is taken by signs or symbols, and exaggeration becomes necessary ; 
but the draughtsman must take care to bring out those features which are 
most characteristic of the country delineated. This applies especially to 
the hills, which are too frequently merely sketched in, or omitted alto- 
gether, on account of the cost of indicating them. 

Where regular surveys are not available the map has to be compiled 
with the help of all materials more or less trustworthy — a task involving 
much labour. The compiler first of all lays down those places the position 
of which has been determined by trustworthy astronomical observations ; 
he then adjusts to these points the route surveys or sketches made by ex- 


3 1 


Maps and Map Reading 

plorers, and finally adds information derived from native sources. The 
result, in many cases, hardly compensates for the labour involved in the 
production of such a map, yet, until quite recently it was the only means 
of gaining an idea of the geographical features of the greater part of 
Africa and of Inner Asia, and notwithstanding the progress of regular 
surveys, and the better work brought home by explorers, the time is still 
far distant when the services of the compiler can be dispensed with. 

Initial Meridians. — The initial meridian now almost universally 
adopted, in accordance with a recommendation of an International 
Geodetic Congress, which met at Washington in 1884, is that of Green- 
wich ; but other meridians are still frequently employed, especially in 
French maps, and in those of the national surveys of other nations. The 
assumed meridian of the island of Ferro, in the Canaries (Fig. 453), was 
once largely used on account of the convenient manner in which it divides 
the world into an eastern and a western hemisphere. The following is 
a list of observatories whose meridians have been so used : — 


LONGITUDE OF 


Longitude E. of Greenwich. 

o ' " 


Sydney, N.S.W. 

151 12 23 

Madras 

80 14 50 

Bombay 

72 48 55 

Pulkova (St. Petersburg) 

30 19 4° 

Helsingfors, Finland . . 

24 57 17 

Cape Town 

18 28 41 

Stockholm 

18 3 30 

Rome 

12 28 40 

Munich 

11 36 32 

Christiania 

10 43 25 

Brussels (Old Town) 

4 22 11 

Paris (Observatoire National) 

2 20 15 


OBSERVATORIES. 


Longitude W. of Greenwich. 

o > •' 


Madrid 

3 

41 

15 

Lisbon (Naval Obs.) 

9 

8 

23 

Ferro, assumed as 

17 

39 

45 

Rio de Janeiro 

43 

10 

21 

Santiago de Chile (New Obs.). . 

70 

4 i 

39 

Washington (Old Obs.) 

77 

3 

1 

Mexico 

99 

6 

39 


Delineation of the Ground. — In olden times, and occasionally 
even to the beginning of the nineteenth century, the inequalities of the 
ground were indicated by serrated ridges or groups of mole-hills, varying 
in size and number in accordance with the supposed height, extent, and 
character of the mountain ranges they were intended to represent. Only 
occasionally did a draughtsman rise above this inartistic -level and give a 
picturesque outline to his hills, by drawing them in perspective, or 
attempting to portray their characteristics by washes in ink. 1 

Hatchings ( hachures ) were first introduced in the beginning of the 
eighteenth century. The method was fully developed in La Condamine’s 
map of Quito, published in 1751, and popularised by Arrowsmith. In this 
crude system of hill shading almost everything is left to the judgment and 
artistic skill of the draughtsman. A scientific basis for delineating the features 
of the ground was first supplied by Philip Buache in 1737, when he placed 
before the French Academy a map of the Channel, on which the configura- 
tion of the sea-bed was indicated by contour lines, i.e., lines which run 

1 Instructive examples of early attempts at hill sketching are the wonderful maps 
drawn by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), K. TiArst’s “ Landtafel” of Switzerland (1495), 
Apian’s map of Bavaria (1568), and Gyger’s map of the Canton of Zurich (1667). 


32 The International Geography 

through all points at the same level, like the line of contact of sea and land 
in calm weather. He suggested that this method might advantageously be 
extended to the delineation of the land, and this was done for the first time 
in 1791, when Dupain-Triel published a contoured map of France. A 
scientific framework or skeleton for delineating the ground had thus been 
furnished ; the contour lines drawn at equal intervals sufficing, if numerous 



Fig. 16. — The Guildford Gap : Contoured Map. 


enough, not only to show the actual height of the land but the form and 
gradient. Crowded contour-lines indicate a steep slope, contour-lines far 
apart a gentle slope. 

Something more than contour-lines was needed to give plasticity to 
maps. Various methods have been introduced for effecting this purpose. 
By increasing the number of contours the shape of the hills can be 



Fig. 17. — The Guildford Gap : Hills shaded. 


brought out more distinctly, and this “ Horizontal style” yields very 
satisfactory results if well done. Another method consists in covering the 
contours with hatchings crossing them at right angles, and thus drawn in 
the direction of the greatest descent. This is the “ Vertical style.” 
Lehmann (1783) proposed that the scale of shade should'correspond to the 
degree of declivity, and that the map should be supposed to be illuminated 
vertically. His principles have met with very general acceptance, and it 


33 


Maps and Map Reading 

is now admitted that only a combination of contours (preferably printed in 
a colour different from that of the hill shading) with hatchings, can yield 
a satisfactory representation of the features of the ground. There are, 
however, cases in which an oblique -illumination may yield better results,, 
and washes of Indian ink or tints may be substituted for the hatchings. 
The colour-printed Ordnance Survey maps illustrate both methods. 

Another method for bringing out the vertical structure of a country in 
its general features, is that of tinting the intervals between the contours, 
thus producing a “ strata map.” Where the number of these “ strata ” is 
limited the same tint may be employed throughout, its depth increasing 
with the altitude, but where the features to be shown are more complicated 
it may become necessary to employ various colours, and upon their judi- 
cious selection must depend the beauty and expressiveness of the map. 

The Orthography of Geographical Names. — Care should be 
taken that the orthography of geographical names should enable the reader 
of a map to pronounce them with at least approximate correctness. The 
rules laid down by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society 
should therefore be adhered to as far as possible. They are exceedingly 
simple. Names in countries using Roman letters are to be retained as 
spelt by the respective nations, as are also names in other languages which 
by long usage have become familiar to English readers. All other names, 
however, are to be spelt phonetically, as pronounced on the spot. The 
vowels are to be sounded as in Italian, the consonants as in English, and 
no redundant letters are to be introduced . 1 The diphthong ai is to be pro- 
nounced as in aisle ; au as ow in how ; aw as in law. Ch is always to be 
sounded as in church ; g is always hard ; y always represents a consonant ; 
w r hilst kh and gh stand for gutturals. One accent only is to be used, the 
acute, to denote the syllable on which stress is laid. It is obvious that in 
numerous instances these rules must prove altogether inadequate when 
attempting to express the sounds of a foreign language. The admission of 
additional diacritical marks such as " and to express quantity, and the 
diaeresis, as on ai, to express consecutive vowels, which are to be pronounced 
separately, would prove of service, but in all cases where greater precision 
is aimed at, recourse must be had to such an alphabet as that of Lepsius, 
or to an alphabet specially adapted to the language the sounds of which 
it is proposed to reproduce. 

The Board of Geographic names in the United States acts upon rules 
practically identical with those indicated above, and compiles an official list 
of place names, the use of which is binding on Government departments. 

Maps for Special Purposes. — These are most varied in their con- 
tents. The most ancient among them are route maps — the Itineraria pida 
of the Romans — and marine charts ; the most recent are maps illustrating 
the physical geography of the globe. 

1 Yet the rules say that all vowels are shortened in sound by doubling the following 
consonant. 


34 " 


The International Geography 

Charts (from charta, paper) are designed for the special use of sailors, 
.and prominence is given upon them to every feature a knowledge of which 
is requisite for safe navigation. They show more especially the depth of 
the sea, taking low water as a standard or datum level, and not the mean 
level of the sea, as is done in topographical maps. Charts, as a rule, are 
laid down on Mercator’s projection, the advantages of which to a navigator 
are pointed out on p. 23, and sometimes on the Gnomonic projection, on 
which all great circles appear as straight lines. 

Geological Maps date no further back than the latter part of the 
eighteenth century, and to the United Kingdom is due the credit of 
having been the first to organise a regular geological survey, in 1835. 
The utility of these surveys, quite apart from the scientific interest 
attached to them, is so apparent, that at the present time there is 
hardly a civilised State without its Geological Office or Department of 
Mines; nay, in parts of the United States and in some of the colonies 
geological surveys were inaugurated simultaneously with a general survey 
of the country. 

There is no department of physical geography which it has not been 
attempted to illustrate cartographically, since Athanasius Kircher, in 1665, 
published the first physical map — one illustrating ocean currents. The 
surface features of the land and configuration of the ocean-bed ; drainage 
basins ; the phenomena of the atmosphere ; the distribution of plants and 
animals ; and, in short, every form of distribution over the Earth’s sur- 
face is capable of being illustrated by means of maps. Maps showing 
roads and railways are in daily use ; others illustrating the distribution of 
the population according to density, race, language, or religion ; vital 
statistics, and every department of social or industrial life are being 
more and more appreciated. Maps have likewise proved of inestimable 
service to the student of history. 

The ingenuity of compilers has been taxed to the utmost in efforts to 
present the facts of geographical distribution in an intelligible and striking 
manner. Density of population, for instance, is generally indicated by a 
graduated tint, but two or three tints might be employed, one to cover 
those parts of the country where the density approaches the mean, the 
two other tints indicating those parts where it falls short of the mean, or 
exceeds it. This method, greatly generalised, is shown in Fig. 18. It is 
obvious that the same principle is applicable in numerous other instances, 
or where the feature mapped is the varying degree of a certain condition. 

Relief Maps. — It is claimed on behalf of maps in relief that they 
present a better portraiture of the inequalities of the ground than is pos- 
sible in the case of plane maps. This contention, however, can only be 
admitted on the understanding that the heights are not exaggerated to an 
extent which would yield a caricature instead of a picture true to nature. 
A fair amount of exaggeration may be admissible in the case of relief 
maps on a small scale, but is altogether objectionable where the scale is 


35 


Maps and Map Reading 

large. Relief maps of more extensive countries, moreover, should be 
built up on a spherical surface, or the relief loses all claim to naturalness. 1 
So-called strata reliefs, built up in steps from the strata of a contoured or 
hypsographical map, are altogether objectionable. 

Globes. — A globe is the only means of conveying a faithful idea of the 
distribution of land and water over 
the entire surface of the Earth. 

This advantage was early recognised, 
and Crates of Mallos is credited with 
having produced the first terrestrial 
globe. Globes of an early date are 
frequently referred to, but the oldest 
which have survived to our day are 
one by Behaim (1492), now at Niirn- 
berg, and the so-called Laon globe, 
now at Paris (1493). These ancient 
globes are either drawn by hand or 
engraved on metal. Globes of this 
description were naturally very ex- 
pensive, and Hylacomilus (Wald- 
seemiiller) has consequently deserved 
well of the student of geography, 
when, in 1507, he printed a map of 
the world upon gores intended to be 
pasted upon a globe, thus placing this most indispensable educational 
apparatus within the reach of all. They may now be had of all sizes and 
at a low price. The globe is not only an atlas on a uniform scale, without 
distortion, but a valuable mathematical instrument by the aid of which 
important calculations may be easily made. 



Fig. 18 . — Density of Population in 
England and Wales. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

G. G. Andre. "The Draughtsman’s Handbook of Plan and Map Drawing." London, 1874. 
Willoughby Verner. " Map Reading and Elementary Field Sketching." London, 1893. 

J. M. West. "The Elements of Military Topography ” London, 1894. 

Sir W. J. L. Wharton. “ Hydrographical Surveying.” London. New Edition, 1898 
R. S. Woodward. “ Geographical Tables.” Washington, 1894. 

F. C. Close. “ Text-book of Topographical and Geographical Surveying.” London, 1905. 

G. J. Morrison. “ Maps, Their Uses and Construction.” London, 1901. 


1 This was proposed to be done by Maestlin in a letter to Kepler (1596), by Hauber 
(1724), and apparently first acted upon by Erben, of Stuttgart, about 1850. The oldest 
relief of which I have any notice is one of Antibes (1665). 


CHAPTER IV.— THE PLAN OF THE EARTH 


By J. W. Gregory, D.Sc., F.R.S., 

Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow. 

General Resemblances, — The vast unknown interior of the Earth 
is bounded by a shell composed of two layers, the solid rocky crust, or 
“ lithosphere/' and the seas and oceans, or “ hydrosphere.” If the Earth 
has solidified from a gaseous nebula, then there may have been a stage 
when the whole lithosphere was covered by an unbroken sheet of water. 
But now, as through all the ages revealed by geology, the rocks have been 
piled up in broad masses or high mountain chains which rise above the 
level of the hydrosphere, while the waters are collected into the inter- 
mediate depressions. The geographical distribution of the exposed 
portions of the lithosphere appears, on first inspection of a map, to be 
so irregular and complicated, and the continents to differ so much in topo- 
graphic form that their arrangement appears haphazard and accidental. 
But if we ponder over a map of the world we detect a series of striking 
coincidences and of repetitions of the same essential forms. There is, for 
example, a remarkable resemblance in the general shapes of the masses of 
land and water. Thus, the greatest of the land areas, the Old World, 
consists of a vast triangle, of which the base extends from Norway to 
Bering Strait, with the apex at the Cape of Good Hope. The greatest of 
the oceans is the similar but inverted triangle of the Pacific. Again, 
the New World consists of two triangles, one contracting from the 
barren steppes of the Arctic shores to the Isthmus of Panama, and the 
other contracting from the triple Cordillera of Colombia and the high 
scarp of Venezuela to the ridge of Cape Horn. And much as the Old 
World corresponds to the Pacific, so the two Americas correspond to the 
two basins of the Atlantic, and the Arctic Sea to the Antarctic land. In the 
coast lines of the continents other points of correspondence reveal them- 
selves. The Pacific coasts are steep and high, and are formed in the main 
by mountain ranges parallel to the shores ; its Asiatic coast is hung with 
festoons of islands, and remains of similar island chains occur off its 
American coast. The Atlantic shores, on the contrary, are low and 
shelving, except where they pass round the margins of high plateaux or cut 
across mountain chains, of which the directions are rarely parallel to the 
shores. The islands are few and irregularly scattered instead of being hung 
in festoons. Moreover, both Atlantic snore lines follow the same course, 
as if moulded by the same influences ; thus the Gulf of Guinea occurs 
opposite the projection of Brazil ; the Mediterranean offset on the east 

3t> 


The Plan of the Earth 37 

corresponds to the Caribbean on the west ; the eastward recession of 
Europe is followed by the eastward advance of America. 

Geomorphological Theories, — Such resemblances have been 
repeatedly pointed out by geographers. For example, most elementary 
textbooks remark the southward tendency of peninsulas. It has, therefore, 
long been a favourite idea of geographers that the main outlines of the 
continents are not accidental, but have been determined by some undis- 
covered principle or law. A quartz crystal, with its massive form, its 
simple outline, its flat faces, and straight edges, appears to have no point 
in common with a snowflake composed of a radial cluster of delicate, 
feathery tufts. But the crystallographer recognises that the two different 
forms belong to the same crystalline system, have the same hexagonal 
symmetry, and are built on the same fundamental plan. Similarly geo- 
graphers have believed that veiled by the great variety in topographical 
details there is some underlying symmetry in continental form, the dis- 
covery of which is the main problem of geomorphology. The mediaeval 
wheel maps may be regarded as early attempts to express geomorphological 
theories, which rested on a theological basis. But it was not until the 
nineteenth century that any satisfactory beginning was made. In 1684 
Burnet, in his “ Theory of the Earth/’ had called mountain chains “ the 
backbones of the continents” ; and that idea has so long been popular that 
the effort to discover the principle governing the evolution of the continents 
naturally began with the study of the origin of mountain chains. The first 
formal theory of geomorphology, that enunciated by Elie de Beaumont in 
1852, was based on the hypothesis that mountain chains having the same 
orientation were formed at the same date by the same causes. If, there- 
fore, the age of a certain mountain chain be required, all that is necessary, 
according to Elie de Beaumont’s system, is to determine its orientation and 
compare it with a standard scale in which the directions of a considerable 
series of mountain chains are marked. This system failed as it was too 
ambitious. The effort to state a theory with mathematical precision, and 
to make it of universal application, led to exaggeration of the truth on 
which it rested. The theory was soon found to be inconsistent with 
essential facts and was discredited. But Elie de Beaumont’s effort to 
correlate Earth-movements over extensive tracts of the Earth’s surface was 
not in itself chimerical. Geological, physical, and astronomical considera- 
tions all support belief in a certain connection between some distant 
mountain chains. Thus among the mountains of Europe and western 
Asia, which trend east and west, the two that agree most closely in orien- 
tation are the Pyrenees and the Caucasus ; and as Prof. Bonney has shown, 
they agree most closely in geological structure, and were probably elevated 
at the same date. Lowthian Green has proposed a physical explanation of 
the triangular form of the land masses, and why the triangles should be 
disposed as they are. And Sir George Darwin has suggested an astronomical 
cause of the phenomena, by pointing out some coincidence between the 


38 The International Geography 

distribution of land and water with lines of strain in the Earth’s crust 
caused by some early incidents in its history. 

Relative Permanence of Continent and Ocean. — Nevertheless, 
after the overthrow of Elie de Beaumont’s system, the interest in geo- 
morphology was lessened by the influence of Lyell’s teaching ; for his 
axiom of the continual interchange of land and sea, owing to the alter- 
nate elevation and depression of the land by local independent agencies, 
threw doubt on the existence of any one steady general cause. Lyell’s 
theory received its first severe check from the diametrically opposite view 
of the permanence of the continents and ocean basins. In the oceanic 
abysses various oozes are now being deposited. Nothing exactly like 
these oozes is met with among the rocks forming the continental masses, 
except for a few patches on the rims of the ocean basins. The sediments 
which form the continents resemble those which are being deposited in 
shallow seas, in lakes and rivers, or on land. “ The vast grey level plains 
of ooze where the shell-burr’d cables creep ” of the existing ocean floors, 
have apparently never been raised above sea-level. This fact has been 
cited as conclusive proof of the permanence of the ocean basins ; but if we 
neglect deductive negative evidence and study the actual history of different 
parts of the Earth, we find that the conceptions of continuous oscillation 
and of prolonged immutability are both true in part. Some land areas 
have been permanent from a very early period of geological history ; others 
have been subject to alternate movements of elevation and depression, 
accompanied by the contortion and crumpling of the beds. Thus, on the 
one hand, the great block of Scandinavia, Lapland, and Finland, the central 
highlands of Brazil, the plateau of Labrador, the peninsular area of India, 
the meseta or central plateau of Spain, are each composed of extremely 
ancient rocks ; their margins have been repeatedly washed by the sea, but 
they themselves have never been below sea-level. On the other hand, the 
British Isles, Portugal, the Atlantic States of America, Japan, and northern 
India have been repeatedly submerged beneath the sea. The test of actual 
inspection cannot be applied to the ocean floors, but the submarine parts 
of the lithosphere are probably subject to the same movements as the 
areas now above sea-level. Strong support to this view is given by palaeon- 
tology, one aspect of which becomes meaningless, if we believe that the 
land masses have always been separated by the existing ocean barriers.. 
Hence it is now widely thought that the view that every part of the ocean 
floor now below the depth of a thousand fathoms has always been below 
sea-level, is as exaggerated as the old Lyellian doctrine. But it was a most 
useful protest, for with the limitation of Lvellism, geomorphology advanced 
again. In a brilliant address to the British Association in 1892, Professor 
Lapworth described the continents as arches formed by vast Earth-folds, 
while the ocean basins are the sunken troughs between the raised continental 
arches. Lapworth’s fold theory has not, however, yet been stated at length, 
and Suess’s great work on the face of the Earth (“ Das Antlitz der Erde ”) 


The Plan of the Earth 39 

remains the only modern attempt to describe the physical geography of 
the world in accordance with a definite system of geomorphology. 

To understand Suess’s views, we must comprehend the nature of the 
movements which affect the level of the Earth’s crust. According to the 
Lyellian school the Earth is undergoing continual oscillation, areas sinking 
or rising either as wide, continental masses, or by the contortion of belts 
into mountain chains. This interchange was attributed to variations in the 
height of the land and not to changes in the level of the sea. Thus in 
northern Scandinavia the sea has been receding, while in the southern part 
of that country it has been encroaching on the land. According to Lyell 
this was because the ground was rising in the north and sinking in the 
south. Round the British coasts there are raised beaches in some places, 
and submerged forests in others, facts which were similarly explained by 
the assumption of differential movements in the land. But the phenomena 
can be equally well explained by variations in the level of the sea. The 
sea-level is not a fixed, definite level. The old maxim that “ water will find 
its own level ” may be true within the narrow range of a set of water-pipes, 
but the water of the sea knows no level. Water in a glass is raised around 
the margin owing to the capillary attraction of the sides. In the ocean 
basins the waters are heaped up against the continents by the gravitational 
attraction of the land, and they are thus depressed in the middle. In the 
case of land-locked seas the theoretical water-level is disturbed by the 
action of winds and currents, just as the water in a lock is heaped up 
against the sides when a strong current flows into it. Again, the amount 
of water on the Earth is limited, so that if the depth of the oceans increases 
their area must lessen. Taking the mean depth of the Pacific Ocean at 
13,000 feet, if its floor were to sink until the mean depth is 1,000 feet 
greater, then the sea-level throughout the globe would be nearly 500 feet 
lower ; the land would appear to have risen to that extent without the 
slightest actual movement of its own. 

Suess’s Theory of Changes in Sea-level. — Such variations in 
sea-level are not only possible but probable, and there is some strong geo- 
logical evidence of their occurrence. On the western shore of Calabria 
there are some old beach lines which rest in one place on the face of a 
cliff of Miocene limestone, in another traverse a spur of the Appennines, 
elsewhere lie on the Archaean schists of the Peloritani, and on the recent 
volcanic tuffs of Etna. The old beach lines, however, maintain their horizon- 
tality throughout. Western Scotland furnishes a similar illustration, for a 
sea beach there, at the height of 100 feet above the sea, lies on rocks of 
different ages and hardness, and it crosses undisturbed great faults and 
dislocations. Suess holds that it is physically impossible for such complex 
areas and rock masses to be upraised without any relative displacement of 
the different parts. Hence he argues that where we find broad tracts of 
raised marine deposits maintaining their original horizontality, we must 
attribute their position to movements of the hydrosphere instead of to those 


40 


The International Geography 

of the lithosphere. This contention is essential to Suess’s theory of geo- 
morphology. The subsidence of wide areas and the elevation of narrow 
bands can both be explained by the radial contraction of the globe. But 
that agency will not account for the undisturbed elevation of extensive 
areas. If such elevations do occur, then there must be some other factor 
at work, and we cannot hope for any complete theory of geomorphology 
until the nature of this unknown cause be discovered. But if there be no 
such movements then we know already an adequate cause for all the 
movements in the Earth’s crust. 

Suess’s theory, then, is simply that the movements of the lithosphere 
may be divided into two groups — (i) The subsidence of wide areas where, 
owing to the contraction of the Earth’s interior, the crust is left without 
support ; (2) the folding and contortion of rocks along certain lines whereby 
the rigid crust is able to contract into a smaller space. Between the fold- 
lines, and beside the sunken lands, crust-blocks stand up like the piers of 
a bridge of which the arch has fallen in. Suess’s great contribution to geo- 
morphology is, that he has 
shown that the existing 
structure of the world can 
be explained by these two 
sets of movements. Each 
of the continents consists 
of lines of fold-mountains, 
or blocks of strata which 
have been left standing 
above the level of the 
ocean basins formed by 
subsidence. 

The Structure of America, — The two Americas show this arrange- 
ment most typically. Both of them are bounded to the west by a long 
mountain chain ; both of them have an eastern border of fold-mountains, 
such as the Alleghanies and the Sierra do Paranao. The north-eastern 
corner of each is formed of a block of Archaean rocks, neither of which 
has apparently sunk below sea-level since the earliest days of geological 
history. In both continents a vast basin occurs between the bounding 
lines of fold-mountains. And the geological history of the two Americas 
has been aptly summarised as the history of the gradual filling up of two 
great gulfs which occurred between the eastern and western ridges. 

The Structure of the Old World, — The structure of the Old 
World is less simple, for the land is broader and more complex. Its main 
fold-line runs from east to west instead of from north to south. It is usual 
to associate Europe and Asia as the continent of Eurasia, to which the 
part of Africa north of the Sahara is added on biological grounds. But 
from the standpoint of geomorphology we cannot separate central and 
southern Africa, unless we also exclude the peninsular area of India. The 



The Plan of the Earth 


4i 


great land mass of the Old World is divided into two by a belt of fold- 
mountains which runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The southern 
margin of this belt follows the Atlas Mountains, crosses Tunisia, and passes 
north of Malta and south of the Greek Archipelago ; it continues east 
along the Taurus, bends northward beside the Persian Gulf, and continues 
its former direction past Baluchistan and the northern foot-hills of the 
Himalaya ; then it runs south again across Burma and the Malay Peninsula, 
and turning eastward once more crosses the Malay Archipelago, until it 
sinks below the Pacific. This line divides two regions which have quite 
different geological structures. South of it is a series of table-lands of 
great geological stability and antiquity. North of it is a vast tract in which 
the rocks are mostly horizontal or gently inclined, and only violently 
contorted along the lines of the great mountain chains, the directions of 
which are moulded by blocks of old rocks, such as the Central Plateau of 
France, the Alpine Foreland in South Germany, and the massif of Bohemia. 
A series of subsidences along the southern margin of the northern divi- 
sion has formed the basin of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Persian 
Gulf, and the Indo-Gangetic plain ; and this series appears to be a direct 
continuation of the Caribbean depression which separates North and 
South America. 

The Origin of the Oceans. — So far for the structure of the conti- 
nents. Their shapes are necessarily determined by the surrounding oceans, 
concerning the history of which direct geological evidence is scanty. 
Occasional islands tell us a little, and a little more may be inferred from the 
trend of the rocks and mountains on the continental margins, and from the 
arrangement of the suboceanic ridges. The subject is speculative and con- 
troversial ; but it seems to be generally agreed — by geologists at least — that 
the ocean basins have been formed by subsidences at different ages. Thus 
the Atlantic Ocean may date from middle Cainozoic times. According to Suess 
the Atlantic Ocean results from the gradual enlargement of two gulfs which 
projected north and south from the old Mediterranean Sea that extended 
from Central America to the Levant. The Arctic Sea may have been 
formed at the same period. The Indian Ocean is probably older. It appears 
to have originated by the subsidence of the section of Gondwanaland that 
united India and Africa, of which the Archaean rocks of the Seychelles and 
Mauritius are remnants. The Pacific Ocean may have undergone great 
changes later than the other oceans. It has certainly encroached upon 
Australia by the subsidence of the submerged portion of the Melanesian 
platform, which extended northward and eastward from Australia as far as 
New 7 Guinea, New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, and probably New 
Zealand. Beyond this crescentic line of continental islands are the oceanic 
islets of Micronesia and Polynesia, which range through more than ioo° 
of longtitude. According to Darwin’s theory of coral islands these chains 
mark the site of a sunken land. The Patagonian platform projects from 
South America to meet the southern island chain, and some indications 


42 The International Geography 

of a former land connection along this line are given by the evidence 
of zoological distribution. In the North Pacific the evidence is more 
scanty. The island festoons off the coasts of Asia and America, and the 
transverse ridges that run east and west across Central America indicate a 
former seaward extension of the land. But, unless the series of islands 
from Hawaii to the Tonga group represents a line of movement, all the 
evidence in the north central Pacific has been lost. 

The Test of a Geomorphological Theory. — This rapid survey 
indicates the nature of the evidence, which shows that the structure of both 
the oceans and continents is consistent with the hypothesis that their 
distribution has been determined by the subsidence of some regions in 
consequence of the withdrawal of underground support, and by the eleva- 
tion of certain lines by the compression of the hard crust into a smaller 
space. Both movements would result from the radial contraction of the 
globe during cooling, but unless this cause will also explain the distribution 
of these two types of Earth-movements, it will not give us an adequate 
theory of geomorphology 

The three fundamental facts of distribution which any theory must 
explain are the antipodal position of the continents and oceans, their trian- 
gular shape, and the excess of water in the southern hemisphere. Elie de 
Beaumont’s theory gave no answer to any of these questions ; but it led to 
another geometrical theory which does. Elie de Beaumont attached too 
much importance to linear symmetry. He assumed that the Earth is a 
spheroid built up on a rhombic dodecahedron, which is a symmetrical body 
enclosed by twenty-four equal pentagons. Every face of a rhombic 
dodecahedron is opposite to a similar parallel face. Antipodal areas are 
similar. But on the Earth antipodal areas are dissimilar, for a land area at one 
end of an axis is always balanced by an oceanic area at the other end of the 
axis. In fact, in crystallographic language, the lithosphere may be described 
as hemihedral, not holohedral. Moreover, if we could cover two-thirds of the 
rhombic dodecahedron with a fluid held on to it by attraction from the 
centre of the body, just as the waters of the ocean are held on to the 
Earth by gravity, there is no reason why an excess of the fluid should 
collect on one half. 

The Tetrahedral Theory of the Earth. — Lowthian Green pro- 
posed what is known as the “ tetrahedral theory,” which regards the 
globe as based on a form which satisfies the requirements of the case better 
than a dodecahedron. The body which encloses the greatest volume 
for a given surface is the sphere. The regular body which contains the 
smallest volume for a given surface is the tetrahedron, which is enclosed 
by four equal equilateral triangles. Hence every hard-shelled sphere which 
is diminishing in size owing to internal contraction, is constantly tending to 
become tetrahedral in form. In the case of the Earth various circumstances 
such as its rotation, and the attraction of the moon, render such a form 
impossible. But if we replace the flat faces of the tetrahedron bv convex 


The Plan of the Earth 


43 


faces, we get a body which approximates to a spheroid ; and by varying the 
curvature of the faces this puffed out tetrahedron may pass into the condi- 
tion of a spheroid and then become truly spherical. Conversely, if a hollow 
sphere composed of an elastic shell be gradually exhausted of air, the 
external pressure will force in the four faces and gradually make it tetrahe- 
dral. The tetrahedral theory regards the world not as 
an angular tetrahedron, but as a spheroid which has 
been subjected to this tetrahedral flattening to an ex- 
tent inappreciable by direct measurements, but in- 
directly recognisable owing to its influence on the 
distribution of land and water. As the flattened faces 
are nearer the Earth’s centre of gravity, the water will 
collect upon them. The ratio of the areas of land to 
that of water on the globe is as 2 to 5. If on a model of a tetrahedron we 
colour the five-sevenths of the surface that is nearest the centre, the 
coloured area will indicate where the water would accumulate on a 
stationary tetrahedron. Mount the tetrahedron with one of the four points 
pointing downward, when one face will be horizontal 
at the top ; on that upper face there will be a central 
coloured area in the position of the Arctic Sea. It 
will be surrounded by a land belt, from which three 
projections will run southward down the vertical 
edges from the three upper angles. These south- 
ward land areas will each taper gradually to a point, 
beyond which there will be a continuous belt of water fig. 21. — Tetrahedron 
surrounding a south polar land. That is to say, that Wlth curved faces. 
on the model the general plan of the arrangement of land and water 
is identical with its actual distribution on the globe ; for the geographical 
units are subtriangular with the land triangles pointing to the south ; 
land and water are antipodal ; and there is a great excess of water in the 
southern, and of land in the northern hemispheres. 

The agreement between the facts of geography 
and the tetrahedral theory goes further. The four 
faces of a tetrahedron meet along six edges, and if 
the Earth be subject to tetrahedral strain, these six 
edges should be represented on the Earth by lines of 
weakness. The lines of weakness would be marked 
by lines of crumpling, i.e., by ranges of fold-moun- 
tains. The question therefore rises, does the main 
fold-mountain system of the world bear any relation 
to the traces of a set of tetrahedral edges ? 

Terrestrial Symmetry. — If an observer were to look down on the 
Earth from the direction of the Pole Star, he would discern a central sea 
surrounded by a ring of land, broken only by the shallow Faroe Channel, 
Smith South, and Bering Strait. The northern face of the world consists of a 



Fig. 22. — The edges of 
the tetrahedral Earth. 




Fig. 20. — Tetrahedron. 


44 The International Geography 


cone of land of which the apex has fallen in ; if this northern land-cap were 
to sink still further, its margin would be thrust out in all directions. Now 
Suess has shown that the whole continent of Eurasia, as geologically defined 
is bounded to the south by a chain of fold-mountains formed by lateral 
thrusts from the north. In Eurasia the predominant mountain chains run 
east and west, parallel in fact to the edges that bound the upper face of the 
tetrahedron. South of Eurasia the predominant mountain chains, rock- 
foliation and strikes run north and south, parallel again to the tetrahedral 
edges that run vertically from the tetrahedral “equator ” to its south pole, 
hence there is a general agreement between the position of the fold-moun- 
tains and the lines of tetrahedral strain. 



FlG. 2 3 . — Symmetry of the land round the North Pole. 


The agreement, however, is not absolute. For example, one of the 
points which, according to Green, should be a land centre, falls in the 
Pacific near the Ladrone Islands. But if Darwin’s theory of coral islands 
be true, then that area was once continental, and has only become oceanic 
by subsidence in Cainozoic times. Again, Africa lies so well along one of the 
three vertical edges of the tetrahedron, that South America might be expected 
to occur on the next similar edge to the west ; but South America actually 
is 20 0 too far to the east. Green remarked the discrepancy, and explained 
it by invoking an eastward torsion of the southern hemisphere, due to its 
tendency to increase its rate of revolution owing to its decrease in diameter 



The Plan of the Earth 


45 


But the geological evidence suggests another explanation. The western 
coast of Patagonia is formed by a belt of Archaean rocks, which disappear 
eastward under the Cainozoic sediments, the islands of Chilean Patagonia 
also consist of Archaean rocks, which may extend westward as the basis of 
the great submarine Patagonian platform. And just as the Indian peninsula 
is regarded as the remnant of a continent of which the western part has 
been lost by subsidence, so the Patagonian peninsula may be regarded as 
the eastern remnant of a sunken land, the position of which would agree 
with the theoretical scheme. 

But we have no right to expect in our old and wrinkled world that 
the lands should be arranged with geometrical regularity. The litho- 
sphere varies in composition ; certain regions consolidated at a very early 
period into great impassive blocks, which have forced the later foldings to 
diverge from the course they might have followed in a homogeneous 
crust. Further, there is nothing in the tetrahedral theory inconsistent with 
some variation in the position of the tetrahedral axes ; hence, during the 
gradual shrinkage of the globe, there may have been considerable variation 
in the position of the lines of strain. “ The physiognomy of the globe,” 
says Lapworth, “ is an unerring index of the solid personality beneath.” 
The present physiognomy, however, is not an index of the full life history 
of the continents. The features of past ages must be inferred from the 
physiognomical fragments of the ages that remain to us. We cannot infer 
from the existing distribution of land and sea how that distribution has 
been produced. The problem is so complex and the facts so uncertain, 
that the historical method of inquiry is safer than the deductive method. 
A knowledge of the distribution of land and sea at various epochs in the 
world's history appears to be the only sure basis on which to rest a system 
of geomorphology. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

E. Suess. “ Das Antlitz der Erde.” 3 vols. Leipzig, 1885, 1888. 

“ La Face de la Terre.” Edited by E. de Margerie. Paris. 

— “ The Face of the Earth.” Edited by Hertha Sollas. Oxford, 1904, 1906. 

Lowthian Green. “Vestiges of the Molten Globe.” London, 1875. 

Elie de Beaumont. “ Notice sur les Systemes des Montagnes.” Paris, 1852. 

J. W. Gregory. “ The Plan of the Earth,” in Geographical J our nal, vol. xiii. p. 225 (1899). 

F. von Richthofen. “ Fiihrer fur Forschungsreisende.” Berlin, 1886. 

A. Supan. “ Grundziige der Physischen Erdkunde.” Leipzig, 1896. 

C. de Mello. “ Les lois de la Geographic.” Berlin, 1902. 

E. Mellard Reade. “The Evolution of Earth-structure.” London, 1903. 


CHAPTER V.— LAND FORMS: THEIR NATURE 

AND ORIGIN 


By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc. 

Vertical Relief of the Earth’s Crust. — Although, as has been 
explained in the description of the plan of the Earth, which dealt with 
the grand features of the crust, the geoid, or form of the actual surface of the 
ocean, is distorted from the true figure of the Earth, it is yet the only practical 
zero-surface from which heights and depths on the Earth’s surface can be 
measured. Until the amount of the distortion of sea-level at different places 
is found, it is impossible to compare exactly the heights of distant continents 
or the depths of different parts of the oceans. The uncertainty probably 
amounts to some hundred feet in the most careful measurements. A com- 
paratively small number of points of the ocean bed have as yet had their 
depth below actual sea-level ascertained, and only a few of the civilised 
countries have had the configuration of their whole surface determined by 
levelling. The large relations of vertical relief can therefore only be roughly 
estimated by making certain assumptions as to the unmeasured and unex- 
plored regions. Such calculations have been made by several physical 
geographers, the latest and most elaborate being those of Professor Wag- 
ner of Gottingen. According to his results the mean level of the solid 
sphere is 7,500 feet below actual sea-level ; but since his calculations 
were made the discovery of the great depth of the Arctic Sea and some 
very deep soundings in the Pacific and Southern Oceans show that the 
dividing line between the elevated and depressed regions of the crust 
must be drawn at a lower level, although probably not so deep as 10,000 
feet, the depth which I estimated from Sir John Murray’s earlier work. In 
Professor Wagner’s hypsographic curve here reproduced in a simplified 
form (Fig. 24), the results of his calculations are shown graphically. The 
vertical lines in the diagram represent areas of the Earth’s surface in 
percentages, the horizontal lines show depths beneath and heights above 
sea-level in feet, and the curve thus gives at a glance the extent of the 
surface lying between any limits of vertical distance. 

Divisions of the Earth’s Crust. — Sir John Murray distinguished 
three areas of the lithosphere — (1) the Abysmal Area , a vast and relatively 
uniform depression covering nearly half the surface of the Earth, mainly 
in the southern hemisphere ; (2) a Transitional Area occupying less than 
a quarter of the surface and sloping up to (3) the Continental Area , which 

46 


Land Forms 


47 


extends over rather more than a quarter of the surface, mainly in the 
northern hemisphere. Professor Wagner, however, distinguishes the five 
divisions shown in the diagram — (i) the Depressed Area occupying 3 per 
cent, of the Earth's surface and comprising all the oceanic depths from 
the greatest (the deepest spot known in the ocean is 31,610 feet or 5,269 
fathoms) to 16,400 feet or 2,733 fathoms below sea-level ; (2) the Oceanic 
Plateau , the vast undulating expanse from the depth of 16,400 feet up to 
7,500 feet, the mean level of the surface of the lithosphere, and covering 
54 per cent, of the surface of the Earth ; (3) the Continental Slope reaching 
thence to the edge of the Continental Shelf, or 660 feet below actual sea- 
level, and occupying 9 per cent, of the surface ; (4) the Con- 
tinental Plateau from the edge of the Continental Shelf to an 
altitude of 3,300 feet, or 28 per cent, of the surface ; and (5) the 
Culminating Area comprising the 6 per cent, of surface above 
3,300 feet. The Oceanic Plateau, although more gentle in the 
outline of its forms than the other divisions of the lithosphere, 
| is by no means featureless. There are many broad rises which 
subdivide the oceanic depths without approaching the surface, 


Feet 
30000 , 

25000 1 


20000 


15000 


10000 


z 

o 


_ Mw/jerri of the physical globe §50 feet 

Actual Sla Lcysl ■■ o 



Fid. 24 . — The Hypsographic Curve. Adapted from that of Professor Hermann Wagner. 


but frequently forming the foundations whence more abrupt eminences 
tower upwards into islands ; and in some places these abrupt heights rise 
even from the deeper parts of the ocean bed. 

The Continental Plateau may be conveniently subdivided into the 
Continental Shelf, Depressed Lands, Lowlands, Uplands and Highlands 
which merge in the Culminating Area. The Continental Shelf slopes very 
gently from the coast down to about ioo fathoms or 200 metres (600 or 
660 feet). In some places, such as the west coast of South America 


4.8 The International Geography 

or of Africa, it is only a few miles wide ; but in others, e.g., off 
north-western Europe and south-eastern South America, it stretches 
for several hundred miles from land. It unites all the large continental 
islands to their nearest continent, with the exception of Madagascar, 
New Zealand, and Celebes. Sailors speak of this zone of shallow sea 
as “in soundings,” because it is always possible to use a hand-lead for 
finding depths less than ioo fathoms; and its boundary is a matter 
of importance, since a vessel “ out of soundings ” is usually free from 
the risk of running on shore. Depressed Lands, which lie below sea- 
level, are of very small extent, occurring only in the Dead Sea rift-valley, 
the subsiding delta of Holland, and some dried lake beds in the deserts of 
Asia, Africa, and North America. The contour line of 660 feet (200 
metres), which corresponds to the mean surface of the actual globe (litho- 
sphere and hydrosphere combined), may appropriately be taken as the 
upper limit of the Lowlands. It is interesting that the present position 
of sea-level is almost midway between the outer edge of the shallow 
Continental Shelf, say 600 feet below sea-level, and the inner edge of the 
lowlands, say 600 feet above sea-level, a total area of 22,000,000 square 
miles, and the flattest part of the Earth’s surface of equal extent except 
the floor of the Oceanic Plateau. For Uplands the upper limit 2,000 feet, 
nearly corresponding to the average elevation of the whole land of the 
globe, may be assigned ; while all above that elevation may be called 
Highlands. 

Classification of Land Forms. — The grandest contrast in the 
relief of the crust is that between the vast sunk plains of the ocean floors 
and the elevated surface of the continental world-ridges. The primary 
practical division is, of course, that into land and water ; with subdivisions 
into oceans, seas, incurves, gulfs, and lakes for the water ; and for the 
land on strictly similar lines into continents, outcurves, peninsulas, and 
islands. The land may indeed be viewed as entirely composed of islands, 
for every continent is either an island or part of one ; but the distinction 
between continent and island or peninsula, though one of rank only, is 
convenient because continents possess a distinctive individuality not 
shared by smaller islands, and there is no more risk of confusion of ideas 
than is involved by the classification of the strength of a regiment into 
officers and men. 

From the geographical point of view land-forms are best considered, 
in their larger aspects at least, from the point of view of form alone 
without reference to their geological history. No definite system of classi- 
fication has yet been generally adopted ; but the need of arriving at a 
common understanding on the subject is recognised by the geographers 
of all nations, and tentative schemes have been put forward by Professor 
Penck and others. The following attempt to describe some of the more 
important kinds of land-forms is neither complete nor altogether con- 
sistent ; but it may help the student to understand the descriptions of 


Land Forms 49 

countries in Part II. It may also form a basis for criticism and fuller 
discussion. 

The simplest form-elements are the plain, hollow, cliff, mountain, hill, 
and valley. The Plain is a nearly level or gently sloping expanse, which 
may be a sunk plain if depressed below sea-level, a low plain if on the 
lowlands, an upland plain in the uplands, or a high plain if it occurs in the 
highlands. A plateau or tableland is strictly an upland or high plain which 
is bounded on all sides by a more or less abrupt descent to lower ground, 
or perhaps bordered in part by mountain ranges which are low in com- 
parison with its breadth. An extensive plateau may be crossed by moun- 
tain ranges or deep valleys ; but a highland composed of mountains and 
valleys alone has no right to the name of plateau. The Pamirs, for example, 
do not form a tableland, but only a lofty and diversified highland for 
which a specific name might well be devised. 

The Hollow is a land-form which is bounded entirely, or nearly so, by 
higher land. When its floor is flat it is often called a hill-girdled plain ; 
when more typically it slopes towards the centre it is appropriately termed 
a basin, or if amongst mountains an intermont basin. If the word basin 
were not also loosely used for the whole drainage area of a river system it 
might be adopted for this land-form alone, and it is used in this sense by 
many authors. Perfect hollows of dry land can only occur in arid regions, 
where they frequently contain salt-lakes or beds of salt. In moist climates 
they are necessarily occupied by lakes, although incomplete hollows are 
usually drained by a river. 

The Cliff or Scarp is a belt of extremely steep slope, usually marking 
the edge of the sea, one bank of a river or the sides of a gorge. A 
scarp may break the continuity of a plain, separating one nearly level 
expanse from another at a higher level. The term escarpment is applied 
to the relatively steep slope which follows the line of strike of the strata. 

Mountains and Hills are to be distinguished by height alone, yet no 
definition of a hill has ever been more satisfactory than “ an elevation 
lower than a mountain,” while a mountain can only be termed “ an eleva- 
tion higher than a hill.” It may, however, be conceded that mountains are 
confined to the highlands over 2,000 feet in elevation, while hills may occur 
also in lowlands or uplands. Mere elevation of a summit above sea-level is 
not enough to constitute a mountain ; an eminence rising 300 feet above 
one of the vast level plains of Tibet can only be called a hill, although its 
summit may exceed 16,000 feet above the sea. A mountain system like 
the Alps or Andes, although forming a broad region, is easily recognised 
as consisting of mountain ranges. German geographers distinguish 
between low, middle, and high mountains, but the English language 
renders such a division cumbrous in use. Peaks are usually the culmina- 
ting points on the crest of a mountain range, but occasionally, especially 
in the case of volcanoes, a great summit may rise directly from a plain. 
Parallel mountain ranges often enclose between them intermont basins of 


50 The International Geography 

considerable extent and at a high elevation, or even, as in the case of 
Tibet, extensive tablelands. 

The Valley is perhaps the most varied of all land-forms. A valley may 
be viewed as limited by the meeting lines of slopes. 1 The meeting line 
of two diverging slopes is a watershed or water-parting or divide, and such 
a line marks off the valley of a river, viewed in its largest sense, from those 
of its neighbours. The valley, in a narrower sense, may be marked by the 
lines separating gentle from more abrupt slopes. The meeting place of 
two converging slopes is a Thalweg, valley-line, or stream-line, usually 
marking the central line of a river bed. The walls or sides of a valley 
may be abrupt as in a gorge or gently inclined like the imperceptible 
slopes bordering a great river before the commencement of its flood-plain. 
The whole space between the outer watersheds limiting the region draining 
into a single river is called the drainage-area of that river. Transverse valleys, 
better termed defiles, completely traverse a mass of high ground from the 
plain on one side to the plain on the other. The name of longitudinal 
valleys is given to the long hollows between two parallel mountain ranges ; 
while the shorter valleys which furrow the sides of the mountains are called 
lateral. Two lateral valleys meeting on the crest of a range form a col or 
pass by vyhich the range may be crossed. No geographical features are 
more important in determining the lines of traffic across mountainous 
regions than transverse and lateral valleys with their connecting passes. 
The head of a valley on a mountain side may take the form of a 
rounded recess amongst the rocks termed a corry or cirque, the cliffs 
surrounding which often rise extremely steeply. The lower ends of river 
valleys on the coast when “ drowned ” or submerged, form inlets of the 
sea of various kinds. In this way lowland valleys give rise to estuaries, 
firths, or bays ; upland or highland valleys form inlets which are known as 
rias when the depth diminishes gradually from the mouth towards the 
head, and as fjords or sea-lochs, when a bar shallows the water at the 
mouth, thereby separating a considerable depth inside from the deep 
water outside. 

In this rapid summary of the chief form-elements of the land reference 
has been made to their form only ; but while it is the form that mainly 
controls the distribution of climate, vegetation, animal life and human 
activity on the Earth’s surface, the origin of the various forms has 
important bearings, and often allows a more helpful method of classifi- 
cation to be adopted. 

Materials of the Earth’s Crust. — The study of the material 
composing the lithosphere and the changes it has undergone in the past is 
the special subject of the science of geology ; and while we do not 
concern ourselves here with the methods or controversies of geologists, 

1 It might perhaps be permissible to include the slope as a distinct land-form, but where 
a gentle slope is found it may be viewed as an inclined plain ; and a steep slope forms 
part of either a mountain, hill, scarp, or valley. 


Land Forms 


5 1 


'Geological formations. some of their results are necessary in 

order to make geography — the description 
of the actual surface of the Earth — in- 
telligible. The rocks of which the primi- 
tive crust of the Earth was composed must 
have been subject to the disintegrating 
effects of weather as soon as they were 
elevated above the level of the sea. The 
material worn off them must have accumu- 
lated on shores or on land-slopes, and in 
time become itself consolidated into new 
kinds of rock, which were elevated and 
worn away in their turn to give rise to 
fresh sediments, and so on for incalculable 
ages. Before the appearance of life on 
the globe there was no clue as to the rela- 
tive age of rocks except superposition ; 
but since that era most sedimentary for- 
mations contain distinctive fossils which 
enable rocks of approximately the same 
age to be recognised in distant places, and 
so make possible a fairly complete classifi- 
cation. The whole series of sedimentary 
rocks is nowhere found, but large portions 
of different parts occur in several places, 
and allow the order of the whole to be 
ascertained. 

Order of the Rocks. — The most 
ancient sedimentary rocks known contain 
no traces of life ; they are of a crystalline 
texture, and often foliated or crumpled in 
consequence of subsequent change, the 
process of change being termed meta- 
morphism. The series is known as 
Archcean on account of its great antiquity ; 
gneiss and schist are typical represen- 
tatives. 

The sedimentary rocks containing 
fossils are divided into four great groups, 
according to age, known as Palczozoic 
(old life) or Primary, Mesozoic (middle life) 
or Secondary , Cainozoic (modern life) in- 
cluding Tertiary, and Quaternary or Post- 
Tertiary. The physical character of the 
rocks does not differ so much as their varying age might lead one to expect, 
6 


Quaternary. 

Recent. 

(Alluvium.) 

Pleistocene. 

(Diluvium.) 


Tertiary. 

Pliocene. 

Miocene. 

(Molasse.) 

Oligocene. 

Eocene. 

(Flysch.) 


Mesozoic. 

Cretaceous. 

Chalk. 

Upper Greensand. 
Gault. 

Lower Greensand. 
Wealden. 

Jurassic. 

Oolite. 

Lias. 

Triassic. 

Rhaetic. 

Keuper. 

Muschelkalk. 

Bunter. 


Palaeozoic. 

Permian. 

Magnesian Limestone. 

Carboniferous. 

Coal Measures. 

Millstone Grit. 
Carboniferous Limestone. 
Devonian or \ 

Old Red Sandstone- ' 
Silurian. 

Ordovician. 

Cambrian. 


Archaean. 


52 


The International Geography 


but in a very general way the Primary rocks are the hardest and most 
durable, the Secondary are less compact, the Tertiary still more friable, and 
the Quaternary usually consist of incoherent sands, gravels and clays. Yet 
very hard rocks may occur even in the youngest formations. The great 
groups are subdivided into formations which consist of different sets of 
strata, to each of which a special name has been applied. The table on 
p. 51 shows the position of all the chief and some of the local formations 
mentioned in this volume, but it is not to be taken as representing the 
views of any one geologist ; it attempts to generalise the facts which most 
geologists agree in accepting. 

Primary rocks are of peculiar importance on account of their great 
wealth in valuable minerals. The quartz veins associated with the Cam- 
brian and Silurian strata are rich in gold and the ores of other metals ; but 
the Coal Measures of the Carboniferous system are economically the most 
important. Coal is also found in more recent rocks, but the best coal, which 
occurs in the great fields of western Europe, the greater fields of eastern 


America, and the greatest fields of all in China, is of Carboniferous age. 
The association of iron-ore, limestone for supplying a flux, and highly 
refractory sandstone suitable for lining furnaces enables the manufacture 
of iron usually to accompany the mining of Carboniferous coal. Generally 
speaking the surface forms of a country underlain by the more recent rocks 
are less rugged, and in temperate climates the soil is more fertile than that 
of ancient strata ; but the type of scenery depends less on the age of the 
formation than on the nature of its rocks. Amongst the rock-types com- 
mon to all formations which determine scenery, it is sufficient to mention 
limestones (which may be metamorphosed into marble), conglomerates and 
breccias— the pebbly or angular fragments of which are often cemented by 
limestone ; sandstones, which may be fine or coarse in grain, compact 
or friable, and may be metamorphosed into quartzite ; and clays (some 



soft like mud, others stiff or set with stones) which may be metamorphosed 
into shale or slate . Every one of these rocks produces a distinct variety of 
scenery, recognisable by the practised eye. 

In addition to the sedimentary and metamorphic formations account 

must be taken of igneous rocks, the origin 
of which may range in time from the pre- 
Archasan period down to the present day. 
They are of two classes, Plutonic which 
Fig. 25. — Diagrammatic section of an have solidified from fusion under the pres- 

sure of other rock s in the form of masses, 
dykes or intrusive sheets, of which granite 
and some basalts are examples, and Volcanic which have poured out on the 
surface and solidified in the air or under water. Igneous rocks give great 
variety and character to a landscape, especially when they occur among 
sedimentary strata, and the features they produce are usually of great 
geographical significance. For instance, the old volcanic necks which 


Land Form 


53 



project as steep rocks above the level surface of a plain furnished natural 
sites for ancient fortresses, and mediaeval castles which ultimately formed 
the nucleus of modern towns. 

Features due to Crustal Movements. — The crust of the Earth is 
subject to movements of various kinds which result in elevations or de- 
pressions of the surface as explained in Chapter IV. Where the crust is 

crumpled into a series of folds, moun- 
tain chains of great height are ridged 
up, characterised by a succession of 
lofty ridges separated by deep parallel 

range of fold-mountains before erosion (longitudinal) valleys. The arch of the 

has set in, showing successive anti - folded strata is called in geological 

clines and synclines. , , .... , 

terminology an anticline or anticlinal 
fold, and the trough a syncline . When the amplitude of the folding is 
great the rocks may be thrown into very complicated convolutions, the 
strata being even reversed the lower over the upper, or torn apart. A 
good example of a folded and eroded mountain system is shown in the 
section across Switzerland (Fig. 130). All the lofty mountain ranges of 
the world, as shown in Fig. 19, are fold-mountains which were upridged 
in the Tertiary period, and are thus, geologically speaking, things of 
yesterday. Other forms of crust-folding occur, though not so strikingly ; 
the monoclinal fold for instance produces a steep-sided and flat-topped 
elevation. 

Mountain and valley forms of quite a different type are produced when 



Fig. 27. — Diagrammatic section of Crust- 
Block Mountain. 


FlG. 28 . — Diagrammatic section of Rift- 

Valley. 


strata subjected to severe stresses relieve the strain not by folding but by 
cracking, and blocks of the crust are thrust up or allowed to drop down 
between parallel cracks or faults. The raised or lowered masses may 
retain their original position or be tilted, and in either case they give rise 
to crust-block mountains (the Scholl engebirge of the Germans), or to rift- 
valleys ( Graben ), such as the upper Rhine plain or the great rift-valleys of 
the Dead Sea, Red Sea, and East Africa (Fig. 445). These, when of relatively 
recent origin, are wild and rugged, giving rise to a country full of grand 




54 The International Geography 

scenery but presenting great obstacles to traffic. The movement of crust- 
blocks separated by a great fault is still to be detected in many cases ; 
it usually occurs in the form of slight slips accompanied by earthquake 
shocks. Lines of faulting are of course lines of weakness in the crust, and 
consequently afford a favourable opportunity for the outbreak of volcanic 
activity. Hence mountains of volcanic accumulation and even great plains 
of level lava, which originally flowed in a molten state from long fissures 
in the crust, are met with in the neighbourhood of rift-valleys. Typical 
volcanic cones sometimes remain as prominent features in the scenery 

long after all volcanic activity has ceased. 
The old craters are often occupied by 
lakes without inlet or outlet and some- 
times very picturesquely framed in cliffs 

Fig. 29 .— Diagrammatic section of an (Fig. 191). Where volcanic agency has 
uneroded laccolith (black). r 

v ' failed to assert itself on the surface, 

masses of igneous rocks may be intruded amongst strata in the form of 

laccoliths thrusting up the surface into a dome (Fig. 29). 

Features due to Erosion. — As soon as a rock-surface is exposed to 
the air it may be attacked by the chemical action of the water and dissolved 
gases, by the alternate heating and cooling due to radiation, by wind 
driving sand particles, by the dissolving and abrading action of running 
water and sliding detritus, by frost, or by the more massive action of 
moving ice. The result is that in every part of the world high ground is 
always being eroded or eaten away, and the broken material swept off to 
lower levels. Every different kind of rock resists the “ tooth of time” in 
its own manner and to a particular degree. Beds of clay or loose sand are 
washed by rain into fantastic forms, according to the varying hardness and 
coherence of their parts. Limestones, no matter how hard, are dissolved 
by rain or rivers, giving a very distinctive type of country, caves or even 
underground river channels being produced, into which the surface 
drainage sinks by rifts and swallow-holes which have been similarly 
dissolved out, and the land is left dry and relatively barren. These 
features are so characteristic of the Karst district of the Adriatic coast 
that the name karst phenomena has been applied to them (see Fig. 156). The 
more compact rocks weather differently according to their texture and 
arrangement. Thus a coarsely crystalline granite decomposes into clay and 
sand along the lines of cracks, and in the process assumes the bold serrated 
outlines familiar to the observer in all granite mountains ; but the closer 
grained basalt is much more durable. A dyke or sheet of igneous rock 
embedded in sedimentary strata stands out sharply when the softer rocks 
have been weathered away. Again, the forms of a region where the strata 
lie horizontally like the Grand Canyon district of the United States, differ 
from those of one where the rock sheets dip regularly in one direction. 
The dip-slope weathers more slowly than the steeper edge or escarpment , 
which runs along the direction of the strike (Fig. 30). This is seen best on 


Land Forms 


55 


sea-coasts and river-valleys where the character of the cliffs carved out by 
the waves or current varies in accordance with the structure as well as the 
resisting power of the rocks. Ex- 
cept in the newest volcanic for- 
mations the surface of all exposed 
rocks has been greatly altered by 
weathering, and so far as their 
scenery is concerned the upraising 
of the land has served mainly to 
guide the ceaseless action of the 
tools of erosion. The result of 

prolonged erosion on an ancient FlG - 30 -—Diagram illustrating dip, strike , 

, , . , ... . , 1,11 dip-slope, and escarpment. 

plateau is to cut it up into detached 

masses of mountainous magnitude, which on account of their origin have 
been called relict-mountains, or mountains of circumdenudation. 

River Work — Destructive. — As the streamlets flow down any slope 
to meet and form a larger stream they begin to wear a channel for them- 
selves, which gradually cuts deeper and deeper into the ground, the sides 
being steadily widened by weathering as the channel is excavated, so 
that the lower valley of a great river becomes very wide and nearly flat. 
In a region where the atmosphere is dry, weathering is retarded, and the 
river as it cuts its way downwards leaves the rocks sharp and steep, as may 
be seen in the canyons of the Colorado. The steeper its bed the more 
rapidly does a stream erode, hence rivers are most powerful in destruction 
near their heads, and tend to cut back their watersheds. Thus a water- 
parting which was once straight may become sinuous, and in time the 
rivers of the steeper slope may actually tap or capture the upper waters of 
the adjacent drainage area, and 
a river system which on a new land 
surface is comparatively simple, be- 
comes extremely complicated when 
the land has been long subjected 
to erosion (Fig. 36). As a river 
deepens its bed below the general 
level of the valley floor the deposits 
of stones and gravel which had 
been stranded on its margins are 
left at a higher elevation forming 
level terraces or benches (Fig. 32). All mountain ranges become seamed 
with lateral valleys of erosion. A new land surface is usually irregular, 
with hollows in which lakes are formed by water accumulating until 
it overflows ; but as the land grows older the lakes are either filled up 
with sediment carried in by streams, or drained by the escaping river 
deepening its channel, and the old lake-bed becomes an alluvial plain. 
Any abrupt change of level on a new land surface, or any hard bed of 





Fig. 31 . — Diagrammatic plan of a straight 
watershed (A) showing rivers extending 
their valleys headward (b). 



56 The International Geography 



FlG. 32 . — Diagrammatic section across 
a River Valley showing Terraces ( t ). 


rock in the course of a mature river forms a waterfall ; but in time 
each sharp step is cut ba^k to form a steep slope in a gorge through 

which the water foams in rapids, and 
ultimately the river grades its course 
and flows uniformly along a uniform 
slope. 

As a long river flows on its way it is 
deflected to a certain extent on account 
of the Earth’s rotation. This was first 
detected by von Baer, and is included 
in the statement of Ferrel’s Law thus : — 

If a body moves in any direction on the Earth' s surface, there is a deflecting 
force arising from the Earth's rotation which tends to deflect it to the right 
in the northern hemisphere, but to the left in the southern hemisphere. 

The rivers of the northern hemisphere always pressing more heavily 
against their right bank, cut it back as a cliff, while the left bank is left low 
and flat, being composed of alluvium deposited by the stream. This is 
strikingly illustrated in the great rivers of Russia and Siberia, where the 
" high bank ” and “ low bank ” sides of the stream are terms used where 
we speak of the right bank or the left. It should be remembered that the 
right bank of a river is that on the right hand of a person looking down- 
stream. 

River Work — Constructive. — As a river approaches its mouth the 
gradient of its bed diminishes, the water flows more slowly, and is no 
longer able to sweep along the load of stones and gravel, which are accord- 
ingly dropped near the sides, to be swept forward spasmodically by floods. 
Eventually even the sand and mud subside upon the flood plain across 
which the river meanders in constantly changing loops. At the mouth 
the Anal detritus may be swept away and dispersed along the shore by 
tidal or other currents, or if the river enters a gradually deepening and 
widening inlet of the coast, the to-and-fro tides may distribute the sand 
and mud in banks or bars, as in the Thames or Tay, or spread it over 
so great an expanse as to produce no obstruction, as in the Firth of 
Forth. But all great rivers which enter a lake and many which enter 
the sea deposit their sediment in the form of a delta, which grows 
gradually seaward, and the water crosses it in many and variable channels 
(Figs. 362 and 441). The margin is often lined with lagoons separated from 
the sea by bars of mud ; but the delta itself is a flat expanse of very 
flne soil. The effect of floods in rivers flowing over a nearly flat plain 
is to cause a deposit of alluvium along the sides of the stream, and a 
consequent silting-up of the bed, which results in the river flowing at 
last along an embankment above the general level of the plain and 
sloping gently on both sides down from the river. When a flood occurs 
the banks are apt to burst, and the river descends upon the low ground 
with tremendous force, often forming a new channel for itself to the sea. 


Land Forms 


57 



FIG. 33 . — The Alluvial Fan of the III 
opposite Leuk in the Rhone valley. 
Contours at every 100 feet. 


This frequently happens on a small scale in the lower Mississippi, and 
to a far greater degree in the Hwang-ho (Fig. 264). The flood-plains 
and deltas of great rivers in latitudes which ^sure a genial climate are 
the most fertile lands in the world, and havt 1 the cradles of all the 
great nations of the ancient East — Assyria, Fj>pi, China, and India. 

When a stream from a mountain valley flows out on to a plain, or 
a flat-floored longitudinal valley, the 
sudden change of slope causes the depo- 
sition of the detritus it carries down in 
the form of a fan of alluvial soil, over 
which the stream usually flows in several 
branches. The alluvial fan is a form of 
accumulation intermediate between the 
delta laid down in still water and the 
scree or tains of detached rock fragments 
which grows, sometimes as a magnificent 
sweep of boulders, at the base of a line 
of cliffs. In arid regions this work of rivers is very characteristic on 
account of the absence of rain which in other regions washes away and 
rearranges the alluvium. 

Accumulations due to Wind and Ice. — Wind is powerful in 
shifting and rearranging dry surface deposits. Hence, in all arid or desert 
regions there are vast stretches of sand heaped up by the wind into dunes 
or hills, sometimes several hundred feet in height, sloping gradually on the 
side towards the prevailing wind and falling steeply on the sheltered side. 
Dunes, unlike all other geographical features of the land, move like waves, 
preserving their size and form, but gradually invading and destroying the 
fertile margins of the desert. Even in moist climates small dunes are 
formed on sandy shores, and must be fixed in order to protect the neigh- 
bouring land, by planting grasses or trees with spreading roots upon them. 
The finer dust blown off from deposits of clay or very minute sand is be- 
lieved to be the origin of the peculiar earthy deposit known as loess, which 
occurs on the borders of the Alps, in the Mississippi valley, and to a re- 
markable extent in northern China, where it completely conceals all other 
formations. Another accumulation common in tropical countries is a stiff 
red clay called laterite, the result of the weathering of igneous rocks. A 
fourth and very important accumulation is the boulder clay or diluvium left 
by ice sheets or in extra-glacial lakes. Large tracts of the low ground of 
northern Europe (Fig. 52) and America (Fig. 329) are covered with this 
clay, which has had the effect of greatly changing the surface, causing 
the formation of innumerable lakes and associated river systems which 
have not yet had time to drain the basins or to entrench themselves deeply 
in the land. 

The Geographical Cycle. — Professor W. M. Davis has formulated 
the geographical results of erosion and crustal movement in a theory 


58 The International Geography 





Fig 36 . — Cycle of Erosion. Ill, 


which explains the progressive de- 
velopment of a land surface. The 
time which is required for a land 
surface to be worn down low and 
flat by the action of erosion he 
terms a cycle. The low flat surface 
which is the final result of erosion 
is termed a peneplain. It is only 
possible here to consider a special 
case which illustrates the general 
application of the theory. Thus 
Professor Davis imagines a varied 
mountainous region gradually sink- 
ing, and the sea converting the 
submerged valleys into rias, while 
the rivers are shortened until the 
upper tributaries reach the sea as 
independent streams. Meanwhile 
the mountains are being reduced 
by erosion and the sea-margin built 
up by deposition, until, in the 
course of long ages, the mountains 
are worn down and the shore silted 
up to form a nearly flat expanse. 

If now a period of elevation 
follows, and the uplift is greatest in 
the region of the old mountains, 
the sea-bed will be raised into a 
new land of stratified rocks having 
a gentle seaward dip down which 
the new rivers will find their way, 
guided by the slight inequalities 
of the surface. The new rivers 
formed in consequence of the slope 
of the land are termed consequent 
streams (Fig. 34, a to i). If, after a 
time, the uplift ceases, these rivers 
will continue to cut their channels 
down, and entrench themselves in 
valleys which will be enlarged by 

i erosion, and at the same time cut 
down to a slope of equilibrium in 
which the waste of the valley floor 
is balanced by the deposit of sedi- 
ment. As the original or conse- 


Land Forms 


59 


quent valleys are deepened, the opportunity is afforded for streams flowing 
in on the side to erode for themselves valleys which may be termed subse- 
quent. While consequent rivers flow down the dip slope of the strata sub- 
sequent rivers run at right angles, along the strike (Fig. 35, m, n) ; they 
naturally are formed along the weaker or softer strata. As the valleys of 
subsequent rivers grow headward along the guiding line of the strike, they 
may tap and capture the upper courses of other consequent rivers which 
have had a gentler slope than that of their more powerful neighbour to which 
the capturing streams are tributary. Finally a new set of small streams is 
called into existence, flowing down the steep face of the escarpment to the 
subsequent river, and these Professor Davis terms obsequent (Fig. 35, 0). 
The result of all this river-action is to cut up the uniform slope of the new 
land into a series of inland sloping escarpments corresponding in number 
to the harder strata and trenched by the valleys of the sea-ward flowing 
rivers. After long ages the valleys will be so widened, and the inter- 
mediate elevations so much reduced, that the whole surface assumes 
the old-age form of the peneplain ; and across it the ancient rivers will 
meander in winding courses, with no gradient sufficient to enable them to 
work (Fig. 36). Projecting masses of hard rock which remain projecting 
above the peneplain are termed monadnocks from Mount Monadnock in 
New England, a representative instance. 

If at this stage a fresh uplift of the land should occur, a new coastal 
plain will be formed, the old consequent rivers will be quickened by the 
increased slope of their beds, and commence to incise their valleys anew, 
and as the deepening goes on the subsequent and obsequent streams will 
also be revivified in their turn, and a more complete adjustment of river to 
land obtained in the second cycle than was possible in the first. 

The theory of a geographical cycle is illustrated here by a single case 
in a very simple form — so simple that it probably corresponds with the 
evolution of no actual land surface. In nature innumerable irregularities 
occur ; the varying arrangement and hardness of the rocks produce a 
great variety of forms, and the alternate elevations and depressions of the 
land before the work of any one stage of a cycle has had time to be com- 
pleted, makes it difficult always to recognise what has really taken place. 
It must also be remembered that processes of faulting, tilting, warping, 
and folding are often simultaneously at work, so that few large areas of 
the Earth’s surface owe their geographical forms to any one process. Still 
rivers always tend to adjust themselves to the land over which they flov; 
and so carve and mould it into definite and characteristic forms. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. Penck. “ Morphologie der Erdoberflache.” 2 vols. Stuttgart, 1894. 

E. Suess. “ Das Antlitz der Erde.” 3 vols. Leipzig, 1885, 1888, 1902. 

“ The Face of the Earth.” (Translation of above.) Oxford, 1904, 1906. 

W. M. Davis. ' Physical Geography." Boston, 1898. 

A. de Lapparent. “ Lemons de Geographic Physique." 3rd edit. Paris. 1907. 

G. de la Noe and E de Margerie. “ Les Formes du Terrain " (with atlas of plates). Paris, 1888. 

J. Geikie. "Earth Sculpture.” London and New York, 1898. 

I. C. Russell. "The Rivers of North America.” New York, 1898; and under the title, “River 
Development." London, 1898. 


CHAPTER VI.— THE OCEANS 


By Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., and Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc 

The Hydrosphere. — In the atmosphere the region with which we 
are most familiar is the lower surface in contact with the land or sea ; the 
higher air requires study — from the geographer’s point of view — only in 
order to find the causes of the movements in the lower. But in the 
hydrosphere it is the upper surface which plays the most important part in 

human affairs, while the depths of 
the ocean have only to be studied 
in order to explain the superficial 
movements and actions. Lakes, 
rivers, the interstitial water of the 
lithosphere, and the water vapour 
of the atmosphere may all be re- 
garded as extensions of the hydro- 
sphere. The general form of the 
ocean basins is a vast depressed 
plain, yet the floor of each ocean is 
diversified by ridges and troughs, 
the deepest parts frequently occur- 
ring not in the centre of the oceans, 
but comparatively near shore. The 
configuration of the ocean floor is of 
great practical importance for laying 
telegraph cables ; but it is not neces- 
sary to describe it in detail here. 
The greatest depth hitherto reported 
in the ocean is, 5,269 fathoms (or six 
miles) to the east of the Ladrones in 
the North Pacific. In the south-west 
Pacific to the east of the Kermadec 
Islands soundings of 5,155 fathoms 
and 5,147 fathoms were obtained. 
These are the only records of depths exceeding 5,000 fathoms, though 
soundings in depths between 4,000 and 5,000 fathoms are comparatively 
numerous. The greatest depth known in the Atlantic is 4,660 fathoms, to 
the north of the West Indies, while in the Indian Ocean no depth approach- 
ing 4,000 fathoms has hitherto been found, the deepest sounding being little 
over 3,200 fathoms. It is worthy of remark that Sir James Clark Ross ran out 

60 



FIG. 37. — Configuration of the Bed of 
the Atlantic Ocean , showing contour 
lines of 100 fathoms (dotted), 1,000, 
2,000 and 3,000 fathoms of depth. 
All over 3,000 fathoms is in solid 
black. 


The Oceans 


6 1 


4,000 fathoms of line in the Southern Ocean, to the south of South Georgia, 
but in 1904 Dr. Bruce found the depth at this spot to be only 2,660 fathoms. 
The floor of the ocean on the whole lies about 2\ miles below the average 
level of the continental land surface (see Fig. 24). 

Land and Sea. — The margin of the hydrosphere where it touches the 
protuberant parts of the lithosphere is the primary dividing line of the 
Earth for most human purposes, separating the water from the land. The 
exact areas of the oceans and the land cannot be ascertained until the 
Arctic and Antarctic regions have been fully explored, but for the known 
parts of the Earth the proportion of sea to land is about 2'5 to 1, or in other 
words 72 per cent, of the surface is sea, and 28 per cent. land. The whole 
surface of the Earth measures approximately 148,570,000 square sea-miles, 
or 196,940,000 square miles ; the hydrosphere may be taken as covering 
about 142,000,000 square miles, and the land about 55,000,000. 

Superficial Divisions of the Hydrosphere. — The surface of the 
hydrosphere is most clearly marked off by land into separate portions in 
the northern hemisphere, the larger of these being called oceans, while the 
smaller are called seas. Seas have been classified in various ways ; the 
simplest classification takes account of (1) Inland Seas which are entirely 
surrounded by land ; the Caspian is the only example, the smaller bodies 
of inland water being called lakes ; (2) Enclosed Seas, which are almost 
surrounded by land, but joined to an ocean by one relatively narrow 
channel, e.g., the Mediterranean or the Red Sea ; and (3) Partially Enclosed 
Seas, which are connected with the ocean by two or more openings, being 
often marked off from it by a chain of islands, e.g., the North Sea or Japan 
Sea. Partially enclosed seas may be farther divided into shallow and 
deep, the latter being sometimes separated from the ocean by a barrier 
which may not quite rise to the surface, as in the case of the Norwegian 
Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. Groups of seas “partially enclosed ” by 
island loops along the coast of a continent, as for example on the east 
coast of Asia, are sometimes called fringing seas. 

The early Greek conception of an insular land surrounded by the river 
Oceanus (Fig. 3) gave its name to the ocean, or, as it was called in the time 
of Columbus, the “ Ocean Sea,” but the name is now applied to the portions 
of the hydrosphere separated by the continents. These are the Atlantic, 
between Europe-Africa and America, the Pacific between America and 
Asia- Australia, and the Indian between Asia- Australia and Africa. Each of 
these oceans may be divided into a northern and southern part by the 
equator. The southern boundary of the three oceans, according to the 
rule generally adopted, is the Antarctic Circle, within which lies the 
Antarctic Ocean ; but for many purposes it is more convenient to take the 
parallel of 40° S. as the dividing line, and call the great ring of shoreless 
water to the south the Southern Ocean, the term Antarctic being appro- 
priately enough applied to its southern edge. The northern limits of the 
Atlantic and Pacific are usually drawn at the Arctic Circle, and the water 


62 The International Geography 

surrounding the north pole is called the Arctic Ocean, but there are 
reasons for considering the whole Arctic basin to belong to the Atlantic 
Ocean, of which it forms the Arctic Sea. 

Islands. — Two distinct and contrasted types of island are readily 
recognised, (i) Continental Islands which do not as a rule lie far from 
continental shores, and usually consist of crystalline and sedimentary 
rocks similar to those found on the neighbouring mainland, from which 
they are usually separated by shallow seas. In fact such islands generally 
rise on the continental shelf, and in many cases have been separated 
from the continent at a period geologically recent. Examples of these 
are the British Islands, only separated from the mainland in Quaternary 
times, Sicily, Japan, the Malay and Greek archipelagoes, and the close 
island fringes of fjord-riven coasts. Madagascar, New Zealand and 
New Caledonia are examples of a somewhat different class of continental 
island, being separated from their nearest mainland by a considerable 
distance of deep water. Continental islands as a rule show a com- 
munity of flora and fauna with the neighbouring land. (2) The second 
class consists of Oceanic Islands which are situated far from any continent, 
the islands, singly or in groups, forming the peaks of submarine mountains 
which rise from the great depths of the ocean, like St. Helena or the Fiji 
Islands. Oceanic islands do not as a rule contain any of the typical rocks 
of continents, i.e., sedimentary strata, metamorphic rocks, or such acid rocks 
as granite. They are either volcanic, forming the cones or craters of active 
or recently extinct volcanoes, in which case they may be mountainous and 
of considerable height (see Fig. 326), or else they are of organic growth,, 
usually mainly composed of coral, and then they are typically low and flat, 
unless they have been upheaved. Reef-building corals and other lime- 
secreting organisms, which make up coral islands, flourish best in pure sea 
water where the temperature never falls below 70° F., and where the annual 
range of temperature does not exceed 12 0 F. Hence coral formations are 
practically limited to the warmer tropical seas. They are of several kinds, 
the simplest being the fringing reef, a mere edge of growing coral in the 
shallow water below low-tide mark. The barrier reef is found farther out, 
and is .separated from the shore, to which it runs more or less parallel, by a 
stretch of shallow water w T here detached masses of coral often rise to the 
surface. The greatest reef of this kind lies off northern Queensland, form- 
ing a sheltered channel for steamers along the coast (see Fig. 294). Many of 
the volcanic islands of the Pacific are almost completely surrounded by a 
barrier reef. The atoll is the most characteristic form of coral land. It 
consists of a narrow reef enclosing a shallow lagoon with no central island 
(see Fig. 326). Coral islands are raised above the level of the sea either 
by upheavel or by waves breaking off and piling up masses of the corah 
Two theories are advanced to account for the origin of atolls and barrier 
reefs, each of which demands a solid foundation coming to within 20 
fathoms of the surface. The theory of Charles Darwin requires that the 


The Oceans 


63 

foundation is undergoing slow subsidence ; that of Sir John Murray is equally 
applicable to a stationary, sinking or rising region. As a matter of fact 
many instances are known of atolls having been elevated high above sea- 
level after their formation was completed. Oceanic islands have all a 
restricted and highly individual flora and fauna as a result of their remote- 
ness from continental land. 

Near shore or in fresh water various minor classes of islands may appear, 
due to deltaic formations, or to the division of a river into branches which 
afterwards reunite. These islands, and indeed continental islands in 
general, are to be viewed as forming part of the continental area of 
the Earth, the separation being frequently only a temporary stage in the 
evolution of the land. 

Sea- Water. — The vapour which is always rising from the surface of 
the sea is condensed by contact with elevated land, or on account of some 
atmospheric change, and precipitated as fresh water (rain or snow) 
over the surface of land or sea. The water flowing over or through the 
land dissolves part of the substance of the rocks, the most soluble matters 
like common salt and the sulphates of magnesia and lime, being taken up 
in largest proportion, but also carbonate of lime (the solution of which is 
promoted by the dissolved carbonic acid absorbed from the air and soil) 
and silica. These materials collect in the basins of internal drainage into 
which the rivers from one-quarter of the land-surface flow, and there give 
rise to salt lakes ; but as the rivers draining three-quarters of the land 
reach the sea the ocean has become a vast depository of all soluble salts, 
and hence its water tastes both salt and bitter. The Atlantic is pre- 
eminently the ocean of land-drainage ; including the Arctic basin, fully 
one-half of the land-surface slopes towards and drains into it. The Pacific 
and Indian oceans receive comparatively few rivers. 

Although sea-salt is practically identical in composition in all parts of 
the ocean the amount dissolved in the water varies from place to place, 
the proportion being of course greater in regions where there is great 
evaporation and little or no rainfall, such as the Red Sea, or the trade- 
wind belts of the tropics, and less where there is a heavy precipitation 
such as the region of the equatorial calms. The salinity is also much 
lowered in estuaries off the mouths of large rivers, and in places where 
icebergs are melting. The fact that the water of the sea is salt and not 
fresh has an important influence on the action of heat. If a column 
of sea water of uniform salinity throughout is cooled from above it 
steadily grows denser, and the surface layers sink and in this way 
distribute the low temperature by convection throughout the mass. 
Thus the whole of a detached portion of sea water assumes rapidly the 
temperature of the coldest season of the year. If the cold is very severe, 
when the freezing point (28° F. for sea water of normal salinity) is reached 
the mass should freeze solid. This, however, never takes place, because 
the water of the ocean is never at rest, and chemical changes occur in 


64 The International Geography 

the freezing of sea water which lower the freezing-point of the portion 
remaining liquid. It usually happens that the surface water is less saline, 
and consequently so much lighter than the deeper layers that in spite 
of its lowered temperature it remains floating on the surface until it 
freezes. When a column of sea water of uniform salinity is heated 
from above, the surface water evaporates and the remaining liquid near the 
surface gains more in density by concentration than it loses by expansion, 
and thus sinks and raises the temperature of the whole, a result that could 
never occur with fresh water. But it is only in places like the Red Sea, 

where the superficial layer is not 
freshened by rain or rivers, that this 
effect is commonly produced. The 
specific heat of sea water is a little 
less than that of fresh water, so that 
the amount of heat which would raise 
a quantity of fresh water 9*35° F. in 
temperature, would raise the same 
quantity of sea water io°. Sea water 
is also a better conductor of heat, so 
that it is affected by the Sun’s rays to 
a greater depth than fresh water. The 
equilibrium of the water of the ocean 
may thus be destroyed in many ways, 
and hence it is more readily set in 
circulation than fresh water, and the 
causes of its movements are more 
difficult to ascertain. Sea water also 
contains in solution a quantity of the 
various atmospheric gases which bears 
a definite relation to the temperature 
at which they were absorbed. 

Oceanic Deposits. — The chemi- 
cal action exerted by the complex 
solution of salts and gases found in 
sea water produces many interesting 
effects both as regards the action of 
living organisms in secreting the 
material for their shells and skeletons, and the changes brought about 
in the deposits forming on the bottom. For a distance from land 
varying with the set of ocean currents and prevailing winds, but rarely 
exceeding 300 miles, material derived from the shore makes up the larger 
part of the deposits on the sea-bed at all depths and these are conse- 
quently termed Terrigenous. Outside this limit the deposits are termed 
Pelagic , as they are formed in the free ocean beyond the influence of land 
except by the occasional fall of dust and the drifting of volcanic pumice. 



Fig. 38 . — The salinity of the surface water 
of the Atlantic Ocean , showing by the 
density the regions of great evaporation 
and concentration in the Red Sea , 
Mediterranean Sea, and Trade-wind 
areas, and the regions of dilution due to 
rivers , to rain in the equatorial belt and 
to melting ice in the far north and south. 


The Oceans 


65 

In temperate and tropical seas far from land the deposit, where the 
depth is comparatively slight, consists chiefly of the dead calcareous 
shells of the minute organisms which swarm in the surface water. The 
most wide-spread of these deposits is Globigerina Ooze. But when the 
depth is great the lime of those shells is nearly or completely dissolved 
out when they 'are falling through the vast mass of water or lying on 
the bottom, and there is left only a Red Clay composed of clayey 
matter mixed with meteoric and volcanic dust. It is by the occurrence 
of these pelagic deposits that the theory of the permanence of ocean 
basins is largely supported. In the fresher and colder water of the 
polar seas siliceous organisms predominate and their remains give rise 
to the Diatom Ooze so characteristic of the Southern Ocean where it 
approaches the Antarctic Circle. 

Tides. — It is only in the great ring of the Southern Ocean and in 
the vast expanse of the Pacific that the tide-raising powers of the Sun 
and Moon can produce their full effect. The ocean tides show a rise 
of the water-level by a foot or two when the crest of the semi-diurnal 
tidal wave passes the place of observation, and a fall of a foot or two 
when the trough passes six and a half hours later. On entering shallow water 
the tidal wave becomes changed into a current, often of considerable 
strength. Such currents may also be produced by shoals in the open 
sea, but they And their fullest development along flat shores where the 
submergence and uncovering of the beach is often a very impressive 
sight. The tidal currents sweeping through the rocky channels between 
islands often give rise to dangerous eddies and whirlpools, and may 
render the channels useless for navigation during the strength of the 
tide. On the other hand, the influx of the flood tide in the lower courses 
of the rivers of a flat country often enables shipping to reach ports which 
would otherwise be inaccessible. The greatest rise and fall of the water 
produced by the tide occurs in long funnel-shaped bays or estuaries, 
the difference between high and low water at spring tide at the head of 
the Bay of Fundy being as much as seventy feet ; but the average tidal 
rise and fall round the coasts of most countries does not exceed 
ten feet. The subject of the tides, the times of their occurrence, and their 
height is of a most complex character owing to the interference of various 
wave-systems ; but on the whole, tidal influence is not one of the main 
factors in the circulation of the oceans. 

Temperature of Ocean Surface Water. — The mean daily range 
in temperature of the surface water of the ocean is not more than i° F., 
while that of the air resting upon it is three times as great. The contrast 
of the ocean surface with the land as regards temperature is thus 
complete. Between the polar regions where the surface of the sea is 
freezing, and the Red Sea and Persian Gulf where the temperature of 
the water often exceeds 90°, there is an extreme range of 70°. The 
extreme annual range in anv one part of the ocean surface does not 


66 The International Geography 

exceed 53 0 and this only occurs off the coasts of Newfoundland and 
of Japan, where the same area is occupied at one season by cold water 
-coming from the Arctic regions and at another by warm water from the 
tropics, and it is not a measure of heating and cooling in the same water. 
Viewed broadly the hydrosphere is divided into five zones of temperature 
arranged roughly parallel to one another, but more distinct on the western 
than on the eastern sides of the oceans. These are a Circumtropical zone 
of high temperature (over 8o°) and small annual range, two Circumpolar 
zones of low temperature (under 50°) and small annual range, and between 
these and the hot zone two Intermediate zones which show a great annual 
range of temperature produced by the mingling of the waters of the two 
others The hot belt is due to the intensity of solar radiation, and it is 
important because all coral islands occur within it. The cold belt of small 
range is produced by the low polar winter temperatures and the 
melting of ice in the summer. 

Temperature of the Deep Water.— In the open ocean at the 
depth of 50 fathoms it is probable that the temperature does not change by 
so much as 2° F. at any one place throughout the year ; and below the depth 
of 100 fathoms there is no evidence of any annual change of temperature 
whatever. But differences between the temperature of one part of the 
ocean and another may be as great as 42 0 at 100 fathoms, 20° at 500, and 
8° at 1,500 fathoms. Everywhere in the open ocean, but especially in 
the tropics, the temperature diminishes rapidly from the surface to 
about 400 fathoms, and then very gradually to the bottom, where the 
temperature of the water is quite independent of latitude. At the greatest 
depths the temperature varies from 32 0 to 35 0 , even at the equator. The 
average temperature of the whole mass of the ocean is probably between 
38° and 39 0 , and it may be looked upon as a body of cold water covered 
with a thin warm layer in the tropics. In the north-western parts of the 
Atlantic and Pacific the warm water extends to a much greater depth 
than in the tropics, and it is thinnest of all in the south-eastern parts of 
the three oceans. 

Circulation of Enclosed Seas. — The whole mass of water in the 
ocean is believed to be in continual though very slow motion, because 
there is no abrupt change of temperature anywhere between masses 
of water at the same depth and not separated by a ridge. But in 
enclosed seas, which are cut off from the ocean by a barrier, the tem- 
perature corresponds to that of the ocean only from the surface to the 
depth of the barrier ; below that the water retains the same temperature 
unchanged to the bottom. Thus the Mediterranean has a uniform 
temperature of 55 0 from 190 fathoms, the depth of the Strait of Gib- 
raltar, to the bottom in 2,400 fathoms (the Atlantic has a temperature 
of 35 0 at the latter depth) ; and the Red Sea has a temperature of 70® 
from 200 fathoms, the depth of the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, to the 
bottom in 1,200 fathoms. Enclosed seas are not as a rule stagnant, but 


The Oceans 


67 

their waters circulate on account of their differences in salinity. Thus 
the water of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean is much salter and 
denser than that of the ocean, so that when the level of the enclosed sea is 
reduced by evaporation the comparatively light ocean water flows in as 
a surface current, while the 
dense warm water sets out- 
wards as a return current along 
the bottom. In the shallow 
Baltic and the deep Black Sea, 
on the contrary, the numerous 
rivers which flow in make the 
water so fresh that it overflows 
as a surface current, while 
the dense ocean-water flows in as an under-current. The Baltic is, how- 
ever, very variable in its circulation on account of the action of wind, and 
the Black Sea is so deep that its lower waters are absolutely stagnant and 
putrid, unfit for the support of animal life of any kind. In shallow partially- 
enclosed seas, such as the North Sea, tidal currents play a notable part in 
the circulation of the water. 

Action of Wind on Water. — When wind strikes the surface of 
water, part of the surface is depressed and the neighbouring portions 
ridged up ; but, the force of gravity tending to restore the level surface, a 
wave form is generated which sweeps over the surface of the sea as a line 
of rollers. It is only the form that advances as in the tidal wave, the 
actual particles of water simply rise and fall, but the elasticity of the water 
keeps up the movement after the wind which generated it has died away ; 
in fact the surface of the ocean is never quite at rest. The largest waves 
raised by wind have a length from crest to crest of about one quarter of a mile 
and a height from hollow to crest of 50 feet, but waves of this magnitude are 
rare. On entering a shallow, the lower portion of the water in contact 
with the bottom is retarded, and the upper part toppling over falls in spray as- 
a breaker. On shores facing the steady prevailing winds the thunder of the 
breakers on the beach is unceasing throughout the year, and in many such 
places it is almost impossible to land. The power of waves to erode the 
coast is considerable, but rapidly diminishes with depth, so that at 100 
fathoms the largest ocean waves cannot do more than stir the finest mud 
on the bottom. The wind acts also in another way. A fresh breeze or a 
gale blows off the crests of the waves in spray which is driven before the 
wind ; a gentle breeze suffices to cause a thin stratum of the surface layer 
of water to slip before it, so that if the wind continues long enough from 
a definite quarter the surface water begins to drift in the same direction. 
But since the driving of surface water from one position tends to lower 
the level and the heaping up at another place tends to raise it, the hydro- 
static equilibrium is destroyed and has to be restored by vertical move- 
ments, reaction currents, and up welling on the windward shores. The wind 



Fig. 39 . — Diagram showing temperature of Red Sea . 



68 The International Geography 

thus gives rise not only to horizontal but to vertical movements in the sea, 
and these vertical movements are strengthened when assisted by the slopes 
of a shore. An on-shore wind (that is a wind from the sea towards the land), 
when long continued heaps up warm surface water against the shore 
which displaces the cold water to a considerable depth. On the other 
hand an off-shore wind causes an upwelling of deep and cold ocean water 
against the land. 

Circulation of the Oceans. — The energy of the Sun, which acts 
directly by effecting changes of temperature, indirectly by evaporation and 
precipitation, producing changes of density, and by giving rise to the whole 
system of the winds, is the main cause of the circulation of the oceans. 
It is unnecessary to inquire which of the direct or indirect solar actions 
is the most potent factor, since all work together and reinforce each other. 
It must be remembered too that the rotation of the Earth, which exercises a 
directive influence on rivers and wind, has a precisely similar influence on 
the moving waters of the sea, causing a deviation towards the right in the 
northern hemisphere. While the mass-movements of the ocean, mainly 
due ^o vertical circulation, are as a rule very slow and only to be deduced 
from indirect observations, the movements of the surface water in a hori- 
zontal sense are rapid and easily observed. They may be roughly divided 
into drifts and currents. A drift is the general movement of the surface 
water in obedience to the wind ; it is, as a rule, of little depth, slow and 
uncertain in velocity and direction, stopping when the wind stops, changing 
when it changes, but in the regions of steady winds producing a great 
effect. A current is a more definite movement, sometimes a sharply defined 
body of water flowing like a river between the relatively motionless water 
on either side, at a velocity of several miles an hour, and capable of 
persisting in its direction even against a temporary change of wind. A 
great ocean current is however not by any means homogeneous. It 
consists of strands or threads of water moving with different velocities 
and often varying in direction. It may contain eddies or still patches and 
it may extend to a variable depth. This character makes it possible for 
two equal currents to meet, coming from opposite directions, and yet not 
neutralise one another, the strands of moving water may slip past each 
other, or one current may pass underneath, or even cut through the other. 
The transition between currents and drifts is gradual, and the circulation 
of the ocean is to be looked on as' the final result of a variety of move- 
ments which may not at any one time exhibit their typical character. 

Speaking very generally the three oceans north of the equator exhibit a 
surface circulation as if the whole water had been stirred and set in motion 
in the direction of the hands of a watch ; but in the Indian Ocean the 
change of the monsoons reverses this circulation during half the year. The 
three oceans south of the equator show a similar but less complete cir- 
culation in the opposite direction, as is explained by Ferrel’s law (p. 56) ; 
and in the centre of each of the great whirls there is an area of rest in 


I 


The Oceans 


69 


which floating weed accumulates, best exemplified by the “ Sargasso 
Sea” of the North Atlantic (Fig. 40). 

Currents of the Atlantic Ocean. — The trade winds blowing from 
the coast of Africa drive before them two currents, the north and the south 
equatorial, which are separated by the equatorial counter current running 
in the opposite direction along the equatorial calm belt from the American 
coast into the Gulf of Guinea. Part of the north equatorial current enters 
the Caribbean Sea, but the greater portion of it, turning northward as it 
flows, sweeps outside of the chain of the West Indies and reinforces the 
Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream leaves the Gulf of Mexico through Florida 
Strait as a river of very salt water at a temperature of 8i° on the surface, 
fifty miles wide and 350 fathoms deep. 

It flows along the Florida coast at a 
velocity of five miles an hour, but off 
Cape Hatteras curves towards the east, 
and spreads out in a fan shape, growing 
cooler as it flows, until it merges in a 
broad drift that sends branches north- 
wards along the coast of Norway and 
into the Arctic Sea, while the main 
body, turning east and south, passes the 
British Islands and returns southwards 
to join the north equatorial current off 
the Canaries. Cold currents from the 
Arctic Sea carry many icebergs along 
the east coasts of Greenland and of 
Labrador until they melt in the warm 
water of the Gulf Stream. The Lab- 
rador current passes southward between 
the North American coast and the Gulf 
Stream, and is known as the Cold Wall. 

The position of both currents changes 
according to the season. The meeting 
of the warm and cold water is also the 
cause of the dense fogs characteristic of the Grand Banks of Newfound- 
land. On account of the large quantity of warm water driven against 
north-western Europe, the temperature of 40° is found to as great a depth 
as 900 fathoms off the coast of the British Islands, while in the tropics, 
where the hot surface water is driven away by the trade winds, water of 
equal warmth is rarely met with so deep as 300 fathoms. The mass of 
warm water banked up against the coast of Europe accounts for the excep- 
tional mildness of the south-westerly winds which prevail there. 

The south equatorial current is largely supplied from the cool Ben- 
guela current which wells up from deep water off the south-west coast 
of Africa, and partly, it would appear, by currents drawn in from the 



FlG. 40. — The Currents of the Atlantic 
Ocean , showing the typical circulation 
of water in an ocean , and the relation 
of the Sargasso Sea to the Gulf Stream, 


7 ° 


The International Geography 

Southern Ocean. It sweeps across to the coast of Brazil, where part turns 
northward to reinforce the north equatorial current, and the rest flows 
southward along the coast of Brazil, turning gradually to the east as it 
comes within reach of the westerly winds. 

Currents of the Pacific Ocean. — The circulation of the North Pacific 
is exactly like that of the North Atlantic but on a larger scale. The Kuro - 
Shiwo or Black Stream of Japan corresponding to the Gulf Stream, the 
drift of its warm water gives rise to a strong climatic resemblance between 
north-western Europe and north-western America, while the cold current 
from Bering Sea helps to complete the analogy of ‘ the cold climate of 
Kamchatka with that of Labrador. In the South Pacific the Humboldt 
current which flows northward along the west coast of South America is, 
like the Benguela current of West Africa, largely reinforced by the 
upwelling of cold water produced by an off-shore wind, which gives to the 
Galapagos Islands the coolest equatorial climate in the world. 

Currents in the Indian Ocean. — The South Indian Ocean closely 
resembles in its circulation the South Atlantic and South Pacific. There is 
the same upwelling of cold water along the west coast of Australia that is 
observed off the west coasts of South Africa and of South America. The south 
equatorial current turns southward off the coast of Madagascar in several 
branches which are carried back to the east by the “ brave west winds.” A 
warm current flowing through the Mozambique Channel strikes the Agulhas 
Bank off the south point of Africa, where the bulk of the curpent is turned 
back to the east, while a portion continues round the Cape into the Atlantic. 
The strength of this current on the shallow bank produces one of the 
roughest seas in the world. When the north-east monsoon is blowing the 
currents of the North Indian Ocean circulate like those of the North 
Atlantic ; but this direction is reversed during the south-west monsoon. 

Currents of the Southern Ocean. — The continuous water ring 
of the Southern Ocean swept by the “ brave west winds ” from west to east 
receives branches of the south-flowing currents along the east coast of each 
of the southern continents, and throws off northwards branches to reinforce 
the north-flowing currents along the west coast of each. Antarctic drift 
ice may occasionally be seen almost at the northern limit of this ocean, 
although it rarely comes into lower latitudes than 43 0 or 42 0 . About 50 0 S. 
the warm salt surface water coming from the north is cooled and freshened 
by mixing with the cold fresh surface water coming from the south, and 
the increase of density due to the fall of temperature in the one and the 
increase of salinity in the other, cause a vertical sinking of surface water all 
round the world. The deep layers of water seem then to be slowly drawn 
northwards and southwards from this ring to replace the surface drifts, 
and thus the Southern Ocean acts as a sort of “ clearing house ” of the 
hydrosphere, where all inequalities and irregularities in the water of the 
separate oceans are corrected. 

Functions of the Ocean. — In the physical economy of the Earth 


The Oceans 


7 1 

the hydrosphere plays the part of a regulator. Its smooth surface gives an 
opportunity for the normal system of winds to be developed over the 
greater part of the globe. Its thermal action carries the surplus heat of 
the tropics to regions less favoured by the Sun, and cools the air of low 
latitudes by the application of deep upwellings from the cold depths, 
and by ice-chilled currents from the polar seas. By the absorption and 
restoration of atmospheric gases it keeps up the uniform composition of 
the air. It is the one great reservoir of water-vapour determining the 
rainfall of the land, and is thus the ultimate source as well as the ultimate 
destination of all rivers. It is the place where the worn-out materials of 
the land are fashioned anew to build the rock stuffs of the future. 

With regard to the plants and animals of the land the ocean is an 
inexorable barrier, and so it is for savage man. But the separation of 
the sea does not hold good for civilised humanity ; the barrier has 
been converted into a highway, so that countries separated by five thousand 
miles of sea are now for all practical purposes nearer than if they were 
united by five thousand miles of continuous land. The fullest use of the 
ocean as a highway demands not only considerations of the shortest line 
but of the most favourable conditions. Thus the quickest sailing voyage 
from England to New Zealand is round the Cape of Good Hope, but the 
quickest sailing voyage from New Zealand to England is round Cape Horn 
on account of the prevailing winds and currents. Again, the shortest 
course from Cape Town to Melbourne cannot be taken by vessels because 
it would bring them too far south, into the region rendered dangerous 
by Antarctic ice. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

O. Kriimmel. “ Handbuch der Ozeanogjaphie.” Vol. I. Stuttgart, 1907. 

“DerOzean.” 2nd edition. Leipzig, 1902. 

“ Reports of the Challenger Voyage.” Summary of Scientific Results. 2 vols. London, 1897. 
J. Thoulet. “ Oceanographie.” 2 vols. Paris, 1890, 1895. 

C. Chun. “ Ergebnisse der deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition auf . . . Valdivia .” Vol. I. 

“ Oceanographie und maritime Meteorologie,” von G. Schott. Jena, 1902. 

F. Nansen. “ Scientific Results of the North Polar Expedition.” Vol. III. Oceanography. 
London, 1902. 

Much information will be found in the Annalen der Hydrographie (Berlin), in the publica- 
tions of the Institut fur Meereskunde of the Berlin University (founded 1901), in the publica- 
tions of the Central Bureau of the International Council for the Study of the Sea (at Copenha- 
gen), the British Meteorological Office, and of the United States Admiralty, especially the 
monthly Pilot Charts of both bodies. 


CHAPTER VII— THE ATMOSPHERE AND 

CLIMATE 


By H. N. Dickson, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.E., 


Lecturer on Physical Geography in University College, Reading. 

Definition of Climate. — In every known part of the Earth’s surface 
atmospheric changes are constantly going on, from day to day, from month 
to month, and from season to season, which are found always to keep within 
certain more or less definite limits, and always in the long run to maintain 
a certain average condition which varies so slowly that no appreciable 
change can be detected unless we go back to the geological past. To 
every place, therefore, can be assigned a certain mean atmospheric condi- 
tion, and limits may be stated beyond which this mean is not departed 
from — the expression of this mean condition and its limits is called the 
Climate of the place. A description of climate is an account of the 
physical state of the atmosphere ; the different physical elements become 
Elements of Climate, and climates may be analysed and classified according 
to the temperature, humidity, movement, &c., of the atmosphere. In the 
first instance, a rough classification can be based on evidence received 
directly from the senses, as into hot or cold, dry or damp climates, but 
for exact purposes comparable observations must be made by means of 
instruments. 

Temperature. — So far as our knowledge goes, the interior of 
the Earth, although undoubtedly at a high temperature, contributes 

a negligible quantity of heat to the atmo- 
sphere, and the heat which raises the 
temperature of the air above that of in- 
terplanetary space is wholly derived from 
the Sun. The foundations of meteorology 
and climatology are therefore to be sought 
in physical astronomy. 

Distribution of Solar Heat.— The 
simplest case to consider is the distri- 
>4 bution of temperature to be expected on 
the surface of a globe of the same size 
and shape as the Earth, rotating under 
the same astronomical conditions, but 

Fig. 41. — Inclination and healing presenting to the Sun a uniform land 
power of Solar Rays. r ... , , 

surface without any atmospheric en- 
velope. The amount and intensity of the solar radiations falling upon a 
given area depend upon the angle at which they are received, as appears 
from the diagram (Fig. 41). Let S represent a bundle of parallel rays, 

72 



Climate 


73 


then Aa, Ab, Ac, Ad each receive the same total number, but Aa 
(perpendicular to the rays) is demonstrably shorter than Ab, Ab than 
Ac, Ac than Ad, and so on ; that is, the greater the altitude of the 
Sun the greater is the intensity of the radiation received on a unit of 
surface. Speaking generally, the altitude of the Sun is greatest at the 
equator, and diminishes as the latitude increases, so that if the Sun 
remained always vertically over the equator (its position at the equinoxes) 
the amount of light and heat received at any place on the Earth's surface 
would be a simple function of the latitude, the length of day and night 
being everywhere equal. But the Sun travels over a belt extending to 
2 3 i° on ea ch side of the equator, so this simple relation is only approxi- 
mately true for a few days in the year about the time of the equinoxes. 
Within the tropics the altitude of the Sun varies comparatively little, and 
beyond them it changes more and more according to the position of the 
Earth in its orbit. 

This consideration intro- 0* 10* 20* 30 * 40 * 50 * 60 * 70 “ 80 ° 90 *« 

duces two fundamental ideas, 
that of Diurnal changes due 
to the Earth's rotation on its 
axis, and that of Seasonal 
changes due to its revolution 
round the Sun ; and also to 
the fact that near the equator 
the diurnal influence is para- 
mount and the seasonal in- 
fluence slight, while with in- 
creasing latitude one gains 
and the other loses, till at 
the poles the seasonal in- 
fluence is supreme. Fig. 42 
(after Wiener) shows the 
daily allowance of rays from 

the Sun at four different dates in various latitudes of the northern hemis- 
phere ; it is noteworthy that on June 21st places north of 62° N. get more 
Sun the further north they are, the length of the day more than making up 
for the weaker intensity. 

In the southern hemisphere, the seasons are of course reversed, and it 
is to be noticed that in the southern summer the intensity of the solar rays 
is greater than in the northern, and in the winter less ; because during the 
southern summer the Earth is in its nearest position to the Sun (perihelion), 
and during the winter at its greatest distance (aphelion). This partly 
accounts for the intense heat of the summer days in Australia and South 
Africa, and generally for the greater severity of the climates of southern 
latitudes. At the same time it must be remembered that what the 
southern hemisphere gains in power it loses in time, for the Sun 






21 J 

jne 







































































Fig. 42 . — Relative amount of Solar Heat received at 
each latitude at various periods. 


74 The International Geography 

remains some eight days longer in the northern hemisphere than in the 
southern. 

These complex differences of daily distribution vary from the tropics, 
where the solar energy is doled out in almost equal daily portions all the 
year round, to the poles where there are six months’ continuous supply and 
six months’ absolute want. The following table gives the relative amounts 
of solar heat for intervening latitudes, and may be compared with the table 
of the length of daylight at the end of Chapter II. (p. 25). 

Latitude o° 15 0 30° 45 0 6o° 75 0 90° 

Amount 1,000 969 879 739 569 447 415 

Thus the poles, which would get nothing if the Sun remained 
stationary over the equator, actually receive more than 40 per cent, of the 
equatorial amount. The total annual supply of heat to the Earth is esti- 
mated as sufficient to melt a layer of ice covering the whole surface to a 
depth of 176 feet 

Since the Earth’s surface is not known to become perceptibly hotter or 
colder, it follows that, on the whole, the energy received from the Sun 
must all be given out again, that the Earth must itself radiate to space, as 
the Sun does. But the two transactions do not occur at the same rate. In 
the case of the heat rays, radiation into space may be at one time faster, at 
another slower, than absorption, and the Earth retains at all times a certain 
balance of heat. The heat thus retained goes to raise the temperature, and 
the temperature at any point is simply the state of the heat account at the 
moment. The atmosphere is the great banker, and no more striking 
illustration of its influence can be given than the statement of the results 
of calculation, which show that while without an atmosphere the mean 
temperature at the Earth’s surface would be 115 0 F., the mean temperature 
during the day would be 350° F., and during the night — 123 0 F., a range of 

473 °- 

Effects of Heat on the Atmosphere. — In passing through 
the atmosphere the rays of the Sun are partly absorbed, the amount 
reaching the Earth’s surface being probably a little over half the total 
received at the upper limits of the atmosphere. It is obvious that the 
more oblique the rays, the greater the distance they have to travel 
through the atmosphere, hence the original differences in the intensity 
of insolation with high and low Sun are exaggerated. The decrease 
from the equator towards the poles becomes so much more rapid than 
before that there is no maximum of daily insolation in high latitudes, 
but a continuous decrease polewards. But the amount absorbed by the 
atmosphere varies greatly with time and place. Pure dry air or water 
vapour probably absorbs a very small proportion of the Sun’s rays ; the 
absorption is chiefly due to the presence of an infinity of minute suspended 
dust particles, which not only vary in number and size themselves, but are 
altered by the humidity of the atmosphere. When the amount of moisture 


Climate 


75 


present is small, and the temperature high, the suspended particles of dust 
are dry, but when the humidity rises beyond a certain point a deposit of 
water takes place on them, increasing their size and absorptive power. 
After a certain stage the assemblages of particles become sufficiently 
opaque to form clouds, which intercept practically all the rays from the 
Sun on the one side, and from the Earth on the other. The atmosphere is, 
however, not equally opaque to all rays, it exercises a selective absorption, 
stopping short-wave rays to a greater extent than long-wave rays ; hence 
the Sun often appears red when low down on the horizon. A considerable 
proportion of the rays absorbed by the atmosphere ultimately reach 
the Earth’s surface as scattered rays, hence the sky appears blue, shadows 
are not perfectly sharp, it is not always intensely cold and dark in the 
shade, and in the higher latitudes there is long twilight. 

Effects of Heat on Land and Water. — The effect of the solar 
rays upon reaching any point on the Earth depends to a large extent 
on the nature of the surface upon which they fall. On land the 
heat rays are all stopped just at the surface, and a thin superficial 
layer of the ground is heated. The heat is then distributed by con- 
duction downwards into the ground, and upwards to the layer of air 
lying immediately in contact with it. The latter is removed either by 
external forces causing wind or by convection-currents ; colder air takes its 
place, and is in turn warmed and replaced. The surface of the ground 
will obviously become warmed until just as much heat is lost in these two 
ways as is received. Much depends on the nature and condition of the 
surface ; dry soils, for example, such as sand, which contains imprisoned 
air, carry off heat more slowly than damp, close soils, and therefore become 
much hotter. During the night the surface of the ground loses heat by 
radiation, and heat is brought to it by conduction from below, the whole 
process being reversed, except that the layer of air cooled by contact with 
level ground is not now removed by convection. 

Rays falling upon deep water are not all stopped at the surface, but 
penetrate to a depth of probably about five hundred feet, hence the surface 
layers do not receive as much heat as on land. Evaporation also goes on 
from the surface of the water, and much of the heat becomes latent. There 
is therefore less heat available for warming the surface of the ocean, and 
as the specific heat of water is much greater than that of dry land, the 
surface of the sea does not rise in temperature to anything like the same 
extent. Again, the amount of cooling by radiation is much less, and this 
effect is further reinforced by the cooled water becoming denser and 
sinking below the surface, to be replaced by warmer and lighter water 
from below. Several different causes thus conspire to reduce the 
diurnal and seasonal range of temperature over the sea as compared with 
the land. 

Moisture. — The position of moisture as a climatic factor depends 

chiefly on the relation between the capacity of the atmosphere for 
7 


76 The International Geography 


moisture at any time and place, and the actual amount it contains. In a 
dry climate, temperature conditions are such that the atmosphere can hold 
much more moisture than is available, and it greedily absorbs exposed 
water by evaporation. A damp climate may exist where no more 
aqueous vapour is present than in the most arid regions ; the lower 
temperature producing an approach to saturation. In other words, it is 
the relative , and not the absolute, humidity that is important. 

We have already indicated how the dryness or dampness of the atmo- 
sphere affects the transmission of the Sun’s rays through it, and therefore 
modifies the temperature. The condensation of moisture in the form of 
clouds or mist is chiefly important in its effect on radiation and evapora- 
tion at the surface of the ground. When vapour is condensed in sufficient 
quantity, the cloud-particles tend to unite, and, becoming too large to 
remain in suspension, fall as rain, hail, or snow. All these forms are 
included in the general term precipitation and conventionally in Rainfall . 
The amount and distribution of the rainfall is the most important element 
of climate next to temperature. 

The climate of some regions is seriously modified by the deposit of a 
persistent layer of snow on the land surface during winter. Snow is a bad 
conductor of heat, and it therefore serves to prevent the temperature of 
the ground on which it lies from falling rapidly ; its surface may at the 
same time become exceedingly cold through radiation, cooling the layer 
of air resting upon it. A thick layer of snow tends to delay the advent of 
spring, as the temperature of the surface of the ground cannot rise above 
32 0 F. until all the snow is melted, and meanwhile the soil has become 
soaked with ice-cold water. 

Wind. — If the atmosphere were of uniform temperature throughout, 
it would so arrange itself that the pressure at any point would simply 

be that due to the weight of atmosphere 
above it, a stable condition of things 
would be arrived at, and all motion would 
cease. But there are continuously-acting 
causes of inequality of temperature, and 
differences of pressure arise from these, 

N p sphprf their turn produce movements 

,,H Wl * of the atmosphere. The currents so pro- 
duced are known as Winds. The general 
tendency necessarily is for winds to blow 
from areas of high pressure to areas of 
low pressure, but on account of the rota- 
tion of the Earth the movement is not direct ; it is rather spirally out- 
wards from areas of high pressure and inwards to areas of low pressure, 
the deflection being to the right of the direction of motion in the northern 
hemisphere, and to the left in the southern (Figs. 43, 44). The general 
circulation of the atmosphere is best understood from a study of charts 


DEVIATION 
OF 

AIR-CURRENTS 
IN 


DEVIATION 
OF 

AIR- CURRENTS 

IN 

S., HEMISPHERE. 


Fig. 43. 


Fig. 44* 


Climate 


77 

showing the average distribution of pressure by means of isobars ; the 
direction of flow in the high and low areas can be easily remembered 
(Fig. 45). So far as is known, pressure is not itself an important element 
of climate, except in the case of mountain stations. 

Winds exercise a paramount climatic influence from their action in 
transferring heat and moisture. They carry the warm air of low latitudes 
to the colder regions of higher, and vice versa , and they break down the 
sharp division between the air lying over land and over sea, in one 
place carrying moist sea air inland, in another carrying dry air from 
continental regions over coastal districts to pick up vapour from the ocean. 
At sea, the winds have additional heat-transferring powers from their 
d ra ggi n g action on the surface waters, which gives rise to drift-currents, 



Pressure 29 8 Inches and less 


Pressure 30 0 Inches and more. 


FlG. 45 . — Average distribution oj Atmospheric Pressure , and prevailing Winds oj the Earth. 


following the winds, and carrying vast quantities of heat with them as they 
flow poleward. Winds have also great influence in promoting evapora- 
tion, removing the saturated layers of air at the water surfaces, and 
substituting drier air, which in turn becomes saturated. 

The Great Climatic Areas.— It will be readily understood that in ‘ 
every part of the globe local variations of climate, due to changes in 
the relations of the principal elements, occur with such endless complexity 
that it is impossible to give any general description which shall apply 
rigorously to any particular region. It is nevertheless possible to assign 
fairly definite limits to certain areas over which the conditions are more 
or less similar ; and a knowledge of the general features of climate within 
these areas is essential to proper comprehension of the conditions found 


78 The International Geography 

within any part of them, such as are described under the headings of 
different countries. 

The simple division of the Earth’s surface into Torrid, Temperate, and 
Frigid Zones, follows naturally from the ideal temperature conditions 
already considered. The rotation of the Earth has, however, such a 
profound modifying influence on the circulation originally set up by 
differences of temperature that it is better to base a division into climatic 
areas on the existing circulation itself, or rather on the distribution of 
pressure which is its more immediate cause. 

The Earth is at all seasons completely surrounded by two belts of high 
atmospheric pressure, one lying in about latitude 35 0 N., the other in about 
latitude 30° S. On the equatorial sides of these belts pressure diminishes to 
* a minimum near the equator, and on the polar sides a similar diminution 
occurs, extending to very high latitudes, if not to the poles. The circu- 
lation arising from this distribution of pressure may be summarised as 
follows : — 

Equatorial Belt . . . . Calms and variable winds . . “ Doldrums.” 

N. Intermediate Belt . . . . N.-E. and E. winds . . . . ) „ T . 

S. Intermediate Belt . . .. S.-E. and E. winds .. ..j Araaes * 

N.and S. High Pressure Belts Calms and variables. . . . “ Horse latitudes.” 

Higher North Latitudes .. Variable W. and S.-W. winds “Westerly variables." 
Higher South Latitudes . . Strong W. and N.-W. winds “ Brave west winds.” 

The position of all these belts changes with the season ; but the range 
of movement is comparatively small, and the extreme positions are reached 
from one to two months after the solstices. In the Atlantic, for example, 
the north-east trade winds extend from latitude 3 0 N. to 26° N. in March, 
and from ii° N. to 35 0 N. in September. When the equatorial calm belt 
moves more than a few degrees from the geographical equator, the 
trade winds from the opposite hemisphere are drawn across and de- 
flected so as to have a westerly component, and they then receive the 
name of Monsoons. A south-west monsoon prevails in the Pacific north 
of the equator during the northern summer, and a north-west monsoon 
in the Indian Ocean south of the equator during the southern 
summer. 

If the Earth presented a surface entirely covered by water, the bounding 
lines of these climatic belts would probably exactly follow parallels of 
latitude round the whole circumference. This typical arrangement is 
always developed over the great oceans, and most perfectly in regions 
farthest removed from land influences. The Equatorial Belt is remarkable 
for its sultry, humid atmosphere, its constant and copious rains, and for 
the strongly marked diurnal, as contrasted with seasonal, changes. In the 
Trade-wind Belts the air is dry, because it is moving from colder to warmer 
latitudes and cannot pick up moisture fast enough to maintain saturation, 
and the rainfall is light ; these regions are remarkable for the steadiness 
of their winds and for the strong evaporation from the surface of the 
sea, producing great saltness of the surface waters. Th q Horse Latitudes 


Climate 


79 

resemble the equatorial belt in their light, variable winds and frequent 
calms, but present a marked contrast in the dryness and freshness of the 
air and the light rainfall. Where the Westerly Winds of higher latitudes 
prevail the rainfall is chiefly associated with irregular, stormy disturbances 
or eddies in the general flow known as cyclones , which usually follow the 
course of the main current, and occur most frequently in winter. In the 
intermediate regions, between the limits of migration of the various belts, 
marked seasonal variations come into play, the climatic belt nearer the 
equator assuming control during the summer, and that nearer the pole 
in winter : amongst the districts affected in this way, particularly as regards 
wet and dry seasons, the countries round the Mediterranean, South Africa, 
southern Australia, parts of Chile, and the West Indies may be specially 
mentioned. 

Influence of the Land. — The chief modification of the normal 
climatic arrangement produced by the presence of the great land surfaces 
is due to the greater range of temperature. The air on the land surface 
is, on the whole, hotter than the air on the sea during summer, and colder 
in winter ; hence pressure tends to be relatively greater in winter and 
less in summer, and there is a general movement seawards in the former 
season and landwards in the latter. A kind of monsoon effect is thus 
produced, alternately weakening and reinforcing the normal circulation, 
and its action in deflecting the normal currents is apparent on all the 
continental coasts, notably in Africa and in Australia. In the case of 
India and south-eastern Asia, the vastness of the continental surface, 
combined with its great central elevation, produces a complete reversal 
of the normal conditions during summer, the south-east trades are drawn 
across the equator, and penetrate inland as the south-west monsoon, a 
strong, warm wind bearing immense quantities of moisture. During 
winter, the outflow from 'the excessively cold regions of Central Asia 
strengthens the north-east trade over India, and deflects it into a 
north-west wind over China and south-eastern Asia, the wind usually 
getting the name of the winter monsoon. These seasonal winds are 
by far the most important of the continental winds, and the “ monsoon 
region” over which they blow forms a distinct geographical area by 
itself. 

Analogous to the seasonal changes, a diurnal change occurs on the coasts 
of regions where the diurnal range of temperature is great. These are 
known as Land and Sea Breezes. When the winds due to the general 
circulation are not powerful, a wind blows landwards during the hotter 
hours of the day, and seawards during the night ; but if they blow with 
considerable force, as in the trade-wind belts, the diurnal influence merely 
shows itself by weakening and strengthening, or deflecting, the normal 
current. 

Influence of Vertical Relief. — In addition to the temperature 
disturbances produced by the land masses, modifications in the 


8o 


The International Geography 

distribution of moisture must be taken into account, and in this 
connection the Relief of the land surface is specially important. When 
a current of moist air moves inland from the sea, its supply of vapour 
is cut off. If it is now warmed, as in moving from higher to lower 
latitudes, the air becomes dry, and the country over which it passes 
has an arid climate. This is best seen in the desert plains of the 
trade-wind region — in Arabia, Persia, the Sahara, and Central Australia. 
But if, on the other hand, the air is cooled, it is unable to retain all its 
moisture, part of which is deposited as rain. Such cooling can take place 
in a number of ways, but by far the most common and most effective 
is by the air ascending, from lower to higher levels of the atmosphere. 
There are two main causes which give rise to such ascending movements, 
the formation of eddies or cyclones, and the forcing up of the air by 
direct contact with elevated land. The two causes differ in respect that 
the latter necessarily operates only on land, and is a definite fixed element, 
while the other is most effective at sea, and is an erratic and uncertain 
quantity at all times. Probably most land stations owe their yearly total 
of rainfall to both causes combined, but the cyclonic agency is much the 
less important between the horse latitudes, and much the more important 
beyond them. 

A current of air meeting a range of mountains accordingly deposits 
a heavy rainfall on the weather side. The condensation sets free latent 
heat, which prevents the rapid cooling of the air and encourages its further 
ascent, at the same time drawing up more air from below. The enormous 
rainfall of the monsoon area is largely due to the height and continuity 
of the mountain mass of the Himalaya, and the trade-winds, drawn 
inwards and deflected by the great range of the Andes, distribute a 
generous rainfall over Brazil. 

After crossing a range, the current of air may pass on as dry wind, 
or if the range is sufficiently high it may disappear from the surface 
circulation altogether. In either case, the lee-side of the range is distin- 
guished by a dry and often an arid climate : if the air is drawn downwards 
into valleys from the heights it becomes heated by compression, producing 
the Fohn or Chinook winds of the northern valleys of the Alps and the 
eastern side of the Rocky Mountains. A range of hills does not in all 
respects act like a lofty range of mountains ; but when the height does not 
reach the snow-line the maximum rainfall occurs a little to leeward of the 
crest over which the wind blows. 

From the direction of the prevailing winds, it follows that between the 
horse latitudes dry regions are found towards the western sides of the 
land masses, as in Mexico and Chile, while in the westerly-wind belts they 
occur towards the east, as in Central Asia, the region of the Great Basin 
in the United States, and the south of South America. When the region 
is not actually desert, a large proportion of the rainfall is often due to 
merely local disturbances of the thunderstorm type, as in the eastern 


Climate 


8 1 


counties of England, where August is the wettest month of the year. 
It may be well to point out here the immense advantage enjoyed by 
Europe through the absence of a high mountain range near the western 
margin ; the moisture of the Atlantic penetrates to a great distance east- 
ward, and is distributed in moderate rainfall over a large area. 

Mountain Climates. — Climate changes with increase of height above 
sea-level in much the same way as with increase of latitude, except that 
the radiation effects become stronger, as the rays do not pass through 
so great a thickness of atmosphere. Generally speaking, temperature 
and absolute humidity diminish as height increases, and rainfall becomes 
greater up to a certain level ; relative humidity show’s no very regular 
variation. Everything, however, depends on the form of the elevated 
surface ; a level plain retains the same characteristics of climate through 
a w’ide range of elevation, while the climate of a sloping mountain-side 
is modified by the ascending and descending currents of air. Ascending 
currents of course tend to discharge moisture, while descending currents 
are usually caused by cold air sliding downwards into valleys below : 
the double effect diminishes the range of temperature, and produces a 
climate approximating to the “ oceanic” as opposed to the “ continental'* 
type. 

Climates of High Latitudes and Polar Regions. — The normal 
decrease of temperature from the equator to the poles should produce 
a gradual increase of pressure in that direction, but the rapid movement 
of air in the belts of westerly winds, of which the poles are the centres, 
induces a centrifugal tendency which w r ould make pressure greatest at the 
outer margins of the rotating rings (i.e., in the horse latitudes), and less and 
less towards their central points. Hence the normal temperature gradient 
and the centrifugal forces are constantly acting against one another, and 
the former is helped at the expense of the latter by the resistance offered 
to the westerly currents by temperature disturbances and by friction, both 
of which are greatest on a surface of land or rough ice, and least on the 
open sea. 

The northern polar area consists of an ice-covered ocean almost entirely 
surrounded by land. The only considerable tract of water is the extension 
of the North Atlantic, known as the Norwegian Sea, and the prevailing 
westerly winds accordingly reach their highest development in the 
northern hemisphere in this region, assisting themselves further by the 
drift currents, which the configuration of the land allows them to push 
far to the north. Elsewhere, land and ice surfaces neutralise the cen- 
trifugal element and sometimes overcome it altogether ; winds are light 
and variable, stormy weather is comparatively rare, and there is a small 
rainfall. 

In high southern latitudes, the uninterrupted belt of the Southern Ocean 
allows the “ circum-polar eddy ” to have full play until the coasts of the 
Antarctic continent are approached. Pressure falls continuously, and 


82 


The International Geography 


strong westerly winds are met with up to about 6o° S. latitude. Beyond 
this there are indications that a polar cap of land and ice neutralises or re- 
verses the arrangement, perhaps more completely than is the case in the 
north as the winds in the neighbourhood of the Antarctic circle blow most 
frequently from an easterly quarter, indicating an increase of pressure 
towards the south. 

Climate Diagrams . 1 — In Part II. many diagrams are given (e.g. r 
Figs. 59, 60) showing the distribution throughout the year of rainfall and 
atmospheric temperature. The seasonal range of these elements is of even 
greater importance than the mean annual values. In each case the tem- 
perature curves and rainfall columns of two places, the situation of which 
accounts for their difference of climate, are given for comparison. Thus the 
contrast of continental and oceanic climates is shown in Fig. 95, and that of 
rainfall during a prevailing sea-wind and land-wind respectively in Fig. 244. 
The difference in seasonal distribution of temperature between the northern 
and southern hemispheres may be appreciated by comparing Figs. 196 
and 313. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. Hann. “ Handbuch der Klimatologie.” New edit. 3 vols. Stuttgart, 1897. Also transla- 
tion of Vol. I. by R. de C. Ward. New York, 1903. 

“ Lehrbuch der Meteorologies Leipzig, 1905. 

A. Woeikof. “ Die Klimate der Erde.” 2 vols. Jena, 1887. 

A. Buchan. 44 Challenger Reports — Atmospheric Circulation.” 

Article, 44 Meteorology” in Encyclopcedia Britannica. Ninth edition. 

W. M. Davis. ‘‘Elementary Meteorology.” Boston, 1894. 

J. G. Bartholomew. “ Physical Atlas — Meteorology.” Edinburgh, 1899. 

A. Angot. ‘‘Traile Elementaire de Meteorologie.” Paris, 1899. 

For notes on climate of special regions in all parts of the world, see the Meteorologische 
Zeitschri/t , published monthly in Vienna; the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteoro- 
logical Society ; the Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society ; for the British Empire 
see Symons's Meteorological Magazine , published monthly in London ; for the British Isles, 
the Weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, London ; and for North America, the 
Monthly Weather Review of the United States Weather Bureau. 


1 By the Editor. 


CHAPTER VIII.— THE DISTRIBUTION OF 

LIVING CREATURES 


By J. Arthur Thomson, M.A., 

Professor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen. 

The Main Problem. — The main problem in the study of the geogra- 
phical distribution of plants and animals is to explain the existing state of 
affairs, and to obtain answers to such questions as these : — Why are certain 
forms of life here and not there, there and not here ? Why is it that all 
the Marsupials except the American opossums are now restricted to 
Australasia? Why are there no Amphibians on oceanic islands? How 
does it come about that several species of Tapir occur in South and 
Central America and the only other one in the far distant Malayan region ? 
Why is the flora of the Steppes such as it is ? Why are certain regions tree- 
less and others grassless ? How is it that the same Alpine plants are 
found on widely separated mountains and not in the intermediate areas ? 
Why is there a striking contrast between the flora of New Zealand and 
that of Australia ? Some of these questions may be answered readily, others 
are very difficult, but they are all of the same general nature — they concern 
the factors which determine distribution. To analyse out these factors is 
the main problem ; and the difficulty of the subject is due to the fact that 
in most cases an observed state of affairs is the result of numerous co- 
operative factors, all variable, and all inadequately known. Many of the pre- 
Darwinian studies in distribution are vitiated by their insistence on one or 
two factors to the exclusion of others which are certainly operative. Some 
investigators insisted on physical boundaries, others on conditions of 
climate, others on means of dispersal, and so on ; but there can be no 
solution of the problem until all the factors are recognised, and recognised 
as co-operative. 

Peculiarity of Physical Conditions. — Apart from a few resting- 
stages of Algae, and a few micro-organisms whose precise position is un- 
certain, there are no plants in the Deep Sea. Their absence is sufficiently 
explained when we remember that one of the physical conditions of the 
great abysses is darkness, broken only by the fitful gleams of “ phosphores- 
cent” animals, and that for all plants except Fungi and some parasites, light 
is an essential condition of life. The Great Salt Lake of Utah has an extra- 
ordinarily high salinity; this physical fact is enough to explain why it con- 
tains only two or three animals, especially the brine-shrimp, Artemia fertilis , 
instead of the dense population usually found in lakes. 

Peculiarity of the Organism’s Constitution.— While some 
8 83 


84 The International Geography 

animals, like the flounder, salmon, and eel, can adjust themselves to fresh 
or salt water, there are others which are fatally sensitive to more than a 
minimum of salt. This is strikingly true of Amphibians, which absorb 
large quantities of water through their skin, and are killed at once if the 
water be salt. This constitutional peculiarity of the Amphibian race is 
obviously enough to explain why they are absent from oceanic islands. 
While some animals seem very indifferent to temperature, like the tiger, 
which ranges from the hot Malayan jungle to the icy Siberian tundras, 
there are many of more sensitive constitution. Thus the guanaco, the 
South American relative of the camel, cannot stand tropical heat ; there- 
fore in Peru and Ecuador it is only found many thousands of feet up the 
mountains, while further south in Argentina it occurs on the plains. 

The Means of Dispersal. — On a solitary island of volcanic origin 
there are rarely any mammals, and this is at once explicable when we 
remember that most mammals have very limited powers of swimming. 
There may be seals or porpoises about the shore, or bats in the caves, and 
their presence is as intelligible as the absence of others. The occasional 
occurrence of small rodents on such an island is usually explained by 
postulating a wreck or a drifting raft. 

What is called a cosmopolitan distribution is not always due to the same 
cause, but the broad fact may be noted that wide distribution is often 
associated with unusual facilities for dispersal. Thus mice, so readily con- 
cealed, have followed man’s wanderings everywhere. Thus, too, we may 
explain the fact that insects are represented almost everywhere ; most can 
fly, many are easily drifted with the wind, some occur about floating wood, 
or can be carried from place to place in the form of eggs or cocoons. 

Original Headquarters. — If it were, and had always been, the case 
that the body of a dead animal simply melted away, like the stranded jelly- 
fish on the beach, we should now be entirely ignorant as to the original 
headquarters of the different races. If, on the other hand, there had been 
any arrangement whereby representative samples of the faunas of succes- 
sive geological ages could have been preserved in the rocks, we should 
have certain evidence on this point. But what has actually happened lies 
between these two extreme possibilities. There is a geological record ir 
the fossil-bearing rocks, the graveyards of the buried past ; but this geo- 
logical record is very imperfect. The imperfection is explained partly by 
the softness or rapid decay of many animals and plants, partly because many 
of the rocks which might have contained fossils have been fused, metamor- 
phosed, or worn down again into dust, and partly by other reasons. 
The record is like a library in which whole shelves have been destroyed 
by fire, while others are left in disorder, in which most of the sets of 
volumes are incomplete and most of the individual books are sadly 
damaged. At the same time, there is a record, the study of which gives 
us some warrant for speaking of original headquarters or evolution- 
centres. It seems fairly certain from geological evidence that the northern 


Distribution of Living Creatures 85 

hemisphere was the original home of most Mammals, whence they have 
spread southwards ; that the Edentates (sloths, ant-eaters, and armadillos) 
had their evolution-centre in South America ; that Africa is the head- 
quarters of the legions of antelopes ; that there were never any Anthropoid 
Apes in the New World, nor any Mammals higher that Marsupials indi- 
genous in Australia ; and that Madagascar was the headquarters of the 
race of lemurs. 

Geological Conditions. — There is no more impressive fact con- 
cerning biological distribution than “ Wallace’s Line” (Fig. 280), which 
perpetuates the name of one of the most successful workers on the subject. 
This line follows the narrow but deep strait which separates the islands of 
Bali and Lombok, and is continued northward along the Makassar Strait 
between Borneo and Celebes. Soundings show that the strait is deeper 
than those which separate the other Malayan islands, and this physical fact 
becomes significant when we learn of the diversity of the fauna on either 
side of the line. There seems no doubt that we have here to do with an 
old-established geological barrier to dispersal. 

Even the scanty geological information which we possess, corroborated 
by soundings which show the shallowness of the sea, make it practically 
certain that at no very remote date Asia was connected with America by 
a land-bridge across Bering Strait. This fact enables us at once to under- 
stand the presence of remains of the horse, bison, and mammoth in 
Alaska, and to understand better the many common features between the 
Eurasian and the North American faunas. 

Bionomic Relations. — The presence or absence of particular plants 
or animals in a given region may be sufficiently accounted for by the 
factors already mentioned, or even by one or two of them, but where the 
geological evidence shows that organisms once inhabited a region in 
which they are no longer found, we must fall back for explanation on that 
large phrase, “ the struggle for existence.” This includes all the more or 
less critical responses which living creatures make to changes in their 
environment, both inanimate and animate. Changes in the inanimate 
environment, e.g., floods, lava-flows, slow alterations of climate, equally 
slow crust-movements, may decide the question of survival ; and so may 
the very important factor of intra-organismal struggle. On a Scottish hill- 
side we may watch from year to year the silent struggle between bracken 
and grass ; the same struggle, though different in intensity, is characteristic 
of the tropical forest. Such well-known cases as the struggle between 
quickly - breeding “ vermin,” e.g., voles, and the beasts and birds of 
prey, are merely striking illustrations of a universal process. Often a 
balance is struck and both parties manage to survive, doubtless after a 
process of mutual adaptation ; often, however, there is a meeting of 
incompatibles, thus we do not find horses and tsetse flies flourishing 
together. Not less important is the struggle between plants and animals ; 
the leaf-cutting ants have played their part in determining what trees can 


86 The International Geography 

survive in the Brazilian forest, and it is obvious that a parish rich in corn- 
fields with cleanly kept hedges, and poor in woods or meadowland is not 
likely to be favoured by insects which live on nectar. 

Summary as to the Factors in Distribution.— At least six 
main factors have contributed to the present distribution of organisms, and 
none of these can be ignored. They may be grouped in pairs : — (a) The 
physical peculiarities of the region under discussion, and the constitutional 
peculiarities of the living creatures ; ( b ) the original headquarters of the 
stock (usually uncertain), and the means of dispersal in each case ; (c) the 
physical changes of climate, Earth-movements, &c., in the region, and the 
changes brought about in the struggle for existence between the various 
living tenants of the country. It may even be permissible to use a 
mathematical expression, and say that the distribution is a function of six 
factors, some of which are variable dependently and others independently. 

But besides the six main factors there are minor ones, and the problem 
becomes very complex. Thus although man has not lived long upon the 
Earth compared with many other living creatures, he has been the direct 
cause of enormous changes in their distribution ; such as the introduction 
of rabbits in Australia, sparrows in America, and the practical extermina- 
tion of the bison and the beaver. One of the most curious extensions of 
the life area of a species is the spread of the jigger, a South American 
insect, which passes its early stages of development as a parasite in the feet 
of men. It was accidentally introduced into West Africa in 1871, was 
gradually spread eastward by the increase of traffic across Africa, and in 
1898 appeared for the first time in Zanzibar. 

Some Elementary Facts as to Distribution. — (a) Widely sepa- 
rated countries may have similar fauna and flora. Dr. Wallace begins 
his Island Life by supposing a traveller to pass from Great Britain to 
Northern Japan. “ He is now separated from his starting-point by the 
whole width of Europe and Northern Asia, by an almost endless succes- 
sion of plains and mountains, arid deserts, or icy plateaux, yet when he 
visits the interior of the country he sees so many familiar natural objects 
that he can hardly help fancying he is close to his home." ... " There 

are also, of course, many birds and insects which are quite new and pecu- 
liar, but these are by no means so numerous and conspicuous as to 
remove the general impression of a wonderful resemblance between 
the productions of such remote islands as Britain and Jesso.” 

( b ) Closely adjacent countries may have quite different faunas and 
floras. Thus, as Dr. Wallace points out, the distance from Australia to 
New Zealand is trivial when compared with that between Britain and 
Japan, but the Australian who journeys to New Zealand finds an entirely 
new living panorama. “ Kangaroos and wombats there are none, the birds 
are almost all entirely new, insects are very scarce and quite unlike the 
handsome or strange Australian forms, while even the vegetation is all 
changed, and no gum-tree, or wattle, or grass-tree meets the traveller’s 


Distribution of Living Creatures 87 

eye.” An even more striking case is the contrast between the islands of 
Bali and Lombok, in the Malay Archipelago, and the same fact is illus- 
trated by the contrast both in fauna and flora between Florida and the 
Bahamas. 

(c) Regions with very distinctive tenantry are in many cases connected 
by transition areas. Prof. Heilprin illustrates this by supposing the natura- 
list to journey southwards from the ice-covered fields of Arctic America to 
the Equator. “ New features are being constantly added, and old ones 
eliminated, but the interchange is effected so gradually that it becomes 
difficult to determine the limitations that properly define one fauna from 
another.” Yet the fauna at the end of the journey is sharply contrasted 
with that which surrounded the traveller at its beginning. 

(1 d ) On the other hand there is no lack of instances which show sharp 
delimitation. The mammalian fauna of Australia, apart from recent 
imports ( e.g ., rabbits), the bat-tribe, and marine forms, consists wholly of 
Marsupials and Monotremes ; with the possible exception of the dingo, 
there are not even fossil remains of Mammals higher than Marsupials ; 
and, furthermore, there are now no Marsupials beyond Australasian limits 
except the family of American opossums. 

(e) Another striking fact is the “ discontinuous distribution ” of certain 
types, by which we mean that examples of a type may occur in widely 
separated regions without there being any living representatives in the 
intermediate areas. The generally applicable explanation is that the type 
in question once enjoyed a wide distribution, as the rock records show ; that 
widespread elimination has occurred ; and that the conditions favourable 
to survival happen to have been found in areas far apart from one another. 
Thus of the genus Tapir, there are some four species in South and Central 
America, while the only other species occurs in Malacca and Borneo. 
Similarly the family of Camelidae is represented by one genus in the Old 
World and another in South America ; and the insectivorous Centetidae are 
represented by five genera in Madagascar, and one in Cuba and Hayti. 

These five sets of facts must serve to illustrate what may be called the 
elementary data of distribution. 

Zoo-Geographical Regions. — In 1858, Dr. P. L. Sclater proposed 
to recognise six main zoological regions : — (1) Palcearciic (= Europe, 
Northern Africa, Northern and Central Asia) ; (2) Ethiopian (=r Africa south 
of the Atlas, and Madagascar); (3) Indian or Oriental (=India, South- 
Eastern Asia, and part of the Malay Archipelago) ; (4) Australian (= Australia, 
with New Guinea, New Zealand, and Polynesia) ; (5) Nearctic (= America as 
far south as Mexico) ; and (6) Neotropical (^Central and South America, and 
the West Indies). This scheme was mainly based on a study of the distribu- 
tion of birds, but Dr. A. R. Wallace soon showed that it worked well for 
mammals also, and it has met with wide acceptance. Among the more 
important emendations which have been suggested are the following : — 
(a) the union of Palsearctic and Nearctic in one Holarctic region ; (6) the 


88 The International Geography 

establishment of several other special regions, e.g., Polynesian, Hawaiian, 
Malagasy, Sonoran or Medio-Columbian, Arctic, and Antarctic ; (c) the 
definition of several transition-areas, e.g., around the Mediterranean and 
Lower California; and (d) the grouping of the regions in three major 
realms which correspond to the three great evolutionary centres of 
mammals — I. The Notogccic Realm (including Australian, Polynesian, 
Hawaiian, and Australo-Malayan regions) ; II. The Neogceic Realm (includ- 
ing the Neotropical region); and III. The Arctogceic Realm (including 
the Malagasy, Ethiopian, Oriental, Holarctic, and Sonoran regions). 

Phyto-Geographical Regions. — In spite of enormous labour 
spent upon the subject, it remains quite undecided what topographical and 
other divisions may be most profitably used in grouping plants according 
to their past and present distribution. When the plants of the world are 
known as thoroughly as those in Europe, and when the factors of distribu- 
tion throughout Europe have been as carefully analysed as they have 
been for Great Britain, then the question whether we should recognise 
fifteen or twenty-five or thirty-five floral regions will begin to be 
answerable. 

Humboldt relied mainly on latitude and longitude and height above sea- 
level in his pioneer attempt to group plants geographically ; and in this he 
was followed by Meyen. Schouw (1823) introduced the statistical method, 
characterising his proposed twenty-five regions by the numerical pre- 
dominance of certain races of plants, e.g., the “ Magnolia region,” the 
“ Cinchona region,” and so on. Grisebach (1872) recognised twenty-four 
areas, and laid particular emphasis on the topographical and climatic 
barriers which separate one area from another. Engler (1882) struck a 
new note in seeking to relate the present distribution of plants to that in 
Tertiary times. Drude (1884) followed on similar lines, and sought to 
combine a recognition of all the factors. His system is very widely used ; 
it recognises three main divisions : — Boreal, Austral, and Tropical, and 
fourteen smaller regions, each again divisible. 

Until the subject is further advanced, it seems most profitable for the 
teacher and student endeavouring to understand the nature of plant distri- 
bution (a) to think out the problem in relation to the nearest well-marked 
area — Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, &c.; and (6) to gain by means 
of photographs and pictures concrete impressions of the vegetation in 
different parts of the Earth. 

Groups of Land -Plants. — Every traveller has noticed that the same 
or similar plants tend to occur in similar areas, and the field-botanist can 
confirm this in his more restricted rambles. Wood and heath, links and 
shore, moor and bog, are more or less distinctly marked, wherever they 
are, by plants characteristic of each. Two arid shores a thousand miles 
apart may show identical or nearly related plants, and even if there 
be little structural affinity in the actual tenants, there is likely to be a 
superficial resemblance brought about by similar adaptations to similar 


Distribution of Living Creatures 



environment. Thus, the prickly cactuses which predominate in one arid 
region may be represented by similar, but in reality very different prickly 
spurges in another area with similar conditions. Similarly, the ornithologist 
expects to find wading and swimming birds about a lake, whether it be 
African or South American, but it does not follow that the birds will be the 
same in the two cases. In short, what are called “ characteristic vegeta- 
tions,” are in many cases only what the biologist calls physiological or 
adaptive groups. They owe their similarity to the fact that, in given con- 
ditions, only plants of a certain constitution or with certain adaptations are 
able to survive. A few examples of the more typical groups may be 
given. 

The Tundra, of north-eastern Europe and northern Siberia, where the 
deeper strata of the soil remain frozen perpetually, is characterised by 
lichens, like the “ reindeer-moss ” ( Cladonia rangifera), and by mosses, 
such as species of Polytrichum, Dicranum, and Sphagnum. In more pro- 
pitious places, however, there may be bulbous plants, dwarf willows, and 
grasses ; and in spring, the monotony of the so-called “ barren-grounds ” 
is sometimes broken by short-lived brilliant blossoming. In fact, the 
tundra passes into the Moor, with its mosses, grasses, sedges, cranberries, 
and occasional willows, and birches, or into the Bog, with its bog-myrtle 
and peat, cotton-sedge and asphodel, grass of Parnassus and bog-pim- 
pernel, and more thoroughly aquatic forms like bladderwort and marestail. 
Similarly, the dry tundra is connected through the moor with the well- 
defined Heaths where almost nothing will grow but heather. 

The Grassy Vegetations, such as meadow-lands and savannas, are 
characterised by the predominance of grasses and sedges, whose long 
parallel leaves are well suited for crowded life. It is obvious that part of 
the problem of civilisation is the establishment, extension, and intensive 
culture of these grassy vegetations, which include our cornfields. But 
these again in some of their forms pass into the Steppe Vegetation, charac- 
terised by plants which are able to survive a prolonged summer drought 
and require a very short vegetative period. Thus trees are practically 
absent, and there is an abundance of “ Xerophytes,” i.e., plants adapted to 
withstand great dryness. The Thyrsa-grasses (species of Stipa, &c .) are 
characteristic of the South Russian steppe ; the goose-foots ( Chenopodiacece ) 
abound in the salt-steppes. The prairies of North America are probably 
the richest of the steppe-vegetations, and are by no means treeless, while 
the pampas of South America and the grassy plains of Australia repeat 
•similar characteristics. 

Woods and Forests extend in suitable places from the equator to the 
northern and southern climatic tree-limits, the essential condition of their 
occurrence being that the average temperature during the vegetative 
period of the year does not fall below 46° F. But the variety in the com- 
ponent trees and in the undergrowth is very great, as is evident when we 
compare the Equatorial forests, the Indian jungle, the Savanna woods of 


90 The International Geography 

Brazil, the pine-forests of the north, the park-lands of the Amur, and the 
rich green woods in sheltered English valleys. 

Groups of Land Animals. — As with terrestrial plants, so with land 
animals, an arrangement into physiological or adaptive groups may be 
readily made, and if its limitations are recognised it serves a definite 
intelligible purpose. Thus we may distinguish, for example, a Boreal 
group, in some marked way adapted to the exigencies of an Arctic 
environment, e.g., by permanent or seasonal whiteness as in the polar bear, 
Greenland falcon, snowy owl, Arctic fox, Hudson’s Bay lemming, and 
Arctic hare. Other groups may, in like manner, be identified with other 
specialised regions. In books like Brehm’s “From North Pole to Equator” 
ample materials will be found for what may be called impressionist pictures 
of the adaptive peculiarities of the various groups of animals which 
frequent steppe and tundra, desert and forest, Alps and river-banks. 

Pelagic Animals and Plants. — While life is almost universally 
distributed over the Earth, wherever there is food, air, moisture, heat, and 
some light, it is possible and profitable to distinguish various kinds of 
habitats whose conditions make them in some measure discontinuous. 
Such are the Open Sea, the Shores, the Deep Sea, the Fresh Waters, and 
the Dry Land, each of which is tenanted by characteristic forms of life. 

The term pelagic is applied to all organisms that habitually live in the 
open sea, either drifting (Plankton) or actively swimming (Nekton). As 
regards animals, there is great variety of type, from the minute Noctiluca 
which sets the waves aglow in the short summer darkness to the giants of 
modern times — the whales. As regards plants, there are almost none 
above the level of unicellular Algae, e.g., Diatoms, but of these there are 
immense numbers both of species and individuals. This is a fact of funda- 
mental importance, since these minute plants furnish the basal food supply 
of all pelagic animals. Just as we may say of land animals that “all flesh 
is grass/’ so we may say of marine forms that “ all fish is diatom.” 

The pelagic animals include a few genera of Foraminifera, rich in 
species, all the Radiolarians, many Infusorians, jellyfishes, Siphonophora 
like the Portuguese man-of-war, Ctenophores like Venus’s girdle, many 
worm-types such as the arrow-worm ( Sagitta ), Chaetopods, a legion of 
Crustaceans, a few Insects (Halobatidae), such Molluscs as Pteropods 
Heteropods, many Cephalopods, free-swimming Tunicates such as Salpa 
and Pyrosoma, many fishes, a few turtles and snakes, besides some well- 
known birds and mammals. It should also be noted that many of the 
shore animals have pelagic larvae. The life-conditions of the open sea 
are favourable ; there is no lack of room, of moisture, or of sunshine, 
and the rapidly multiplying small forms supply abundant food for the 
larger. The rock records bear witness to the early origin of pelagic life. 

In adaptation to their habitat, pelagic anifnals tend to be lightly built, 
delicate, translucent, and often bluish in colour, and with external organs 
suited for drifting and swimming. The frequent “ phosphorescence is 


Distribution of Living Creatures 91 

probably in some cases protective, but its meaning is still very uncertain. 
Huge numbers of individuals usually appear in shoals, which is explained 
partly by the abundant food supply afforded by the Algae, partly by the 
prolific reproduction common among lowly organised animals, partly by 
the relative mildness of the competitive element in the struggle for 
existence, and partly by physical conditions of currents and the like, which 
determine areas of comfortable subsistence and routes of migration. While 
certain types are very widely represented, there is also a local distribution 
of species which shows that the pathless sea has zones and boundaries 
like the dry land. There are two theories of the origin of pelagic forms, 
one regarding them as on the whole primitive, the other as mainly due 
to migration from the shores. 

The Littoral Area. — This area includes (a) the shore in the popular 
sense, with its heterogeneous jetsam of dead seaweeds and animal remains, 
and its own characteristic tenantry of sandhoppers and salt-worts ; (6) the 
strict littoral zone, exposed only at low tide, with its acorn-shells, peri- 
winkles and limpets, green seaweeds and occasional sea-grasses ; (c) the 
Laminarian zone (to 15 fathoms), where the great pennon-like seaweeds 
float amid an extraordinarily keen battle for life ; and {d) the Coralline 
zone (15-40 fathoms) where seaweeds become gradually sparser, though 
the population of debris-eating and carnivorous animals is even denser. 

The conditions of shore-life are perhaps the most stimulating in the 
world. It is the meeting place of air, water, and land. It is the area of 
vicissitudes — ebb and flow of tides, freshwater floods and drought under 
the hot sun, gently lapping waves and violent breakers, slow changes of 
subsidence and upheaval. The alternations of day and night, of summer 
and winter, are more felt there than in the open sea. The tenantry is 
correspondingly rich and various, including representatives of almost every 
family from the Infusorians up to birds and an occasional mammal. 

The rock records show decisively that the shore fauna was of very 
ancient origin, and there is some evidence to warrant the conclusion 
maintained by some (e.g., Pleffer), that a very uniform shore-fauna persisted 
until Tertiary times. As to its origin, there are two main theories, that 
which regards it as in the main primitive, and that which regards it as in 
great part due to migrations from the open sea. 

The Abyssal Area. — It is not likely that the floor of the deep sea 
will ever become a familiar hunting ground to the naturalist, yet almost 
every year since the days of the Challenger has added some interesting 
detail to our darkly-shaded picture of it. We know that there is practically 
no depth-limit to the distribution of animals, though plants are almost 
unknown below the so-called light-limit, and the more moderate depths 
seem to be more richly peopled. 

The population of the deep sea includes representatives of most of the 
types of animals from Protozoa up to Fishes. There are Foraminifera 
in abundance, many flinty sponges, some corals and sea-anemones, not a 


92 The International Geography 

few Annelids and other worms, especially on the red clay, Echinoderms 
of every kind, legions of Crustaceans, abundant Molluscs, and many 
peculiar fishes — the tyrants of that dark world — some blind, some half- 
blind, and others with “ darkness-eyes,” catching perchance the fitful 
gleams of phosphorescence. 

The conditions of life in the Abyssal area are peculiar to itself in the 
following particulars : — (i) There is practically no light apart from that 
produced by phosphorescence ; (2) the temperature is low (about 34 0 F.), 
and very uniform ; (3) it is an area of enormous pressure, thus at 2,500 
fathoms the pressure is about two and a half tons per square inoh ; 
(4) it is quite calm, untouched by the severest storms ; (5) the water 
is relatively rich in oxygen ; (6) it is virtually plantless ; (7) it is probably 
without putrescence, for although pelagic bacteria (formerly denied) are 
now well known, there is no secure evidence of their presence in the great 
depths, and there can be no true rotting without bacteria ; (8) the animals 
necessarily feed upon one another, but fundamentally upon the organic 
debris which sinks from above, and not least upon the ceaseless rain of 
pelagic Protozoa ; (9) it is very uniform over vast areas, and many forms 
have a very wide range. 

The generally accepted view is that the deep sea did not become a 
possible home of life until perhaps Cretaceous times, until the Poles 
cooled and the cold water rich in oxygen sank to the great depths. The 
affinity between abyssal animals and those found in shallower water in 
boreal seas has often been pointed out, and it is probable that the deep 
sea was largely peopled from the poles, or in any case from the shores. 

The Fresh Waters. — As in the case of the sea, it seems useful to 
distinguish (a) the littoral forms, which occur in rivers, on the shores of 
lakes, and in shallow water ; (6) the surface forms, or Limnoplankton ; and 
(c) the deepwater forms. Thus among plants, the rushes, irises, marsh mari- 
golds, water buttercups, water-lilies, bladderworts, stoneworts are character- 
istically littoral ; numerous green algae occur in the open water and form 
an important source of food to animals ; while few are known to occur on 
the floor of deep lakes. Among animals, the deepwater forms are chiefly 
Rhizopods, Turbellarians, Nematodes, Leeches, Chaetopods, Crustaceans, a 
few Arachnids, some insect larvae, and not a few Molluscs. Many have 
probably migrated from the shore of the lake, where the same or similar 
forms may also occur, along with others distinctively littoral, e.g., the 
Hydra and the freshwater sponges. Very distinct, again, are the surface 
forms — small Crustaceans, Rotifers, Infusorians, &c. — which present a 
marked analogy of structure and habit with the marine Plankton. The 
Entomostracan Crustaceans are of much practical importance in forming 
the fundamental food supply of many freshwater fishes. 

As regards origin, freshwater animals have been divided into three sets, 
(a) The recent migrants which may be illustrated by the dozen or more 
marine species which are at present learning to live in the Kaiser-Wilhelm 


Distribution of Living Creatures 93 

canal in which the water is on the whole fresh, or by the simple polype 
Cordylopliora which has been carried by boats up rivers and canals. It is 
probable that the American freshwater polype Microhydra ryderi which 
liberates swimming-bells or medusoids is a relatively recent migrant. 

( b ) The archaic freshwater animals, which must have been at home 
in freshwater since ancient times and have been isolated by Earth- 
movements in basins far from the present-day sea, may be illustrated by 
the African freshwater Medusoid ( Limnocodium ) which was found in Lake 
Tanganyika, 2,700 feet above sea-level. The widely distributed old- 
fashioned Crustacean Apus , and the double-breathing mud-fishes ( Ceratodus 
in Queensland rivers, Protopterus in the Gambia, and Lepidosiren in the 
Amazon), are other instances. In Lake Tanganyika, according to Moore, 
two faunas co-exist — (1) “The normal and ubiquitous freshwater stock” ; 
and (2) a series of very divergent forms, notably molluscs, which appear to 
be “ the dwarfed and stunted remnant of a fauna that the sea left behind 
it” probably as far back as the Jurassic period. 

(c) The cosmopolitan forms include some Protozoa, freshwater sponges, 
Hydra, some Turbellarian worms, and numerous small Crustaceans, like 
Cyclops. Their uniformity seems to be due to three or four factors — (1) 
Migration from the sea would be effected in different parts of the world 
by animals of similar constitution, and the conditions of adaptation and 
survival, being closely alike in different freshwater basins, would tend to 
work out similar results ; (2) in lakes which arose as relict-seas and 
contained originally somewhat similar samples of a fairly uniform pelagic 
fauna, e.g., before Cretaceous times, the conditions of elimination would 
tend to be much the same everywhere, and the result would be uniformity 
in the survivors ; (3) there are not a few of the smaller forms which are 
readily carried on birds’ feet and otherwise from one water basin to 
another. 

Dry Land. — As the majority of animals, from the simplest up to and 
including Amphibians, are either themselves aquatic or have their juvenile 
stages adapted for aquatic life, the presumption is strong that the dry land 
was originally peopled slowly and gradually by migrants from the water. 
Very gradually, of course, must the transition have been effected, now by 
a wandering worm and again by a curious Crustacean, here by a fish-like 
form clambering in the lagoon and there by an ancestral Amphibian which 
learned to survive the drying up of the pool where it was hatched. 

Besides pelagic, littoral, abyssal, freshwater, and terrestrial groups, 
others might be distinguished ; thus there are aerial animals, such as 
birds and insects, and aerial plants, like the epiphytic Orchids and Aroids, 
or like the Bacteria which drift about in the air ; there is the not very 
abundant population found in brackish water ; there is the “ cryptozoic ” 
fauna of caves and grottoes, some members of which appear to be ancient 
relicts, and there are the but little known Fungi found in similar places. 
Over forty species of animals are known from the Mammoth Cave of 


94 The International Geography 

Kentucky, and the total number of recorded cave-dwellers is about three 
hundred. Finally, in considering the different homes of life, account must 
be taken of the immense number of plants and animals which live as 
parasites in or on other organisms. 

Relations between Life Areas. — Accordingto Moseley, “The fauna 
of the coast has not only given origin to the terrestrial and freshwater 
faunas, it has throughout all time, since life originated, given additions to 
the pelagic' fauna in return for having received from it its starting point. 
It has also received some of these pelagic forms back again to assume a 
fresh littoral existence. The terrestrial fauna has returned some forms to 
the shores, such as certain shore-birds, seals, and the polar bear ; and 
some of these, such as the whales and a small oceanic insect, Halobates, 



have returned thence to pelagic life.” “ The deep sea fauna has probably 
been formed almost entirely from the littoral, not in the most remote 
antiquity, but only after food, derived from the debris of the littoral and 
terrestrial faunas and floras, became abundant in deep water.” 

According to Agassiz, Simroth, and others, if we may venture to 
compress their views into a sentence, a littoral fauna was the original one, 
whence have been derived, on the one hand, the pelagic and abyssal 
faunas ; on the other hand, those of the fresh waters and dry land. 

According to Professor W. K. Brooks, a pelagic fauna was primitive, 
for there the conditions of life are easiest. From the pelagic fauna 
migrants passed inwards to the shore and downwards to the deep sea, 
while a possibility of a return-movement from both these areas is also 
allowed. 


Distribution of Living Creatures 95 

Sir John Murray has especially emphasised the importance of “the 
mud-line,” the boundary between the abyssal and littoral (or neritic) 
regions, at an average depth of about 100 fathoms. It is the line where 
the minute organic and inorganic particles derived from the land and 
surface waters find a resting place upon the bottom, it appears to be one 
of the great feeding-grounds in the ocean, and seems to be very densely 
peopled. The same authority holds “ that in early geological times 
there was a nearly uniform high temperature over the whole surface of 
the globe, and a nearly uniformly distributed fauna and flora ; and that 
with the gradual cooling at the poles, species with pelagic larvas were 
killed out or forced to migrate towards the tropics, while the great majority 
of the species which were able to survive in the polar areas were those 
inhabiting the mud-line.” 

If we adopt the suggestion that the most probable ancestral home of 
animals was some region not far from the shore, we may picture the 
possible relations in a diagram (Fig. 46) which may appear complex, though 
the probability is that it is not complex enough to be true. 

In this brief essay we have of course assumed that conception which is 
fast becoming organic in all thinking — the general conception of evolution, 
that the present is the child of the past. If this be true, the various faunas 
and floras amid which the naturalist wanders have had their history, 
and it is the task — merely begun — of the students of distribution to spell 
this out. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

F. E. Beddard. “ Text-book of Zoo-geography.” London, 1895. 

O. Drude. “ Die Florenreiche der Erde.” 1884, &c. 

A. Heilprin. "The Distribution of Animals.” London, 1887. 

R. Lydekker. “Geographical History of Mammals.” London, 1896. 

A. R. Wallace. “ Geographical Distribution of Animals.” 2 vols. London, 1876. 

A. R. Wallace. “ Island Life.” London, 1880. 

J. Wiesner. “ Biologie der Pflanzen.” 1889. [Bibliography.] 

A. F. W. Schimper. “ Pflanzengeographie auf physiologischer Grundlage.” Jena, 1898. 

“ Plant Geography upon a physiological basis.” [Translation of 

above.] Oxford, 1904. 


CHAPTER IX. — THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH 
AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF MANKIND 


By A. H. Keane, LL.D., 

Late Vice-President Anthropological Institute. 

Specific Unity of Mankind. — That mankind forms a distinct 
zoological genus in the strict sense of the term, that is to say, a separate 
group amongst the higher mammalia sprung from a single stock, though 
not necessarily from a single pair, may now be taken as a generally 
accepted conclusion of modern science. There certainly survive here 
and there a few distinguished polygenists, who still believe that the main 
divisions have each had a separate origin from so many specifically 
different ancestors in different parts of the world, although no two of 
these pluralists are in accord as to the number of such independent zoo- 
logical species. But this view is rejected by the great majority of living 
anthropologists, who, after a long period of “ storm and stress ” in the 
early part of the nineteenth century, have returned to the sober teachings 
of Linnaeus, in whose Order of Anthropomorpha man appears as a single 
genus with a single species and four varieties, corresponding to the four 
main continental divisions of the Earth. The specific , and not merely the 
generic , unity of mankind is frankly accepted by Sir W. Flower, the 
leading English anthropologist, in whose Sub-Order of Anthropoidea, the 
Hominidae constitute the fifth and highest family, coming nearest to, but 
still independent of, the Simiidce, that is, the four groups of so-called 
“man-apes” — Gibbon, Orang-Utan, Gorilla, and Chimpanzee. 

The Pliocene Precursor. — The apparently impassable gap which, 
despite many obvious points of resemblance, still separated the human 
from the simian group, was largely bridged over by the discovery made 
in 1892, by Dr. Eugene Dubois, of some human remains embedded in the 
late Pliocene deposits of the Solo river, in Java. These highly fossilised 
bones of Pithecanthropus erectis, as he has been named by the finder, are 
regarded by the best authorities as undoubtedly human, and the import- 
ance of the discovery may be inferred from the fact that the skull holds a 
position about midway between those of the Chimpanzee and of the 
Neanderthal, that is, the lowest human cranium previously described. In 
other words the Javanese “missing link” is as much below the Neander- 
thal as this is below the normal European. It presents the characters 
which were anticipated in Pliocene, as compared with Pleistocene man, 
should his remains ever be discovered. Moreover, it gives a vastly more 
remote starting-point for the natural history of mankind, and that in the 

96 


Distribution of Mankind 



very region which many eminent palaeontologists have pointed to as the 
probable cradle of the human family. 

Tertiary Distribution of Land and Water. — At the time of the 
Dispersion, the Indo-African Continent, the existence of which was estab- 
lished by the geologists of the Indian Geological Survey, still formed almost 
continuous land across the present Indian Ocean, between the Dekkan, 
Madagascar, and South Africa. The shallow inland waters, nowhere 
exceeding fifty fathoms in depth, had not yet converted to insular masses 
the Sunda group (Borneo, Sumatra, Java), now separated by narrow 
channels from the Asiatic mainland. The Australian continent was con- 
nected with New Guinea, and extended westwards much farther than at 
present. New Zealand also occupied a far wider area, while the Funafuti 
borings leave little doubt that Polynesia itself is an area of compara- 
tively recent subsidence. In the northern hemisphere Africa was 
connected with Europe both across the Strait of Gibraltar, and also at one 
or two other points ; Britain still formed part of the mainland, and almost 
continuous land appears to have extended from North-west Europe 
through Iceland to Greenland and North America. 

The First Migrations. — It is to be borne in mind that the first 
migrations took place unconsciously, much in the same way as did those 
of all the other land faunas. The cranial capacity of the Javanese pre- 
cursor was not much more than about 950 cubic centimetres, as compared 
with that of the highest apes (Orang 500), and of the highest human beings 
(Europeans, 1,500 or 1,600). Hence at that time the disparity between 
man and the lower animals was not nearly so marked as at present. He 
no doubt could walk erect, and possessed a well-developed hand with 
which to fashion the rude implements found by Noetling in the neigh- 
bouring Pliocene beds of Indo-China. But in other respects the difference 
could not have been great, and, like the other animals, he must have 
moved about rather by instinct and impulse, in obedience to the sur- 
rounding physical conditions, than of any set purpose. The struggle for 
existence was also carried on in the same blind way, although in virtue of 
his greater intelligence he had no doubt already acquired a sufficient 
supremacy over his competitors to become the one universal species. Not 
only is man the one member of the animal kingdom whose present range 
coincides with that of the habitable globe, but this universal domain had 
already been occupied by him in early Pleistocene times. A considerable 
mass of trustworthy evidence has in recent years been brought together 
from every quarter of the world to show that it had been peopled during, 
if not prior to, the recurrent invasions of ice in the northern and southern 
hemispheres. That is to say, Pleistocene man had spread over the entire 
habitable globe while he was physically still but little removed from his 
Pliocene ancestor, and prior to the development of any culture, and even 
of any arts or industries, beyond the manufacture of the rudest stone 
implements. Hence the astonishing resemblance that is presented by 


98 The International Geography 

these objects, as well as by the earliest skeletal remains of man himself 
in whatever part of the Earth they are found — skulls from western and 
Central Europe, from Egypt, California (if genuine), Brazil and other 
parts of South America ; flints from Britain, France, North and South 
Africa, Somaliland, India, the United States, Patagonia, Fuegia. 

By the land connections indicated above, Pleistocene man was able, 
without any knowledge of navigation, to pass from his Indo-Malaysian 
home northwards to Asia and thence by the Bering Strait route into 
America ; and westwards into Africa ; thence northwards by two routes 
(Strait of Gibraltar, Tunis-Sicily) into Europe, and from north-western 
Europe to Greenland and America during inter-glacial or post-glacial times. 

Formation of Varieties. — From this view of the first dispersion it 
follows that these migrations everywhere preceded the later physical and 
mental development of mankind, so that the evolution of the existing 
human varieties and of their several cultures is presented in quite a new 
light. We need no longer suppose, always a somewhat violent assump- 
tion, that some fully specialised group, say, originally black, migrating 
from continent to continent, became whke in one region, yellow in 
another, brown in a third, and so on. Had such a group passed from its 
proper zone to another, it would probably have died out long before it had 
time to become acclimatised. In any case it is now easy to see that the 
evolution could not have taken place on those lines, but was brought 
about in the several regions independently, as in the case of other animal 
varieties. The Pleistocene groups, all alike at first, everywhere presented 
the same generalised prototype, from which the now living varietids were 
severally and independently developed. The main divisions of mankind 
must therefore be regarded, as Linnaeus regarded them, as so many zoolo- 
gical varieties, all springing from common or closely allied generalised 
ancestors, and each gradually specialised by slow adaptation to its special 
environment. Like all other divisions of the terrestrial fauna, these 
divisions are thus the outcome of their respective surroundings. They are 
what climate, soil, diet, heredity and time have made them, and that is 
the reason why, in the case of all later migrations, the first question that 
arises is one of acclimatisation. If the new zone is favourable, that is, 
differs little from the old, the variety persists ; if not, it either merges and 
becomes absorbed in the indigenous element, or else simply dies out. A 
continuous illustration of this fundamental truth is afforded by the social 
relations in North America, tropical and extra-tropical Africa, India, 
Australia, New Zealand, and every other land where European people 
have failed or succeeded in establishing themselves. 

Culture Zones. — With what may be called the first settlement of the 
Earth by Man in Pleistocene times begins the evolution of the human 
varieties and of human culture everywhere simultaneously, but with 
varying results in accordance with the varying nature of the environment. 
In the most favoured regions, mainly the north temperate zone (the south 


Distribution of Mankind 



temperate being too contracted to constitute areas of specialisation) man 
has attained his highest development both physically and mentally. 

In the eastern hemisphere the space included between the parallels of 
25 0 and 50° N. will about comprise what may be spoken of as the “ Culture 
Zone ” in a pre-eminent sense. Within this privileged area, which, follow- 
ing the normal isothermal curves of continental and marine climates, is 
contracted in the east to 40° N. or less, and reaches in the extreme west 
to 55 0 N., have originated and flourished all the great centres of civilisation 
in ancient and modern times — the Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, 
Persian, Indian, Chinese, ^Egean (Mykenaean), Hellenic, Phoenician, 
Minaean, Sabaean, Etruscan, Roman, and later European. Within the 
same area have sprung up all the great religions of the world — the 
Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, and Mohammedan ; and here also have been 
developed all the higher orders of speech, that is to say, the three inflect- 
ing Hamitic, Semitic, and Aryan linguistic families. Such coincidences 
are not merely accidental, but have their roots in the soil itself, and are an 
eloquent illustration of the great evolutionary formula that all living 
things are the outcome of their environment. 

Elsewhere, primitive man has lagged behind, being still for the most 
part a mere savage in nearly all the tropical, and also, for the reason stated, 
in the south temperate lands — Central and South Africa, East Malaysia, 
New Guinea, Australia, Melanesia, Fuegia. The picture is completed by 
the various transitional phases of barbarism between savagery and 
civilisation, which are characteristic of the inhabitants of the sub-tropical 
Asiatic peninsula, the bleak elevated plateaux and sub-arctic steppes of both 
hemispheres : Indo-China, the Dekkan, Central Arabia, Tibet, Mongolia, 
Siberia, the great tablelands, prairies, and tundras of the New World. 

The diverse anthropogeographical relations here sketched in broad 
outline have no doubt been somewhat modified, and in places completely 
obliterated, since the expansion of the higher European peoples during the 
last four hundred years. But a properly prepared sixteenth century 
culture-map of the world on a Mercator projection would show a nearly 
parallel series of shaded bands, indicating the various degrees of progress 
made by mankind since the Pleistocene period between the equatorial, the 
arctic, and antarctic regions. Owing to the contraction and great eleva- 
tion of the land about the equator in the western hemisphere, the chief 
isocultural deflections occur in the New World, not in the tempeVate zone, 
but well within the tropics (Peru, Colombia, and Yucatan). Mexico alone 
reached northwards a little beyond the tropic of Cancer. 

The Progressive Stages of Culture. — The progressive stages of 
human culture, viewed as a whole, are determined, partly by the activities 
indispensable to mere existence — hunting, fishing, pasture, and tillage — but 
far more by the industries associated either with those activities them- 
selves, or with more advanced social conditions. By a systematic study 
of the remains of the more primitive and later arts, discovered in ever in- 


ioo The International Geography 

creasing abundance in all parts of the world, archaeologists have been able 
to distinguish certain marked types of stone, and later of metal implements, 
which everywhere present a surprising general uniformity, and thus serve 
as a sure guide in following the successive steps by which mankind 
has advanced from the lowest to the highest plane of civilisation. 

The Old and New Stone Ages. — Thus have been determined a 
Palceolithic and a Neolithic^ that is, an “ Old Stone” and a “ New Stone” 
Age, with reference to the material (mostly flint) which in the first, and 
immeasurably the longer, period, was merely chipped, flaked, or otherwise 
rudely fashioned, but in the second more carefully worked and polished. 
Now, it is an ascertained fact that some of the highly specialised varieties of 
Man known to history — Proto-Hamites, Proto-Semites, Iberians, Ligurians, 
Pelasgians, and some peoples of Aryan speech — had already made their 
appearance in Neolithic times both in Central and West Europe, and in all 
the Mediterranean lands eastward to Mesopotamia. Consequently, the Old 
Stone Age must have lasted long enough to allow of such stupendous 
differentiations as those involved in the upward development from the 
Pleistocene precursor to Linnaeus’ Homo Europccus. It is not, therefore, per- 
haps surprising that even such a cautious observer as Sir John Evans should 
have declared that “ the remoteness of the date at which the Palaeolithic 
period had its beginning almost transcends our power of imagination.” 

During these countless ages, estimated by some authorities at several 
hundred thousand years, the various Pleistocene groups could nowhere 
have remained stationary, and in the more favoured localities the progress 
was so great that it is not everywhere possible to draw a hard and fast line 
between the Old and the New Stone periods. Speaking generally, how- 
ever, the latter was distinguished from the former by a more complete 
control over fire, by burial and funeral rites associated with more enlarged 
religious notions, by the cultivation of cereals and other alimentary plants, by 
the domestication of several animals, and by considerable progress in most 
of the useful arts and industries, especially pottery, weaving, architecture. 
Some of the monuments raised by Neolithic man over the dead — dolmens, 
menhirs, barrows — were so solidly constructed that they are still found 
girdling the globe from Britain and Brittany through Iberia, North Africa, 
Syria, Palestine, India, Korea, Japan, Easter and many other Pacific 
islands to the New World, where they culminated in the astounding mono- 
liths of Tiahuanaco on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca. They served 
as models for later generations, as in Etruria, Mykenas, Phoenicia, Egypt, 
where the pyramids themselves are nothing but petrified mounds. Thus 
are connected remote past and present times by the imperishable works 
of early man, just as the two Stone Ages were connected by the kitchen 
middens and shell mounds which were common to both periods, and 
are still found fringing the “ beached margent of the sea” in so many 
lands — Denmark, Japan, Australia, North and South America. 

Similarly, the present aquatic habitations of savage man in such widely 


Distribution of Mankind 


IOI 


separated regions as Cambodia, New Guinea, Borneo, Venezuela, have their 
prototypes in the lacustrine pile-dwellings, terramare, palafitti , crannogs, 
and other Neolithic stations, whose sites have been explored in Switzerland, 
northern Italy, Ireland and Scotland. North Britain appears to have been 
first occupied by these crannog-dwellers, or possibly by some earlier 
Neolithic hordes, in places where subsequent geological changes afford 
some trustworthy data wherewith to gauge the long duration of the second 
Stone Age. Thus, after the break of continuity between Britain and 
Europe in glacial times, Sir W. Turner suggests another upheaval, a 
“ Neolithic land-bridge/' by which the men of the New Stone Age may 
have reached Scotland, where they were undoubtedly present during the 
formation of the Carse clays. These cliffs, which show distinct traces of 
sea-beaches now in places 45, 50, and 100 feet above the present sea-level, 
formed the bed of a marine inlet, which in post-glacial times still nearly if 
not completely separated North Britain from the region south of the Forth. 
The rise of the 100 foot terrace was followed by an immense development 
of forest growths, which have since disappeared, and all these oscillations 
and surface changes fall within the relatively short New Stone period. 

The Metal Ages. — Then followed, still in remote times, the intro- 
duction of the metals, which, generally replacing stone, constituted the 
three "Copper,” “Bronze,” and “ Iron ” Ages, in the order named, but 
without any further absolute displacements. These metals, once made 
known, have necessarily persisted for diverse purposes throughout the 
next ensuing “Prehistoric” and “ Historic ” Ages down to the present 
time. Here, indeed, there can be no real dividing lines, and, as shown by 
the multifarious contents of prehistoric graves, overlappings were of con- 
stant occurrence, while the transitions from period to period must every- 
where have been imperceptible. In fact, a clearly marked Copper Age 
has been doubted except in the New World, where, before the dis- 
covery, bronze was but little known, and iron (other than meteoric) not 
at all. 

The Prehistoric and Historic Ages. — The Prehistoric Age, which 
admits of no strict definition, covers that vague period of time, dim 
memories of which, such as popular myths and legends, demi-gods, epony- 
mous heroes, and the like, survived into the strictly Historic Age. It corre- 
sponds to the “Age of the Five Emperors,” in the early Chinese records, 
which was marked by the institution of marriage and the invention of 
writing, and was preceded by the “ Age of the Three Rulers,” our Stone 
Ages, when people dwelt in caves, drank the blood of animals, ate wild 
fruits or uncooked food, wore the skins of animals, obtained fire by friction, 
and threw their dead to the beasts of prey. Such universal reminiscences 
reveal the common background of shere savagery which stands behind the 
later developments among all the more or less cultured peoples. 

Of the Historic Age, which must persist to the end of time, the essential 
characteristic is the general use of letters, invented in the West as well as in 


102 The International Geography 

China in the Prehistoric Age, if not even earlier . 1 In virtue of this invention, 
gradually perfected through the successive phases of mere pictographs, 
conventional ideographs, phonetic symbols, syllabaries, and alphabets, all 
human knowledge worthy of preservation is perpetuated, and thus becomes 
accumulative. 

Civilised Man. — Henceforth the mind grows, so to say, at the expense 
of the body ; man becomes less and less a mere “ creature of circum- 
stances, ’’ that is, more independent of his environment, which he now 
largely controls ; and as he began by acquiring the ascendancy over all 
the other members of the animal kingdom, and constituting himself the 
one universal species, so he ends by bending Nature herself to his will and 
requirements. By the development of navigation and diverse methods of 
land locomotion, he has been able to overcome the obstacles of seas and 
mountain barriers, and thus to move more freely over the face of the 
Earth. But these processes have been in progress for many millenniums,, 
certainly since late Neolithic times, with the result that the originally well 
marked varietal groups have become almost everywhere somewhat inter- 
mingled, and their distinctive physical characters diversely modified. Thus 
it is that the primitive racial types have become “ ideal quantities,” and the 
original races themselves palaeontological studies, while “ the more limited 
groups, now called races, are nothing but peoples, or societies of peoples, 
brethren by civilisation more than by blood ” (Tosti). 

Primary Divisions of Mankind. — Under these circumstances it is 
not surprising that opinions have greatly differed regarding the number 
and nomenclature even of the primary divisions of mankind, although here 
again the tendency has lately been to revert to the views of the Swedish 
systematist. There is a somewhat general consensus amongst ethnologists 
that the endless sub- varieties may be reduced to about four primary groups 
— the Etliiopic or Negro, the Mongolic or Yellow , the American or Red and 
the Caucasic or White, the term “ Caucasic ” being of course taken in 
Blumenbach’s purely conventional sense, without any special reference to 
the inhabitants of the Caucasus. This scheme has the advantage of being 
based partly on colour, one of the most conspicuous external characters* 
and partly, as it ought to be, on actual geographical distribution, with no 
doubt certain discrepancies in both cases. Thus, before the displacements 
that have taken place in modern times, the Etliiopic was mainly confined to 
the inter-tropical lands west and east of the Indian Ocean (Africa south of 
the Sahara, and most of Australasia), which jointly constitute the essentially 
Negro or Black Zone. The Mongolic occupies by far the greater part of 
Asia with some conterminous European districts, and is almost everywhere 
characterised by various shades of yellow, or yellowish brown, so that in 
popular language, “ Yellow Mongol ” and “ Asiatic ” are practically equiva- 

1 M. Cartailhac describes certain markings on pebbles from the Mas d’Azil cave, which 
he regards as possibly a rudimentary script dating from the Stone Ages (U Anthropologic, 
1896, p. 385 sq.). 


Distribution of Mankind 


103 


lent expressions. Thanks to its insular conformation, the coincidence of 
the New World with the American division is complete, and here again 
reddish or coppery tints prevail from Alaska to Fuegia. Lastly, the Caucasic 
comprises nearly the whole of Europe and Africa south to the tropic of 
Cancer, with the eastern seaboard to the equator and south-western Asia. 
This division thus occupies a very distinct zoological zone, disposed 
round about the Mediterranean waters where the dominant colours are 
white and whitish or olive brown, with some aberrant deep brown, or 
even black shades in those* districts where this division encroaches on 
the Black Zone. These dark Caucasic groups (Gallas, Somalis, Abys- 
sinians), are, so to say, balanced by those Mongolic peoples (Finns, Lapps, 
Turks, Bulgars, Magyars), who have invaded the Caucasic zone, and thus 
become assimilated in colour and other respects to the white type. All 
such aberrations are to be regarded as results of the secular interminglings 
that have everywhere taken place about the ethnical “ divides ” of the 
primary groups. 

Each of these groups comprises a number of sub-varieties which are 
sufficiently specialised in type, speech and other respects to constitute 
tolerably well-defined secondary divisions. A summary conspectus of 
these groups and sub-groups, disposed according to their more probable 
genetic affinities, is all that it is possible to give in this place. 


THE CHIEF DIVISIONS AND SUB-DIVISIONS OF MANKIND. 

ETHIOPIC (BLACK) DIVISION. 

I. — WESTERN (AFRICAN) SECTION. 

Original Habitat. — Africa south of the Sahara ; Madagascar. 

Later Expansion. — North Africa (sparsely) ; Southern United States; 

Nicaragua ; West Indies ; Atlantic States of Brazil ; the Guianas. 

Population. — Africa, 150,000,000 (?),; Madagascar, 3,000,000 ; Tropical 
and Sub-tropical America, 20,000,000. Total, 173,000,000. 

Physical Characters. — Head : Long (from glabella to occiput) ; 

prognathous jaws ; broad flat nose ; thick everted lips ; rather 
prominent cheek bones ; arched brow ; large, round, prominent 
black eyes, with yellowish cornea ; flat foot ; larkspur heel. 

Colour : Very deep brown, rarely quite black. 

Hair : Short, black, woolly, flat in cross section ; sparse beard. 

Height , above the average : 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet. 

Mental Characters. — Temperament : Sensuous, unintellectual, fitful ; 

mind arrested at puberty, hence unprogressive ; no science 
or letters ; few arts beyond agriculture, weaving, pottery, 
woodwork, and metallurgy (iron and copper). 

Religion : Nature and ancestry worship ; fetishism ; witch- 
craft ; human sacrifice ; ordeals. 

Speech : Agglutinating, mostly with prefixes ; numerous stock 
languages north of the equator ; two only in the south (Bantu 
and Hottentot), Malayo-Polynesian in Madagascar. 


104 The International Geography 

Chief Sub-Divisions, — Wolof, Mandingo, Songhay, West Sudan ; Chi, 
Ewe, Yoruba , Upper Guinea ; Hausa, Bornu , Central Sudan ; 
Maba, Nuba, Denka , Shilluk, Bari, East Sudan and White Nile ; 
Niam-Niam ( Zandeh ), Mangbattu, Barambo, Momfu, Welle river. 
Groups of Bantu Speech : Waganda, Wanyoro, Lakes Victoria 
and Albert ; Waswahili, East Coast ; Zuiu-Kafir, South-East Coast ; 
Bechuana, Mashona, Marotse, South-Central regions ; Ova-Herero, 
Ova-Mpo, Bateke, Mpongwe, West Coast. 

Aberrant and Doubtful Groups. — Fula , Senegambia, Sudan. 

Fans, Ogowe and Gabun basins ; Bantu speech, negroid 
type with marked Hamitic traits ; Pagans. 

Negritoes, numerous isolated groups in the forest regions of the 
Congo basin ; negro features, brachycephalous heads ; yellowish 
colour ; dwarfs, 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 10 inches. 

Bushmen, originally everywhere south of Lake Tanganyika, 
now mainly in the Kalahari desert, probably akin to the Negritoes. 

Hottentots, orginallv everywhere south of Zambezi, now confined 
to Cape Colony and Namaqualand ; of Bushman- Bantu descent. 


II. — EASTERN (AUSTRALASIAN) SECTION. 

Original Habitat. — Malaysia ; Andamans ; Philippines ; New Guinea ; 
most of Polynesia ; New Zealand ; Australia ; Tasmania. 

Present Domain. — Malaysia, east of Flores ; Malay Peninsula, Anda- 
mans, parts of the Philippines, Melanesia, parts of Australia. 

Population. — 2,000,000, chiefly in New Guinea and Melanesia. 

Physical Characters. — Very variable, differing from the African 
section chiefly in the height, which is about or even below 
the average ; the hair, rather frizzly, wavy, or shaggy (Australia) 
than woolly ; the nose, large, straight, and often aquiline with 
downward tip ; and the lips less thick and never everted. 

Mental Characters. — Temperament : Boisterous, cruel, treacherous, 
indolent ; generally more savage than the African ; head-hunt- 
ing common in Melanesia ; cannibalism formerly prevalent 
as in Africa ; no science, letters, or arts, except agriculture, 
pottery, weaving, and woodwork ; artistic sense somewhat deve- 
loped, as shown especially in boat-building and wood-carving. 

Religion : Nature and spirit worship, totemism ; tabu. 

Speech : Archaic forms of Malayo- Polynesian in Melanesia ; 
agglutinative with post-fixes in Australia and most of New 
Guinea. 

Sub-Sections. — Papuans, the most typical of the Oceanic negroes. 

Range : Most of East Malaysia, inclusive of Flores ; nearly all 
New Guinea. 

Melanesians. — Often grouped with the Papuans ; but differences 
physical, mental, and linguistic, constitute them a separate branch. 
Range : New Britain and New Ireland ; Louisiades ; Solomons; 
New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Loyalty; Tasmania (now 
extinct). 

Australians. — A highly specialised branch, with marked uni- 
formity in type, speech, and usages throughout Australia ; dis- 
appearing. 

Negritoes. — Andamanese, the so-called “ Mincopies,” Andaman 
Islands; Samangs, Sakais, of Malay Peninsula; Aetas, thinly 
scattered over the Philippines. 


Distribution of Mankind 


105 


MONGOLIC (YELLOW) DIVISION. 

Original Habitat. — Probably the Tibetan tableland. 

Early Expansion. — Indo-China; China; North Asia; Malaysia. 

Present Expansion. — Korea; Japan; Formosa; Turkestan; Irania 
Asia Minor ; Caucasia ; Russia ; Baltic lands ; Balkan Peninsula ; 
Hungary ; Madagascar ; Australia ; America. 

Population. — China, 380,000,000 ; Japan and Korea, 55,000,000 ; Indo- 
China, 35,000,000 ; Malaysia, 30,000,000 ; Mongolia and Manchuria, 
10,000,000; Tibet, 6,000,000; Turkestan and Siberia, 7,000,000; 
West Asia, 13,000,000 ; Sundries, 4,000,000. Total, 540,000,000. 

Physical Characters. — Head : Brachycephalous, moderately progna- 
thous jaws ; very small concave nose ; thin lips ; prominent 
cheek bones ; small oblique black eyes. 

Colour : Yellowish, pale, or white in Manchuria, Korea, Japan, 
and in Turkey and Russia ; yell owish brown in Malaysia. 

Hair : Long, coarse, and bla ck, round in cross section, no beard. 

Height : Below the average, 5 feet 2 to 4 or 6 inches. 

Mental Characters. — Temperament : Sluggish, sullen, industrious in 
the temperate zone, elsewhere in dolent ; mostly reckless gamblers ; 
science slightly, arts and letters moderately developed. 

Religion : Nominal Buddhists and Mohammedans mostly ; a 
few pagans and Shamanists ; nea rly all spirit worshippers. 

Speech : Three great families : 1. Ural-Altaic, Lapland to 
Japan, Turkestan to Hungary ; agglutinating with post-fixes. 
2. Tibeto-Indo-Chinese, Tibet to the Pacific, Great Wall to 
Indian Ocean ; originally aggluti nating, now in every transition of 
phonetic decay towards monosy llabism, with numerous homo- 
phones distinguished by tone; hence maybe called “ monosyllabic 
toned languages.” 3. Malayo-Polynesian, the ‘'Oceanic” lin- 
guistic family in a pre-eminent sense, sweeping round from 
Madagascar across the Indian and Pacific Oceans to Easter 
Island, and from Hawaii to New Zealand; agglutinative at various 
grades of dissolution. 

Subdivisions and Aberrant or Doubtful Groups : Mongolo - 
Turks. — Commonly called “ Mongolo-Tartars.” Chief sub-groups : 
Mongols proper : Klialka or Sham, i.e., Eastern Mongols j Kalmuks , 
i.e., Western Mongols; Buriats , Siberian Mongols; Tungus; Man - 
chus, Gilyaks. Range : Mongolia, Manchuria, North Tibet, most 
of East Siberia. Turki Branch : Yakuts, Kirghiz, Uzhegs, Turko- 
mans, Nogai, Anatolian Turks , Osmanli. Range : Lena Basin, 
Central and West Siberia, Turkestan, Asia Minor, parts of 
Caucasia, East Russia and Rumelia. 

Ugro-Finns, Samoyedes, Lapps ; Finns proper, Voguls, Ostyaks, 
Siryanians, Permians, Magyars, Bulgars. Range : North Siberia 
and islands east to the Yenisei, Lapland, Finland, Esthonia, 
Livonia, parts of North and East Russia, Hungary. 

Tibeto-Chinese. — Tibetans, Burmese, Shans ( Siamese , Ahoms , 
Khamti), Arakanese, Chins, Nagas, Mishmi, Annamese, Chinese. 
Range : Tibet, Himalayan slopes, most of Indo-China and China. 

Malayans. — Malays proper, Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese , 
Sassaks, Bugis, Bisayans, Tagals, Formosans, Hovas. Range : 
Malaysia, east to Flores, Formosa, Philippines, parts of Madagascar. 

Koreo- Japanese. — Koreans, Japanese, Luchu Islanders. 

Sub- Arctic . — Chukchi, Koryaks, Yukaghirs, Kamchadales. 


v • 


106 The International Geography 

AMERICAN (“RED”) DIVISION. 

Original Habitat. — The whole of the New World. 

Present Restricted Domain. — The unsettled parts and some reserves 
in the Dominion ; Alaska, numerous reserves and some north and 
south-west tracts in the United States ; most of Mexico, Central 
and South America, partly intermingled with the White and 
Black intruders, partly still independent or in the tribal state. 

Population (pure and mixed). — Full blood, 9,900,000; half-breeds, 
12,270,000 ; total, 22,170,000, chiefly in Mexico (8,765,000), 
Brazil (4,200,000), Colombia (3,150,000), Peru (2,700,000), Bolivia 
(1,500,000), Guatemala (1,400,000), and Venezuela (1,325,000) • in 
the United States only 250,000, and Canada 100,000. 

Physical Characters. — Head : Both round and long, intermingled 
inextricably ; slightly projecting massive jaws ; large straight or 
aquiline nose ; moderately prominent cheek bones ; small straight 
black eyes ; coppery colour, shading off to yellowish or brown. 

Hair : Like the Mongol, but longer and coarser ; scant beard. 

Height : Variable, average or under on the uplands, above the 
average on the plains (Patagonia, pampas, prairies). 

Altogether a type specialised in the New World, probably 
from generalised Asiatic (pre-Mongol) and European (pre-Cau- 
casic) precursors, the former predominating. 

Mental Characters. — Temperament : Austere, moody, impassive, wary ; 
science slightly, art and letters moderately developed. 

Religion: Polytheistic, with human sacrifices where most deve- 
loped (Aztecs, Mayas) ; elsewhere nature worship and shamanism. 

Speech : Multifarious, but everywhere of the same polysynthetic 
type, in which the elements of the sentence tend to merge in a 
single word sometimes of prodigious length. Being unknown in 
the Old World, this type must have been entirely developed in 
America from the common germs of articulate speech which 
accompanied Pleistocene man in all his migrations. There are 
probably over 200 stock languages of this character, crowded 
together in astonishing numbers in some coast districts (Oregon, 
British Columbia, California), and woodlands (Amazonas), but 
some ranging over vast spaces on the open plains and plateaux. 

Chief Subdivisions. — Eskimo. — Most specialised of all the aborigines ; 

range for 5,000 miles from Alaska round the Arctic shores to 
Greenland and Labrador. 

Athapascan. — Kuchins , Chippewyans, Apaches , Navajos ; Alaska 
to Hudson Bay with enclaves on west coast and about United 
States and Mexican frontiers. 

Shoshonean . — Snake family : Bannocks , Comanches, Utes, Moqui. 
Range : Oregon to Texas, Idaho to South California and Arizona. 

Siouan. — Dakotas, Assiniboines, Omahas, Crows, Iowas , Missouri , 
Catawba (extinct). Range : Hudson Bay to Arkansas ; Virginia, 
North and South Carolina. 

Muskhogean. — Creek family : Creeks, Choctaws, Seminoles, Chica - 
sas. Range : Kentucky to Florida. 

Algonquian. — Delawares, Ojibwas , Shawnees , Arapahoes, Crees, 
Blackfeet, and many others. Range : Rocky Mountains to New- 
foundland, Labrador to Kentucky. 

lroquoian. — Hurons , Cherokees, Tuscaroras, Mohawks, Senecas, 
Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas. Range : Laurentian Basin, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Michigan. 


Distribution of Mankind 107 

Nahuatlan. — Aztecs , Pipits, Niquirans. Range : Mexico discon- 
tinuously to Nicaragua. 

Huaxtecan. — Huaxtecs , Mayas, Quiches, Pocomans. Range : 
Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Guatemala. 

Muiscan ; Arawakan ; Araucan , Tsonecan. 

Cariban. — Caribs, Macusi, Ackawoi, Bakairi. Range : Central 
Brazil to West Indies (a few still in St. Vincent). 

Quechuan. — Quitehos, Peruvians, Aymaras, Chinch asny os. 
Range : Quito to Lake Titicaca and Chili. 

Guaranian. — Guarani-Tupi family. Range : A great part of 
Brazil and Paraguay. 

CAUCASIC (WHITE) DIVISION. 

Original Habitat. — North Africa, south to Sudan. 

Early Expansion. — All the Mediterranean lands ; North-East Africa ; 

Arabia ; Central and West Europe ; Britain ; Irania ; India ; 
South-East Asia ; Malaysia ; Polynesia ; North-East Asia. 

Later and Present Expansion. — The whole of Europe ; Aralo-Caspian 
Depression ; East Turkestan ; Manchuria ; Korea ; Japan; North 
Africa (return) ; Abyssinia ; South Africa ; North and South 
America; Australia; New Zealand. 

Population. — Europe, 355,000,000 ; Asia, 280,000,000 ; America, 

115.000. 000; Africa, 15,000,000; Australasia, 5,000,000. Total, 

770.000. 000. 

Physical Characters. — Two types : 1. Fair (Huxley’s “ Xanthochroi ”). 

Head : long ; moderately large blue or grey and straight eyes. 
Colour : Florid. Hair : Long, wavy, flaxen, light brown and red. 
Height: Above the average (5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet). 2. Dark 
(Huxley’s “ Melanchroi”). Head : Long in south, round in north ; 
large black eyes. Colour: Pale white. Hair: Wavy, curly, 

brown and black. Jaws of both orthognathous ; nose large, 
straight or aquiline ; cheek bones small, features regular. 

Mental Characters. — Temperament of 1 : Solid and somewhat stolid ; 
of 2 : Fiery, fickle ; of both : Active, enterprising, imaginative. 
Science, arts, and letters highly developed. 

Religion: Monotheistic (Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedan- 
ism), but polytheistic (Brahmanism, &c.) in India and elsewhere. 

Speech : Mainly inflecting (i.e., root and formative elements 
completely fused), but agglutinative in Caucasia, the Dekkan, and 
Polynesia. Two great linguistic families : Hamito-Ibero -Semitic, 
North Africa, South-West Asia, Iberia ; Aryan (7 do-European), 
nearly all Europe, Armenia, Irania, Northern India, nearly the 
whole of America, Australia, New Zealand, parts of North and 
South Africa. 

Chief Subdivisions : — South Mediterranean. — Hamites : Berbers, 
Tuaregs, Egyptians, Bejas, Afars, Agaus, Gallas, Somalis, Tibus, 
Masai, Wa-Huma. Range : Mauritania, Sahara, Nile Basin, 
North-East African seaboard. Semites: Arabs, Abyssinians, 
Syrians, Chaldaeans. Range : North Africa, Abyssinia, Arabia, 
Syria, Mesopotamia. 

North Mediterranean. — Pelasgo-Hellenes : Albanians, 

Greeks. Range : Adriatic to Cyprus and Asia Minor, Rumelia to 
Crete. Ligurians : Most Italians, Corsicans, Sards, Sicilians. Kelto- 
Iberians : Spaniards, Portuguese, Basques, Bretons, Auvergnats, 
9 


108 The International Geography 

Savoyards, some English, many Welsh and Irish. Range : 
North Italy, South France, Brittany, parts of England and 
Scotland, most of Wales and Ireland. 

North European. — Scandinavians : Icelanders, Norwegians, 
Swedes, Danes, Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islanders. Low 
Germans: Most Prussians and Westphalians, Frisians, Dutch, 
Flemings, English, Scots, many Irish. High Germans : Bava- 
rians, Wurtembergers, Tyrolese, most Swiss, Austrians. Letto - 
Slavs : Lithuanians, Great, Little and White Russians, Poles, 
Chechs (Bohemians and Moravians), Slovenes, Slovaks, Croatians, 
Serbs, Dalmatians, Montenegrins. 

Iranic. — Armenians, Kurds, Persians, Afghans, Baluchi. 
Range : From Asia Minor to Indus, Hindu-Kush and Pamir slopes. 

Indic. — Northern Hindus (of Aryan speech) : Kashmiri, Panjabi, 
Sindhi, Bengali, Hindi, Gujarati, Mahrati, Oriya, Assami. Southern 
Hindus (of Dravidian speech) : Telugus, Tamils, Kanarese, 
Malayalims, Singhalese, some Galchas. 

Indonesian. — Asiatic Mainland : Gyarungs, Lolos, Mossos, 
Kuys, Khmers (Cambodians), Charays. Malaysia : Battas, Tin- 
guians, Manobas. Polynesia : Samoans, Tahitians, Tongans, Maori, 
Marquesas, Hawaiians. 

Ainu. — South Kurile Islands, Yezo, South Sakhalin. 

Caucasian Proper. — Georgians, Lazes, Circassians, Abkha- 
sians, Kabards, Chechenzes, Lesghians ; both slopes of Caucasus. 

Population of the World According to Races. — From this survey 
it appears that since Neolithic times the two lower groups 
(Ethiopic, American) have been losing, the two upper (Mongolic, 
Caucasic) gaining ground everywhere, with results expressed in 
terms of population as under : — 

Caucasians... 

Mongols ... 

Ethiopians 

Americans ... 

Total ... 1,507,000,000 


540.000. 000 

175.000. 000 
22 , 000.000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

C. Darwin. “ The Descent of Man.” 2 vols. London, 1871. 

W. Boyd Dawkins. "Early Man in Britain.” London, 1880. 

"Cave Hunting.” London, 1874. 

Sir J. Evans. " The Ancient Stone Implements of Great Britain.” 2nd edit. London, 1897. 

" The Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain and Ireland.” London, 

1881. 

T. Waitz. " Introduction to Anthropology.” English edit. London, 1863. 

P. Topinard. "Anthropology.” English 'edit. London, 1878. 

T. H. Huxley. "Man’s Place in Nature,” in collected Essays. London. 

A. H. Keane. "Ethnology.” Cambridge, 1896. 

• " Man Past and Present.” Cambridge, 1899. 

Sir J. Lubbock. " Prehistoric Times.” London, 1869. 

• "The Origin of Civilization." London, 1870. 

M. G. Maspero. " The Dawn of Civilization.” London, 1897. 

M.de Nadaillac. " Prehistoric America.” London, 1885. 

O. Peschel. " The Races of Man and Their Geographical Distribution.” 1878. 

A. de Quatrefag.es. “ Classification des Races Humaines.” 2 vols. Paris. 

F. Ratzej. “ History of Mankind.” English edit. 4 vols. London, 1896-99. 

W. Z. Ripley. “ The Racial Geography of Europe.” Boston and London, 1899. 


CHAPTER X.— POLITICAL AND APPLIED 

GEOGRAPHY 


By J. Scott Keltie, LL.D., 

Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. 

Political Geography. — The body of knowledge included under the 
term Geography is capable, like most other departments of science, of 
certain practical applications to the affairs of humanity. But until the 
student has thoroughly grasped the facts and principles of physical 
geography and of anthropogeography, he is not in a position to investigate 
their practical applications with success. Political geography is the 
application of the data included in these two great divisions of the subject 
to the affairs of those groups or communities of men which in their more 
developed condition we designate States or Nations. Groups of this class 
are of all grades from the isolated village community and the nomad tribe 
of savages, up to one of the “ Great Powers ” ; but whatever its grade, 
it is impossible to conceive of any community without associating it with 
an area of land or territory of greater or less dimensions. The land and 
the people are integral parts of the State or political community, the one 
being as indispensable as the other, and therefore a knowledge of both 
is absolutely essential to a satisfactory understanding of the life and 
activity of the State. 

It may be said that the whole of geography has a practical bearing in 
this direction, as it deals with the surface of that Earth, which is the theatre 
of all human activity. We can here only briefly indicate some of the 
directions in which this practical application can be worked out. 

Position on the Earth’s Surface. — The position of a country on 
the Earth’s surface is determined by latitude and longitude. The former, 
from the standpoint of Political Geography, is of much more importance 
than the latter. Latitude is one of the main factors in the determination 
of climate. Land in the extreme north or the extreme south is either 
uninhabitable, or political, social and industrial development is arrested on 
account of the cold. Extreme heat, with certain modifications, seems also 
to exercise an arresting influence. But in considering the political 
development of tropical regions, we must take into account the type of 
people inhabiting them. How far the geographical environment has 
moulded the character of the people, it is the business of Anthropo- 
geography to investigate. At this stage of the world’s history, the 
important point with regard to tropical countries is to what extent they 

are habitable by the white races, by the dominant peoples who have been 

109 


no The International Geography 

habituated to temperate climates. Hitherto, in India and in tropical 
Africa, the white races have not been able to people the countries, but 
only to reside temporarily as traders or as rulers of the native population. 
In tropical countries, as a rule, the necessaries of life can be obtained 
without much exertion, and as little or no clothing is required, the 
incentives to exertion for a people in a primitive state are few. The 
great advances in civilisation, in political, social, and industrial develop- 
ment, have been made in temperate climates. 

Longitude, as indicating the position of a State on a great continent, 
is of importance, as distance from the sea-board has an effect in modifying 
climate. It is also of commercial and even political importance with 
respect to communications and distance from important seaports. 

Physical Characteristics. — The surface forms or Physical Charac- 
teristics of a country, its division into mountains and valleys, into high 
plains or plateaux, and low plains, the distribution of land and water, the 
nature of the soil, must evidently have a marked effect on the political 
and industrial development of a country. A mountainous country like 
Switzerland or Abyssinia, or a high plateau country like Tibet, presents 
very different conditions from the well - watered plain of northern 
Germany, the black earth region of Russia, or the prairies of North 
America. The highlands of Scotland have reared a different type of 
people, have had a different history, and a different development from the 
lowlands, and from the great plain and the uplands of England. These, 
again, present marked contrasts with the conditions of life and the history 
of the Sahara and the desert of central Australia. An island State, like 
Great Britain, is influenced by a different set of conditions from those 
which prevail on a continental State with contiguous neighbours. The 
configuration of a coast-line is another important factor in influencing the 
development of a country. It may be rich in bays and gulfs and estuaries, 
and fjords forming excellent harbours and giving easy access to shipping, 
as in the case of Europe, or it may be marked by an entire absence of 
such advantages, as in the case of Africa, the greater part of the coast 
of which cannot be approached by shipping, and which, except in the 
case of the Congo estuary, has no indentations going deep into the land. 
But it should be pointed out that modern engineering skill has been able 
to overcome some of these disadvantages, and to create a new set of 
geographical conditions. 

Mountains may play an important part in modifying the distribution 
of rainfall over a country, depending on the aspect they present to the 
prevailing winds. Their direction may be such as to tap the rain-bearing 
winds and distribute the precipitation in a direction from which little or 
no agricultural results could be expected. The Himalayas intercept the 
rains of the southern monsoon before they can reach the Tibetan plateau 
beyond ; therefore we find on one side rich forest and other vegetation 
and on the other sterility. The waterless condition of the Sahara is no 


Political and Applied Geography hi 

doubt partly due to the direction and the situation of the Atlas range, 
which intercepts what moisture comes fiom the Atlantic and Mediterra- 
nean. So it is in Australia, the main mountain ranges of which are on the 
eastern border. Altitude in general is a great modifier of climate ; if of 
sufficient dimensions it may introduce temperate climates into a tropical 
country, as in some parts of Africa and South America. 

The Hydrography of a country, that is, the distribution of its water- 
supply on the surface, is evidently a matter of prime importance. The 
main forms in which water is found on the Earth’s surface, apart from the 
ocean, are those of lakes and rivers. Under certain conditions the supply 
of water stored underground may also be of economical value, as in the 
Sahara and Australia. A widespread network of rivers, as in England and 
over much of Europe, gives a State a great advantage in the development 
of the agricultural resources of the soil. On the other hand although a very 
large area of Australia is waterless, yet by sinking wells a supply of water 
has been obtained in some districts sufficient to irrigate an extensive area 
and so turn a desert into valuable grass lands for cattle and sheep. It is 
often possible when the beds of streams are steep, or when they are 
broken by waterfalls, to utilise them as sources of power for machinery 
instead of steam. Thus it comes that in countries like Switzerland and 
Norway electric lighting is common even in small villages, while Niagara 
Falls supply power to innumerable factories both on the Canadian and the 
United States side. 

Lakes are also of some importance in these respects, and that im- 
portance is increased when their stores of water can be distributed 
either by rivers or by canals, for purposes of fertilisation, for industrial 
uses, or for the water supply of large towns. Both rivers and lakes, when 
of considerable size, and especially when supplemented by canals, may be 
of great utility as means of communication or transport. They were of 
still more importance before the extension of railways. 

Dimensions. — This element, composed of length, breadth, altitude 
and area, has various important bearings on the life of a community or State. 
The extent of a country from north to south may be of prime significance. 
Canada extends from the latitude of Lisbon to the Arctic regions, the 
result being that a large area in the north is unavailable. Even the United 
States has during the course of the year a climate varying from tropical 
heat to Arctic rigour. These two countries in the east and west direction 
extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, so that while their east 
coasts, owing to certain physical conditions, have a severe, and, in the case 
of Canada, an Arctic winter, their west coasts have a comparativelv mild 
climate. The British possessions in South Africa extend from the tempe- 
rate climate of Cape Colony to the tropical conditions of Lake Tanganyika; 
this gives a great advantage over a purely tropical country so far as 
Europeans are concerned. Similar conditions are found in Australia. 

Area is of importance in many ways. A State of very small extent is 


1 12 The International Geography 

not necessarily an inferior Power. The actual areas of Athens and Sparta, 
of Phoenicia and Carthage, and even of Rome were comparatively insig- 
nificant, but these were all of them Great Powers in their time. In the 
middle ages Venice and Genoa were insignificant in size, but they exercised 
great influence owing to their commercial supremacy. The Hanseatic 
League may be said to have had no territory at all, but here again the 
magnitude of its commercial transactions gave it great influence in the 
affairs of Europe. The United Kingdom is only half the size of France 
or of Germany. But its geographical position has given it great commer- 
cial advantages, and these combined with its mineral resources, have 
endowed it with wealth sufficient to maintain a powerful fleet by means of 
which it has been enabled to acquire and maintain additional territory in 
other parts of the world. Unless a continental State is of considerable 
extent, although it may become commercially important, as in the case of 
Norway, Belgium, Holland, it can never develop into a Great Power, as 
the population could never increase sufficiently to admit of the establish- 
ment of a great army. On the other hand an extensive territory, bordering 
on the territories of other States, or scattered in sections over the globe, 
is vulnerable at many points, necessitating the maintenance of a large 
army or navy, or both, and the establishment of extensive frontier defences. 

Boundaries. — “ Landmarks ” have been a very early institution. 
Natural boundaries, that is, the boundaries that exist between different 
types of natural features, are rarely hard and fast lines. Thus the boun- 
dary between sea and land is a more or less broad strip. So also there 
is generally a zone of transition between mountain and valley, between 
forest and grass land, between the neve and the glacier, between the river 
and its banks. Human races also are seldom sharply separated in their 
habitat, there is always a certain amount of intermingling on the border. 
Among certain primitive peoples there is no hard and fast line delimiting 
their territories ; in central Africa certain of the native States seem to be 
separated by a neutral zone. So is it also among certain of the coast 
tribes of British New Guinea. Until quite recent years there was a broad 
neutral zone separating China and Korea. In mediaeval Europe the 
“ Mark,” the “ Marches,” the “ Borders,” consisted of a more or less broad 
belt, it might be a mountain range or a clearing in a forest or a strip of 
waste land which separated two tribes, or communities, or States. Where 
there is a scanty nomad or primitive population the need for rigid bounda- 
ries is not felt. Natural features at first sight seem to form the most 
suitable boundaries — a river, a mountain range, a lake, a desert, the ocean 
itself, and in more primitive times when the Earth was not so fully peopled, 
no doubt this was so. But as a matter of fact, most of the great rivers 
are now included in single States ; as a result of the Franco-German War 
of 1871 the Rhine ceased to be the boundary between France and 
Germany, and became throughout its middle course a German river. 
With the growth of States, the growing supremacy of a few “ Great 


Political and Applied Geography 113 


Powers,” the increase of population, the development of commerce and 
industry, and the growth of naval and military power, natural geographical 
boundaries have been overridden, especially in Europe and Asia. A State 
is like a living organism which as it grows in strength must expand. 
Expanding Prussia was bound to find an outlet to the ocean, and so in 
1866 made her boundaries overlap Schleswig-Holstein. A great State like 
Russia could clearly not be debarred access to ports open all the year 
round, and therefore her pushing outward to the Pacific was inevitable. 
A great commercial country must have an accessible sea-board, and if she 
cannot obtain one by diplomacy, she must endeavour to get one by force. 

Ignorance of geographical facts sometimes leads to strange mistakes 
which may be to the disadvantage of one of the parties to a boundary 
treaty. Thus when the boundary 
between the United States and 
Canada was arranged in 1846, the 
line was to proceed across the Lake 
of the Woods to the north-west 
corner, and then follow the forty- 
ninth parallel. It was afterwards 
found that the lake extended far 
to the north of 49 0 , so that the 
United States in this way ob- 
tained a section of territory within 
Canada, and the islands in the 
lake are divided in the most cap- 
ricious way. Boundaries are 
generally made at first on paper 
with the aid of maps, and when 
the final delimitation is made on 

the spot, the imperfections of the Fig. 47. — Boundary between the United States 

..... and Canada at the Lake of the Woods. 

maps used sometimes gives rise 

to serious disputes, as has been the case in delineating the frontiers 
between Russian and British territory in Asia, and between some of 
the European Powers in Africa. As a rule in settled countries boundaries 
are arranged between two contiguous Powers, either by diplomacy, 
by purchase, or by war. But in regions occupied by uncivilised or 
semi-civilised peoples, which civilised Powers desire to annex in whole 
or in part, there may be several parties to a boundary, and these may or 
may not include the natives themselves. Thus the boundaries of what is 
known as British East Africa were arranged between Great Britain, 
Germany and Italy, the native population having no voice in the matter. 
But to this arrangement France did not formally give her consent, and at 
one time considered herself at liberty to ignore the boundary line on the 
west, and to lay claims to a position on the Upper Nile. 

The most uncompromising type of boundary is the ocean; hence the 






H4 The International Geography 

advantage which the United Kingdom has over continental States. Owing 
to the nature of the boundaries of the United Kingdom, she is enabled to 
dispense with a large standing army, but is compelled to maintain a 
powerful fleet. The United States and Canada have also the advantage 
of being bounded on two sides by the ocean, each of them having only 
two land frontiers, differing in this respect from a country like Austria, 
which is almost entirely surrounded by other States. Next to the ocean, 
perhaps the simplest boundary is the line of latitude or longitude. West 
of the Lake of the Woods, the boundary between the United States and 
Canada is the 49th parallel of north latitude until it reaches the sea. 
In Africa the boundaries between the “ spheres ” of European Powers are 
often straight lines, not necessarily coinciding with lines of latitude or 
longitude, but drawn from point to point. The disadvantage of straight 
lines is that unless the country has been carefully surveyed disputes are 

apt to arise as to the 
position of particular 
places. Where a river 
is taken as a boundary, 
the line runs through 
the Thalweg or centre 
of the river-bed ; the 
disadvantage here is 
that unless the river 
has been fully surveyed, 
disputes may arise as 
to which is its true 
upper course, when 
there is more than 
one upper stream, or 
the stream itself may 
change its course, like 
the Yellow River in China. In Europe boundaries are more complicated 
than in other parts of the world, for they have been subject to alterations, 
mainly by war, for more than a thousand years. Like most boundaries 
that have not resulted from actual annexation, they were probably 
originally tribal or racial, and to understand the many changes which 
have taken place in them, it is necessary to master the racial movements 
in Europe. Roughly they now coincide with linguistic distinctions, though 
this rule is far from rigid. 

Over a large part of Europe the boundaries between the different 
States are marked by no outstanding physical feature, and can only be 
detected along the highways by posts or pillars or some other artificial 
mark, or the location of a custom-house. For military purposes the 
boundary line becomes a “ frontier ” which extends for a varying space on 
each side of the line on the map. Troops and fortresses are not ranged 



Political and Applied Geography 1 1 5 

on the actual line, but at selected points in its neighbourhood. The 
boundaries between sub-divisions of old countries, like England, Germany, 
and France, sometimes indicate the limits of old independent States, or of 
ecclesiastical jurisdictions, or of tribal territories; the modern tendency is 
to abolish them, and to substitute more convenient administrative divisions. 
In new countries, like the west of the United States and Canada, the sub- 
divisions are more often made by mathematical lines. 

Internal Development. — All material progress is dependent on 
the interaction between humanity and its geographical environment, and 
the rate of progress is almost directly in proportion to the extent of man’s 
activity in dealing with that environment. In Australia, and in tropical 
Africa, the aborigines have remained at a low level of progress partly 
because they have been in the main content with what nature provided 
with little or no active interference on their part. They are, of course, 
people of a type different from those who have developed so greatly in 
Europe, Asia, and America, and the question arises how far such types are 
the product of their environment. Purely pastoral pursuits in regions 
where only the natural resources are utilised, as in the Sahara, Arabia, and 
Central Asia, do not conduce to continuous progress in a community. It 
is only when man begins to improve the natural conditions that he enters 
upon the upward path of development. The cultivation of the soil, the 
attempt to domesticate animals, and improve breeds of stock, the working 
of mineral resources, the pursuit of fishing, will among an energetic people 
lead to the improvement of the means by which these pursuits are carried 
on. This would develop the intelligence, and initiate manufactures of 
various kinds which are bound to go on improving. Increase of popu- 
lation in any country will lead to the occupation of further territory and 
the improvement of waste lands, as well as the opening up of the country 
by the destruction of forests. When this destruction is reckless it is apt 
to affect the climate injuriously. The progress of internal development 
necessitates the establishment of communications by land and water 
between different sections of the community. These will no doubt be 
simple enough at first, mere narrow tracks as in tropical Africa, permitting 
the passage of only one man at a time. The introduction of beasts of 
burden greatly improves intercourse and traffic, and this improvement, 
with increased manufactures and the establishment of market centres, 
leads to the growth of commercial towns. 

Towns. — Probably one of the first causes which induced men to live 
together in enclosures was mutual protection, either from hostile com- 
munities or from wild beasts. Many of the oldest towns had their begin- 
ning under the protection of the fortified castle of a powerful chief. In 
central Africa at the present day the natives almost entirely live within 
enclosures around the chief’s or headman’s kraal. But as industry and 
commerce, and the political life of the people develop, many other causes 
come into play leading to the establishment of towns and cities. The late 
10 


n6 The International Geography 

Mr. Green showed how natural it was that London should have started in 
; ts marvellous growth from the landing of the Romans on the first little 
height of land they reached on sailing up the inviting estuary of the 
Thames, which is the natural highway into the heart of the land for traffic 
from the continent of Europe. It became the great entrepot and distri- 
buting centre where, in time, much of the commercial business of the 
world came to be transacted. This, with the fact that it became the 
capital of the kingdom and the empire, will to a large extent account for 
its wonderful growth. On the other side of the island, Liverpool and 
Glasgow have also grown into great commercial centres, since the increase 
in the traffic across the Atlantic, although they both had certain natural 
disadvantages. Glasgow was situated on a narrow shallow stream suitable 
only for boats. But it was surrounded by coal and iron mines, and in 
order that the products of these and of the industries which accompanied 
them should find a direct transit to the outside world, the shallow stream 
was deepened into a great highway, navigable by ocean ships. Manchester 
owes its growth to the fact that it is a suitable centre for the manufacture 
of the raw cotton imported into Liverpool from America. The handsome 
city of Vancouver on the coast of British Columbia, opposite the island of 
that name, owes its existence to its being the terminus of the Canadian 
Pacific Railway, and the point of departure for steamers across the Pacific. 
The town of Rossland in the Kootenay District of British Columbia grew 
up from nothing to a population of 6,000 in four years, owing to its being 
in the centre of a newly-discovered mining district ; but such an origin 
contains the germ of decay, for if the mines should be abandoned the city 
would be at once deserted unless other resources had in the meantime 
been developed. Similarly there exists a reason for the position and the 
development of every town in whatever part of the world it may be situated. 

Land and People. — The actual relations of the community or State 
and the land is an interesting feature in political geography. No doubt in 
primitive communities the land belongs to the whole community. In 
Russia at the present day the land of each mir, or commune or parish, 
belongs to the whole commune. In England the “ Crown ” or the State 
is supreme over all land. The relations of the State to the land is an 
important feature in the political geography of every country. 

It would be a nice point of inquiry to what extent the form of govern- 
ment of a community is due to its geographical conditions. No doubt the 
peculiar geographical position of the United Kingdom which minimises 
the importance of the military element, has had something to do with the 
stable development of the political condition of the country, though the ques- 
tion of race is also involved here. The contrast with France is very marked. 
The modern German Empire has been welded together and extended 
through war, and therefore the military element is still predominant there, 
as it is also in France for opposite reasons. The internal growth of a 
community or State naturally leads to its expansion, to its value being 


Political and Applied Geography 117 

increased, in the eyes of those who, generation after generation, have 
developed it, and whose many common interests in their territory 
constitute them a nation, which, as in the United States, and indeed in 
most European countries, may be composed of many different races. 
This naturally leads to measures being taken for its defence — to the 
establishment of an army, of defences for the frontiers, and of a navy 
where that is required. Expansion brings a State into contact with its 
neighbours, with whom its relations may be friendly or hostile. If it is 
felt that the boundaries of the State are too restricted to give room for 
expansion, then attempts will be made to obtain additions to the territory 
of the State by forcible seizure, by treaty, or by purchase. This expansion 
will also lead to commercial traffic between neighbouring States, and the 
establishment of means of communication between distant States. Where 
a State borders on the ocean or possesses navigable rivers or lakes, ships 
are built, and the art of navigation improved. This traffic between 
different communities naturally leads to the growth of important trade 
centres ; thus some of the towns in southern Germany and Austria, such 
as Innsbruck and Salzburg, grew up as a result of the traffic between Italy 
and central Europe, across the Brenner and other passes. 

International Commerce. — International traffic has various obsta- 
cles to contend with ; there may be geographical difficulties, like mountain 
ranges over which passes have to be found and roads made, or at a later 
stage they have to be pierced by railway tunnels. Or if a State borders 
on the sea there may be a lack of convenient harbours, and this defect, 
unless remedied, might be a serious commercial disadvantage. If the 
State is energetic enough it may force its way by expansion to an accessible 
harbour, or it may, by attention to the development of engineering, over- 
come natural geographical disadvantages by such means as the creation 
of artificial harbours, or the construction of breakwaters. 

As the development of industry and commerce and of commercial 
relations with distant States increases, it becomes important to overcome 
the geographical disadvantage of distance by the introduction of steam 
power. Thus the means of transit become improved in speed and in 
carrying power, and the cost reduced, so that it becomes possible to 
develop regions previously untouched. Facilities for communication by 
means of correspondence are developed, and electricity is pressed into the 
service of humanity, telegraph lines are constructed, cables laid round the 
world, or wireless telegraph established, by means of which the most distant 
communities are brought into the closest relations. 

Artificial restrictions on commercial intercourse are frequently 
established, such as customs duties on certain articles imported, sometimes 
in order to raise a revenue for the State, sometimes in order to encourage 
native industries by increasing the price of imported articles. This may 
lead to the discouragement of industry in certain countries. Thus the 
sugar-cane industry of the West Indies has been nearly ruined because 


n8 The International Geography 

continental nations impose a heavy duty upon it to encourage the beetroot 
sugar industry. Most nations have such restrictions to a greater or less 
extent. In the United Kingdom they are confined to one or two articles of 
luxury, and therefore it is said to be a free-trading country. Sometimes 
States form what is called a commercial union, agreeing to accord each 
other certain advantages in their commercial intercourse which they do 
not accord to other States ; or it may be to agree not to give to any other 
State a greater favour in the imposition of duties than they accord to each 
other. Even before the union of the German States into the German 
Empire there existed what was called the Zollverein or German Customs 
Union, by which free trade existed between them. Until recently Ham- 
burg remained outside of this union, and was a free port, and even yet 
on a small area of the city, on the harbour, merchandise may be landed 
free of duty. Though independent of each other in many respects, the 
various States that form the United States have free trade with each 
other, and so have the self-governing provinces of other federal dominions, 
such as the Dominion of Canada. States may also form political unions 
with each other for the purpose of mutual defence under certain con- 
tingencies. 

Colonisation. — The internal development of a State, and the expan- 
sion of its boundaries may reach a stage when further development is 
impossible by what may be called contiguous expansion. In that case a 
State may seek to acquire further territory at a distance from its own 
boundaries. Both the Phoenician and the Greek States sent out what they 
called colonies. These often consisted mainly of the foundation of new 
cities, sometimes with a greater or less extent of territory around. Often 
in the case of the Phoenicians they were only trading posts, more or less 
independent of the mother country. Carthage was originally a Phoenician 
colony, and grew to be a great independent State that sent out colonies of 
her own. Rome's annexations became part of the empire, governed from 
the centre. In modern times, Portugal and Spain, Holland, France, the 
United Kingdom, and Germany, have taken possession of territory at a 
distance from their own lands. At first this was mainly done for trading 
purposes, though both Portugal and Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries, in Asia and America, as well as in Africa, annexed large areas 
which were treated as part of their own dominions. Natives of the mother 
States went out partly as rulers, partly as traders, many of them staying 
permanently, and making these lands their homes. Many of the 
inhabitants of the United Kingdom went in large numbers to lands beyond 
the seas, especially to North America and to Australia. These new terri- 
tories were treated by the mother country as part of her own domain, and 
dealt with in the interests of the Home Government rather than of the 
population who lived upon them, and who had acquired those territories 
either by conquest or purchase, or by simply taking possession without 
consulting the aboriginal population. This conduct led to certain of the 


Political and Applied Geography 119 

British colonies in North America declaring their independence of the 
mother country, and establishing new States. But as the other distant 
colonies developed and became populous and wealthy, the jurisdiction of 
the mother country over them became more and more slender, and so far 
as their territory and their internal affairs are concerned, they became 
independent, and even treated the mother country commercially as a 
foreign land. 

The French colonies have not developed in the same way as the 
British. One of them, Algeria, is dealt with to a large extent as if it were 
a part of France, and they are all directly governed from the mother 
country, although several of them send representatives to the French 
Parliament. This condition of things is mainly due to the fact that 
Frenchmen have not migrated and settled in their colonies to anything 
like the extent that has been done in the case of the British colonies. 
This may be partly due to the fact that the geographical conditions in 
most of the French colonies are not favourable for European settlement, 
for in that part of Canada which was once a French colony there is still 
a large and growing French population. The United Kingdom has posses- 
sions of a somewhat similar type to those of France, but these are tropical 
like India, the Straits Settlements, Central Africa, and the West Indies, 
where the native or coloured population has not been displaced by people 
of European origin, and where Englishmen reside more or less temporarily 
as administrators or traders. The administration of colonial possessions is 
sometimes confided to a chartered commercial company, acting under the 
central government of the colonising country. 

New Colonial Forms. — The expansion of European States has 
recently become so great, and commercial development so rapid, that the 
most enterprising of them have sought still further to extend their terri- 
tories and expand their markets by taking possession more or less 
completely of such portions of the globe as remained unannexed. This 
haste has given rise to a new and curious political factor, seen especially 
in the case of Africa, which within recent years has been partitioned 
among the Powers of Europe. So rapid has been this partition, and so 
extensive has been the share of each Power, that it has been impossible 
to take effective occupation of the territories, except at a few accessible 
points. Therefore it has been agreed among the Powers concerned that 
certain large areas beyond the stations occupied (the Hinterland) should 
be regarded as the “sphere of influence” of the Power occupying the 
stations. The main object of thus reserving spheres of influence is 
commercial, most of the Powers concerned placing restrictions on foreign 
commercial enterprise. But these great areas claimed by the Powers of 
Europe are regarded as integral parts of the dominion or empire of these 
Powers, so that in reckoning up the area of the British, the French, or 
the German possessions we include every square mile of land in any part of 
the world over which they claim to have “ influence.” The one exception 


120 The International Geography 

is Egypt, which, although its affairs are practically directed by the British 
Government, and its principal officials are British, more so than is the case 
with an Indian native State, yet it is not nominally included in the British 
Empire. Another new form of political factor has been created by one 
State leasing part of its territory to another. This was done in 1894, when 
the British Government leased to the King of the Belgians a portion of 
British East Africa on the Upper Nile. Previously the Sultan of Zanzibar 
had leased part of his territory to the United Kingdom and to Germany, but 
these Powers ultimately bought the territory outright. Some years ago Ger- 
many, Russia, and the United Kingdom leased certain areas of territory in 
China, where they established naval and military as w r ell as trading stations. 
More recently the United Kingdom accorded to France the lease of two 
stations on the British section of the Niger. All these new departures are 
due to the internal development of modern States and the necessity of find- 
ing scope for the energy of the increasing populations beyond the boundaries 
of their restricted territories. 

The Oceans. — As has been seen, the oceans themselves play an 
important part in political geography. Still further, it may be pointed out 
that the sea for a distance of three miles from the coast of civilised States 
is regarded as forming territorial waters of these States, in contradis- 
tinction to the “ High Seas,” on which there is no jurisdiction beyond that 
of the flag under which each vessel sails. Certain portions of the sea, 
more or less enclosed, are sometimes regarded as the property of the 
States bordering upon them, mainly for fishing purposes — thus the Bering 
Sea is claimed by Russia on the one side and by the United States on the 
other. A knowledge of the physical geography of the sea, especially of 
the currents and tides, is of importance to navigation. The knowledge 
of the ocean bed is of value in connection with the laying of telegraphic 
cables. It is also important to know the variations of temperature and 
salinity and other factors at different depths, as on these to a large extent 
depend, it is believed, the migration of food fishes. 

The results of the interaction between advanced communities and 
their territories can often be shown quantitatively in the form known as 
Statistics, which, when arranged with intelligence, are useful as a measure 
of progress. 

Commercial Geography. — The applications of Geography to com- 
merce are so numerous and comprehensive that Commercial Geography 
must be viewed rather as a particular aspect of the whole subject than as 
a separate department. The necessary foundation is a sound compre- 
hension of the principles of geography, but this is useless for the special 
purpose until applied by a practical mind to practical affairs. Commercial 
geography may be divided roughly into three parts, dealing respectively 
with Commodities, Transport, and Markets. 

1. The principal Commodities fall into two classes, (a) Those which 
exist in the substance of the lithosphere, or have been formed there by 


1 2 I 


Political and Applied Geography 

slow natural processes, so that the supply is not inexhaustible. All mineral 
commodities are of this class : gold, coal, and iron are typical examples. 
After being obtained, most minerals require various processes of reduction 
or purification before they are fit for use, and materials for carrying out 
this work must be made available before the resources acquire their full 
value. ( b ) The second class consists of commodities, the supply of which 
can be increased and the nature modified by rapid natural processes which 
are capable of being directed by human agency. This includes all culti- 
vated plants and domestic animals. Most of the raw products of the 
vegetable and animal kingdoms, such as textiles, require complicated 
processes of manufacture before they can be utilised, and the work is 
often carried out at great distances from the places of production. 

2. Means of Transport include routes by land and sea, the selection of 
which involves knowledge of geographical features and conditions, such 
as mountains, valleys, rivers, winds, or ice, and of artificial difficulties like 
hostile tribes or vested interests. They also include the vehicles or vessels 
used, and their mode of propulsion and guidance, thus involving engineer- 
ing and navigation. Pioneer gold miners in an Arctic region have to 
depend on their own backs or on dog-sledges for means of transport ; in 
other places rivers are available for canoes or boats, deserts may have to 
be crossed with camels, or jungle traversed with native porters. Roads 
and railways are later developments which render possible the most highly 
developed commerce. It is evident that the value of all bulky raw 
materials must depend on the possibility of cheap transport. Under this 
head postal and telegraph systems have also to be considered. 

3. Markets involve a consideration of the laws of supply and demand, 
of the artificial restrictions or encouragements presented by protective or 
prohibitory tariffs, or by bounties, and the more natural effects of free 
competition. Distance between centres of production and consumption, 
facilities for handling goods in transit, nationality, language, even religion 
and superstition are important factors. 

In the descriptions in Part II. prominence is given to the products and 
trade on which the prosperity of each country depends, and statistics of 
the growth of its commerce are added ; but, except in a few instances, 
little can be said on undeveloped resources, a subject which concerns 
future rather than present conditions. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

F. Ratzel. “ Politische Geographic.” Leipzig, 1897. 

“ Anthropogeographie.” 2 vols. Stuttgart, 1882, 1891. New edit. vol. i. 1899. 

J. S. Keltie and I. P. A. Renwick. “ The Statesman's Year Book.” London. AnnuaL 
W. Gotz. “Die Verkehrswege im Dienste des Welthandels.” Stuttgart, 1888. 

G. P. Marsh. “ Man and Nature, or Physical Geography as modified by Human Action.” 

London, 1864. 

G. G. Chisholm. ‘"Handbook of Commercial Geography.” London, 1890. 

J. S. Keltie. “Applied Geography.” London, 1890. 

E. R. Johnson. “ Ocean and Inland Water Transportation.” London, 1906. 

J. R. Smith. “ The Organization of Ocean Commerce.” Philadelphia, 1905. 


heraldic Colour Scheme for flags. 



3. /\zure=Blue. 

4. Sable = Black. 


5. Gules = Red. 

6. Vert = Green. 


1. = White, 

2. Or = Yellow. 


PART II 

CONTINENTS AND COUNTRIES 


BOOK I.— EUROPE 

CHAPTER XI.— THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE 

By George G. Chisholm, M.A., B.Sc. 

Position and Extent. — Europe is, next to Australia, the smallest of 
the continents. The area to be assigned to it depends upon the limits 
assumed, which vary partly in accordance with physical and partly in 
accordance with political considerations. In the south-east the limit now 
usually adopted is that of the valley of the Manych, stretching from near 
the Caspian Sea to the mouth of the Don, and nearly coinciding with the 
administrative boundary of the Lieutenancy of the Caucasus, the whole 
of which is thus assigned to Asia. In the east the most obvious 
physical boundary is formed by the Ural Mountains and the Ural River. 
The area of the mainland and the adjacent islands within these limits is 
about 3,750,000 square miles. The addition of Iceland and Novaya Zemlya 
(Nova Zembla) brings it up to 3,820,000 square miles, and the further 
addition of Spitsbergen to nearly 3,850,000 square miles. In the east of 
Russia, however, the political boundary extends some distance beyond the 
Urals so as to include all the mineral wealth of that region, and on the 
other hand, it runs, partly along the edge of a low plateau, some distance to 
the north-west and west of the Ural River. If this political boundary is 
followed it adds to the area of Europe about 100,000 square miles. 

Eurasia. — On a map of the world or the eastern hemisphere, Europe 
does not seem to have any right to the name of continent. It is seen to 
be a mere peninsula of a great land-mass the greater portion of which is 
formed by Asia. To this land-mass the name of Eurasia has been given, 
and from some points of view the consideration of the larger unit is con- 
venient if not essential. For most purposes, however, the distinction of 
the two continents is imperative. It has been established by history, and 
is justified by the physical conditions that have kept the history of the two 
continents in a large measure distinct. It originated where Europe and Asia 
are separated by water, and on land the separation is continued by a vast 
area of desert or sparsely peopled territory between the most populous 
regions of both. 


123 


124 The International Geography 

Coast-JLine. — The coast-line of Europe, exclusive of the islands, has 
been variously estimated at from 19,500 to nearly 48,000 miles. The fact is 
that length of coast-line is not a definite idea, and no definite figure for the 
coast-line ought to be taught in schools. The length varies according to 
the degree in which the minor indentations are taken into account. It is 
important, however, that the coast-line of Europe is certainly longer in 
proportion to area than that of any other continent ; but it is much more 
important that this greater length of coast-line is so largely due, not to 
small bays, gulfs, and creeks, but to great inland seas. The whole of 
Europe is thus brought into easy communication with the ocean. 

Surface Features. — These viewed broadly, are very simple. In the 
north-west there is an extensive highland region occupying the greater 
part of Scandinavia and advancing to the water’s edge in the countless 

fjords of Norway. 
These highlands reap- 
pear, to a large extent 
in the same form, in 
the north-west of Scot- 
land, and in a modified 
form in the west of 
Great Britain generally, 
in the angles of Ireland, 
and in Normandy and 
Brittany in France. 
Another extensive and 
loftier highland region 
occupies the southern 
countries, spreading 
northwards in the area 
between Italy and the 
Baltic to about 51^° N # 
Between these great highland areas there stretches an area of lowlands 
mainly composed of low plains broken only by seas. This area begins in 
England to the north of the English Channel and south-west of the North 
Sea, and on the mainland stretches continuously from the shores of the 
Bay of Biscay, the English Channel, and the North Sea to the Cral 
Mountains, spreading out in Russia from the shores of the Black Sea 
to those of the Arctic Sea. 

In the highland region of the south there are certain minor features too 
important to be passed over even in a general survey. These minor features 
are of two classes — ( a ) mountain ranges or systems, ( b ) valleys or plains. 
The former are the Alps in the heart of this southern highland region, the 
Carpathians in the east, the Balkans in the south-east, the Appennines m the 
peninsula of Italy, and the Pyrenees, stretching from the Bay of Biscay to 
the Mediterranean and forming a natural boundary which has never been 



FiG. 49. — Europe , showing circles of 600 and 1,200 miles 

radius from Cracow 




Europe 

long ignored in history. Of the lowland minor features the most important 
are (i) the valley of the Danube, stretching on the whole east and west 
through nearly the whole of the northern half of the mountainous region, 
and expanding in its lower part into two great plains, one between the 
Alps and the Carpathians drained also by the Theiss, the Drave, and the 
Save, and the other outside the Carpathians between these mountains and the 
Balkans ; (2) the valley of the Po, between the Alps and the Appennines ; 
(3) the north-to-south valley of the Saone and Rhone, between the Central 
Plateau of France and the highlands connecting it with the Vosges on the 
west, and the Alps and Jura on the east, a valley of all the more consequence 
historically and commercially because it is separated only by a low water- 
parting between the Vosges and the Jura (the opening known as the 
Burgundy Gate) from (4) the equally important north-to-south valley of the 
middle Rhine from Basel to Cologne ; and (5) the valley, or rather relative 
depression, called the 
passage of Naurouse, 
between the foot-hills 
of the Central Plateau 
of France and those of 
the Pyrenees, contain- 
ing the low water- 
parting between the 
Garonne and the Aude. 

The Alps, — Al- 
though the Alps are 
not the most extensive 
mountain system in 
Europe, being sur- 
passed in this respect 
both by the Scandi- 
navian Highlands and 
the Ural Mountains, they are the loftiest, and they contain the sources 
of many of the most important streams of the continent. Their surface 
is shared, unlike the larger systems, by a number of different countries. 
Their limits are everywhere well marked except where they unite with 
the Appennines. Here the proper line of division has been much disputed, 
but now there is a nearly general agreement in placing the boundary 
at the Collo dell’ Altare or di Cadabona, a pass about 1,600 feet in height, 
to the north-west of Savona on the route to Mondovi. From this point 
they stretch round in a curve, west, north, then east — westwards to the 
frontier of France, then northwards on the borders of France and Italy, 
and finally eastwards through Switzerland and the west of Austria. Their 
total extent is about 80,000 square miles, or not much less than that of the 
mainland of Great Britain. Their total length is about 680 miles, their least 
width, between Mondovi and the Gulf of Genoa, about 30 miles, and their 



Fig. 50 . — The Configuration of Europe, showing Highlands 

and Lowlands. 


126 The International Geography 

greatest width, about the meridian of Verona, a little less than 160 miles. 
(See Fig. 210 for contrast with other mountain systems.) The highest peak 
is Mont Blanc, 15,775 feet, in a short range on the borders of France and 
Italy. Monte Rosa, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, in the 
Pennine Chain, rises in the Dufourspitze to 15,215 feet, and there are 
several other peaks above 14,000, and many above 13,000 feet in height. 

The lower slopes of the Alps, up to about 5,300 feet in height, are known 
as the Fore Alps (in German Voralpen, in Italian Prealpi), those next in height 
up to about 9,000 feet, as the Middle Alps, and those above that height 
as the High Alps. This last altitude may be taken as the average snow- 
line in about the middle latitude of the Alps, 46^° N. The snow-line is, 
however, higher on the south side (9,200 feet) than on the north side of 
the Alps. The higher valleys are filled with glaciers, that of the Lower 
Grindelwald descending to about 3,500 feet (formerly lower). 

Geographical Divisions of the Alps. — These mountains are 
divided with respect solely to their direction and surface features, into 
three great and well-marked divisions, the Western Alps comprising the 
section with a north-to-south trend between the Great St. Bernard Pass, 
north-east of Mont Blanc, and the Collo dell’ Altare, the Centred Alps , ex- 
tending thence to the Brenner Pass with the valleys of the Adige-Eisack 
and the Wipp leading up to that pass on both sides, and the Eastern Alps 
comprising all the remainder. In the Western Alps the subsidiary ranges 
and the valleys are generally tortuous, at least on the outer or French side 
of the system, but in the other two divisions longitudinal mountain ranges 
and long valleys running between them east and west are a well-marked 
feature. 

Passes of the Western Alps. — On the east or Italian side of this 
division secondary chains run inwards towards the basin of the Po with 
some regularity, and among the valleys thus formed, two are of great 
importance with regard to the communication across the mountains, 
each of them leading up to two important passes. One of these is the 
valley of the Dora Riparia leading due west from Turin up to Susa, where 
the road forks, one branch going north-west across the Mont Cenis Pass 
(6,835 feet) to the valleys of the Arc and I sere, the other going south-west 
across the Genevra Pass (6,080 feet) to the valley of the Durance and the 
south of the Rhone valley. Both of these were much used in the middle 
ages, but the former has been superseded by a railway tunnel. The 
second important valley is that of the Dora Baltea, leading up to Aosta, 
the town still commemorating the name of its founder Augustus, who 
built it as the key of the two Roman roads laid from this point, one across 
the Great St. Bernard (Mons Jovis) to the valley of the Rhone, the other 
across the Little St. Bernard, south of Mont Blanc, to the valley of the 
I sere. 

Passes of the Central Alps. — Several passes long combined to 
confer importance on one city in northern Italy — Milan, and one route 


Europe 


127 


on the north side, that of the Rhine valley above the lake of Constance. 
On the south side of the Alps most of these routes followed at first the 
side of the lake of Como or were gained by a boat-voyage up that lake, 
but one of them ascended Lago Maggiore and then struck north- 
eastwards. On the north side all of them after crossing a single pass, 
or at most two passes, reached the Rhine valley above Chur (Coire, 
Curia Rhcetorum), and emerged from that valley almost due south of 
Ulm, on the Danube, thus contributing to the importance of that town. 
In Roman times and till late in the middle ages, the Septimer was the 
most important of these passes, though it is no longer a carriage-road. 
A more direct route across the Alps from Milan by the St. Gothard Pass 
was not made practicable till a late period, and not made easy till 1707, 
when a tunnel was pierced through the side of the gorge of the Reuss. 
In 1882 this route was supplemented by a remarkable railway tunnel 
9J miles long (see Fig. 134). Even in Roman times Milan was connected 
with the Rhone valley 
by a road following at 
first the west side of 
Lago Maggiore, and then 
across the Simplon Pass 
(6,600 feet), which is now 
also being superseded by 
a railway tunnel of even 
greater length (about 12 J 
miles). 

The Brenner. — The 

transverse breach form- 
ing the Brenner route, 
and taken as the line of 
demarcation between the 

Central and Eastern Alps, is so well marked and for the most part 
so convenient that it has formed from the earliest times an important 
highway both for commerce and for war. The pass itself is low 
(only 4,470 feet), and if the Inn valley is made use of downwards no 
other pass has to be crossed in the whole breadth of the mountain sys- 
tem. From the remains found on this route we know that it was 
made use of in prehistoric times by the Etruscans. It was one of the 
first of the Alpine passes to receive a Roman road. It was again 
and again followed by the Holy Roman emperors in their expeditions from 
Ratisbon, due north of the outlet of the Inn on the Bavarian Plateau, to 
Italy. It was the first of the Alpine passes to have a carriage-road in the 
modern style laid across it (1772) ; and the first to get a railway carriage 
over it (1867). The chief tunnel on this line is rather more than half a 
mile long, and there are twenty-six shorter tunnels. 

Hydrography. — Besides being a centre of radiation for important 



Fig. 51 . — The Alps and their chief Passes. 


128 The International Geography 

streams, the Alps form one of the principal lake-regions of Europe. The 
lakes, many of which are celebrated for the beauty of their surroundings, 
mostly lie on the outer margin of the system (Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, 
Garda on the south ; Geneva, Zurich, Constance, Ammer, Wtirm, Chiem, 
Konig, Hallstatt, Wolfgang on the north); but others (Walenstadt, Lucerne, 
Brienz, Thun) lie nearer the heart of the system. 

Another important centre of radiation for rivers is the higher ground to 
the south of St. Petersburg culminating in the Valdai Plateau. From this 
area issue the Volga and one or two of its chief tributaries, the Dniester, 
the Western Dvina and the Volkhov. To the north and west of this area, 
in Russia proper, Finland, and Scandinavia there is another region abound- 
ing in lakes of all sizes and shapes. Among these are the largest in 
Europe— Ladoga, 7,004 square miles, about one-tenth smaller than Wales, 
Onega, 3,765 square miles, Chudskoye or Peipus, 1,356 square miles, 
Vener, 2,409 square miles, Vetter, 758 square miles, this last accord- 
ingly, though the smallest of the five, being equal in size to the county of 
Surrey. 

A third region abounding in lakes is the northern part of the German 
plain, especially north and east of the Elbe, and a peculiar feature of the 
eastern section of this region is the large number of lakes in it (mostly very 
small) without any visible outlet. 

Geology. — The geological structure of the mountainous region of 
southern Europe is as complicated as its orography. The same is true of 
the highland region of the British Isles, but in Scandinavia the geological 
changes belong to such a remote past that the steps in the change are no 
longer distinguishable. The solid rocks both of this peninsula and the 
adjoining parts of Russia to the east of the White Sea and the shores of 
Lakes Ladoga and Onega are mainly composed of materials so meta- 
morphosed that they are all classed as Archaean crystalline rocks. Between 
the highland areas the rocks are for the most part more recent except in 
northern Russia. In the English lowlands Jurassic rocks cover a 
considerable area, but on the mainland of Europe those of Cretaceous age 
are generally the oldest, except in the region just mentioned. Above the 
Cretaceous areas of the plains are extensive deposits of Tertiary age (also 
widespread in southern Europe) ; and northern Germany, Denmark, and 
Holland are mainly composed of Quaternary deposits. 

In the Quaternary history of Europe an important episode was the 
advance on more than one occasion of a vast ice-sheet from the Scandi- 
navian highlands over a great part of the plains, and of smaller ice-sheets 
from the chief mountain ranges of the south, with glaciers of much larger 
dimensions than those now seen protruding from the margin of the sheet 
down the valleys. This period is known as the Ice Age, or sometimes the 
main periods of advance of the ice are distinguished with more precision 
as the First, Second, and Third Ice Ages. The result of this advance of ice 
has been to cover vast regions with deposits of morainic matter, in the 


liurope 129 

form of clay, shingle, or larger fragmentary material, or with deposits of 
another kind due to the action of water under the ice. The great lake 
districts of Europe all belong to the regions once buried under these vast 
ice coverings. 

Twofold Division of the Alps based on Geological Structure. 
— In this division now generally recognised, the line of demarcation 
between the Eastern and Western Alps is that of the route across the 
Alps, from Milan to the upper end of the lake of Constance, by the Lago 
Maggiore (east side), the Val Mesocco, and the Hinter- Rhein. Throughout 
the Alps the central zone, which contains the highest peaks, is composed 
mainly of hard crystalline rocks, outside of which sedimentary rocks occur. 
East of the line mentioned these sedimentary rocks occur both on the outer 
(northern) and inner side, and on both sides are largely composed of lime- 
stones and dolomites, though on the north side these are largely inter- 
mingled with sandstones and slates. West of the line there is no inner 
zone, and in the outer zone 
limestones and dolomites 
greatly predominate. The 
structure is shown in the sec- 
tion of Switzerland (Fig. 130). 

Climate. — This is one of 
the heads under which it is 
important to remember that 
Europe is after all only a 
great peninsula of Eurasia. 

The climate of Europe can 
be compared only with that 
of the corresponding lati- 
tudes of the western portion 
of North America, not the 
whole width of that conti- 
nent. This comparison reveals analogies, but also differences greatly to 
the advantage of Europe. In both cases, the chief rain-bearing, in winter 
the chief heat-bearing, and in summer the chief cooling winds are from 
the south-west. Europe, however, in addition to the advantage of receiving 
its winds from warmer seas, owing to the indirect influence of the Gulf 
Stream, has no mountains near the coast running at right angles to these 
winds, and thus cutting off their influence within a short distance ; and, 
on the other hand, its great inland seas, the Baltic in the north, and the 
Mediterranean in the south, favour the penetration of the equalising 
influence of the sea further into the interior. Moreover, southern Europe 
has the benefit of a mountain barrier on the north to ward off cold 
northerly or north-easterly winds. The result is that all kinds of cultivated 
products, whether those of the temperate zone, such as wheat and barley, 
or those of a warmer clime, such as the vine, orange, and olive, can be 
cultivated in a higher latitude in Europe than anywhere else on the globe. 




130 The International Geography 

Barley is regularly grown in Europe (Norway) several degrees within 
the Arctic Circle. For certain products the advantage of more prolonged 
sunshine thus enjoyed is of great consequence in improving the quality. 

But owing to the direction of the prevailing winds in Europe, there is 
the same increase in range of temperature from west to east as in western 
North America, and the same tendency to a diminution of rainfall in the 
same direction where not counteracted by special circumstances. The 
easterly increase of range of temperature is noticeable even in the Medi- 
terranean region in spite of the equalising influence of the great inland sea. 
In the higher latitudes of Europe, however, the increase of range is due 
more to the increase of winter cold eastwards, in the lower latitudes rather 
to the increase of summer heat in that direction. 

Rainfall. — The easterly decrease of rainfall is regular in Europe only 
in the region of the plains. Everywhere of course mountains promote a 

higher rainfall locally, 
but the effect of posi- 
tion with regard to the 
prevailing rain-bear- 
ing winds is seen in 
mountainous districts 
also in the fact that the 
heaviest rains gene- 
rally occur in Europe 
to the west and south 
of the mountains, and 
on their western and 
southern slopes. For 
the most part the rain- 
fall is tolerably equally 
distributed throughout 
the year, but there is a 
well-marked contrast 
between the eastern plains and the Mediterranean region, especially its 
southern portion, as regards the season of most abundant rains. In the 
eastern plains the most abundant rains are those of the summer. The 
winter rains are perhaps as frequent as those of summer, but are extremely 
scanty. Though the winds then blow across the isotherms, and hence at 
that season are constantly advancing into regions in which the temperature 
becomes more favourable to condensation, yet from that very fact, they 
are so rapidly drained as they proceed onwards that they arrive in Russia 
nearly dry. The summer rains are largely due to local evaporation. 

The Mediterranean region, on the other hand, belongs in part to those 
latitudes which, during the height of summer, are included in the trade- 
wind zone of the North Atlantic. There is thus a tendency for the winds 
to be drawn to the ocean from the adjoining parts of the land, a tendency 




Europe 1 3 1 

to the establishment of north-easterly winds. This is further promoted by 
the intense rarefaction that then goes on over the Sahara. Hence it 
happens that the further south we go in the Mediterranean region the 
drier the summers become, and in the extreme south they are almost 
rainless. It is believed by some that the rainfall of this region has be- 
come less within historical times. The evidence of this is not convincing, 
but it is quite certain that owing to the clearing of forests with the progress 
of population and cultivation great changes have been brought about. 
The forests on hill-slopes and mountain sides protected the soil from being 
washed away, and the presence of the soil kept the rain from running off 
too rapidly. There was thus a greater extent of ground well supplied with 
moisture. Rivers were more equal in volume, more useful, less destructive. 
Now they are an alternation of rushing torrents and dry beds. Through 
their torrential action they have in some places laid waste the ground with 
heaps of rocky debris , in other places, sometimes assisted by the violence 
of war, they have converted plains once proverbial for their fertility into 
malarious swamps, presenting scenes of almost hopeless desolation. 

Flora. — The greater part of Europe is occupied by a flora of uniform 
character, to which the name of the Germanic flora has been given, a flora 
of forest trees and flowering plants such as are familiar in the British 
Islands. Only a small area in the north-east, the Russian tundras, has a 
true Arctic flora composed of mosses and lichens. In the Mediterranean 
region, and especially in the southern part of it, there is a marked adap- 
tation in the general habit and aspect of the vegetation to a climate with 
dry summers, and within historical times there has been an increasing 
diffusion of vegetation of this character answering to the increasing extent 
of arid soil just explained. In ancient times forests like those of central 
Europe spread over large areas of the Mediterranean, but now the 
prevailing forms are low trees with leathery often glossy leaves, retentive 
of moisture, such as the holly and holm-oak, the laurel and myrtle, the 
pistachio nut and carob or locust tree, the orange and the olive. Thick 
fleshy plants, such as the cactus and the agave or American aloe, have also 
become thoroughly characteristic in the south. The trees do not form 
great forests, but are scattered in clumps over the landscape. Hence the 
Italian name of such clumps, macchie . 1 The tendency in the Mediterranean 
is for forests increasingly to give place to macchie, and these to a still 
scantier vegetation. In south-eastern Europe, and in the interior of 
Hungary, vegetation has another aspect, that of steppes — vast treeless 
plains, thinly covered with coarse grasses and scattered shrubs. 

Fauna. — In the fauna of Europe, as distinguished from that of 
northern Asia, there is very little distinctive. Europe is regarded from a 
zoological point of view as forming two sub-regions of the Palaearctic 
region, one composed of the Mediterranean countries, the other comprising 
all the rest. Under this head again we are reminded that Europe is only 

1 Plural of macchia, from Latin, macula , a spot. Changed by the French (in Corsica) 
into maquis . 


132 The International Geography 

a peninsula of Asia, for the Palaearctic region includes also all that con- 
tinent north of the Himalayas. Among the larger or more remarkable 
mammals still found wild in Europe are the wolf, in large packs in Poland, 
Russia, and Hungary, and in small troops in the Jura, the Ardennes, the 
Pyrenees, and the north of Spain ; the brown bear in Norway, Sweden, 
and Russia, and a smaller variety in the Pyrenees ; the lynx, still common 
enough in Norway and Sweden, and a peculiar species all over Spain, very 
rare in central Europe ; the beaver in eastern Europe, the European bison 
in the forests of Lithuania, the elk in the districts bordering the Baltic on 
the east and north, the reindeer in Lapland, the chamois in the Pyrenees, 
Alps, Carpathians, Balkans, and Abruzzi, the Grecian ibex or bezoar goat 
in Crete, the musimon or European mouflon in Corsica and Sardinia, the 
alpine marmot at high altitudes between the forests and the glaciers in the 
Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathians, the bobak or Russian marmot in 
the Russian steppes. 

People and Language. — The languages of Europe afford some 
indication of the differences of race in the continent, but are not to be 
taken as showing the proportions belonging to different races. Here, as 
elsewhere, historical events have brought about a great mingling of races, 
and various causes have led to a change of language in many regions. 
But if language be taken as the guide, it is important to note that probably 
95 per cent, of the present population speak languages belonging to the 
great Aryan group, and fully 90 per cent, to three great stocks of that 
group, the Greco-Italic, the Teutonic, and the Slavonic. The first of these 
stocks is that in which there is least correspondence between race and 
language, one language of this stock, the Latin, having been spread first 
over the whole of Italy, and also over modern France and part of Belgium, 
over Spain and Portugal, and parts of Switzerland and Austria, by the 
prolonged dominion of the Roman power. Another language of the same 
origin was introduced by immigration into Rumania and Transylvania. 
At the present day the total number speaking languages of this stock is 
less than that speaking Teutonic and Slavonic languages. These are now 
spoken by nearly equal numbers, but in recent years the peoples 
of Slavonic tongue (in eastern and south-eastern Europe), have been 
increasing more rapidly within the continent than those of Teutonic speech 
(German, Scandinavian, Dutch, Flemish, and English). A larger part of 
the expansion of the peoples of Teutonic than of those of Slavonic speech 
is taking place outside of Europe. The other Aryan languages spoken in 
Europe are those of Keltic, Lettic, and Lithuanian stock. Keltic languages 
are spoken by about three millions of people in Wales, the highlands of Scot- 
land, Ireland, and the west of Brittany, Lettic and Lithuanian by a few 
millions more in the west of Russia proper, and the north-east of Poland. 

The chief non-Aryan languages of Europe are those of the Finno-Tatar 
group, spoken by Lapps and Finns in northern Scandinavia and Finland, 
by other tribes in northern Russia, by the Magyars in Hungary, and by 


r 33 


Europe 

the Turks in Turkey. A language the affinities of which are quite un- 
known is spoken by 560,000 Basques in Spain and France at the west 
end of the Pyrenees. Jews are scattered throughout the continent, but are 
most numerous in Poland and western Russia, and the adjoining parts of 
Austria-Hungary and the German Empire. They generally speak a corrupt 
Hebrew in addition to the language of the country in which they dwell. 

History. — The civilisation of Europe began in the south-east and 
spread from the Mediterranean over the rest of the continent. On the 
islands and coasts of the ^Egean Sea influences proceeding from Asia and 
Africa (Phoenicia and Egypt), helped on the development of the marvellous 
civilisation of the Greeks. The Greeks extended their influence by com- 
merce and by the planting of colonies from the ^Egean to the shores of 
the Black Sea on the one hand, and to those of Sicily and southern Italy 
on the other hand. The Sicilian and Italian colonies rose to a level hardly 
surpassed by the most flourishing States of the mother country. From 
mere economic necessities their influence on the native civilisations of 
Italy must have been immense — greater than can be detected by historical 
or archaeological research. Ultimately, however, native civilisations pre- 
dominated in Italy, and the most important of these arose in or near the 
basin of the Tiber. The first was that of the industrial and commercial 
Etruscans whose chief seats were in southern Etruria, only partly 
accordingly in the modern Tuscany. 

The Influence of Rome. — The Etruscans were vanquished by 
the growing power of Rome, the city of the Tiber, which ultimately came 
to spread her dominion round all the shores of the Mediterranean and 
northwards to the Rhine and the Danube, in places even beyond the 
Danube. The ancient history of Europe is largely made up of the record 
of the conquests of this Power ; but there were important periods of repose, 
especially one period of rather more than 80 years (98-180 a.d.), when 
the Roman empire at the height of its power was governed by four 
successive emperors (Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus 
Aurelius) of great ability and high character. During that time all the 
countries round the Mediterranean enjoyed the blessings of peace and 
order to an unexampled degree. Roman institutions were established on 
such a firm basis as to leave permanent effects on European history, and 
the empire was provided with most of that great system of military roads 
that united its remotest frontiers. These roads were made for defence, 
but when a defending power is worsted roads facilitate attack, and it was 
by these roads that barbarian hordes made repeated raids into the 
empire, and in the fifth century again and again advanced to its very 
heart and ultimately overthrew it in its original seat. 

The Influence of the Christian Church. — While the empire was 
decaying, the Christian Church was growing within it, and as it grew it 
adapted its organisation almost inevitably to that of the empire. It thus 
became a great unifying force, and, as some of the barbarians were 


134 The International Geography 

already christianised when they made their incursions and the others 
were speedily gained over to the Church, it served in various ways to 
extend and perpetuate the influences of Roman civilisation. Thus the 
Roman roads were not all that remained from the empire as civilising 
agents. But while the Church was a unifying influence, two causes were 
at work for centuries tending to promote disruption within the empire. 
One was its excessive extent from east to west, the other was the difference 
of language. While the Latin language prevailed over those of the con- 
quered nations of the west, it never prevailed over Greek in the east. 
The regular division of the empire for administrative purposes into two 
sections, an eastern and a western, began at the close of the third century, 
a.d. This tendency to disunion was confirmed by the foundation of Con- 
stantinople as the capital of the east in 330 a.d., and by the adoption of 
Greek as the official language of the eastern government as it was also 
that of the Eastern Church. Finally, in the ninth century, about four 
hundred years after the overthrow of the Roman empire in the west, a 
dispute between the Eastern and Western Churches led to a severance 
which the difference of language helped to make permanent. Thus while 
the eastern or Byzantine empire handed on Roman influences, it did so 
with certain differences. While all western, including all Teutonic, 
Europe may be said to show direct or indirect traces of the influence of 
the Roman empire of the west, Russia and some other parts of Slavonic 
Europe have received such influences both in Church and State with an 
eastern stamp. The western Slavs of the basins of the Vistula, Oder, and 
upper Elbe (Poland and Bohemia), as well as that of the Morava (Moravia), 
were christianised by German missionaries, and so also were the Magyars 
of Hungary, hence all these adhered to the Roman Church. 

The Saracens and the Crusades. — Even before the final 
separation between the Eastern and Western Churches another faith, 
Mohammedanism, had made conquests in Europe. In 711 the Saracens, 
as the Mohammedans of that time were called in Europe, crossed the 
Strait of Gibraltar and rapidly overran nearly the whole of the Iberian 
peninsula, establishing a dominion which, though gradually contracted, 
was not finally overthrown till the end of the fifteenth century. Less 
durable conquests were made in Sicily, Crete, and elsewhere. The 
resistance to the Saracens was at first local, but at the end of the 
eleventh century a great European movement was set on foot for the 
recovery of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem from their hands. This 
led to the first Crusade (1096-99). Six others followed down to 1270, 
and had important effects on European commerce, industry, and civilisa- 
tion, though they failed in their main purpose. 

Subsequent Events. — Subsequently to the Crusades the chief events 
of European magnitude were the invasion of the European territories of 
the Eastern Roman Empire in the fourteenth, and the final capture of 
Constantinople by the Turks in the fifteenth century (1453), the scattering 


I 35 


Europe 

of Greek scholars over western Europe and the revival of Greek learning 
that then followed, aided by the invention of printing with movable types 
that had taken place in the first half of the same century, the discovery 
of America in 1492, and of the sea-way to India in 1497-98, and the 
schism of the Western Church due to the movement for reform which 
was brought to a head in 1517 by Luther’s affixing his famous theses to 
the door of the castle-church at Wittenberg. 

The Origin of the Present States. — In the limits of European 
countries at the present day we see partly the influence of geographical 
conditions, partly that of historical causes, among which the events briefly 
sketched in the preceding paragraphs are important. The kingdoms of 
Spain and Portugal originated in the wars for the recovery of the Iberian 
Peninsula from the Saracens or Moors. Several different Christian States 
were formed in the course of this conflict, but most of these were finally 
united through the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of 
Castile, their grandson Charles (Charles V. of Germany) inheriting in 1516 
the whole of their dominions, including the kingdom of Granada, which 
they had conquered from the Moors (1492). Portugal, however, remained, 
as it still does, a separate kingdom, with a territory separately recovered 
from the Moors, with the aid of a Burgundian count who became the 
founder of the first royal dynasty. 

The abandonment of the British Isles by the Romans early in the fifth 
century, led to the invasion of Great Britain in the latter half of the same 
century by Teutonic tribes, Angles and Saxons, who were the real founders 
of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, though the latter took its name 
from a Keltic dynasty. 

The separate dominions of France and Germany may be dated from 
the year 870, when the great empire of Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 
regarded, in virtue of a consecration by the popes, as a restoration of the 
Roman empire of the West, was finally divided between two of his 
descendants, the division corresponding approximately with that of the 
Romanic and Teutonic tongues. Nearly a century later the imperial 
dignity was again revived by the popes, being conferred in 962 on Otho 
the Great, the first of the so-called Holy Roman Emperors, whose dignity 
survived in name till 1806. The dominion of Otho and some of his 
successors embraced not only the bulk of Germany but also all the Alpine 
lands and a great part of Italy, but the obstacles placed by geographical 
conditions in the way of a real union, must be recognised as among the 
causes that led to the breaking up of both Germany and Italy into a large 
number of minor States, so that there was no united Germany or united 
Italy till the nineteenth century. 

The domain of the modern German Empire, founded in 1871, differs 
from that of the Holy Roman Empire chiefly by the exclusion of the 
German parts of Austria-Hungary, of Switzerland and the Low Countries, 
and the inclusion of extensive territories in the east once, or still, Slavonic 


136 The International Geography 

in speech. The present dual empire of Austria-Hungary is composed of 
the territories gradually acquired by the house of Habsburg. With that 
house the imperial title derived from the Holy Roman Empire (latterly 
purely nominal) was uninterruptedly associated from 1438 till 1806, when 
it was relinquished for that of Emperor of Austria. 

The Low Countries now form the kingdoms of Belgium and the 
Netherlands, after a very chequered history. In the sixteenth century 
entirely attached to the crown of Spain, the northern provinces broke 
away (1579) in the period of the Reformation, while the southern provinces 
remained attached now to one crown, now to another. In the Peace of 
Westphalia (1648), which concluded the Thirty Years’ War, the independ- 
ence of the northern provinces was recognised. The provinces were all 
again united by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, at the close of the 
Napoleonic period, but were separated once more in 1830, when the 
southern provinces revolted and formed the kingdom of Belgium. The 
Peace of Westphalia recognised also the independence of the provinces 
that formed the nucleus of the present Switzerland. 

The Slavonic territory of the modern German Empire was mainly 
taken from the former kingdom of Poland. This State became a kingdom 
in 1320, was for a time extensive and powerful, but misgovernment, due to 
an impracticable constitution, led to its partition among the three adjoining 
powers, Prussia, Austria, and Russia, on three occasions (1772, 1793, and 
1795), the last partition being complete. Before the last partition the 
troubles of the French Revolution followed by those of the Napoleonic 
period (1789-1815) had broken out. The Congress of Vienna, which 
subsequently settled the affairs of Europe, recognised the results of this 
final partition, as it did most of the other territorial arrangements existing 
at the beginning of the period. The only important new arrangement 
that still subsists from that time is the personal union of Sweden and 
Norway under one king, the latter kingdom having previously been 
associated with Denmark. 

Since that time the principal changes in the map of Europe have been 
the transfer of Alsace-Lorraine from France to Germany (1871), and the 
reorganisation of the Balkan Peninsula at the expense of Turkey: Greece 
made an independent kingdom in 1830 and extended in 1881 ; the princi- 
pality of Rumania created by the union of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859. 
By the Treaty of Berlin in 1878, Rumania, Servia, and Montenegro were 
declared independent of Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina placed under 
Austrian administration, Bulgaria made a principality tributary to Turkey, 
and Eastern Rumelia an autonomous Turkish province under a Christian 
governor, an arrangement that lasted only till 1885, when Eastern Rumelia 
joined Bulgaria. In 1881 Rumania, and in 1882 Servia, was raised to the 
rank of a kingdom. 

The Great Powers of Europe — the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, 
France, Austria-Hungary, and Italy — although not free from mutual 


Europe 137 

jealousies, exercise in some respects a common influence on the peace of 
the world. The gradual consolidation of Europe into a comparatively 
small number of powerful 
countries has been ac- 
companied by the re- 
moval of obstacles to 
intercommnuication. The 
existing railway system 
includes many inter- 
national express routes, . 
which radiate from Paris, 

Berlin, and Vienna as 
centres (Fig. 54). Of 
these the Indian mail 
route through Paris and 
Turin to Brindisi ; the 
Orient Express from 
Paris through Vienna, 

Budapest and Belgrade 
to Constantinople ; and the Northern Express route from Paris through 
Berlin to St. Petersburg, are the longest on which trains run without 
change of carriage. 



FlG. 54 . — The Main Railways of Europe. 


STATISTICS. 


THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE IN ORDER OF SIZE. 


Area sq. miles. 

Pop. 

Greece 

Area sq. miles. 

Pop. 

Russia . . 2,095,500 

129,000,000 

25,300 

2,400,000 

Austria- H ungary 

261,000 

45,400,000 

Servia 

18,700 

2,500,000 

German Empire 

210,000 

56,400,000 

Switzerland . . 

16,000 

3,300,000 

France 

207,200 

38,600,000 

Denmark 

15,300 

2,400,000 

Spain 

195,000 

18,300,000 

Netherlands. . 

12,700 

5,180,000 

Sweden . . 

171,000 

5,100,000 

Belgium 

H .373 

6,700,000 

Norway . . 

125,600 

2,200,000 

41,600,000 

Montenegro . . 

3 , 5 oo 

228,000 

United Kingdom 

121,700 

Luxemberg . . 

1,000 

236,000 

Italy 

111,000 

65,000 

32.400,000 

Andorra 

175 

6,000 

Turkey 

6,100,000 

Liechtenstein 

61 

10,000 

Rumania . . 

50,600 

6,000,000 

San Marino . . 

23 

8,000 

Bulgaria . . 
Portugal .. 

37.300 

34500 

3.700.000 

5.400.000 

Monaco 

8 

13,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

G. G. Chisholm. " Europe.” 2 vols. In Stanford's Compendium of Geography and 
Travel. London, 1899,1903. 

A. Kirchhoff (editor). “ Europa.” 2 vols. In Unser Wissen von der Erde. Vienna, 1887, 
1890. 

M. Block. " L’Europe, Politique et Sociale.” Paris, 1892. 

E. A. Freeman. “ Historical Geography ©f Europe.” 2 vols. (Ed. by J. B. Bury.) 
London, 1003. 

A. Philippson. “ Europa.” Leipzig, 1906. 

Sir E. Hertslet. “ The Map of Europe by Treaty.” 4 vols. London, 1875, 1891. 

J. Partsch. 41 Central Europe.” London, 1903, 

R. F. Scharff. 44 The History of the European Fauna.” London, 1899. 

A. Supan. 44 Die Territoriale Entwicklung der Europaischen Kolonien.” Gotha, 1906. 


CHAPTER XII.— THE UNITED KINGDOM OF 
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND 

I.— GENERAL 

By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc. 

Name. — In popular usage the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland is most frequently, though incorrectly, called England. When 
James VI., King of the Scots, acceded to the English crown he employed 
the name Great Britain to include the kingdoms of England and Scotland, 
and the use of this name for the whole country has since been general in 
official writings, while the more concise form of Britain is also in use. It 
is, however, better in several ways to call the country as a whole the United 
Kingdom , in the same way as the United States of America are spoken of 
as the United States. It is convenient to use the word British for “ of the 
United Kingdom ” as it is convenient to use American for “ of the United 
States.” The official form Britannic does not commend itself for general 
adoption. Euphony suggests the use of Anglo - in compound words where 
the name of the United Kingdom comes first, and of British where it 
comes last ; thus, Anglo-American but Russo- British. It is necessary to 
give these definitions because there is no general usage in the country, and 
some local jealousy exists as to the abuse of the words. The British 
Islands is a convenient name for the region occupied by the United 
Kingdom, and the British Empire is a popular expression including all the 
countries and colonies acknowledging the British Crown. 

Position and Extent. — The United Kingdom occupies two large 
islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and about 5,000 small islands and 
rocks lying in groups to the north — Orkney and Shetland ; to the west — 
the Hebrides, Isle of Man, the small coast islands of Ireland, and the 
Scilly group ; and to the south — the Isle of Wight, and the Channel 
Islands, the latter belonging physically to France. The total area is 121,000 
.square miles, the United Kingdom coming eighth in order of size amongst 
the countries of Europe. It is convenient to remember that the whole land 
and sea area of the British Islands is defined by a rectangle of io° of 
latitude and longitude. Only Lizard Head, the Scilly, and the Channel 
Islands lie south of the parallel of 50° N. ; and only a part of the Shetland 
group extends further north than 6o° N. The meridian of io° W. runs 
through the tips of the western peninsulas of Ireland ; while only the 
south-east of England projects beyond the meridian of Greenwich. 

Geology and Configuration. — Although there are now no lofty 
mountain chains or great rivers in the British Islands, there is much variety 
of land-form and of scenery, the result of remote geological changes, and of 
the more recent action of erosion upon the different kinds of rocks which 

138 


The United Kingdom 


I 39 


form the surface. In no other part of Europe, or perhaps of the world, 
is so great a range of geological strata found in so small an area. In the 
north and west the most ancient and disturbed rocks known form the land, 
which is similar in character to the Scandinavian peninsula. Towards the 
south and east these ancient rocks are succeeded by Carboniferous strata 
containing the Coal Measures, which give place further south and east to 
more recent formations 
usually but little dis- 
turbed and resem- 
bling those of western 
France. The northern 
and western regions 
have possibly been on 
the whole land areas 
since a very early 
geological period ; the 
rocks of the south and 
east have been formed 
by the sediments worn 
off the northern lands 
and spread out on 
the shores of seas, or 
in great fresh lakes. 

Volcanic outbursts 
leading to the ac- 
cumulation of masses 
of hard igneous rocks 
have occurred at vari- 
ous geological periods 
down to and includ- 
ing the Tertiary in 
the regions of ancient 
rocks, which have also 
been subject to much 
faulting and folding ; 
but apparently the more 
recent regions of the 
east and south were not affected in this way. These facts fully account for the 
occurrence of the highest land and finest scenery in the north and west, 
and the lowest and most uniform towards the south and east (Fig. 55). 
Many of the minor surface features of the islands have been produced by 
the ice-sheet and glaciers of the Great Ice Age, which scratched, polished, 
and rounded the exposed rocks, and smothered the lower grounds in vast 
sheets of boulder clay, partly obliterating the former surface relief. The 

extreme south of England alone escaped this action. The indented island- 
11 


$ 'cale 


0 » « u 10 


. Miles 


} Nf 


A T L A N T I c ; ^ 

* v. 

• • 

°cean 


; .s'. I i 

* •* ,* , ,* • 


SOBTH ( 


J; S-B.A - 
V 



Over 1,500 ft. / 

500-1,500 ft. • 
I 1 Under 500 ft. 


Fig. 55 . — Configuration of the British Islands. 


140 The International Geography 


starred coast of the west of the British Islands points to a depression or a 
tilting of the whole region westwards after a complex system of valleys had 
been impressed upon it by erosion. The drowned valleys of the west form 

fjords or rias penetrating the land, or uniting 
together to cut off islands. On the east the 
generally smooth coast, practically without 
islands, may result from the softer nature of 
the rocks. 

Configuration and History. — The 

natural physical divisions of the British 
Islands have given rise to the larger his- 
torical divisions by guiding the long struggles 
of the settled inhabitants against successive 
invaders. Wherever the character of the 

FlG * —Frequency of Winds from j anc j allowed the defenders to offer effective 
different directions . ,, . . , 

resistance to invasion the old race was enabled 

to retain its independence, language, and customs. Strong local differences, 

even distinct feelings of nationality and separate laws are still perpetuated, 

long after the complete political union of the old countries into the United 





Under38' 38-42 


TOl 42-50 


[Tm 50- 60 f 1 Above 6*0 


FlG. 57 , — Temperature of the British 
Islands in January. 


Fig. 58 . — Temperature of the British 
Islands in July, 


Kingdom, of which England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man 
and the Channel Islands may be looked upon as natural units. 

Climate of the British Islands. — The position of the British Islands 
in latitude secures to them the same amount of heat from the Sun and the 


The United Kingdom 14 1 

same duration of day and night, summer and winter, as are experienced 
in central Russia, southern Siberia, Kamchatka, British Columbia, and 
Labrador ; but the direction of the prevailing winds renders available 
throughout the year much of the heat which the Sun has radiated on more 
southern regions. As the British Islands are usually covered by the edge 
of the North Atlantic area of low pressure the prevailing wind is south- 
westerly. Wind blows from the south-west 
for a greater number of days in each month 
than from all other directions together (Fig. 

56) ; a fact which makes the west end of a 
town the least smoky and therefore the best 
quarter for residence. The south-westerly 
winds are commonest and strongest in winter. 

In April and November they are weakest, 
and in these months cold easterly winds are 
comparatively common. The warm water 
known as the Gulf Stream Drift is driven 
against the British Islands on the west, 
maintaining the generally high temperature 
of the air. The average temperature of the British Islands for the year is 
about 48° F. decreasing from 53 0 in the Scilly Islands to 45 0 in Shetland, 
so that on the average the climate grows i° colder for each 100 miles towards 

the north. The warmest month is usually 
July (Fig. 58), when an average temperature 
of 64° prevails round London, and of 54 0 in 
Shetland, the air on the whole becoming 
cooler towards the north, a natural conse- 
quence of the Sun being the chief source of 
the heat supply. But in winter there is an 
entirely different set of conditions. In January 
(Fig. 57), the coldest month, the temperature 
shows no relation to latitude, but the air 
grows warmer from east to west, indicating 
that the chief source of heat is then the 
warm wind blowing from the Atlantic. The 
east of the British Islands has the average 
temperature of 39 0 from Shetland to London, 
the coldest region, just inland from the east 
coast, having an average of 38°. In the west 
Fig. 60 . — Average monthly tempera- and south-west of Ireland the temperature 

l Zi Tfrt r wila,t bm avera S es 43° to 45 0 in January. The 

winters are thus everywhere mild, but mildest 

on the coast and especially in the west ; and the summers are everywhere 
cool, but coolest on the coast and in the west. Snow falls on the higher 
ground every winter ; but even the highest mountain, Ben Nevis, is 
always free from snow in summer. 




FlG. 59 . — Average monthly tempera- 
ture and rain fall for Greenwich 
and Valentia. 


142 The International Geography 

Rainfall and Storms.— The rainfall depends conjointly on the 
prevailing wind and the height of the land. The west coast is naturally 
the wettest. In Ireland and the outer Hebrides the average annual rainfall 
is 40 inches, and is very uniformly distributed, as the rain-bearing wind is 
not stopped by any continuous high land. In Ireland also the numerous 
lakes and great expanses of damp bogs maintain the moisture of the air. 
In Great Britain the barrier on the western edge of the Scottish Highlands 
precipitates a rainfall of over 80 inches, and the rainfall on the heights of 
the Southern Uplands, the Lake District, Wales and the peninsula of 
Cornwall and Devon also exceeds 60 inches ; but the whole of the east of 
the island receives less than 40 inches, while along the east coast less than 
30 inches fall ; and in a broad district from the Humber to the Thames 
the annual rainfall is less than 25 inches. The heavy fall of the west runs 
off the steep slopes of the land very quickly, while the more moderate 
supply of the east flows off slowly, and the clay of which much of the 
plains is composed allows the small rainfall to remain a long time in the 
soil, thus tending to equalise the conditions in the west and east so far as 
agriculture is concerned. The weather as a whole is changeable ; fogs 
are common in all large towns in winter, and the absence of any meteoro- 
logical stations west of the British Islands often makes it impossible to 
predict the paths of the frequent and sometimes dangerous cyclonic storms 
which sweep in from the Atlantic. 

Flora. — In the highland regions of great rainfall little soil remains on 
the steep mountain slopes, and the land presents a bare surface of stones 
or rock. On the gentler slopes covered with thin soil only moss, fern and 
heather can grow, and this forms the characteristic vegetation of the high 
moorlands of Scotland, Wales, and the Irish mountains, which glow with 
a wealth of purple blossom in autumn. Most of the rest of the surface is 
covered naturally with rich grass suitable for pasturage. The yellow 
blossoms of the whin or gorse appear in every month of the year, and in 
spring the wild flowers of the low grounds are rich and varied. 

At the dawn of history Great Britain was a densely wooded island ; 
but now less than 4 per cent, of the land is under trees, and little of the 
original forest remains. The clayey plains and peaty moorlands were 
largely occupied by morasses, most of which have been drained and 
reclaimed, the most characteristic which remain being the great bogs of 
Ireland. The native flora of the British Islands is identical with that of 
continental Europe with the addition of a few American species. The fact 
that there are fewer species common to the continent and Ireland than to 
the continent and Great Britain is one of the strongest proofs of the earlier 
separation of Ireland from Great Britain, than of Great Britain from 
continental Europe. Pyrenean types found in the south-west of Ireland, 
but not in Great Britain, may point to a former land connection with south- 
western Europe. The chief indigenous trees are the oak and beech in the 
lower grounds, and the Scots pine and birch in the higher and more 


The United Kingdom 


H3 


northern districts. Many trees and all cultivated plants have been intro- 
duced ; and those plants common on the continent but rarely seen in 
Great Britain, such as the sugar-beet, vine, and tobacco could be success- 
fully reared in many parts of the country if proper care were bestowed on 
them. The mildness and moistness of the climate gives to the vegetation 
of the British Islands a characteristic freshness at all seasons. 

Fauna. — The native animals of Britain in the time of the Romans 
included the brown bear, wolf, wild boar, and beaver, all long since 
exterminated, and the wild ox, of which a few herds have been preserved. 
The red deer is still found in the highlands of Scotland, Exmoor, and the 
south-west of Ireland, the fallow deer is common in parks, the fox, badger, 
otter, wild-cat, rabbit and squirrel are found nearly everywhere. The roe- 
buck, polecat, common brown hare, many varieties of the weasel family, the 
mole and the whole family of voles or held mice are absent from Ireland, 
although abundant in Great Britain. The Irish hare resembles that of the 
highlands, which turns white in winter. There are only about twenty 
species of mammals native to Ireland, compared with forty known in 
Great Britain and ninety in Germany. This fact is another proof of the 
earlier separation of Ireland than of Great Britain from the continent. 
There are numerous species of indigenous birds, but the great bustard 
and the capercailzie have died out. The stork, so common on the eastern 
side of the North Sea, is practically unknown ; and the nightingale, 
although abundant in southern England is rarely heard in Scotland and 
never in Ireland. Migratory birds visit the islands from the Arctic regions 
in winter, and from southern countries in summer. The viper is the one 
poisonous snake, and is not common, while no snakes of any kind are 
found in Ireland, where the only reptile known is a lizard. All the animals 
of economic value, and a large number of those protected for sport, have 
been introduced from other countries. The fish round the coast are those 
common to all north-western Europe. Flat-fish, as well as cod, haddock 
and whiting swarm in the shallow North Sea and on banks in the Atlantic ; 
and shoals of herring and pilchard appear off the coasts at certain seasons. 
The oysters, famous in the days of the Romans, retain, if they have not 
increased, their reputation. The salmon of the northern and western 
rivers are also renowned. 

History of the British Peoples. — Widely scattered remains of very 
early date show that the first inhabitants entered the British Islands while 
they were still part of the continent of Europe. When Pytheas, the Greek 
colonist from Massilia, discovered and sailed along the east coast of Britain 
about B.c. 330, he reported that the inhabitants practised agriculture, brewed 
beer, and mined tin. At a later date successive invasions of Keltic tribes 
took place across the English Channel, and when Julius Caesar landed in 
B.c. 55 he found the coast occupied by the Belgae ; and in the interior there 
were less civilised Kelts already being pressed towards the western moun- 
tains and islands. To this day Keltic names are preserved for rivers — e.g., 


144 The International Geography 



Afon (Avon), Don and Uisge (Ouse, Usk, Esk, Exe) — and for hills, in every 
part of the British Islands. The Keltic word Dun , a fortified height, gave 
rise to the names of both London and Dunedin (the early form of Edin- 
burgh). The Romans, without mixing much with the people, governed 
Britain for four centuries, erecting great walls across the northern parts of 
England and the central plain in Scotland to protect the settled people 
of the south from the Piets and other wild tribes of the north, and laying 
out a complete system of roads, many of which still run across the country 

as straight as ruled lines, in contrast to the poor 
and winding tracks which came into use later. On 
the fall of the Roman Empire Teutonic tribes 
from the continent descended on Britain and par- 
ticularly on England, some as invaders, others as 
defenders of the British tribes, but all settled in 
the land, dividing it into separate kingdoms. The 

FlG - fa;— Tht Union Flag Angles brought their name of English, which ulti- 

combimng the Crosses of 0 0 » > 

St. George, St. Andrew, and mately became the general designation of the 

St. Patrick, the patron i an g ua g e although they did not predominate in 

saints of the three countries. 00 0 J r 

number or strength over the other tribes. The 

Saxons settled great tracts in the southern half of England, the names 

of the old kingdoms of the East Saxons, Middle Saxons, West Saxons 

and South Saxons surviving in Essex, Middlesex, Wessex and Sussex. 

The organisation of the township or early English unit of government 

is due to these German tribes. Simultaneously with them the pirate 

ships of the Scandinavian vikings descended on the coasts, both east and 

west, to plunder or to rule. The Northmen settled mainly on the shores 

of Scotland and the north-east of England, where most of the place-names 

even now have Scandinavian endings, such as by, ay, ^ 

and ster. The Danes for a time ruled the larger part 

of England, but the greatest Scandinavian influence 

on the country was brought to bear in 1066, when the 

descendants of the vikings, who had settled in the 

north of France and named it Normandy, conquered 

the Saxon or English lands. They unified the southern 

part of the country, annexing Wales and Ireland, gave FlG * 62 - — The Ftoyal 
f, 7 ui • ti. j Standard , quartering 

the English language a notable impulse towards its the arms of England 

present form, and ingrafted a French culture on {twice), Scotland , and 

Ireland. 

the Germanic people. Generally speaking, while 
mixture between the Keltic and Teutonic races was always taking place, 
the Keltic clans kept their independence under their chiefs in the highlands 
and islands of the west, while the Teutonic tribes became fused into a 
homogeneous nation on the lower and more fertile lands of the east. Great 
Britain, from the time of the Norman conquest until 1603, was divided 
between the small northern kingdom of Scotland and the large kingdom 
of England. The two were always at enmity, and a broad strip of debate- 



!45 


The United Kingdom 

able land formed the borders separating the marches of the countries. The 
lowland Scots and English were, however, one in race and language. The 
union of the two crowns in 1603 was not followed by the union of the two 
parliaments till 1707, and in 1800 the suppression of the Irish parliament 
and the admission of Irish representatives to the British parliament brought 
about the present constitution of the United Kingdom. 

People. — The first uniform census of the United Kingdom was taken 
in 1801 on the completion of the Union. Since that time the growth and 
the redistribution of population have been remarkable. 

Population of United Density per Percentage of population in 

Date. Kingdom. sq. mile. England & Wales. Ireland. Scotland 

1801 .. 16,000,000 .. 131 .. 56 .. 34 .. 10 

1901 .. 41,600,000 .. 344 .. 78 .. 11 .. 11 

The predominance of England is still more strikingly shown by the trade 
returns ; but the union of the three countries is so complete, and the number 
of Scotsmen and Irishmen in England is so great that such comparisons are 
unnecessary and even misleading. The British people at the present day 
are mainly of Teutonic stock and English speech, the varieties of dialect 
being mere survivals of former conditions of isolation. In 1891 not quite 
5 per cent, of the people were returned as speaking Keltic languages (half 
of them speaking Welsh, the others Irish and Gaelic) but only one-third 
of these (half a million people in Wales) were unable to speak English. 

The people of the United Kingdom as a whole, although not so educated 
nor so disciplined as the Germans, and not so polished nor so thrifty as the 
French, may be credited with perseverance, enterprise and powers of 
physical endurance beyond the average of mankind, and with a determined 
independence of character. The valour of the British army, and especially 
the splendid organisation of the British navy, have preserved the country 
from invasion and extended the area of the British Empire beyond all 
others. The enterprise of British manufacturers, merchants and ship- 
owners, has gained a like pre-eminence over all other nations in trade and 
material prosperity. Respect for law and love of justice are the most 
striking characteristics of the nation. In the United Kingdom and the 
colonies Law is recognised as the first power in the realm, and special 
provisions have been made to prevent the Crown, the government, or the 
armed services from interfering with its impartial administration. 

Government. — The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, 
the supreme legislative power being vested in a parliament, consisting of 
the Sovereign, a House of Lords, most of the members of which are 
hereditary, and a House of Commons, consisting of 670 representatives 
elected by men who possess certain very general qualifications. Two- 
thirds of the male population over twenty-one years of age are registered 
as voters. The House of Commons alone has power over the national 
expenditure ; and it is only on rare occasions that either the House of 
Lords or the Crown refuses to pass or to assent to any Bill passed by that 


146 The International Geography 


House. The executive power nominally vested in the Crown can practi- 
cally only be exercised by the Cabinet, a committee of about twenty 
Ministers, who are responsible to Parliament and must resign when they 
lose the confidence of that body. The House of Commons — “ the mother 
of parliaments ” — is the pattern on which the legislative chambers of all 
democratic countries are based. 

Elementary education is compulsory and free. The predominant form 
of religion is Protestant, except in Ireland, where Roman Catholics are in 
a large majority. In England the Anglican Episcopal Church is established 
by law, and in Scotland the Presbyterian Church. The established churches 
do not include a majority of the population, and membership of them con- 
fers no political or public privileges. 

The British Empire is an unofficial name which includes the United 
Kingdom, the Indian Empire, and all the British colonies, protectorates, 
and spheres of influence. The bond between the various parts is little more 
than community of sentiment, all the colonies in temperate regions being 
themselves self-governing countries, their people untrammelled by British 
legislation, but receiving the advantages of British citizenship and having 

the right of ultimate appeal in legal matters to 
the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 
London. The one material privilege within the 
empire not extended to foreign countries is the 
Imperial penny postage established in 1898. 
There is no compulsory military or naval service ; 
and there are no protective duties on trade 
in the United Kingdom, although they exist — 
even against the mother-country — in almost all 
other parts of the British Empire. On account 
of the scattered nature of the empire and the vital importance of its 
foreign trade, the avowed defensive policy is to maintain a navy strong 
enough to secure the command of the sea. Permanent squadrons are 
stationed in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and on 
the coasts of India, China, Africa, North America, South America, and 
Australia, and a system of fortified coaling stations makes it possible to 
send a British warship to any point on the surface of the ocean, and to 
prevent the war-vessels of any other nation from going far from home. 

Economic History. — The Romans dealt with Britain as a colony by 
encouraging the growth and export of grain, developing the fisheries, and 
constructing trunk-lines of communications. They also utilised the mineral 
resources — the tin of Cornwall, the lead of the Pennine Chain, and the 
bog-iron ore which occurred almost all over the country. During the 
Saxon and the subsequent Norman periods the rearing of sheep for wool 
became the staple industry of England, there was little manufacture, and 
the country remained a producing area for raw materials. The “ wool- 
sack,” the official seat of the Lord Chancellor as president of the House of 



Fig. 63. — The British Empire 
on a Colonial postage 
stamp. 



The United Kingdom 147 

Lords, dates from this period. Later, when root-crops were introduced 
and the methods of agriculture improved, the leading occupation became 
once more grain-growing and cattle-rearing. As the country grew peaceful 
and became an asylum for the oppressed industrial peoples of the continent, 
handicrafts of every sort, and particularly weaving, acquired importance, 
and England began to export manufactured goods. Iron works were early 
established in all places where ore was found in the neighbourhood of forests 
from which charcoal could be made for its reduction. In the eighteenth 

century coal was discovered to be fit for use in 
making iron, and the first movement of iron-works 
to the coal-fields of the north commenced. The 
streams of the Pennine Chain, the Cotswolds, and 
other hilly districts were from early times utilised 
for the supply of mechanical power in mills. On 
the invention of spinning and weaving machinery 
in the eighteenth century new textile factories 
were started in the valleys of the northern rivers, 
and when at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury steam-power was introduced, the prosperity of the industrial villages 
already situated on the coal-fields was increased, and the other manu- 
facturing industries of the country were attracted to the same regions. 
Subsequently the introduction of railways drew some of the manufactures 
back to the great seaports ; and now the use of electricity in manufactures 
has restored and multiplied the value of water-power, and promises renewed 
prosperity to the highlands of high rainfall and full rivers. As the volume of 
the manufactures swelled, the need for improved communication with sea- 
ports led to the initiation of the system of barge- 
canals which make a close network over the 
central plain of England, and also cross the mid- 
land plains of Ireland and Scotland. The intro- 
duction of railways deprived the canals of their 
importance and introduced new adjustments of 
centres of production. In every one of those 
changes the control exercised by geographical 
conditions is to be traced, varying in its character 
from one period to another. 

Up to the middle of the nineteenth century the agricultural produce 
of the country nearly sufficed for the food-supply of the people ; but 
as the improvement in machinery and means of communication by land 
and sea enabled the manufactures of imported raw material to be 
increased, and cheapened the cost of foreign food-supplies, from which 
the protective tariffs had been removed, agricultural labourers began to 
be attracted to the factory work of the towns, land went out of cultivation 
as the farmers found it impossible to compete with the cheap foreign corn, 
and many were driven to emigrate. The tide of emigration was enormously 
12 



Fig. 65. — The Red Ensign — 
the flag of the British 
Merchant Sendee . 



n 

FlG. 64 . — The White Ensign 
— the flag of the British 
Navy. 



148 The International Geography 

increased in Ireland by the failure of the potato-crop, on which the people 
depended, and the result now is that all but a fraction of the food-supply 
of the nation has to be imported and paid for in manufactured goods, or 
in services rendered by carrying on the shipping-trade of other countries. 
If supplies from over-sea failed the reserve of bread-stuff in the British 
Islands would not last for a month. This is the secret of the unique 
importance of foreign trade to the United Kingdom, and of the necessity 
for holding the command of the sea at all costs. 

In 1891 one third of the British people above 
ten years of age were engaged in manufacturing in- 
dustries and less than one tenth in agricultural work. 

Distribution of Population. — The average 
density of population for the British Islands was 
344 per square mile at the Census of 1901 ; but in 
England, which contains three-quarters of the whole 
population, the density is 558 per square mile. The 
bare and unproductive Highlands are almost un- 
inhabited, the density of population in Sutherland- 
shire being only n to the square mile. The pastoral 
regions are as a rule the most thinly peopled, the agricultural districts 
somewhat more thickly, while an enormous density of population is found 
on the mineral fields and in the neighbourhood of certain seaports (Fig. 18). 

Agriculture. — Three-quarters of England and Ireland, nearly two- 
thirds of Wales, and one-quarter of Scotland are occupied as farms and 
pastures ; more than half being pasture land. The grain most largely 


Fig. 66 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of the United Kingdom. 


Average population of a square mile — 


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cultivated is oats, next to which come barley and wheat. The cultivation 
of oats is carried on mainly in the north and west, where the rainfall is. 
great and the temperature not extreme ; in these conditions wheat- 
growing is impracticable. The great wheat-growing region is in the east 
of England, where there is a clay soil, a relatively extreme climate and 
small rainfall. Turnips and potatoes are the next most important crops ; 
the only industrial plant cultivated on a fairly large scale is flax in the 
north of Ireland Hops are grown in Kent and some other parts of the 




149 


The United Kingdom 


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country, and apples in the west of England. Market gardens and fruit 
farms — growing plums, pears, strawberries, gooseberries, &c. — are found 
near all large towns. The live-stock are principally sheep on hill pastures, 
cattle on the richer grass of the plains, especially in the districts of high 
rainfall, horses, and pigs. Dairy farming is important, but little attention 
is given to the rearing of fowls. 

Fisheries. — The fisheries in the North Sea are of great value, but 
those on the west coast and in Ireland are comparatively neglected. Salted 
herrings form one of the minor British exports. The introduction of steam 
trawlers has led to the concentration of fishermen at large ports with good 
railway facilities, such as Aberdeen and Grimsby, and to the gradual de- 
population of the fishing villages which formerly fringed the whole east 
and south coast, thus reproducing the effects of the introduction of steam- 
power in manufactures. 

Mining. — The extrac- 
tion of copper, tin, lead 
and zinc is now quite in- 
significant. Silver and 
gold are obtained in small 
quantities, but the only 
metal worth considering 
is iron, ten times more 
valuable in its annual 
production than all the 
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Better qualities in smaller 
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Measures, and can often 
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ore is the red hematite ^ IG * ? 0, ^ ie P ro & ress °f Coal Production. 

of the south-west and west of the Lake district. The great demand for 
iron requires so large an import of ore that more than one half (in value) 
is brought in from abroad, mainly red hematite from the north of Spain. 

Coal stands alone as the most valuable product of the United Kingdom, 
the only commodity none of which has to be imported ; and, at the present 
time, the material basis of the prosperity of the country. Its production 
has increased with remarkable rapidity, only 82,000,000 tons having been 
produced in i860. The recent output is compared with that of other 
countries in Fig. 70. It is coal which makes it possible to purchase grain 
and other food materials ; not directly, however, for only 33,000,000 tons 
of the 190,000,000 tons annually raised are exported ; but indirectly by 


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150 The International Geography 

supplying smelting furnaces for reducing iron and providing power for 
engineering works and factories. The outputs of coal in the four chief 
divisions of the country stand in the proportion of England 71 per cent., 
Scotland 15 per cent., Wales 14 per cent., and Ireland a minute fraction. 
The chief coal-producing districts are named in the following list with the 
output in 1896. 

(1) The Northern Coal-field in Northumberland and Durham (42 million 
tons) near the Cleveland iron ore, is important mainly for the engineering 
works at Newcastle, and for export to Scandinavia and the Baltic. 

(2) The Yorkshire Coal-field on the eastern slope of the Pennine Chain 
between the Aire and the Trent is shared by the East Riding, Nottingham, 
and Derbyshire (41 million tons). It supports the engineering works of 
Leeds and Sheffield, and is the seat of the woollen weaving industry. 

(3) The Lancashire Coal-field, lying symmetrically on the west side of 
the Pennine Chain (23 million tons), only supplies the engineering works 
and cotton factories of Lancashire centred round Manchester. 

(4) The Staffordshire Coal-fields, raising 13 million tons, furnish supplies 
to two industrial districts, the “ Potteries” and the “ Black Country,” where 
the iron industry and metal manufactures centre in Birmingham. 

(5) The South Wales Coal-field (32 million tons) stretches into the county 
of Monmouth, and supplies the iron and copper furnaces of Cardiff, 
Merthyr Tydfil, and Swansea. The coal is mainly anthracite, of great value 
for producing intense heat with no smoke, and fully one-half of the supply 
is exported for use on steamers in all parts of the world. 

(6) The Scottish Coal-fields (29 million tons) scattered throughout the 
central lowlands, touch the sea on the Firths of Clyde and Forth, exporting 
to Ireland and the Baltic. They supply the iron furnaces near Glasgow 
and the steel shipbuilding yards on the Clyde. 

Seaports. — The present commercial supremacy of the United 
Kingdom is not due to the number and commodiousness of its natural 
harbours, although this is frequently stated. The best natural harbours 
are remote from the regions of dense population and they are not useful. 
Another common error is to ascribe the great trade to the fact that the 
south of England is nearly in the centre of the “ land hemisphere ” ; but if 
this were a potent factor it would act much more powerfully on the trade 
of France, which possesses by far the most central position on the ocean 
routes of the world. The real reason must be sought in the spirit of the 
British people, and in the abandonment of protective tariffs, making it 
necessary to import food and raw material, and to pay for imports by 
trade. Eight groups of ports carried on between them 80 per cent, of the 
trade of the United Kingdom with foreign countries in 1896. 

(1) London, with about 16 million tons of over-sea shipping, owes its 
pre-eminence to the historic continuity of the capital as the chief nucleus 
of population, and to its now being the centre of means of distribution 
inland. The exports are inconsiderable. 


The United Kingdom 15 1 

(2) Liverpool, with a movement of 12 million tons, is unique amongst 
British seaports for its practical monopoly of the American and West 
African trades, especially in the import of food and raw material, chiefly 
cotton, and for its export of manufactured goods and machinery. The 
harbour is an estuary deepened and kept open at great cost. 

(3) Cardiff (including Barry Dock), with 12 million tons of shipping, 
prospers by the enormous export of coal from the South Wales coal-field. 

(4) The Tyne Ports, including Newcastle and North and South Shields, 
have a movement of 9 million tons, mainly exporting machinery and coal. 

(5) Hull and Grimsby, on the Humber, with about 7 million tons of 


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goods to the continent of Europe, and in a 
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(6) The Firth of Forth Ports, Leith, Grangemouth, and Kirkcaldy, 
have between them about 6 million tons of movement, mainly exporting 
coal. 

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152 The International Geography 

cerned in the passenger trade to South Africa and America ; its proximity 
to London by rail enabling it to compete in this respect with Liverpool. 

It will be noticed that almost the whole trade of the United Kingdom 
with other countries is carried on in four inlets of the east coast (the 
Thames, Humber, Tyne, and Forth) three on the west coast (the Bristol 
Channel, Mersey, and Clyde) and one on the south coast. But in addition 
the importance of Dover, Folkestone, Queenborough, and Harwich as 
passenger and light cargo ports for cross-channel trade must be remem- 
bered. The coasting shipping of the country is also greatest in the 
harbours which concentrate the over-sea trade, and its volume is about the 
same. Fully 1,000 vessels enter the ports of the United Kingdom daily. 

Trade. — The value of the exports and imports is nearly twice as great 
as the average of that of the three countries which come nearest to it, 
Germany, France, and the United States (Fig. 71). The merchant fleet 
amounts to more than half of all the vessels afloat, and their tonnage 
much exceeds that of all the ships of other nations in the world. 

The annual trade of the country (exports and imports) averages more 
than ^700,000,000, or £18 per head of the population. The value of the 
exports of British goods is scarcely more than half that of the imports, a 
proportion which prevails in no other large country. The imports consist 
mainly of food and of raw materials, the exports mainly of manufactured 
articles as nearly as can be ascertained in the following proportions : — 

Food material. Animals. Raw materials. Manufactures. Total. 

Imports 407 .. 25 .. 353 .. 215 .. 100 

Exports 5-3 . . 0 4 . . 7 8 . . 86 5 . . 100 

Most trade is done with the other British possessions, the United States, 
France, Germany, Holland, Russia, and Belgium, in the order given ; the 
British possessions are relatively the most valuable as a market for exports. 

Railways were first introduced in the United Kingdom, and they 
remain in the hands of a few great companies ; but the telegraph system, 
also the first to be established in the world, has been incorporated with the 
Post Office, the only State monopoly. 

II.— SCOTLAND 

By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc. 

General Characteristics. — North Britain is divided naturally into 
three parts — the Highlands to the north and west, the Central Lowlands 
and the Southern Uplands to the south and east. The boundaries of these 
areas are marked by nearly straight parallel lines of faulting running from 
north-east to south-west (Fig. 72). Between these faults the crust-block 
of the Central Lowlands has gradually sunk, protecting the Carboniferous 
strata, while those of the Highlands and Southern Uplands have been 
elevated on either side, and the very ancient rocks exposed by denudatioa 
The existing scenery of Scotland, perhaps more than the other parts of the 


Scotland 


!53 


British Islands, shows traces of the Glacial Period, when the land was buried 
in ice, the movement of which polished and striated the rocks of mountain 
and valley alike, and covered large parts of the country with masses of 
boulder clay. This gives a gently undulating character to much of the 
Central Lowlands, and has, by filling old river channels, caused a rearrange- 
ment of many of the river courses. The work of frost and rain has 
carved the Highland summits into characteristic forms of rugged strength. 
One of the most recent geological features 
is the series of raised beaches which sur- 
round Scotland. Of these the most im- 
portant is a horizontal terrace about twenty- 
five feet above sea-level, sometimes cut in 
the solid rock, more often built up of 
pebbles and clay, which furnishes the sites 
for almost all the coast towns. 

History and People. — The Scots, a 
Keltic race from Ireland, entered the 
country from the west, gradually over- 
spread it in the fifth century, and con- 
quered the earlier Piets. It was not until 
after the tenth century that the English 
language in its Northumbrian form was 
fully established on the Lowland plain and 
the unassimilated Gaels began to draw 
back within the Highland border. There 
the clans lived under their chiefs as a typical race of mountaineers, 
often at war with each other, and as distinct in dress and language 
from their fellow-countrymen in the Lowlands as from their national 
enemies in England. The suppression of the rebellion in 1745 broke 
up the Clan system finally, and since that time the Gaelic language 
has been less and less spoken. The eastern portion of the Lowland 
plain formed for a long period a part of the kingdom of Northumbria, 
which spread from the Humber to the Forth ; but the bare hills of 
the Southern Uplands were a barrier to the easy communication neces- 
sary to maintain cohesion in unsettled times, and well suited to form 
the marches or borderland between two States. The fertile carse-lands of 
the eastern firths naturally became the heart of the kingdom of Scotland. 
The long-continued wars with England drove Scotland into closer associa- 
tion with continental countries, the influence of France being very marked 
for several centuries. For a century after the union of the crowns Scot- 
land retained its own parliament, and was separated from England by 
Customs barriers for a longer period. The opposition of English mercan- 
tile corporations hampered Scottish trade, and brought disaster on the 
splendid though premature project of colonising the isthmus of Darien in 
order to command the trade of the Pacific. With the union of the parlia- 



FlG. 72 . — Natural divisions of 
Scotland. 


154 The International Geography 

ments the economic development of the country really commenced. At 
present the chief external difference between Scotland and England lies in 
some details of law and the administration of justice, and in the establish- 
ment of a Presbyterian church. The national character is marked and 
distinctive. The Highlander is constitutionally courteous, poetical, and 
open-handed, and prefers an occupation involving occasional calls for 
severe exertion with longer intervals of inactivity, such as fishing and cattle 
rearing. The Lowland Scot, on the other hand, is sometimes surly but 
always independent, persevering, and determined in his undertakings, and 
given to agriculture, manufactures, and trade. As a consequence of the 
adverse conditions against which his race has so long struggled he is often 
more thrifty than generous. Since John Knox inaugurated the parish 
schools at the Reformation three centuries of practically universal educa- 
tion have given the Scottish peasantry a bent for study and a taste for serious 
reading which make the Scottish universities perhaps the most numerously 
attended in Europe. 

The Highlands . — The north-west of Scotland bore the brunt of the 
compressing forces in the Earth’s crust by which the European continent 
was ridged up from the Atlantic depression, and its geology is consequently 
very complex. Since the up-ridging, continual erosion has worn down 
many of the islands of the outer Hebrides to a low level, although composed 
of the hard Archaean gneiss. Great volcanic disturbances also occurred 
through many geological ages, resulting in the outpouring of lavas and the 
injection of sheets of molten rock, which denudation has uncovered and 
rendered conspicuous. The average level of the Highlands is about 1,500 
feet above ttie sea, although in parts they rise to nearly three times that 
height. There is no mountain range. The surface has been carved by 
rivers and atmospheric erosion into masses, which looked at from below 
have the appearance of mountains ; but viewed from one of the highest 
summits the Highlands appear as round-shouldered and flat-topped moor- 
lands covered with moss or heather or shattered stones. They are of 
fairly uniform general height and rise without definite order like waves on 
a stormy sea. They are, in fact, the product of a deeply incised system of 
valleys impressed upon an ancient plateau, the recent depression of 
which on the west has formed the islands. Highlands and islands together 
comprise 70 per cent, of the area of Scotland, but only contain 23 per 
cent, of the population. Most of the crofters who formerly made a pre- 
carious living by farming in the valleys have been compelled to migrate to 
more fertile lands or engage in more profitable callings. The high rainfall 
of the west, the raw climate, and the poor soil of the crystalline rocks unite 
to make agriculture impossible ; and the Highlands have relapsed into the 
condition of a wild country, useful mainly as a game preserve, and now 
for the most part the property of wealthy Englishmen and Americans. 
Sheep farming on a large scale is still carried on, but deer forests are 
more profitable. The population is almost entirely confined to the lower 


Scotland 


*55 


parts of the valleys where they come out on the Lowland plain or on the 
sea. The roads through these valleys are now in many cases superseded 
by railways carrying the yearly swelling tide of sportsmen and lovers of 
the picturesque to moor, mountain, and loch. Whisky distilling is a 
typical Highland industry ; the most famous distilleries are often situated 
in small villages, and Campbcllton in Cantyre is almost the only town of 
which distilling is one of the chief resources. 

The North-Western Highlands and Islands. — Some of the 
lakes in the western valleys are of remarkable beauty, especially those in 
the west — Loch Maree, Loch Shiel, and Loch Morar, the last being the 
deepest lake in the British Islands (maximum depth 1,070 feet). The 
picturesque masses of volcanic rocks forming Skye, Mull, and the smaller 
islands of the Inner Hebrides are separated from the mainland by 
drowned valleys. The population is found chiefly on the fertile wedge of 
Old Red Sandstone lowland surrounding the Cromarty Firth on the east 
coast. The Highland railway winds its way northward along the east 
coast, and a branch line from Dingwall at the head of the Cromarty Firth 
runs across to Stromc Ferry on Loch Carron, whence steamers ply to the 
herring-fishing port of Stornoway, in the island of Lewis in the Outer 
Hebrides. Part of Inverness and the county of Ross and Cromarty united 
occupy most of the area ; but Sutherland (the Southern Land of the old 
Norsemen), includes the northern end of the Highlands. 

The Northern Lowlands and Islands. — Beyond the north-western 
Highlands the Old Red Sandstone plain of Caithness is really a detached 
portion of the fertile Lowlands, better cultivated and more densely peopled 
than the Highland counties. The coast scenery is fine, and the fisheries 
important, especially at Wick, for herrings. From Thurso the mail steamer 
sails for Orkney. Orkney and Shetland, though forming one county for 
parliamentary purposes and having come under the Scottish crown together 
in 1590, are entirely distinct. The Orkney islands are a continuation of 
the Old Red Sandstone plain of Caithness, separated from it by the Pent- 
land Firth, their only striking scenery being on the coast. The tide rushes, 
furiously through the narrow sounds which separate the numerous islands ; 
and the Orkney people are very skilful boatmen. Sheep are raised, and 
fishing and some woollen manufactures are carried on. Kirkwall, on 
Pomona, the largest island, is the chief town. The Shetland group, fifty 
miles north-east of Orkney, are much more varied in character ; their rocks 
resemble those of the Highlands, and the people are of more exclusively 
Scandinavian origin, their dialect containing many words still current in 
Icelandic. With a climate like that of the Faeroes the productions are 
similar ; small shaggy ponies and sheep are reared, there is a good deal of 
fishing and whale hunting, and a considerable home industry in knitting 
the fine native wool. Lerwick, on Mainland, is the only town. It useo to 
be the last port touched at by Arctic whalers, a large proportion of their 
crews being Shetlanders ; and the islands still produce man) sailors. Fair 


156 The International Geography 

Isle, half way between Orkney and Shetland, has an important light- 
house. 

The Great Glen and South-Eastern Highlands. — The long, 

narrow valley of Glen More (i.e., the great glen), separates the north- 
western from the south-eastern Highlands by the clear-cut line of an 
ancient fracture. The centre of the rift is occupied by a series of long, 
narrow lakes of great depth, which never freeze, Loch Ness, Loch Oich, 
and Loch Lochy. They are joined by the Caledonian canal, which is 
now of value only as a tourist route. The historical importance of this 
valley is attested by the growth of Inverness at its north-eastern outlet. 
The continued prosperity of Inverness is due not so much to the beauty of 
its situation as to the fact that it stands at the crossing of the tourist 
routes of the Highland railway and the Caledonian canal. It has become 
a distributing centre for the whole north of Scotland, and a noted sheep 
market. The names of three old military posts recall the strategic value 
of the Great Glen in the past : Fort William , established at the west end of 
the Glen in 1655 ; Fort Augustus , in the centre, after the rebellion of 1715 ; 
and Fort George at the east end, after the rebellion of 1745. Ben Nevis 
(4,406 feet), the highest point in the British Islands, is crowned by a 
meteorological observatory. The Falls of Foyers on Loch Ness have 
been utilised for the production of electric power for an aluminium 
factory, a foretaste of the possible revival of Highland industries by 
modern methods. 

The highest land, representing the ridge of the old plateau, is marked 
by the granite masses of Ben Nevis and Ben Macdhui (4,300 feet), in which 
the longest rivers in Scotland originate. The Spey runs north-eastward to 
the Moray Firth ; the Dee and Tay (the latter carrying the outflow of the 
large lakes — Lochs Ericht, Rannoch, Tay, and Earn) flow to the east 
and south-east. Their valleys furnish the only lines of communication for 
roads or railways across the Highlands. The large Loch Awe of the west 
resembles in a general way the salt water fjords of Loch Etive and Loch 
Fyne between which it lies. From the Central Lowlands the edge of the 
Highlands presents an imposing appearance like a line of mountains rising 
from the plain, and to this edge the name of the Grampians has been 
vaguely applied. Near the great fault separating the Highlands from the 
Lowlands, small earthquakes are common, a sign probably that the strata 
are still yielding to the internal stresses. 

South-Eastern Highland Counties. — The county of Inverness 
occupies the north, that of Argyll the whole west, and Perth the south of this 
division of the Highlands. The northern slope to the Moray Firth terminates 
in a narrow coastal plain shared by the counties of Nairn, Elgin, and Banff. 
Thanks to the porous soil of the west of this plain, and its sheltered posi- 
tion, it possesses a remarkably dry and mild climate. Where the coast 
turns to face the east, and the Highland schists and granites reach the sea 
in grand cliffs, the seaport of Peterhead was long famous for its Arctic 


Scotland 


I 57 


whaling fleet. The exposed bay is being converted into a great harbour 
of refuge for the east coast by the construction, with the aid of convict 
labour, of huge breakwaters which will not be completed until 1921. 
Aberdeen , the largest town on Highland soil, owes its prosperity in part to 
the quarries of fine grey granite, of which the whole city is built, in part 
to its ancient university, but mainly to the harbour, which, in spite of an 
awkward bar at the mouth of the river, is growing in importance. It is 
concentrating the fishing industry, now largely carried on by steam 
trawlers, and gradually attracting it from the small fishing towns along 
the coast. This is, in part, due to the good railway service to London 
(500 miles in eleven hours), with which Aberdeen also does a large trade in 
fresh beef, the cattle of the district being renowned. 

The Central Lowlands. — The Central Lowlands are on the whole 
under 500 feet in elevation, the lowest divide between the North Sea and 
Atlantic being only 200 feet above sea-level. The Firth of Clyde, on the 
west of the plain, is connected with a series of long fjords running north- 
ward and north-eastward into the Highlands, but receiving no streams of 
any length. Loch Lomond, picturesquely situated near the west coast on 
the edge of the Highlands, combines the character of a highland valley 
loch with that of a lowland lake, Loch Leven in Fife shows the latter type 
alone. The lower ground is composed of the Old Red Sandstone forma- 
tion on the northern and southern margins, with Carboniferous strata in 
the centre containing numerous detached basins of the Coal Measures. 
Great accumulations of volcanic materials form ranges of hills parallel to 
the general lines of the country, especially the Sidlaws, Ochils, and 
Campsie Fells on the north, and the Pentlands, and Lammermoors on the 
south. The Lowland plain contains much more than half the population of 
Scotland ; for on account of its diverse natural advantages it has always 
been the richest part of the country. The fertility of the soil, and the 
development of the most advanced scientific farming, enables remarkably 
heavy crops to be raised. The iron and coal-fields have fixed important 
industries, and caused the growth of many active towns, knit together by a 
close network of railways. 

The Highland Border. — The county of Perth, almost co-extensive 
with the drainage area of the river Tay, includes the system of converging 
river valleys which drain the southern Highlands, and bring all the lines 
of communication with the north to a focus at the city of Perth, where it 
stands on a flat plain bordering the Tay at the head of the tide. Perth has 
always been important on account of its commanding position ; for from 
it diverge the roads (and now the railways) to the Highlands by the valley 
of the Tay, to Aberdeen by the plain of Strathmore north of the Sidlaws, to 
Dundee by the fertile Carse of Gowrie, to Stirling by the Allan valley 
skirting the Ochils on the west, and to Edinburgh by the pass of Glenfarg 
across the Ochils, through which the construction of the great Forth Bridge 
has restored modern traffic to the old coach route. Besides its importance 


158 The International Geography 

as a railway centre, there are some industries, especially extensive dye- 
works. Stirling grew round the steep basaltic crag on which its castle 
stands commanding the lowest ford on the river Forth, close to the head 
of navigation, and at the point where it could first be bridged. Stirling 
Bridge was for centuries the key to the Highlands, and the immediate 
neighbourhood was consequently the scene of many battles, chief amongst 
them that of Bannockburn in 1314, when Scottish independence was 
finally assured. Dundee, with the only harbour for sea-going vessels on 
the Tay estuary, is a commercial and manufacturing town. As a linen- 
weaving centre dependent on Russian flax the Crimean war nearly ruined 
it ; but the timely introduction of Indian jute more than compensated the 
temporary loss, and the American civil war, by stimulating the production 
of all other textiles than cotton, confirmed its prosperity. Dundee has 
famous jam factories, partly supplied by the fruit farms of the Carse of 

Gowrie, and it is the 
only port of the United 
Kingdom still sending 
out a fleet of Arctic 
whalers. The Tay 
Bridge, two miles in 
length, gives direct com- 
munication with the 
south via the Forth 
Bridge. 

The Eastern Low- 
land Towns. — The 

peninsula of Fife 
between the Firths of 
Forth and Tay was 
compared by James 
VI. to “a beggar’s mantle fringed with gold” on account of the number 
of prosperous seaports along its coast. There are still many fishing villages, 
but the only harbours for steamers are Burntisland and Kirkcaldy, the latter 
the chief centre of linoleum manufacture in Great Britain. The ancient 
city of St. Andrews , with the oldest university in Scotland, founded in 1411, 
standsion the shores of a sandy bay in the extreme east, where the links made 
it famous centuries ago, as it is famous still, for the “royal and ancient 
game ” of golf. Edinburgh, originally a castle on a lofty crag (see section 
from west to east in Fig. 25), grew into a walled town, the one street of 
which, with branching “wynds” and “closes,” descended the steeply- 
sloping “tail” to the later palace of Holyrood. Within the last century 
the space around the castle and Calton Hill has been laid out in 
streets and squares which stretch to the shore of the Firth of Forth, 
and suburbs also spread far to the south. Edinburgh retains the 
supreme courts of Scotland, and other survivals of its life as a capital. 



Scotland 


*59 


The university is the youngest in Scotland (1582), and is renowned mainly 
for its medical school. Book printing and brewing are among the more 
important of the industries of the town. As the headc[uai tcrs of many 
banks and insurance offices it is of financial importance, and the General 
Assemblies of the Scottish churches make it an ecclesiastical centre also. 
The grandeur of its site, and the bold design and fine architecture of the 
streets and public buildings, make it in the opinion of many the finest city 
in Europe. The adjacent seaport of Leith does a large shipping trade. 

The Western Lowland Towns. — The centre of the Lowland 
plain is engaged in the characteristic industry of oil-shale mining, and the 
distillation of paraffin. Further west the coal-mines yield more than half 
the output of Scottish coal-fields, most of which is employed in the many 



Fig. 74 , — Edinburgh and the Forth Bridge. 

manufactures of the densely peopled counties of Lanark and Renfrew. 
The black-band iron-stone occurring with the coal gives employment to 
the blast furnaces of Hamilton, Wishaw, Coatbridge, Kilmarnock, and 
Cumnock. The industry of the region is concentrated on the upper estuary 
of the Clyde where Greenock is an active seaport with ship-building yards, 
and Paisley, though standing back from the river, is even more prosperous 
through its great manufactures of cotton thread. Glasgow is one of the 
most ancient cities in Scotland, and the seat of an old university. At one 
time its importance, like that of Perth, lay largely in its situation on the 
border of the Highlands, but its present prosperity, which has made it the 
largest British city next to London, is due to the artificial deepening of the 
Clyde, commenced in 1768. The proximity of iron and coal promoted 
manufactures of every kind, the navigable waterway enabled trade-relations 


160 The International Geography 


to be established with America and India, and the introduction of steam in 
navigation, and of iron and then steel in naval construction united these 
advantages. Steel ship-building is the most important industry of the 
Glasgow district, and the Clyde is the greatest ship-building centre in the 
world. Locomotive works, chemical works, and potteries, as well as textile 
factories of all kinds, employ the large industrial population. The city of 
Glasgow is one of the most progressive municipalities in the United 
Kingdom. The water supply is drawn through a tunnel 34 miles long from 
Loch Katrine. 

The Southern Uplands. — The Southern Uplands rising steeply 
from the Lowlands form a region of round-topped hills of Silurian forma- 
tion, usually richly grassed to the summit. The general character is that 
of a plateau deeply trenched by valleys, with an average height of perhaps 

1,000 feet and only 2,700 
at its highest point — Mt. 
Merrick. The Tweed 
flowing east by south is 
the principal river, and its 
lower valley forms a flat 
plain of considerable ex- 
tent near the coast. The 
Clyde, rising near the 
source of the Tweed, 
flows on the whole west 
by north to its estuary in 
the Central Lowlands. 
The Annan and other 
short streams flow to the 
Solway F irth. The south- 
western corner of the 
Uplands is its highest 
and most rugged part, 
Fig. 75 .—Glasgow. forming the district of 

Galloway. It is mainly a land of sheep farms, and in proportion to the 
area Roxburgh, Selkirk, and Berwick contain more sheep than any other 
counties in the United Kingdom. The sheep are usually of the Cheviot 
breed, celebrated for their fine wool, and the towns of the Tweed valley, 
especially Galashiels, have long been prosperous through the weaving of 
strong woollen cloth. The old divisions of the border country were the 
dales or valleys of the rivers which formed the natural highways and 
contained the best farming land. 

Railways from England enter the Uplands at Berwick on the east, 
winding round the coast to Edinburgh, and from Carlisle on the west, 
whence one line of the Glasgow and South-Western railway runs round 
the coast to Stranraer on the shortest sea-passage from Great Britain to 





England and Wales 161 


Ireland. Another passes Dumfries and goes up Nithsdale, descending to 
the coastal plain, and passing Kilmarnock to Glasgow. The Caledonian 
railway passing Gretna Green (formerly famous for the celebration of run- 
away marriages, as it was the nearest point to England where the Scots 
law could be taken advantage of), ascends the valley of the Annan and 
descends that of the Clyde to Glasgow. The North British “ Waverley 
Route” passes up Liddesdale and descends the valley of the Teviot, 
crossing the Tweed at Melrose , and running thence direct to Edinburgh. 



FlG. 76. — Section across England ( after Ramsay). The letters o and c indicate 

the Oolitic and Chalk escarpments. 


III.— ENGLAND AND WALES 

By Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc. 


Natural Divisions. — A bold contrast presents itself between the 
scenery and structure of the country to the east and to the west of a slightly 
curved line, convex to the 
east, drawn from the mouth of 
the Tees in Durham to the 
mouth of the Exe in Devon. 

This is not an “imaginary 
line ” but a distinct height of 
land, the Oolitic Escarpment, 
forming a watershed through- 
out its whole length, except in 
one point where the Humber 
estuary breaks through it. 

The western hills are lofty, 
rising like islands out of the 
low plain which surrounds 
them, and often wild and 
rugged like those of the High- 
lands, contrasting with the 
low and gentle downs and es- 
carpments of the eastern low- 
land. The western rocks are 
for the most part of Palaeozoic 
or igneous formation, occur- 
ring in irregular and confused 
masses, in contrast to the uniformly overlapping sheets of little-disturbed 
Secondary and Tertiary formations to the east. The western region 
falls into four fairly definite physical divisions which have also a cer- 



FlG. 77. — Natural Divisions of England 
and Wales. 


1 62 The International Geography 

tain historical and industrial individuality, the Lake District , Wales , the 
peninsula of Cornwall and Devon, and the Pennine Chain, to which may be 
added the Central Plain which surrounds and separates them. The eastern 
region is less sharply subdivided, into the Jurassic Belt, the Chalk Country 
which is broken by the Fenland and the Weald, and the Tertiary Basins of 
Hampshire and London (Fig. 77). 

General Characteristics. — England is distinguished from Scotland 
and Ireland by the more purely Teutonic descent of its people. The 
Saxon type is still to be seen in great purity in the southern and eastern 
counties, even traces of the old German language remain amongst the 
peasants, who in Sussex still use “ Ya” (the German Ja) for “ Yes." The 
local dialects of most parts of the country are distinctive, but not so different 
as to hinder free intercommunication. The whole of England and Wales 
is divided ecclesiastically into two Provinces presided over by the Arch- 
bishops of Canterbury and York, and into thirty-two Bishoprics, each with 
its cathedral city. The rank of city in England is only given to the seat 
of a cathedral. The forty “ ancient counties" or shires into which 
England is divided, represent very early divisions of the old Anglo- 
Saxon kingdoms, which coalesced to form the realm of England. Few of 
them have natural boundaries ; but it is interesting to notice as exceptions 
that the Thames separates counties along nearly its whole course, the Tamar, 
Tyne, and Tees are also county boundaries, and Yorkshire consists almost 
exactly of the basin of the Ouse. For administrative purposes the larger 
counties are subdivided, and large towns as a rule are counties in themselves. 
The County Council is the chief local government body. The character of 
the English people is the foundation of that of the British nation. The sense 
of justice is strongly developed, and the love of “fair play" for friends and 
enemies alike is perhaps the real basis of British greatness ; but this feeling 
is combined with a strenuous determination to uphold rights : “ Dieu et mon 
droit" is not inaptly the national motto. New ideas are slowly received, 
but once accepted they are strongly held. Interest in manly sports is 
deeply rooted and forms the strongest bond between all classes of the 
community. 

The Western Division. — In the time of the Roman occupation the 
mountainous region of Britain west of the Severn, including the peninsula 
of Cornwall and Devon on the south, and the Lake District and Southern 
Uplands of Scotland on the north, was occupied by Keltic tribes, amongst 
whom the Brythonic or British predominated over the Gaelic and other 
elements ; so the Gaelic language does not occur in Wales. The people called 
themselves Cymry (i.e. fellow-countrymen), hence the name of Cumberland. 
Wales is from a Saxon word meaning “ foreign," and the name reappears 
in Corn wall. The tribes were organised in warlike clans, the chieftains 
sometimes united under a common head, more frequently at war with each 
other, and they resisted conquest until the Norman period. The northern 
districts have now completely lost their Keltic population and language, 


England and Wales 163 

and so has the southern peninsula, although the old Cornish language 
lingered there until the eighteenth century. Wales was incorporated with 
England in the fourteenth century, yet the Welsh language has survived, 
and one-third of the people of the principality can speak no other. The 
Welsh are lovers of music, the harp being a favourite instrument. 

The Lake District. — The Lake District forming a peninsula between 
the Solway Firth and Morecambe Bay, and separated from the Pennine 
Chain by the valleys of the Eden and the Lune, is a small rugged highland 
trenched by deep and picturesque valleys which radiate in all directions 
from a central point. Each long valley contains a narrow lake-bed ; but 
some have been separated into two by silting up like Derwentwater and 
Bassenthwaite, or Buttermere and Crummock, others like those of Langdale 
have been entirely drained or filled up and converted into meadows. The 
largest remaining lakes are Windermere running south, and Ullswater 
running north-east. Scafell Pike, above Wastwater, the deepest lake, is 
the highest mountain in England (3,200 feet) ; Skiddaw in the north, and 
Helvellyn in the east also exceed 3,000 feet. Geologically the Lake District 
consists of a central mass of Silurian volcanic rocks, with sedimentary 
strata of the same age, to north and south ; surrounded by a ring of 
Carboniferous limestone, with Coal Measures on the north-west, and a 
broken rim of newer rocks — the New Red Sandstones — outside the whole. 

In the central valleys the population has always been sparse, the ex- 
tremely wet climate makes agriculture impossible, and only a few cattle and 
sheep are kept. Plumbago mines in Borrowdale gave rise to the manufacture 
of pencils at Keswick , and this industry continues although the mines have 
been exhausted ; graphite is now imported from Ceylon, and the cedar for 
the sticks is brought from Florida. The romantic beauty of the Lake 
District attracted attention about the middle of the eighteenth century, and 
ever since it has been a haunt of tourists. It is a favourite residence for 
poets, artists, and men of letters, who have striven to introduce home 
industries in order to retain the small population in their native dales. On 
the outer margin coal is mined, and the remarkably pure hematite iron ore 
has caused the artificial harbour of Barrow-in-Furness to spring into pros- 
perity in the south-west. The heavy rainfall of the district is utilised by 
the conversion of Thirlmere into a reservoir for the water supply of Man- 
chester, and some of the streams are utilised for producing electrical energy. 

Wales. — Wales as a physical region comprises the peninsula between 
the estuary of the Dee and the Bristol Channel, and extends on the east to 
the Severn valley, but the counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Hereford, and 
Monmouth have long ceased to be Welsh ; Monmouth is, however, usually 
classed with Wales for statistical purposes. The very ancient rocks known 
as Cambrian and Silurian were called after the land of the Cymri and 
Silures, and they form the main bulk of the dissected highland of the 
peninsula. The north-western and south-western extremities are rendered 
more resisting by intruded igneous sheets and dykes, and consequently 


164 The International Geography 

project boldly, while the more yielding rocks between them have been cut 
back into the harbourless Cardigan Bay. In Anglesea and Carnarvon on 
the north-west, the strata and their igneous intrusions run in narrow bands 
from north-east to south-west. One of these bands gives origin to the 
channel of Menai Strait which, like that cutting off Holy Island on the 
west, is so narrow that the harbour of Holyhead, lying nearly on the straight 
line joining London and Dublin, can be reached by rail, and thus used for 
the mail route to Ireland. Masses of igneous rock have given rise to 
Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales (3,570 feet) and other high 
summits in the neighbourhood, as well as to the fine ridge of Cader Idris 
(2,930 feet) further south. The slate mountains of North Wales are very 
extensively quarried, and keep several small seaports at work, as no slate 
of equal quality is found elsewhere in the British Islands. Both the north 
and the west coasts of Wales attract many residents and summer visitors 
on account of their combination of mild climate and fine scenery. In 
Pembroke on the south the hard igneous rocks run in narrow bands from 
east to west, and there Milford Haven, the only fjord-like inlet of the coast, 
is a magnificent natural harbour. Because it lies farther from coal than 
the tidal harbours of the Bristol Channel, and is remote from the great 
centres of manufacture and population, it is only beginning to be utilised 
as a trans-Atlantic shipping port. Around the very ancient rocks of 
Wales there are several patches of the Coal Measures contained in basins 
or synclinal troughs. One detached basin runs south from the estuary 
of the Dee in the north, and others of smaller size appear in the Severn 
valley, at Coalbrookdale, the Forest of Wyre and the Forest of Dean, each 
supporting a group of small but busy mining and manufacturing towns. 

The South Wales Coal-field. — One great geological basin fills 
the south and east of Wales, in a synclinal hollow of the ancient Silurian 
strata, the upturned edges of which running to the north-east originate the 
striking scenery of Wenlock Edge, and on the east form the singularly 
graceful line of the Malvern Hills. Within this rim there is a great 
expanse of Old Red Sandstone rising on the west into the Black Mountains, 
and reaching an altitude of 2,900 feet in the rugged and barren Brecon 
Beacons. On the east the Old Red Sandstone sinks to form the low 
sheltered and exceedingly fertile plain of Hereford bearing the finest 
orchards in England, and hop gardens rivalling those of Kent. It is 
watered in the south by the Wye, the most picturesque of English rivers. 
The plain was formerly of great strategic value, as it commanded the passes 
into Wales, now its importance appears in providing a “ west and north ” 
railway route, in conjunction with the Severn tunnel, from Bristol to Crewe, 
converging at Shrewsbury with the route by the Severn valley. Within 
the Old Red Sandstone, between the Brecon Beacons and the Bristol 
Channel, the Carboniferous rocks are held as in a cup. The South Wales 
coal-field has an area of 1,000 square miles, and is shared mainly by the 
counties of Glamorgan and Monmouth. Its perfect basin shape is shown 


England and Wales 165 

by the outcrop all round it of the Dent-up edges of the Millstone Grit, the 
“farewell rock” of the miners, and the Carboniferous limestone, which lie 
under the coal. The Coal Measures form a plateau which descends 
from an elevation of about 1,200 feet in the north to 700 feet in the 
south, and then sinks to a coastal plain of newer rocks. It is trenched 
by remarkably steep-sided and deeply-cut valleys running southward almost 
parallel to one another. The coal seams crop out along the sides of these 
valleys, the floors of which are traversed by railways and lined with mining 
villages, contrasting with the nearly uninhabited uplands between them. 
The railways converge on the east to the Ebbw valley, at the confluence of 
which with the Usk the ancient town of Newport has become a modern 
coal-shipping port ; and on the west to the far more important Taff valley. 
Where the Taff enters the coal-field on the north a little village took the 
name of Merthyr-Tydfil, from the martyrdom of an early Welsh princess 
named Tydfil. In the middle of the eighteenth century coal mines and 
iron works were established 
there, and a large though un- 
pretending town has grown on 
a poor site over 500 feet above 
the sea. The neighbouring 
valleys of the Cynon and the 
Rhondda converge to the Taff, 
and the output of the whole 
goes by the Taff Vale railway 
to Cardiff, where there are great 
docks rendered accessible at 
high water to the largest vessels 
by the high tides of the Bristol 
Channel. Cardiff is the seat of numerous manufactures, mainly connected 
with iron and tin-plate. Some miles to the west a desolate sandy tract 
of coast was made the site of a large artificial harbour, Barry Dock, in 1889, 
which now exports an enormous amount of coal, and is the centre of a 
considerable town. Swansea farther west has long been engaged in 
copper-smelting, ore being imported from all parts of the world, and it is 
also one of the chief manufacturing places for tin-plate. This industry is 
carried on in villages in all the valleys of South Wales, the locality being 
originally determined by the proximity of the coal-field to the Cornish 
tin-mining district, although now most of the tin is imported from 
Singapore. 

The Severn Valley. — The rivers flowing down the steep northern, 
southern, and western slopes of the Welsh highlands are short and swift. 
On the eastern slope the Dee flows out of Bala lake at the base of the 
culminating volcanic mass of North Wales, and turns northward to 
meander over the Cheshire plain. The Vyrnwy, rising close to the source 
of the Dee, fills an artificial lake formed by the Liverpool water-works in 



Fig. 78 . — The South Wales Coal-field. 



1 66 The International Geography 

an ancient lake-bed, in the desolate pastoral region of central Wales, 
and flows to the Severn. This river, rising farther south and west, sweeps 
across and around the margin of the ancient rocks to flow southward down 
its broad valley over Triassic strata, collecting the whole drainage of the 
eastward slopes of Wales, and receiving only one important tributary, the 
Avon, on the left from the Central Plain of England. The names of 
Gloucester, Worcester, and Chester testify to the military importance the 
Romans attached to the line of communication through the Severn and 
Dee valleys, flanking Wales. The fine cathedrals of Gloucester, Worcester 
and Hereford afford evidence of the value of the Welsh border when 
agriculture was the one source of wealth, and they all continue to be 
thriving market towns and the seat of various minor manufactures. 
Gloucester is made accessible to ocean-going vessels by a ship canal from 
the Severn estuary. The commercial importance of this estuary was 
anciently due mainly to Bristol, which grew up as a seaport on the 
southern Avon, and in the fourteenth century was second only to London. 
From this port Cabot sailed on his voyage of discovery westward,, 
and a great trade with America was kept up for two centuries in sugar 
and tobacco ; the tobacco trade still continuing important, as well as 
that in chocolate and in timber. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic 
sailed from Bristol in 1838, but the introduction of steam has benefited 
other seaports more, and for a time it declined in importance. There 
are considerable manufactures, coal being obtained from a small coal-field 
in the neighbourhood. A tunnel four and a half miles in length, the longest 
in England, under the Severn, connects Bristol with South Wales. 

The Cornwall and Devon Peninsula. — The peninsula of Cornwall 
and Devon forms a natural region of ancient Palaeozoic rocks separated 
from the newer rocks of the east along a line drawn from Bridgwater Bay 
to Torquay. It may be viewed as a synclinal trough like those in the 
south of Ireland, running east and west with Old Red Sandstone strata on 
the north and south (which derived the alternative name of Devonian from 
thus occurring), and Lower Carboniferous rocks, not containing any coal,, 
forming the lower ground between. The northern outcrop of the Devonian 
strata forms a barren upland sloping gently southward from Exmoor, 
where its highest point exceeds 1,600 feet, but falling steeply to the sea.. 
The coast is picturesque with lofty cliffs and rocky shores dotted with 
frequented summer resorts at the mouths of short deeply cut valleys. The 
river Exe flows almost due south from its source, only four miles from the 
Bristol Channel, to its estuary on the English Channel. The Devonian 
strata on the south do not stand out so prominently ; but they are pierced 
by several of the greatest outbursts of granite in England, which form 
prominent uplands. The largest is the plateau of Dartmoor, rising in 
many points to over 1,500 feet, and in Yes Tor to over 2,000. The surface 
is wilder and more barren than Exmoor, affording only a little pasture in 
summer. The granite weathers into clay which allows great marshes and 


England and Wales 167 

peat bogs to form. In the centre of the moor in one of the most desolate 
regions of all England a great convict prison has been established. 
Separated from Dartmoor by the valley of the Tamar, which runs south 
to Plymouth Sound, dividing Cornwall from Devon, Bodmin Moor, 
another granite boss, culminates in Brown Willy, 1,370 feet. A third mass 
of granite gives character to the Land’s End peninsula, its cliffs carved 
into fantastic forms by atmospheric erosion. Lizard Head is formed by a 
similar mass of the rarer rock, serpentine. The contact of the granite with 
the rocks which it pierces marks the richest part for veins of metallic ore, 
especially copper and tin ; the latter is still largely worked, though most 
of the copper mines are closed. The decomposed granite itself forms 
China-clay, a valuable product which is not found on the granites of 
Scotland or northern England, whence all soft material was swept by the 
ice-sheet. The rocky coast is highly picturesque on account of the 
diversity of its geological structure, and 
shelters numerous fjord-like natural har- 
bours and bays. These are evidence that 
the coast has been undergoing subsidence, 
which is confirmed by the existence of sub- 
merged forests, records of land washed 
away, and the tradition of the sunken land 
of Lyonesse between Cornwall and the 
Scilly Islands. Pe?izance, on Mounts Bay, 
is the headquarters of the pilchard fishery. 

Falmouth and Dartmouth were formerly 
important harbours. Plymouth, standing 
at the junction of the estuaries of the 
Tamar and Plym, really consists of “The 
Three Towns” — Plymouth, Devonport, 
and Stonehouse. Plymouth Sound, pro- 
tected by a breakwater, is one of the finest harbours in England, and it is 
one of the headquarters of the British fleet. The arsenal is protected by an 
extensive series of modern fortifications. The south coast of the peninsula 
having the mildest climate in Great Britain, has attracted many residents, and 
abounds in picturesque health resorts. Of these Torquay is the largest and 
best known. The southern coast-lands are very fertile, and fruit-growing 
is extensively carried on, especially the growth of apples for cider-making. 
The low plateau of Lower Carboniferous rocks in the centre of the penin- 
sula has rich grass-land and excels in cattle-raising. 

The Scilly Islands consist of 140 islets and rocks lying about 30 
miles west of Lands End. The larger of the islands are inhabited, and 
advantage is taken of the exceptionally mild climate to raise flowers and 
early vegetables for the London market. Here accordingly there is no 
agricultural depression, and the few inhabitants are prosperous. Com- 
munication takes place by steamer with Penzance. 



1 68 The International Geography 

The Pennine Chain. — The Pennine Chain is a backbone to 
northern England, and its bold configuration determines the river systems 
of the whole country north of the Tees-Exe line. It is formed throughout 
of a great anticline or arch of Carboniferous rock, which was originally 
ridged up from east and west. Rivetted, if one may use a metaphor, to 
the Southern Uplands of Scotland by the great granitic mass of the Cheviot 
hills, and numerous long volcanic dykes which run east and west, the 
Pennine chain extends southward until the heights spread out into finger- 
like ridges which sink to the level of the English Central Plain, and the 
Carboniferous rocks dip under the Triassic formations. The Coal Measures, 
the highest member of the Carboniferous series, have been stripped off the 
top of the ridge by denudation, leaving the Carboniferous limestones and 
Millstone Grit exposed ; but they appear here and there along its flanks. 
On the eastern side the great coal-field of Northumberland and Durham 
occurs in the north, and that of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the south. 
These are separated from the newer rocks by a belt of Magnesian Limer 
stone running due south from the mouth of the Tyne almost to the Trent, and 
forming a picturesque escarpment towards the west. On the west side the 
fault which separates the Pennine Chain from the rocks of the Lake 
District destroys the symmetry in the north, though the Cumberland coal- 
field in a way corresponds with that of Northumberland ; but in the 
south the coal-field of Lancashire corresponds closely to that of Yorkshire. 
The Carboniferous limestone exposed in the northern and in the southern 
parts of the ridge weathers into very picturesque heights and valleys, and 
subterranean erosion has formed in it many caverns and underground 
stream-courses. The highest summits are in the Crossfell group (2,900 feet), 
overlooking the Eden valley in a grand escarpment, the bold form of 
which is intensified by an intrusive sheet of basalt ; and the somewhat 
lower but more picturesque uplands of the Peak district (highest summit, 
2,800 feet). The middle portion of the chain, formed of Millstone Grit, also 
weathers into fine peaks of a different type, and grass-covered uplands. 
It is crossed by a depression between the valleys of the Wharfe and 
Ribble, the highest point of which only reaches 500 feet. Beyond the 
limits of the Pennine Chain the Coal Measures, which had dipped below 
the Triassic rocks, come up like islands as the coal-fields of Staffordshire 
and Leicestershire, while the coal may be reached in many places by deep 
mines carried down through the younger overlying rocks. Most of the 
great manufacturing towns of England are situated on the Triassic plain 
bordering the Carboniferous uplands. The rivers flowing from the 
Pennine chain form long valleys, or dales, furrowing the uplands and 
affording sites for the towns. Their estuaries are important harbours, 
especially the Ribble and Mersey on the west, and on the east the Tyne, 
Tees, and the many streams converging from east and south to enter the 
Humber. Yorkshire, Lancashire and Northumberland, the three chief 
counties of the Pennine Chain, are known for the sturdy independence, 


England and Wales 169 

great perseverance, and industrial capacity of their people. Small towns 
in picturesque situations and in the neighbourhood of mineral springs 
have risen into fame as watering places and health resorts ; such are 
Harrogate, Buxton, and Matlock. 

The high moorlands are adapted for sheep pastures, and it is natural 
that the villages and market towns in the sheltered dales should, from an 
early period, have been engaged in the wool trade and the weaving of 
woollen goods. The fertile plains surrounding the uplands as naturally 
became valuable for agriculture and stock-raising. The minerals were 
worked from early times, but it was not until the era of machinery was intro- 
duced by the inventive genius of the people of the district, that the stores 
of iron and coal localised the greatest seat of textile manufactures in the 
world. The lines of communication from north to south were necessarily 
carried along the bordering plains. That on the east ran through the Vale 
of York and then along the coastal plain, where Berwick, with its long 
bridge over the Tweed, was an important stopping place, and until the 
end of the fifteenth century was frequently taken and retaken by Scottish 
and English armies. The North-Eastern Railway now follows this route. 
On the west the road followed the coastal plain, but turned northward up 
the Lune valley to Carlisle, always an important border town. This is now 
the route of the London and North-Western Railway, but the Midland 
Railway runs along the watershed of the Pennines, and descends by the 
Eden valley to Carlisle, the importance of that junction being further 
enhanced by the cross-country line from Newcastle through the Tyne 
valley, and the three main lines from Scotland. 



Fig. 80 . — The Tyne Ports. 


The Northumberland and Durham Coal-field. — The counties 
of Northumberland and Durham are separated by the river Tyne, which 
runs across the middle of the coal basin to the sea. Newcastle takes its 
name from a castle erected immediately after the Norman conquest close 
to the site of the ancient Roman bridge which gave origin to the town. 
The shipping of coal from Newcastle (called “ sea-coal” in the old days) 
has gone on from the thirteenth century, and it is still the greatest coal- 


170 The International Geography 

shipping port for coasting trade. The Tyne for ten miles, from Newcastle 
to the sea, has been deepened to admit large vessels, and the harbours of 
North and South Shields at its mouth are included with the docks which 
line the river as the Tyne Ports for custom-house purposes. Gateshead, on 
the south side of the river, shares the industries of Newcastle, which are 
chiefly the manufacture of iron, machinery, and chemicals. The great 
Elswick Works, where the largest warships are built, rank with the works 
at Essen in Germany and Le Creusot in France. One characteristic of 
the manufacturing region surrounding Newcastle, as of that in South 
Wales, is the absence of factories employing women. This gives rise to 
quite different social conditions from those prevailing on the other coal- 
fields where factory work predominates. Sunderland , at the mouth of the 
Wear, almost rivals the Clyde in shipbuilding, and like the Hartlepools, 
just north of the Tees, it has a considerable coal export. The picturesque 
cathedral city of Durham contains a university, the science college of 
which is in Newcastle. 

The West Riding Coal-field. — The ancient woollen industries of 
the Pennine villages have developed by the aid of mechanical power and 
perfected communications until the valleys of the Aire and Don, with their 
tributaries, are now amongst the most densely peopled of manufacturing 
districts, although the uplands between them are still desolate moors. 
Half a dozen railway lines connect this coal-field across the central ridge 
with the Lancashire coal-field on the west, and communication with the 
south and east is still more complete. Most of the raw wool is now 
imported through Liverpool, and the export of finished goods takes place 
both through that port and through Hull. Leeds, the largest town of the 
district, stands near the point where Airedale opens on the Vale of York, 
and while it has become one of the chief cloth manufacturing towns and 
the leading cloth market in Europe, it does not rely on one staple. Iron, 
smelted in the town, supplies great engineering works at which heavy 
machinery of all kinds is turned out. Bradford, about eight miles further 
west, specialises in the manufacture of worsted yarn and cloths woven 
from it. Halifax and Huddersfield, on the extreme west of the coal-field, 
and many other large towns in the neighbourhood, each manufactures some 
special class of woollen goods. Sheffield depends not on woollen but on 
steel manufactures. It is beautifully situated in a picturesque amphi- 
theatre of hills at the junction of several streams with the Don. It has 
been famous for its cutlery for many centuries, and has always imported 
Swedish iron for use in this manufacture, which is said to have been 
promoted by the existence of good grindstone quarries in the neighbour- 
hood. All branches of steel manufacture are now concentrated here, 
including steel rails, armour plates for battleships, and machinery. 

Outside Yorkshire, Nottingham, where the south-east of the coal-field 
practically touches the Trent, is a great textile manufacturing town, 
the staple of its trade being cotton hosiery and lace. Derby, in a similar 


England and Wales 17 1 

position where the south-western corner of the coal-field nearly touches 
the Derwent, a tributary of the Trent, has somewhat similar manufactures, 
and has in addition the works of the Midland Railway Company whose 
main line traverses the coal-field. 

The East Yorkshire Plain and the Humber. — The escarpment 
of Magnesian Limestone which marks the eastern boundary of the Coal 
Measures is separated by a narrow arm of the Central Plain from the Oolitic 
escarpment. This plain, underlain by Triassic or New Red sandstones, 
stretches northward through Nottinghamshire from the point where the 
Trent begins to turn northward, to the estuary of the Tees. In some parts of 
it coal can be reached by deep mines, but the surface being covered by rich 
soil its value is mainly agricultural. The richness of the land and quiet 
beauty of the country, varied by the remains of Sherwood and other 
ancient forests, have led to the building of many fine country mansions, 
and one part bears the familiar name of the “ Dukeries,” on account of the 
number of ducal seats. It is, as a whole, a low and level plain, dipping 
gently from both sides to the Humber, the Trent running northward along 
its eastern margin, and the Ouse with its tributaries running southward. 
The Vale of York, famous for its farms and for its horse breeding, is 
covered with alluvial and glacial deposits. In the middle York is situated, 
the ancient walls still encircling the town, and its magnificent Minster being 
claimed as the finest church in the British Islands. The central position, 
midway between London and Edinburgh, which made it, as Eboracum, 
the capital of Roman Britain, now secures it importance as a railway 
junction. Hull , although situated in the Chalk Belt, owes its importance 
entirely to being the deep-water harbour on the North Sea nearest to the 
coal-fields of the West Riding and Lancashire, with which it is in close 
railway connection. It is the natural complement of Liverpool, serving 
for the export of manufactures to the Baltic and Continental ports. Its 
old trade in fish still continues although surpassed by other interests. 

The Lancashire Coal-field. — The Lancashire manufacturing region, 
including the portions lying in the neighbouring county of Cheshire, 
has a population as large as that of Scotland, and there is probably no 
other part of the world of equal extent so densely peopled. The coal-field 
only yields enough for local consumption in the innumerable factories and 
engineering and chemical works, and there is no export of coal. Although 
the towns are marked on ordinary maps as separate and distinct, this only 
refers to the different municipalities. The area covered by buildings is 
almost continuous for a radius of eight miles round the centre of Man- 
chester on the low western plain, and large towns are clustered close 
outside, while strings of industrial villages run up the narrow dales of the 
Pennine Chain to the east between the moorland pastures. The woollen 
industry was originally as common in this district as on the Yorkshire 
side ; but the imported cotton has long since taken the first place, the 

moist climate favouring its manufacture. The twin centres are Liverpool 
13 


172 The International Geography 

and Birkenhead, the gate for exports and imports, and Manchester and 
Salford the depots for distributing the raw material to surrounding, 
manufacturing towns, and collecting the finished goods. The opening of 
the Manchester Ship Canal which allows ocean steamers to come direct 
to the inland centre has not yet materially affected this relation. Liverpool 
runs for six miles along the right or eastern bank of the Mersey estuary,, 
and for this distance there is a continuous row of docks, outside which 
a floating landing-stage allows the largest steamers to come alongside for 
embarking and landing passengers. The tides of the estuary are very 
rapid, but a serious bar which used to prevent large vessels entering at 
low water has been completely cut through by dredging, and the port is 
always accessible. As well as a great exchange and other business edifices, 
Liverpool possesses fine public buildings and museums, and one of the 
colleges of the Victoria University. Birkenhead on the left bank of the 

estuary is approached 
by ferry steamers and 
by a tunnel under the 
Mersey. Apart from 
its docks it is a resi- 
dential suburb of 
Liverpool. Although 
there are extensive 
engineering works, 
some shipbuilding, 
and a large number 
of manufactures of 
every kind, the real 
importance of Liver- 
pool lies in its harbour 
and the associated 
railway system. The lower course of the Mersey between Manchester 
and Liverpool is over a low, flat and iinarshy plain, which was originally 
almost impassable on account of bogs, and the construction of the 
first railway between the two towns (30 miles) across the Chat Moss 
in 1829, was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the 
time. This bog and many others have since been drained and converted 
into solid ground. Manchester forms practically one town with Salford , 
though separated from it by the narrow stream of the Irwell, which 
like most rivers of the district is as black as ink from dye refuse. The 
centre consists mainly of vast warehouses, for Manchester itself is mercan- 
tile rather than manufacturing ; the Royal Exchange is said to be the 
largest building of its kind in existence, and the Town Hall is also a superb 
structure. Owen’s College is the chief college of Victoria University. The 
factories are in the suburbs and in the ring of neighbouring towns. Ashton, 
Oldham. Rochdale, Bury, and Bolton (or Bolton-le-Moors) lie close up to 



Fig. 81 . — Liverpool and Birkenhead. 



*73 


England and Wales 

the steep rise of the Pennine moorlands along the third part of a circle 
from east to north-west of Manchester, and all are within ten miles of its 
centre. Oldham is by far the most important for manufactures ; in fact it 
contains one-third of all the cotton spindles in England. Bolton specialises 
in the finest qualities of cotton yarn, and Bury and Rochdale retain a con- 
siderable woollen manufacture, although cotton-spinning predominates. 
Close to the northern edge of the coal-field Preston stands at the head of 
sea navigation on the Ribble, where the main line of the London and 
North-Western Railway crosses the river. Here Arkwright set up the first 
spinning frames worked by mechanical power in 1768, and the cotton 



Fig. 82 . — The Manchester District. 


industry is still of great importance. At Blackburn, in a valley nine miles 
to the east, Hargreaves had established his “ spinning jenny" in 1767, and 
it is still one of the chief seats of cotton -weaving. The canal from Liver- 
pool to Leeds and a railway pass eastward through Blackburn and up the 
valley which leads across the Pennine ridge to Airedale, through Accring- 
ton and Burnley. All these towns depend on cotton. The number of 
factories on this coal-field creates an enormous demand for machinery, 
and the towns consequently contain large engineering works. There are 
extensive chemical, glass and soap works at St. Helens, and other towns 
surrounding Liverpool. The great industrial population of the region 





174 The International Geography 

requires the creation of a number of health and pleasure resorts on the 
breezy uplands of the Pennine Chain, and along the fine sand-beaches of 
the coast where Southport and Blackpool are the largest of a host of 
watering places. 

The Central Plain. — The Central Plain of England may be looked 
on as extending from the Mersey and Dee estuaries, and the southern 
slope of the Pennine Chain on the north to the Welsh hills on the west, and 
the line of the Oolitic escarpment on the south and east. It corresponds 
to the region of the Triassic red rocks and of the Lias ; only where the 
strata have been raised into gentle north and south folds in the west, 
patches of the Coal Measures have been exposed by denudation. Here the 
surface is comparatively high and undulated, but it forms one low plain 
traversed by the Weaver on the north-west, and another followed by the 
Avon to the south-west, while on the east the rivers flowing from the 
Pennine dales and the short streams from the Oolitic escarpment converge 
on the Trent, the course of which is guided northward by the low escarp- 
ment of one of the hard beds of the Lias. This plain comprises the greater 
part of the counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Worcester, Warwickshire, 
Leicestershire, and Nottingham. It is very rich agriculturally, and was 
formerly covered by extensive woods ; the names of the Forest of Arden 
and Charnwood Forest being still applied to large districts. Now 
pasturage is of the greatest importance, the cattle of the west and the 
horses and sheep of the east being famous. It is full of scenes of historical 
interest ; castles round which hang romantic traditions of all ages of 
English history, battlefields where the destinies of the nation have been 
decided, and crossing points of natural routes which were guarded by 
Roman camps in ancient days, and are served by railway junctions like 
Crewe, Stafford, Rugby, and Leicester, in our own time. It is the centre 
of England, and the scenery around Stratford-on-Avon , which inspired 
Shakespeare, may be taken as typical of all that is most characteristic of 
rural England. Across this plain there is a network of canals which 
practically places all the navigable rivers of the country in communication 
with one another. 

The Cheshire Plain and Potteries. — The Cheshire Plain is one of 
the richest grazing districts, and celebrated especially for its cheese. 
Chester is remarkable for the perfection with which its Roman wall 
surrounding the town has been preserved, and for the quaint mediaeval 
streets with arcaded pavements. It was a seaport in Roman times, but the 
head of the estuary of the Dee has now been silted up and it is cut off from 
the sea. The Trias rocks contain great beds of rock salt which are worked 
in the Weaver valley, especially at Northwich ; but it is cheaper to get the salt 
by pumping brine from the mines, water being allowed to enter in order 
to dissolve it. As a result of this method of working, subsidences of the 
ground are continually taking place, and sunk, cracked, or twisted houses 
are common in the towns. Where the Coal Measures rise to the surface 


1 7 5 


England and Wales 

in North Staffordshire, there is a dense population in the upper valley of 
the Trent grouped in numerous small towns around Burslem and Hanley. 
The district is known collectively as “ The Potteries,” on account of the 
great industry in earthenware and china promoted by the quality of the 
clay found in the neighbourhood. 

The Black Country. — From very early times the great forest of 
Arden had supplied charcoal for smelting iron ore, and various iron and 
steel industries had developed in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and many 
other small towns in the neighbourhood. Familv workshops were the 
rule, and even the women and children were brought up to blacksmith’s 



Fig. 83 . — Birmingham and the Black Country. 


work, making nails chains, and other small articles. When the discovery 
was made that coal could be used in working iron, and the iron trade 
deserted the southern counties, it remained unchanged in the Black 
Country on account of the coal-fields of South Staffordshire. Birmingham 
has grown into a great city and a very important railway centre, but, 
although the modern methods of large establishments have been intro- 
duced, many small family workshops still remain turning out articles of a 
special kind. Jewellery of all sorts, watches, coins for foreign govern- 
ments, buttons, beads, and small metal work of every description, are its 
characteristic trades. The making of firearms is also very important, from 




176 The International Geography 

flint-locks for African trade to magazine rifles. Bedsteads employ many 
hands ; bicycle-making and the construction of steam-engines are largely 
carried on. Birmingham is a progressive and enterprising town ; its 
municipality has taken a lead in introducing modern improvements, from 
steam-engines and gas-lighting in the early days of the great firm of 
Boulton and Watt, to electric traction at the present time. The public 
buildings are very fine, the pictures in the Corporation Galleries are 
exceptionally good, and the new University with its modern Faculty of 
Commerce educates one of the most alert and intelligent populations in the 
country. The smaller towns of the Black Country are as cheerless as the 
name of the district implies. Trade is much specialised. Wolverhampton has 
numerous blast furnaces, and manufactures all kinds of heavy iron goods ; 
other towns produce needles or nails, spurs or horses’ bits, fish-hooks, light 
chains, chain-cables for shipping, and even steel anchors. The condition 
of the women and children engaged in nail and chain-making in their 
cottages was formerly deplorable, and in some quarters is still a reproach. 

Other Towns of the Plain. — Burton-on-Trent is the greatest brewing 
town in the country, the water of the district being specially suitable for 
brewing on account of containing sulphate of lime. The supply of barley 
for malting and of hops demands good railway facilities, and the streets of 
Burton are much cut up by railway sidings running to the breweries. 
Large cooperages have also been established to turn out the innumerable 
casks required. Coventry, a very ancient town, has acquired modern 
importance on account of its great manufacture of cycles. Leicester, in 
the flat valley of the Soar, a southern tributary of the Trent, was one of 
the old woollen manufacturing towns, the pastures of the neighbourhood 
yielding a fine wool particularly adapted for woollen hosiery, which is 
still the staple manufacture. Boot and shoe making is also important. 
A curious outcrop of Archaean and other ancient rocks occurs to the 
north-west of Leicester, giving rise to the picturesque hills of Charnwood 
Forest, in some of which granite is quarried. 

The Jurassic Belt. — From the eastern end of the Cornwall-Devon 
peninsula, and skirting the Central Plain of Triassic rocks, a series of 
bands of Secondary and Tertiary rocks sweeps in a northern curve, each 
formation dipping below the next, and forming by the weathered edges 
of the harder strata facing the north or west more or less continuous 
escarpments or lines of heights. The contrast of the gentle dip-slopes and 
steep escarpments is explained by Fig. 30. The determining influence which 
the edges of the gently-tilted strata exercise on the course of the drainage of 
the country is best exemplified by the Exe-Tees line of watershed by which 
the South-Eastern district is bounded. The Avon-Severn flows south- 
westward, and the Soar-Trent north-eastward, parallel and close to the 
first escarpments of the Secondary rocks, so that no tributaries exceeding 
a few miles in length reach them from the south or east. Even beyond 
the break of the Humber estuary to the north, the course of the Yorkshire 


/ 


I 77 


England and Wales 

Ouse is parallel to the escarpments. A similar parallelism may be traced 
in many other rivers, the courses of which appear inexplicable on any map 
not showing geological features. The escarpments are formed usually of 
some one hard bed of sandstone or limestone, the softer beds of clay or 
marl weathering away to level or undulating plains. The bold front of 
the Oolitic escarpment can be traced in a sweeping curve from Portland 
Island on the south, overlooking the remarkable line of Chesil Beach, 
through the Cotswold Hills, where the highest point is 1,100 feet, and 
the low ridges towards the north-east, until it reaches the North Sea in 
the high mass of the North Yorkshire Moors south of the Tees, where 
elevations of nearly 1,500 feet occur. The land slopes gently from the 
Oolitic escarpment in broad plains of clay to the edge of the Chalk or 
Cretaceous escarpment. Though narrow on the south coast, the Jurassic 
Belt widens towards the north, including the greater part of the counties 
of Gloucester, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Northampton, Huntingdon, 
Rutland, Lincoln, and the North Riding of Yorkshire. Besides building 
stone, quarried largely at Portland , where a great prison supplies convict 
labour, in the neighbourhood of Bath, where the Box tunnel pierces the 
escarpment, and elsewhere, the chief mineral products of this formation are 
clays for brickmaking, fossil deposits used as fertilising agents, and the 
abundant iron ore of the Cleveland Hills, which form the escarpment of 
the Yorkshire moors. The ore brought down from these hills to the Tees 
is smelted at Middlesbrough by coal brought from the Durham field. The 
steep coast formed by the moors is cut into narrow river-mouths, in one of 
which the little town of Whitby has grown up, and the fashionable watering- 
place of Scarborough also stands upon this coast. The steep slopes of the 
Cotswolds near the other end of the line shelter a row of towns on the 
Lias plain below them, of which Gloucester and Cheltenham are the chief. 
The deep valleys which trench the southern end of the escarpment contain 
small towns which have been engaged in the manufacture of “ West of 
England cloth ” for centuries. This was orginally a consequence of the 
fine-woolled sheep pastured on the hills ; but it has not undergone a 
modern development, as in the Pennine district, and Bradford-on- Avon , 
Frome , and Stroud are still of only local importance. Bath , although 
containing some flourishing manufactures, owes its importance to the hot 
mineral springs which made it famous*' amongst the Romans as a health 
resort. The middle portion of the Jurassic Belt is lower than the pastoral 
Cotswolds and the Yorkshire Moors, with less pronounced escarpments, 
and the broad fields of Oxford and Kimmeridge Clay make excellent 
agricultural land, growing heavy crops of wheat. The river Thames, 
rising on the Cotswold plateau, flows eastward until it meets the Cherwell 
coming from the north. At the junction Oxford stands on an alluvial 
meadow. It is the most venerable seat of learning in England, with a 
university dating from the twelfth century, and now composed of twenty- 
one colleges, most of them picturesque buildings with beautifully kept 


178 The International Geography 

gardens. Museums, laboratories, and observatories supply means of scien- 
tific instruction, but Oxford continues to be famous rather for classical 
learning than for scientific research. Bedford is a type of the market 
towns, with small manufactures of agricultural implements, which are 
common in the district. Northampton , on the river Nen, was always a 
great leather-making town, and is now the chief seat of the boot and shoe 
trade in the United Kingdom. The Nen flows north-eastwards, parallel to 
the strike of the strata, and Peterborough, a cathedral city and an important 
railway centre, stands on it at the very edge of the Fenland. Further 
north Lincoln occupies a remarkable site in a gap where the Witham 
trenches one of the minor escarpments. The name implies that it was a 
Roman colony, and it was always a crossing place of roads as it is now of 
railways. In the whole Jurassic Belt there is not one town with a popu- 
lation approaching 100,000 inhabitants ; this is a consequence of the 
absence of mineral fuel to promote manufactures. 

The Chalk Country. — The Chalk is the characteristic feature of the 
south and east of England, covering the whole of the older rocks over 
almost the entire area. It sweeps as a vast sheet from the sea at the mouth 
of the Axe in the south, to the sea at Flamborough Head in the north ; and 
its edge, facing the older Cretaceous rocks (Greensands) that dip under it 
as the Jurassic rocks dip under them, forms the succession of gentle heights 
roughly concentric with the Oolitic escarpment, which in different parts 
bears the names of the Dorset Downs, the Marlborough Downs, the 
Chiltern Hills, the East Anglian Heights, the Lincolnshire Wolds, and 
the Yorkshire Wolds in the East Riding, terminating in the great chalk 
cliffs of Flamborough Head. This escarpment also shows a certain 
controlling influence on drainage lines, but the rivers flowing parallel 
to it on the plain on the north in almost every case turn abruptly and flow 
southward through gaps in the ridge. The soluble rock of which it is 
composed has been rapidly eroded and cut through by the streams flowing 
down the dip slopes, which in time “ captured ” and diverted the rivers 
of the plain beyond. Everywhere the scenery of the Chalk uplands is the 
same, rolling country with dry valleys and grassy, treeless hills, the white 
chalk gleaming through every scratch on the overlying turf. On the east 
coast this formation, and the Jurassic Belt within it, is breached by two 
notable inlets. The southern is the wide and very shallow depression 
known as the Wash, which is bordered landward by the level plain of the 
Fenland. The northern inlet is the narrower and deeper estuary of the 
Humber. A portion of Dorsetshire, the greater part of Wiltshire, a 
considerable share of Hampshire and Oxfordshire, most of Hertfordshire 
and Cambridgeshire, the west of Norfolk and Suffolk, the east of Lincoln 
and the East Riding of Yorkshire all lie on the Chalk. The southern 
portion is mainly pastoral, the thin soil covering the Chalk serving only 
for the growth of pasture grass, but farther north the ancient ice-sheet 
spread a covering of boulder clay which makes a fertile soil peculiarly 
favourable to wheat-raising in Cambridge and Lincoln. 


i79 


England and Wales 

Towns of the Chalk Country. — As in the Jurassic Belt, the 
towns, though numerous and of much historic interest, are small; they 
have as a rule taken little part in modern development, and the rural 
market town is the predominant type. Salisbury Plain is the centre 
whence the Chalk hills of the northern and the southern branches diverge. 
Its undulating pasture-grounds bear the great stone-circle of Stonehenge, 
the largest prehistoric monument in the British Islands, and on the southern 
margin of the slope, at the junction of several river valleys with the south- 
flowing Avon, stands Salisbury with its magnificent cathedral. The valleys 
of the other south-flowing rivers of the Chalk plateau contain towns of 
equal antiquity and historic interest situated in very similar positions ; of 
these Winchester, associated with the memory of Alfred the Great, is the 
most important. On the northern edge of the Chalk, where the Kennet 
flows eastward to the Thames below Marlborough Downs, Marlborough is 
situated. The Vale of Aylesbury, north of the Chilterns, is dotted with a 
chain of small market towns. On the west and south the Thames closely 
borders these hills, and Reading stands at the confluence of the Kennet, 
on the margin of the fertile London clay, a busy town with the semi-agri- 
cultural industries of biscuit-making and seed-raising. Cambridge, on the 
edge of the Chalk where the low plain of the Fenland begins (it is only 
32 feet above sea-level), is the second great university town of England, 
with seventeen colleges. It has for many centuries been the chief centre 
of mathematical learning. In the east of Lincolnshire the largest town is 
Grimsby, at the mouth of the Humber. It has a large general trade, and 
is distinguished by being the chief market for sea fish in the United 
Kingdom, London excepted. North of the Humber the Chalk wolds of 
the East Riding are separated from the Oolitic moors of the North Riding 
by the valley of the Derwent. In this region the boulder-clay deposit is 
very thick, the whole Holderness coast from the high chalk cliff of 
Flamborough Head to the low shingle spit of Spurn Head being formed of 
clay, which is being rapidly eroded by the sea. 

The Fenland. — An extensive but shallow depression of the Chalk and 
Oxford Clay gave rise to a great square inlet of the sea between Lincoln 
and Norfolk, fringed by broad marshes. This district is the Fenland. 
Efforts have been made for centuries to reclaim and drain the marshes ; 
their primitive character is now qui e lost, and they form wide flat plains 
of arable land crossed by innumerable canals, and in many places embanked 
to protect them from floods, as some portions lie at, or even a little below, 
the level of the sea. Boston, with its great parish church, the famous tower 
of which (Boston stump) was long an important landmark to sailors, and 
Kings Lynn stand on the seaward margin at opposite angles of the shallow 
Wash. Both were formerly active seaports, but the silting of the channels 
and the increasing size of vessels have left them out of account. Here and 
there over the Fens flat mounds of gravelly formation rise above the level 
peat and clay. These were islands and secure refuges in the ancient days. 

14 


180 The International Geography 


Each now bears a little town, of which the cathedral city of Ely is the 
most important. The Fenland contains a remarkable number of fine 
churches and abbeys. 

The Weald. — Above the Chalk, and leaving only a narrow strip of it 
exposed parallel to the belt of Jurassic rocks, a series of Tertiary clays, 
sands, and gravels, appears once to have extended across the whole south- 
eastern corner of England. This was the last portion of the British Islands 
to be elevated above the sea. During the final uplift the whole south of 
England appears to have been subjected to stresses from south to north,, 
causing the ridging up of a broad anticline running from east to west. 
Salisbury Plain forms the western extremity of this elevation of the 
Secondary strata ; and the Tertiary rocks were almost entirely stripped 
by denudation from the ridge which separates the remaining Tertiary 
formations into two basins, named after London and Hampshire. The 
ridge has been so deeply eroded that all the chalk has been stripped from 
the top of the arch east of a line from Farnham to Petersfield, exposing 
the Gault clay, Greensand, and Weald clay, on which it lay, and the still 
deeper Lower Cretaceous sandstones, which formed the core of the ridge. 
The cut edges of the Chalk and of the Greensand form steep escarpments 


in the north-west of France. The northern line of the Chalk escarp- 
ment of the Weald, with its steep slope facing south, forms the North 
Downs, beginning in the Hog’s Back, and terminating in the white 
cliffs of the North and South Forelands. The rivers flowing north- 
wards from the ancient Wealden dome, cut through the line of the 
North Downs in a series of deep gaps, most of which are now the 
sites of towns, and afford passage to roads and railways. From 
west to east these rivers are the Wey, on which Guildford stands 
(Fig. 16), the Mole with Dorking , the Dart with Sevenoaks, the Medway with 
Maidstone, and the Stour with Ashford and the venerable cathedral city 
Canterbury. All these rivers receive tributaries which flow parallel to the 
strike of the rocks along the clay plains between the escarpments. The 
escarpment of the South Downs similarly faces northward, and runs along 
the south coast to terminate in the grand cliffs of Beachy Head. The 
rivers flowing southward from the Wealden dome have cut it into lengths 
by several gaps, some no longer occupied by streams, including that at the 
mouth of which Chichester lies, and those of the Arun with Arundel, the Adur, 
the Ouse with Lewes and Newhaven, and the Cuckmere. Their tributaries 
similarly run from east or west along the clay plains between the 
escarpments (see Fig. 36 for explanation). The Chalk Downs, dry on 



surrounding and facing the great 
oval exposure of earlier rocks, 
across the east end of which the 



England and Wales 181 

the surface but saturated with water at the heart, are in sharp con- 
trast to the flat wet strips of clay land at their base, to the Green- 
sand escarpments within them, and to the arid heights of the Wealden 
sandstones in the centre, in which the small number of streams and 
springs makes the water supply a question of much anxiety. A great 
part of the sea-coast of the Weald is a low coastal plain, which tidal 
action and the slow elevation of the land has recently built, robbing 
the old seaports Rye, Winchelsea, and Pevensey of their access to the water, 
and building the shingly projection of Dungeness, enclosing the swamps 
of Romney Marsh, which was formerly a lagoon, like that behind Chesil 
Beach. The ancient forests of the Weald formerly made Surrey, Kent, and 
Sussex important iron-smelting counties, but their furnaces have all been 
extinguished for a century, and most of the woods have disappeared. The 
chief resources now are pasturage on the downs, yielding the famous 
South Down mutton, and agriculture on the clays and sandstones of the 
Weald, especially the great hop-crops of Kent, for the picking of which 
the poorest class of Londoners swarms to the fields every autumn. 
Dover flourishes because it commands the shortest passage to the continent 
by the Calais route, but deep borings in the neighbourhood have reached 
coal beneath the Cretaceous rocks, and mines may become important. 
Brighton is simply a fashionable seaside suburb of London, fifty miles 
distant from the metropolis, but reached in one hour by rail, and Eastbourne , 
Hastings, and St. Leonards are similar resorts on a smaller scale. To the 
north Margate and Ramsgate, on the Isle of Thanet, no longer an island, 
are popular with the humbler London “trippers,” and Tunbridge Wells in 
the centre of the Weald, like Haslemere farther west, is a favourite town 
for residence. 

The Hampshire Basin. — The Tertiary rocks form a fertile undulat- 
ing plain. In the south-west the New Forest is still an extensive wood- 
land, the remains of that planted as a hunting-ground by William the 
Conqueror. The coast is usually low, and is broken by the branching 
estuaries of Poole and Portsmouth, and the wider channels of Spithead 
and the Solent, which cut off the Isle of Wight and run up into Southampton 
Water. All parts of the coast formed by Tertiary deposits are undergoing 
rapid erosion, and the sea is gaining upon the land. The Chalk border on 
the south is seen at Ballard Point, is carried across the centre of the Isle 
of Wight and appears again beyond Bognor. Portsmouth is the most 
strongly fortified town in the United Kingdom, on account of the 
importance of its splendid harbour as the head-quarters of the navy, and 
the site of the chief naval dockyard. Southampton, a purely commercial 
port with good docks, is increasing in importance for passenger traffic 
with South Africa and America on account of its proximity to London. 
Health and pleasure resorts line the coast, the most frequented being 
Bournemouth, laid out on the top of the crumbling clay cliffs to the west, 
and the little seaside towns of the Isle of Wight. 


1 82 The International Geography 

The London Basin. — The London Basin, made up of various clays 
and gravels, occupies a depression in the Chalk, which is reached every- 
where by the borings for artesian wells. It extends from the eastern 
border of Wiltshire, along the valley of the Kennet, and gradually widens 
until it meets the sea from Herne Bay to Cromer. The coast of this 
section is typically low and fretted into shallow estuaries, among which 
that of the Thames is supreme, although the Blackwater and the inlets at 
Harwich are equally characteristic. In the east of Norfolk the low, flat 
land on the lower courses of the Yare, Bure, and Waveney, contains a 
number of shallow lagoons known as the Broads, surrounded by marshes. 
Foulness, the Naze, and Orfordness are typical capes of low ground. The 
gravel hills are often conspicuous features in the generally flat land formed 
by the clays, as in the line of heights which runs from Harrow eastward 
through the northern suburbs of London. The soil is remarkably fertile 
and naturally richly wooded, Epping Forest being a fine example. The 
manner in which the London Basin is surrounded by its wall of Chalk 
cannot fail to strike the railway traveller from London by any line except 
the Great Eastern, on account of the deep chalk cuttings which are passed 
through. The one great river is the Thames, which cutting through the 
Chalk escarpment west of the Chiltern Hills, flows out along the south side 
of the London Basin, receiving the Lea from the Chalk belt on the north, 
and many small rivers from the Weald on the south. 

The Small Towns of the London Basin. — The towns of the 
Thames valley are, with the exception of London and its suburbs, small 
and mainly important as centres for residential neighbourhoods. Windsor 
is the usual royal residence of the British court, and the small town of 
Eton on the opposite bank of the Thames, is important for its ancient 
public school. In the north-east, where the deposits of the London Basin 
are covered by the thick boulder clays of East Anglia, there was, before 
the fall in the value of wheat, the best farming land in England, and the 
counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk are still pre-eminent agriculturally. 
The large town of Norwich is just beyond the London Basin. It was an 
ancient cloth-making town, and one of the first to profit by the im- 
migration of Flemish weavers ; it still retains a share of this manufac- 
ture, although boot and shoe making, the construction of agricultural 
machinery, and great starch and mustard works are now more important 
commercially. On the coast Yarmouth continues to be a fishing centre ; 
Ipswich retains a share of manufactures ; Colchester depends largely on the 
great oyster beds of the Colne estuary, and Harwich has developed by the 
construction of an artificial harbour for continental passenger traffic, the 
distance across the North Sea being just sufficient to give the passengers 
by night-boats time to sleep comfortably. Along the shingly coast there 
are many little watering-places, celebrated for the freshness of the 
air. 

London. — The name London is variously applied. The City of London, 


England and Wales 183 

the portion under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor, is a small area 
between the Tower and the site of Temple Bar, with a resident population 
of only about 30,000, although ten times that number are employed within 
its limits during the day. The County of London, administered by the 
London County Council, has an area of 120 square miles, or one-thousandth 
part of the United Kingdom, and a population, in 1901, of 4-g- millions, or 
more than one-tenth of the population of the country. But the area under 
the charge of the Metropolitan and City Police forces, called Greater 
London , includes a radius of about 14 miles from Charing Cross — an area 
of 690 square miles — the whole of which may be viewed as a suburban, if 
not an urban district, and this included 6| million people in 1901. The 
Port of London comprises the whole estuary of the Thames, extending 
for 50 miles from London Bridge to the Nore (see Fig. 85). No such town 
exists in any other part of the world. The population exceeds that of 
Scotland or Ireland, and is even greater than that of fifteen of the independent 
countries of Europe, while the trade of the port is greater than that of any 
complete country except the United States, Germany, and France. The 
nature of its growth and the successive swallowing up of innumerable 
towns and villages deprives it of 
any definite plan, but although of 
little architectural distinction, and 
with many narrow and irregular 
streets, the essential feature of a 
complete drainage system has 
been so carefully attended to, that 
London has the smallest death- 
rate of any large town, and is 
scarcely below the average of the whole country in healthfulness. The 
natural features of the site of central London have been obscured by nearly 
twenty centuries of human interference ; but the results of the original 
topography are still to be discerned in the arrangement and in the names 
of the streets. Before Roman times there was a fortified British camp 
called Linn-dun (the hill over the lagoons) — on a low hill which rose 
abruptly from the Thames, constricting the tidal lagoons which then 
formed its estuary to a width that admitted of a ferry, and latterly of a 
bridge (London Bridge) being established. This hill was strengthened for 
defence by the steep ravine of the Fleet river (now Farringdon Street) on 
the west, and the Lea marshes on the east. The Romans had one of the 
ferries or fords to connect their trunk roads at this point, the other crossing 
being at Westminster, two miles farther up the river. From Westminster 
ford, Watling Street (the present Edgware Road) ran straight to Chester, 
but when the first London Bridge was built in 1170 the ford was abandoned, 
and the road diverted at what is now Marble Arch, to lead eastward to the 
bridge. The Tower of London is the lineal successor of the old hill fort, and 
St. Paul’s Cathedral marks the centre of ancient London and of the modern 



184 The International Geography 

“City ” (Fig. 15). Between them now stands the Royal Exchange and the 
Bank of England — the business and financial centres of the world. West- 
minster was originally grouped round the ancient abbey, which is now the 
last resting-place of the most illustrious of the British people. Here West- 
minster Hall was part of the palace of the early kings, and still stands in 
association with the Houses of Parliament that have been several times 

rebuilt on the same site. The road between the commercial city of 

« 

London and the political capital of Westminster lay along the low strand 
of the broad tidal Thames, hence its name ; but now it is separated from 
the river by the broad Embankment which confines the tidal waters to a 
narrow channel. The port was necessarily below London Bridge, and up 
to that point the river was kept available for shipping by embanking it, and 



excavating docks in the flat ground projecting between the windings. As 
vessels became larger the docks were increased in size also, and constructed 
further down the estuary, until now the activity of the Port of London 
extends to Tilbury, 20 miles from the Tower. The east of London has 
grown by commerce and has attracted many branches of manufacture, the 
enumeration of which would be impossible. In no other country is there 
so vast an extent of small streets inhabited exclusively by people of the 
working classes, drawn from all nationalities, as in the East End of London, 
a term including the separate municipality of West Ham. On a hill on the 
south side of the river stands Greenwich Observatory, which sets the time 
for the world and whose meridian is the zero of longitude. Farther down 
Woolwich contains an arsenal and dockyard. For more than two hundred 


England and Wales 185 

years London has been growing steadily westward from the City, the tide 
of business always pushing the mansions of the wealthy farther and 
farther to the west. Recently the heights to the north and to the south of 
the Thames beyond the ring of public parks have been covered by suburban 
villas, inhabited by the business men of the city, and the expanding fringe 
of London is always driving the country farther away. The terminal 
stations of the great railway companies are not arranged on any method 
allowing of easy inter-communication ; but for passenger traffic the system 
of underground railways has been greatly developed. In the main 
thoroughfares the traffic 
is too great to allow 
tramlines to be laid, 
and alone amongst great 
■cities London depends 
for street communica- 
tions on omnibuses. 

London as a Centre . 

— Although London is 
situated in one corner of 
Great Britain, the exi- 
gencies of its absorbing 
traffic have created a 
magnificent system of 
fast express trains on the 
northern and western 
railways, which bring 
almost all parts of the 
country within a twelve 
hours’ journey of the 
capital. The supplies for 
the food of London and 
for distribution to the sur- 
rounding country come 
in by train and by sea. 

The chief markets for 
fish at Billingsgate, for 
vegetables, flowers, and fruit at Covent Garden, and for meat at Smithfield 
are of vast size, but inadequate to the demand. The trade of the port of 
London is mainly in imports, which amount in value to one-third of those 
of the whole country, and the tea and wine trades are almost monopolies 
of the port. The University of London, reorganised in 1901, has still its repu- 
tation to make, but it includes famous colleges, and the great medical schools 
of the large hospitals. The British Museum, with a library of 2,000,000 
volumes, contains unrivalled collections of objects of antiquity and natural 
history, and there are many special museums and art galleries. The 



Fig. 87 . — Railways radiating from London. 


i 86 The International Geography 



scientific societies of London are the headquarters of all branches of 
British science. The publishing trade has been centralised in London 
to a remarkable degree, almost all the publishers who made Edinburgh 
famous as a literary centre early in the nineteenth century have removed 
to London, although much of the printing is done in other towns. 

The Isle of Man. — The Isle of Man, lying in the Irish Sea, is 

independent of either England, Scotland, 
or Ireland, a fact hinted at in its coat of 
arms. The island enjoys complete home 
rule ; the legislative body, called the House 
of Keys, is composed of twenty-four landed 
proprietors. A governor is appointed by 
the British government to represent the 
Crown. The island is of great geological 
interest, being composed, like the Lake 
District, mainly of Silurian rocks, patches of 

Carboniferous limestone, and some bosses 

Fig. 88 . The Isle of Man. The circle £ g ran ite. The northern portion is a drift- 
has a radius of 45 miles. ® r 

covered plain, but the centre and south of 
the island are high, the highest point, Snaefell, slightly exceeding 2,000 
feet. There are some important lead mines, and the 
mild climate is favourable to stock-raising. The little 
towns of Ramsay , Douglas, and Castletown on the east 
coast, and Peel on the west, attract a great number of 
summer visitors. 

The Manx people are of Keltic origin, and their ori- 
ginal language is not forgotten, being still taught in the 
schools in addition to English. The Church of England F ^V * 
is established under the Bishop of Sodor and Man, a 
title which recalls a former grouping of the Isle of Man with the Hebrides. 

The Channel Islands. — The group of islands including Jersey, 
Guernsey and Alderney, lying off the coast of Normandy, with which they 
were probably connected by land in prehistoric times, were part of the 

domains of William the Conqueror, and although the 
people are still of Norman race and French speech 
the islands have never formed part of France politi- 
cally. The dialect of each island is peculiar to itself, 
but all are derived from the langue doll, and modern 
French is used officially, but the use of English is 
rapidly spreading. Ecclesiastically they form part of 

Fl S; °f the the See of Winchester, and for some purposes they are 

Channel Islands. r r J 

attached to the county of Hampshire ; but the islands 
are self-governing, and retain many curious privileges and quaint customs. 
There is compulsory military service for all men in the militia. The 
islands enjoy a mild climate, and each possesses a special breed of cattle 






Ireland 


187 


valuable for dairy purposes. The fertility of the soil is great and the 
leading occupation is farming, or rather market gardening, for the farms 
which belong to the peasantry are now very small on account of the 
practice of dividing the land amongst all the 
sons of a family. Early vegetables for the 
London market, and fruit, grown for the most 
part under glass, are the chief exports. The 
detached rocks about the larger islands and the 
rapid currents of the sea make navigation diffi- 
cult and dangerous, but steamers run regularly 
to the French ports from 15 to 30 miles away, 
and to Weymouth and Southampton, 90 and 150 
miles distant. Jersey, the largest island, has its 
chief town at St. Helier, and Guernsey, which is not much smaller, has a 
harbour at St. Pierre. In addition to its farm produce Guernsey exports 
granite, particularly for paving. 



Fig. 91 . — Area of English-speak- 
ing in Jersey {“Globus,” 1894). 


IV.— IRELAND 

By Grenville A. J. Cole, 

Professor of Geology in the Royal College of Science for Ireland. 

Position and Outline. — The name Ireland or Eire-land, according to 
tradition, comes from that of Eire (earlier Eriu), one of the queens of the 
Tuatha De Danann. Ireland stands on the edge of the European plateau, 
the sea-floor sinking to oceanic depths on the west ; while on the east it is 
divided from Great Britain by shallow seas, rarely deeper than 70 fathoms. 
The western coast-line is deeply indented, and obviously reproduces the 
features of the sea-lochs of Scotland and the fjords of Norway. The long 
inlets are river-valleys that have been lowered beneath the sea, and the 
walls that bounded them now jut out as headlands into the Atlantic, their 
outermost peaks forming characteristic chains of islands. The attack of 
the ocean-rollers has, in places, formed cliffs of considerable height ; at 
Slieve Liag in Co. Donegal, and at Achill Island, there are almost sheer 
descents of 2,000 feet. The east coast of Ireland includes few fjords, 
though the names of Wexford, Carlingford, and Strangford show how the 
typical structure even there impressed the Danish settlers. In general, 
however, on the east there is a series of broad bays and accumulated 
sands, broken only here and there by some bold feature like Bray Head. 

Surface and Structure — The general form of the surface of Ireland 
resembles a shallow basin, the highlands being grouped along the coast. 
The watershed between an eastern and a western group of rivers may be 
traced from Lough Foyle to Mizen Head, but is a sinuous line marked by 
no special surface -features. In some cases rivers of both groups arise on 
opposite sides of the same central bog-land. 

The Northern and Eastern Mountains. — The high plateaux of 



1 88 The International Geography 

the north-east are due to the outpouring of basaltic lavas, tier upon tier, 
in Eocene times. Immense denudation has since gone on, and Lough 
Neagh has been formed by the fracture and subsidence of part of the 
volcanic area. The Mourne Mountains are formed of Eocene granite. 
The highlands of western Londonderry, Donegal, Mayo, and Galway are 
formed of far more ancient rocks. A series of folds running north-east 
and south-west determined the general structure of this region at the close 
of Silurian times. Here and there, portions of the still older floor of 
metamorphic rocks, on which the early Palaeozoic strata were laid down, 
have been brought to light. The age, however, of many of the altered 
series is still uncertain. Errigal (2,466 feet), Croagh Patrick (2,510 feet), 
and the Twelve Bens (2,300 feet), are good examples of the conical 
mountains formed by the occurrence of hard bands of quartzite, at various 
■horizons, in this antique region. The same system of north-east and 

south-west folds is traceable across 
Ireland wherever the older rocks ap- 
pear through the Carboniferous coating. 
Silurian and Ordovician beds thus form 
a long ridge from near Dundalk 
through Co. Down, and the Newry 
granite comes up along this axis. In 
Leinster, again, a granite moorland, 
seventy miles long, forms a backbone 
to the province, flanked similarly by 
upturned Older Palaeozoic strata. 

The Southern Mountains. — 
The mountains on the south and south- 
west, on the other hand, have been 
determined by post-Carboniferous 
folding, and the axes here run east 
and west. The upward folds, or anticlines, have weathered out as ridges, 
owing to the hardness of the Old Red Sandstone conglomerates, which 
have here been brought to the surface. The downward folds, or synclines, 
contain the softer Carboniferous limestone, which has been greatly worn 
down, forming a system of east and west valleys. Long stretches of the 
Suir, the Blackwater, the Lee, and the Bride thus follow the axes of folding. 
The abrupt bend southward in the lower part of the Blackwater and other 
rivers may be due to the interruption of their original courses by glacial 
material. The waters that once flowed on along the east and west syn- 
clinals thus overflowed into the channels of southward-running rivers, 
deepening them until they were continuous in each case with the main 
river-bed. When subsidence of the west coast occurred, the main valleys 
were already formed in the synclines, and the sea entered them between 
the anticlinal ridges of Old Red Sandstone, forming the inlets of Dingle, 
Kenmare, Bantry, and Dunmanus. Farther north, the same system of 
folding is manifest in the Galtee Mountains (3,000 feet), and in the axis of 



Ireland 


189 

Slieve Felim and Slieve Bloom. In the latter region, however, the trend 
of the ridges was diverted by the older series of folds (see black lines on 
Fig. 92). 

The Central Lowland. — Central Ireland is, in general, a lowland, 
with many brown bogs, stretches of green meadow, and numerous lakes, 
sinuous in outline, and enclosing abundant islands. The Carboniferous 
limestone here covers an immense extent of country, and repeats, on the 
broadest scale, the features seen in the compressed synclinals of the south. 
The synclinal from the Leinster chain to the Slieve Bloom axis is 35 
miles wide ; and thence a second still shallower one stretches to the 
foot of the Donegal and Mayo highlands. Clew Bay, with its host of 
islands, is merely a marine representative of the inland lakes. The broad 
area of Carboniferous limestone retained in the central plain gives a 
uniform character to the interior ; and from Galway to Dublin, 115 miles, 
there is not a hill of any importance. Near Sligo, however, and in the 
west of Clare, the same strata have been uplifted to form scarped and 
terraced mountains. The lower ground has served for the accumulation 
of sands and gravels from the surrounding hills, the final distribution of 
which has been largely influenced by the confluent glaciers of the Ice Age. 
The Shannon and its important tributary, the Suck, run north and south 
through the plain. The former, if we include the Owenmore river, rises 
on the moors of Cuilcagh, falls steeply at first, and then has a gentle course 
of over 200 miles. It thus appears mainly as a broad lowland stream, 
spreading out to form Loughs Allen, Boderg, Forbes, Ree, and Derg. At 
Killaloe it cuts for a time through mountainous country, and forms a series 
of rapids at Castleconnell on its way to Limerick. 

Minerals. — The Coal Measures, lying above the Carboniferous lime- 
stone, have been preserved only in a few isolated basins. The coal, 
moreover, is of an anthracitic character, except near Lough Allen and 
Dungannon. This fact has caused the manufacturing centres to lie almost 
entirely on the east coast, where coal from Scotland or England can be 
obtained by cheap sea-carriage. The Dungannon Coal Measures are 
partly overlain by New Red Sandstone, and are thus capable of further 
development. Active iron-mining in Ireland is confined to the pisolitic 
ores of Co. Antrim, which are interbedded, as old lake-deposits, in the 
Eocene basalts. Bauxite is worked, for aluminium, in the same district. 
Rock-salt is mined near Carrickfergus, and barytes in Co. Cork. 
Copper and lead are now very little worked, even in Co. Wicklow. 
The abundant discoveries of prehistoric gold ornaments in Ireland go 
far to show that alluvial gold was at one time common in the country ; 
but the supply was probably soon exhausted. The quartz-rocks of Cos. 
Donegal and Wicklow have been indicated as the source ; and small 
nuggets have been found in the latter county in historic times, while the 
quartzites contain recognisable quantities of gold upon assay. Grains of 
gold are still obtained by washing the sands of some streams near Arklow. 


190 The International Geography 

The compact grey limestones of the central counties, and the fine- 
grained sandstones of Donegal are used for city-buildings. The black 
marbles of Galway and Kilkenny, the red from Co. Cork, and the 
unique green serpentinous marble of Connemara, are used for decoration. 
Grey granite is quarried at Newry, and red granites occur in Co. Galway 
and elsewhere. Hard flags occur in Co. Clare. The cost of carriage and 
of working retards the Irish stone industry. The one material excavated 
with unfailing regularity is peat — locally called turf — which is extensively 
used for fuel. 

Fauna and Flora. — The exceptional features of the fauna and flora 
of Ireland have been previously referred to (p. 142). 

People and History. — Separated from South Wales by some 50 
miles, and from Scotland at one point by only 13 miles, and with the 
broad Atlantic on the west, it is clear that the natural incorporation of 
Ireland in the British Isles has profoundly influenced her history. Her 
insular position laid her open to attack from a variety of nations, at a time 
when journeys by sea were simpler than those by land. The early settlers 
in Ireland appear to have come in some small degree from southern 
Europe, but mainly from the Keltic tribes of Gaul and Britain ; but these 
invaders found men of the Stone Age already in occupation. Though the 
characteristic civilisation and language of the country thus had a Keltic 
origin, anthropological research shows that the people are non-Keltic and 
of still earlier type. The distinctive characters of the peasantry are not 
confined to those who still speak the Irish language. Courtesy, quickness 
Of idea, a delicate or humorous aptness of expression, a conservatism of 
method, and a deep sense of the supernatural in ordinary life, are features 
of the agricultural community, and imply less mixture of race than might 
have been expected from the frequent immigrations. The dominant 
tribe became ultimately known as the Scots, who occupied the plain, 
holding the country from the centre, much as the Magyars now hold Hun- 
gary. These Scots and their subject tribes invaded Wales and Corn- 
wall. A colony in Galloway spread northward, and gave its name to 
Scotland. The Romans never established themselves in Ireland ; but in 
the middle of the fifth century St. Patrick successfully introduced Chris- 
tianity, and the country still abounds in Christian monuments erected by 
his monastic successors. The round towers are now believed to belong 
mostly to the ninth century. Ecclesiastical learning and art flourished, 
and Irish missionaries spread into central Europe. The seizure of the 
harbours by Danes and Norwegians from 800 a.d. onwards checked ex- 
ternal enterprise ; but the development of the towns of Dublin, Wexford, 
Waterford, and Limerick, as commercial centres, dates from this inva- 
sion. Dublin became the centre of Norse power in Ireland, while 
rival Irish kings strove for inland supremacy. Brian, however, drove 
the Danes from Limerick in 968, and broke their power at Clontarf in 
1014. They held Dublin, Wexford, and Waterford till the Norman inva- 


Ireland 


191 

sion under Richard de Clare in 1170. The Anglo-Norman governors 
soon regarded themselves as local Irish chieftains, and their insular 
position often overcame their loyalty, despite the existence of an official 
Viceroy in Dublin. This defection of many of the settlers reduced the 
English district to a small area round Dublin. Henry VIII. came to be 
styled king of Ireland, and drew to his side those who had long looked 
for a central authority. But no English predominance was estab- 

lished until after the wars of extermination carried on by Elizabeth’s 
generals. The virtual forfeiture of Ulster by the government of James I. 
led to the introduction of sturdy English settlers on an organised basis, 
and the name of Londonderry records the source of many of the colonists. 
The emphasis laid upon religious differences resulted in a bitter rising in 
1641, the ultimate suppression of which was left to Cromwell. The loyal 
party under William III. secured the passing of “ penal laws/’ whereby 
land and other property were gradually brought into the hands of the 
Protestants. The export of wool was forbidden, and, outside the district 
of the linen industry, the people were driven to rely on agriculture alone. 
The conciliatory measures of the Dublin parliament came too late to 
check the sanguinary rebellion of 1798. Parliamentary union with Great 
Britain took place in 1801, and in 1829 Roman Catholics were first allowed 
to sit in parliament. To this day the country presents suggestive traces 
of its comparatively recent colonisation in the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries. In 1901 the Roman Catholics numbered 74 per cent, of the 
entire population. 

Present Economic Condition. — The growth of population was 
rapid between 1800 and 1845, and the general reliance on the potato as a 
source of food led to the disastrous famine of 1846, when the potato crop 
failed. The western peasantry, isolated in small bodies among the moun- 
tains, naturally suffered most, even when relief had been freely supplied 
from England. A steady decline in population has since gone on. The 
sea has provided a simple means of exodus to America, just as in old times 
it served as a means of approach. At the present time the country appears 
to be increasing in prosperity, and much is being done, by legislation and 
private effort, to maintain the population on the soil. In former days 
water-power was largely used for mills, and the formation of reservoirs 
may again utilise the rainfall. From poverty in coal, the country must 
always depend largely on systematic agriculture and grazing. Of late 
years crops have been neglected, while large numbers of cattle have been 
exported. In the north, flax is cultivated, as a basis for the flourishing 
linen-industry. Shipbuilding prospers in Belfast. Distilling and brewing 
are important in the large towns. Cloth and lace are manufactured locally 
The sea-fisheries have largely developed. Butter and bacon form the main 
exports of the south and south-west. The Congested Districts Board, the 
construction of “light railways,” and the new department of Agriculture and 
Technical Instruction have done much to stimulate industry. Many lines 


192 The Internationa] Geography 

of steamers connect the eastern ports with England and Scotland ; and 
American liners call at Queenstown, and at Moville on Lough Foyle. 

Divisions and Towns. — The division of Ireland into provinces^ 
under an over-lord, dates from prehistoric times, though the boundaries 
have slightly varied. The provinces are divided into counties, and these 
into baronies, which mostly bear ancient and interesting Gaelic names. 

Leinster includes the twelve counties of Louth, Longford, Westmeath, 
Meath, Dublin, King’s Co., Queen’s Co., Kildare, Wicklow, Kilkenny, 
Carlow and Wexford. The north consists largely of a Carboniferous 
limestone plateau, used for grazing. The Boyne rises in the bogs near 
Edenderry, and runs through a wooded valley below Navan. Drogheda 
occupies its mouth, on a good inlet for shipping. The Liffey rises in the 
Wicklow Mountains, makes a loop of 75 miles through the plain, and 
enters the sea at Dublin Bay. A wooden bridge was erected across it here 



Fig. 93. — Dublin . 


in ancient times, and Dubh-linn, the Black Pool, became the site of a town 
guarding the passage. The bay, sheltered between the hills of Howth and 
Dalkey, was accessible both to Norsemen and English ; and Dublin 
became the capital of the invaders. It is the seat of the Viceregal 
court, and of the Dublin University, founded in 1591 ; also of the Royal 
University. There are several important libraries and museums. The 
quays on the Liffey serve for a good import and export trade ; the 
mails cross to Holyhead from Kingstown, a fine harbour six miles down the 
bay. The city has of late extended greatly on the south. The old quarter 
round the Castle and Cathedrals is poor and dilapidated ; but the expansion 
in the eighteenth century provided Dublin with many handsome public 
buildings, classical in style. Dublin is mainly an administrative and 
professional city, but has large breweries, mineral water factories, chemical 
works, and other manufactures. South of Dublin, Leinster broadly divides 
itself into the mountain axis on the east, and the western Carboniferous 


Ireland 


193 


synclinal, including the pastoral lowlands of Kildare and the high Kilkenny 
coal-field. Beyond the Slieve Bloom range, the King’s County stretches 
to the Shannon. The Nore and the Barrow run north and south on either 
side of the coal-field, uniting at New Ross in a navigable channel. The 
Leinster granite chain rises to 3,039 feet in Lugnaquillia, and forms a long 
moorland, commonly 2,000 feet above the sea. The flatter ground east of 
the chain widens towards the south, where Wexford town has a fair ship- 
ping and agricultural trade. 

Ulster includes the nine counties of Donegal, Londonderry, Antrim,. 
Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan, Monaghan, Armagh, and Down. The planters 
of the seventeenth century introduced a virile and enterprising element. 
Immigration from Scotland took place at various times ; and a great part of 
the population remains Presbyterian. Antrim contains high basalt plateaux,, 
the columnar jointing of the lavas being admirably seen in the Giant’s 
Causeway near Portrush. Belfast (Beal feirste , the “ford of the sandbank ”), 
was occupied by the Normans, and was finally secured for England in 1573. 
The steady growth of trade in the port, and of the linen and shipbuilding 
industries, have raised the population from 30,000 in 1810 to some 350,000 
at the present day. The modern city has handsome well-kept streets, with 
conspicuous commercial buildings. The Queen’s College is on the south, 
and there are seven public parks. The shortest route to Britain is from 
Larne, some 20 miles to the north. The basalt plateaux fall towards 
Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the British Isles. The Bann runs through 
it, continuing as a broad stream to the sea at Coleraine, 100 miles 
from its source in the Mourne Mountains. Londonderry , still walled, rises 
picturesquely on the west bank of the Foyle, and has large agricultural 
exports. From the Sperrin Mountains across Donegal there stretches a 
romantic highland, mainly occupied by Irish-speaking people. The south- 
west of Ulster is less rugged, and the scenery of the two Loughs Erne 
graduates into that of the plain. An agricultural country of green rounded 
hills extends from this point eastward. The Mourne Mountains occupy 
the south-east of Co. Down, Slieve Donard (2,796 feet) and Slieve Bingian 
(2,449 feet) being conspicuous summits. 

Connaught includes the five counties or Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim, Galway, 
and Roscommon. It lies almost entirely west of the Shannon, and its 
comparatively poor lands were often occupied by persons ejected from the 
east. In the mountains of Galway and southern Mayo lies some of the 
most beautiful scenery of Ireland ; but the whole area eastward belongs to 
the limestone plain. Loughs Conn, Mask, and Corrib are thus broad sheets 
of water, with low eastern and mountainous western shores. The popula- 
tion of the Connaught highlands is thickest along the coast, and is engaged 
in fishing. The towns of Galway and of Sligo are thus fishery-centres. 
The former stands at the outfall of Lough Corrib, and is a natural port for 
the trade of Galway Bay, which runs 30 miles west to the open ocean. 

Munster includes the six counties of Clare, Limerick, Tipperary, Kerry.. 


194 The International Geography 

and Cork. The indentations of the coastline render it highly picturesque. 
The warm south-westerly winds preserve a richness of vegetation, except 
on the limestone terraces of Clare. Co. Tipperary consists partly of the 
plain, partly of the Old Red Sandstone ranges. The acropolis of Cashel is 
one of the most remarkable groups of antique buildings in Europe. 
Limerick, despite its trade in bacon and agricultural produce, has felt the 
effects of decreased population. It has a beautiful situation on the Shannon, 
above which the Norman stronghold rises. The east and west mountain- 
ranges occupy most of Cos. Cork and Kerry, culminating in Carrantuohill 
{3,414 feet), a peak in Macgillicuddy’s Reeks. The lower lake of Killarney 
belongs to the plain, while the upper is enfolded in wooded mountains. 
The population of Kerry preserves many ancient characteristics, and dwells 
mostly on the coast. The island of Valentia is a starting-point for one of 
the most important transatlantic cables. In the east, Munster becomes 
richer and more cultivated ; the Suir and the Blackwater often run between 
high banks of woodland. Cork, the third largest city in Ireland, is well built 
upon the Lee, and its suburbs run down towards Queenstown, a station for 
the American mails. The winding but spacious harbour is set with wooded 
islands. The chief trade lies in agricultural exports. Waterford, founded 
by the Danes, occupies a similarly sheltered position on the inlet of the 
Suir, and has a corresponding trade with England. The east and west 
ranges that form the south of Ireland are here broken by St. George’s 
Channel, and we pass somewhat abruptly to the foot-hills of the Leinster 
chain. 


STATISTICS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 






1881. 

1891. 


1901. 

Area of the United Kingdom in square miles. . 

120,979 

120,979 

• • 

120,979 

Population 



35,241,482 

38,104,975 

• • 

41,605,323 

Density of population per square mile 

• • • • 

291 

3i4 

• • 

344 



DISTRIBUTION OF 

POPULATION. 








Channel 



England. 

Wales. 

Scotland. 

Ireland. 

Isle of Man. 

Islands. 

Abroad.* 

1881 

24,613,926 

1,360,513 

3 , 735.573 

5 ,i 74- 8 36 

53,558 

87,702 

215,374 

1891 

27,483,490 

1 , 519,035 

4,025,647 

4 , 704,750 

55,6o8 

92,234 

224,211 

1901 

30,805,466 

1,720,609 

4 , 4 / 2,103 

4 , 456,546 

54,758 

95.841 

— 

Area, sq. miles 

50,867 

7,442 

29,785 

32,583 

227 

75 

— 


THE MOST POPULOUS COUNTIES 2 IN 1901. 


Name. 

Area, sq. miles. 

Population. 

Name. 

Area, 

sq. miles. 

Population. 

London 

. . 118 

4,536,063 

Essex . . 


i ,533 

816,503 

York . . 

5,939 

1,891,726 

Middlesex 


233 

792,225 

Lancaster 

i ,757 

1,827,391 

Chester 


1,009 

601,070 

Lanark 

.. 882 

1,339.289 

Devon . . 


2,597 

437,210 

Kent . . 

i, 5 i 9 

936,003 

Cork 


2,890 

404,813 

Stafford 

1,142 

879,618 

Edinburgh 


362 

488,647 

Durham 

999 

833,614 

Antrim . . 


1,237 

461,240 


THE LEAST POPULOUS COUNTIES 2 IN 

1901. 



Name. 

Area, sq. miles. 

Population. 

Name. 

Area, 

sq. miles. 

Population. 

Nairn 

195 

6,291 

Bute . . 


218 

18,786 

Kinross 

73 

6,980 

Rutland 

• • 

152 

19.708 

Peebles 

355 

15,066 

Radnor 

• • 

47 i 

23,263 


1 Takes account only of soldiers and sailors. 


2 County boroughs not included. 


United Kingdom 195 


THE LARGE TOWNS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.* 


Name. 

1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

Name. 


1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

London (County) 

3,816,483 

4,232,118 

4,536,063 

Plymouth 


73,795 

87,480 

105,404 

Glasgow 

674,095 

793,320 

735,906 

Hanley .. 


75.912 

86.945 

100,29a 

Liverpool 

552,508 

584,499 

684,947 

South Shields 


56,875 

78,391 

97,267 

' Manchester .. 

34 I » 4 I 4 

505.368 

543.960 

Dudley 


87,527 

90,252 

96,988 

Birmingham 

400,774 

478,113 

522,182 

H uddersfield 


81,841 

96,405 

96,383 

Leeds 

309,119 

367506 

428,953 

Burnley . . 


63,638 

86,034 

95,816 

- Sheffield . . 

284,508 

324,243 

380,717 

Swansea . . 


73,971 

90,349 

94,514 

Dublin . . 

349,648 

352,277 

379 , 86 i 

Stoke-upon-Trent 

64,091 

75.352 

89,023 

Belfast . . 

208,122 

255,950 

348,876 

Ystrad-y-fodwg 


— 

88,351 

88,968 

Bristol . . 

206.874 

286,231 

321,908 

Halifax ... 


73.630 

89,832 

88,909 

Edinburgh 

236,002 

261,225 

316,479 

- Walsall . . 


59402 

71.789 

86,440 

West Ham 

128,953 

204,902 

267,308 

Hartlepool 


46.990 

64,882 

86,310 

Hull 

165,690 

200,044 

239,876 

St. Helens 


57.403 

71,288 

80,722 

Nottingham 

186,575 

213.877 

239,753 

Paisley 


55.638 

66,418 

79,355 

Bradford . . 

183,032 

216,361 

228,667 

Stockport. . 


59,553 

70,263 

78,871 

Salford . . 

176,235 

198,136 

220,956 

Chatham 


46,788 

59,210 

78,746 

Newcastle 

145,359 

186,300 

214,803 

Grimsby . . 


45-351 

58,661 

78,198 

Leicester 

122,376 

174,624 

211,574 

Devonport 


63,980 

70.204 

78.059 

■^Dldham .. 

1 IL 343 

183,871 

194,197 

Leith 


59,485 

67,700 

76,667 

Wolverhampton 

164,332 

174,365 

192,750 

Rochdale . . 


68,866 

71,401 

76,122 

Portsmouth .. 

127,989 

159251 

189,122 

Northampton 


57,544 

70,872 

76,073. 

Cardiff . . 

82,761 

128,915 

164,420 

Cork 


80,124 

75,345 

75,978 

Dundee .. 

140,239 

153,051 

160,871 

, York 


61,166 

67,004 

75,391 

Sunderland . . 

116,542 

142,248 

159,359 

Dewsbury 


69,566 

72,896 

74-349 

Brighton . . 

107,546 

142,129 

153.393 

Wednesbury 


68,142 

69.083 

72 , 47 * 

Aberdeen 

105,189 

121,623 

143,922 

Stockton-on-Tees 

55.460 

68,875 

71,812 

- Croydon .. 

78,953 

102,697 

133,885 

Greenock 


65,884 

63,096 

67,645 

. Bolton 

105,414 

118,730 

130,602 

Newport (Mon.) 

38,427 

54.707 

67,569 

Blackburn 

104,014 

120,064 

127,527 

Ipswich .. 


50,546 

57 , 36 o 

66,622 

Merthyr Tydfil . . 

9 L 373 

104,021 

122,536 

Reading . . 


46,054 

60,054 

65,468 

Southampton .. 

84,384 

93,589 

120,302 

West Bromwich. . 

56,295 

59.474 

65,172 

- Preston . . 

96,537 

111,685 

118,220 

Warrington 


45,253 

55,349 

64,702 

Middlesbrough 

72,6ci 

98,932 

ii 6,539 

Coventry . . 


46,563 

54-755 

63,817 

Norwich . . 

87,842 

100,970 

111,728 

Hastings . . 


47,619 

60,878 

62,913 

Birkenhead . . 

84,006 

99.857 

110,926 

Wigan 


48,194 

55 ,oi 3 

60,770 

Gateshead 

65,803 

85.692 

109,887 

Bury 


53,240 

57,212 

58,028 

Derby 

81,168 

94^46 

105,785 

Bath 


53,875 

54,551 

52,751 


Acres in 1874 . . 
„ „ 1886 .. 

» „ 1895 

i t ,1 1900 . . 


AGRICULTURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 


Wheat. 

3,819,011 

2,355,457 

i,454,U3 

1,898,863 


Barley. 

2,500,217 

2,423,060 

2,337,929 

2,164,438 


Oats. 

4 , 076,570 

4,403,579 

4,512,306 

4,i3Li38 


Turnips. 

2,466,823 

2,302,219 

2,229,183 

1,986,465 


Potatoes, 

1,412,851 

i,353,8o8 

1,251,703 

1.215,44a 


1878 

1888 

1896 

1900 


MINERAL 

PRODUCTION 

OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

Pig Iron 

Coal. 

Iron Ore. 

manufactured. 

Amount, tons. 

Value, £. 

Amount, tons. 

Value, £. 

Tons. 2 

132,654,887 

46,429,210 

15,726,370 

5,609,507 

6,300,000 

169,935,219 

42,971,276 

14,590,713 

3,5oi.3i7 

7,898,000 

195,361,260 

57,190,147 

13,700,746 

3.150,424 

8,659,681 

225,181,300 

121,652,596 

14,028,208 

4,224,400 

8,959,691 


TOTAL IMPORTS OF RAW COTTON INTO UNITED KINGDOM. 


(In million founds weight .) 

Year .. 1820. .. 1840. .. i860. .. 1880. 

Amount 152 . . 592 . . 1,391 . . 1,629 


1901. 

1,830 


ANNUAL TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 


Imports . . 
Exports 3 .. 
Re-exports 4 


1871-75. 1881-85. 

£360,204,000 .. .. £399,584,000 

239,502,000 . . . . 232,272,000 

58,184,000 .. .. 63,038,000 


1891-95- 

£417,791,000. 

226,969,000 

60,533,000 


* Seaports in small capitals, other towns not near coal-fields in italics. 

2 From native and imported ores. 3 Of British produce. 

4 Of foreign produce previously imported. 


196 The International Geography 


THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN 1901. 1 

{Approximate.) 

Shipping : tonnage 


United Kingdom 

• • 

Area, sq. miles. 
121,000 

• • 

Population. 

41,500,000 

entered and cleared. 
. . 98,500,000 

Indian Empire 


1,640,000 

• • 

294,000,000 


8 , 600,000 

Colonies : — 

Gibraltar 


2 


27,000 


OC 

0 

0 

Malta and Gozo .. 

• • 

120 


183,000 


7,000,000 

Aden and Perim . . 


80 


41,000 


4,900,000 

Ceylon 


25,400 


3,600,000 


7,400,000 

Straits Settlements 

• • 

1,500 


580,000 


13,300,000 

Hongkong 


400 


384,000 


14,000,000 

Basutoland.. .. .. 


10,300 


250,000 


— 

Cape Colony 


277,000 


2,350,000 


9,500 000 

Natal 

• • 

29,200 


930,000 


2,800,000 

Orange River Colony 

• • 

48,300 


207,500 


— 

Transvaal Colony.. 

• • 

119,100 


1,094,000 


■ 

Gambia 


70 


13.500 


260,000 

Gold Coast 


40,000 


1,500,000 


1,400,000 

Lagos 


3-500 


42,000 


1,070,000 

Sierra Leone 

• • 

4,000 


75.000 


1,290,000 

Mauritius .. 


880 


394,000 


670,000 

Seychelles 


150 


20,300 


320,000 

Ascension and St. Helena 

• • 

80 


10,000 


300,000 

Dominion of Canada 

• • 

3,049,000 


5,370,000 


14,170,000 

Newfoundland and Labrador 

• • 

162,000 


210,000 


1,450,000 

Bermuda 

• • 

20 


17,500 


730,000 

British Honduras. . 


7 . 5 oo 


37,ooo 


340,000 

Bahamas . . 


5.400 


53 , 7 oo 


1,110,000 

Jamaica and Turk’s Island 

• • 

4,400 


758,000 


2,030,000 

Leeward Islands . . 


700 


128,000 


1,650,000 

Windward Islands 

• • 

500 


160,000 


2,570,000 

Barbados . . 


170 


195,000 


1,360,000 

Trinidad and Tobago 

• • 

1,800 


272,000 


1,200,000 

British Guiana 


120,000 


288,000 


700,000 

Falkland Islands . . 


7 . 5 oo 


2,000 


160,000 

Fiji 


7,700 


120,000 


190,000 

British New Guinea 

• • 

90,500 


350.000 


40,000 

New Zealand 


104,000 


772,000 


1,680,000 

Queensland.. 


670,000 


497,000 


1,650,000 

New South Wales. . 


310,000 


1 , 353.000 


8,100,000 

Victoria 


88,000 


1,200,000 

166,000 


5,870,000 

Tasmania . . 


26,000 



1,230,000 

South Australia . . 


903.000 


363,000 


3,690,000 

Western Australia 

• • 

976,000 


182,000 


3,200,000 

Total, United Kingdom, India, 
and Colonies 

8,856,000 


359,875,000 


233,920,000 

Protectorates, &c. : — 

Asia 


120,000 

• • 

1,200,000 

• • 

— 

Africa 


2,160,000 

• « 

35,000,000 

• • 

— 

Pacific Islands 


800 

• • 

30,000 

• • 

— 

Total, British Empire.. 

• • 

11,137,000 


396,100,000 


— 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Lord Avebury. “ The Scenery of England." London, 1901. 

J. G. Bartholomew. "Atlas of Scotland,” 1895 ; “ Atlas of England and Wales," 1903. 

Cassell’s "Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland.” 6 vols. London, 1893-98. 

W. P. Coyne (editor). " Ireland, Industrial and Agricultural.” Dublin, 1902. 

W. Cunningham. " Growth of English Industry and Commerce.” 2 vols. Cambridge, 1890, 1892. 
Sir A. Geikie. " The Scenery and Geology of Scotland.” 2nd edit. London, 1887. 

Geological Maps of England and Wales and of Scotland. Edinburgh. 

J. R. and A. S. Green. " A Short Geography of the British Islands.” London. 

A. J. Jukes-Browne. "The Building of the British Islands.” London, 1888. 

E. Hull. " Physical Geology and Geography of Ireland.” London, 1878. 

H. J. Mackinder. " Britain and the British Seas.” London, 1907. 

Sir A. C. Ramsay. “ Physical Geography and Geology of Great Britain,” edited by H. B. Woodward. 
London, 1894. 

Many special articles of importance are to be found in the publications of the Geological Survey, 
the Royal Geographical Society, and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. 


1 Generalised from The Statesman's Year Book for 1902. 


CHAPTER XIII.— THE SCANDINAVIAN 

KINGDOMS 

I.— THE SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA 

By Yngvar Nielsen , 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Christiania. 

Position and Extent. — The two kingdoms of Sweden and Norway 
occupy the whole Scandinavian Peninsula from Knivskjelodden (71 0 N.) 
near the North Cape to Smyge Huk (55 N.), in Scania ; and from the 
island of Buland (4^° E.) to the meridian of Vardo (31 0 E.). The breadth 
of the peninsula varies from 230 to 470 miles, and the length is 1,160 miles. 
The long west coast faces the Atlantic and the North Sea, and the harbours 
along its whole extent remain unfrozen all the year round. At Lindesnes 
the coast bends to the east along the Skagerrak, which then runs north- 
ward into Christiania Fjord, while the Kattegat runs southward along 
the west coast of Sweden. The Oresund, or Sound, separates Scania, 
the extreme south of the peninsula from the Danish Islands. The Baltic 
turns north-eastwards along the east coast to the Aland Islands, and is 
continued northward by the Gulf of Bothnia, north of which the Scandi- 
navian Peninsula is attached to the mainland of Finland and Russia by an 
isthmus three hundred miles across. On the east coast of the peninsula, 
especially in the Gulf of Bothnia, the harbours may be blocked by ice for as 
much as six months of the year. With the exception of Russia, no other 
countries in Europe stretch over so great an extent in latitude. While the 
south of Sweden lies in the same latitude as the Cheviot Hills, Stockholm 
lies parallel with the Orkney, and Bergen with the Shetland Islands ; and 
in the north the peninsula passes far beyond the Arctic Circle. 

Norway and Sweden share the geographical unity of the peninsula 
which can be described as a whole ; but the historical development of the 
two countries has been very different, and for internal politics they are 
entirely independent of one another ; hence in these aspects they must 
be separately described. The names Norway and Sweden may be con- 
veniently used in the physical description as generally corresponding to 
the western and eastern slopes of the peninsula. 

Geology. — The Scandinavian peninsula is built up for the most part of 
very ancient rocks. In Norway the Archaean rocks are widely spread in 
the south-east, and often penetrated by masses of granite and gabbro. 


* Translated from the German by the Editor. 

197 


198 The International Geography 

while Silurian formations are spread over a large area round Christiania 
Fjord and the lakes in its neighbourhood. Archaean rocks come to the 
surface also over all southern and western Norway, but in the interior of 
the country they are overlaid by sparagmite, and different schists and 
limestones, quartzite also appearing on the high mountains. In the Jotun 
mountains all these strata are broken through by masses of gabbro. 
Throughout the Trondhjem district schists are greatly developed, while 
further north the Archaean rocks reappear, pierced by intrusions of granite. 
The Lofoten Islands, like the neighbourhood of the Lyngen Fjord, are 
masses of gabbro. Ancient sandstones are widely distributed in Fin- 
marken. Archaean formations also predominate in Sweden, where they 
are in part overlaid by Cambrian and Silurian strata, especially round 
the great lakes; only in Scania, in the extreme south, do Triassic, Jurassic, 
and Cretaceous rocks appear. The large island of Gottland belongs 
entirely to the Upper Silurian formation. Where the ancient rocks do 
not themselves appear on the surface in the peninsula, glacial formations, 
clay, gravel, and sand cover extensive areas. Fertile patches covered by 
good soil are also found, especially in Sweden, where the principal agri- 
cultural districts are in Scania and East and West Gothland. In Norway 
fertile land occurs only on the margins of Christiania Fjord, the lakes of 
Tyrifjord, Randsfjord, and Mjosen, and of Trondhjem Fjord. The 
soil is favourable for the growth of forests in most places ; between 50 
and 60 per cent, of the area of Sweden is wooded, but in Norway only 
about 20 per cent, on account of the greater elevation of the country. 

Configuration. — The Scandinavian Peninsula on the whole forms a 
plateau. In the east and south the elevation is small, but towards the west 
the land rises gradually, and reaches its maximum height in a great ridge 
near the west coast. This ridge from north to south forms the main water- 
shed of the peninsula, and the boundary between the two countries runs 
along it for a great part of its length. Thus it comes about that only a 
small portion of Sweden is mountainous, while Norway is, next to Spain, 
the most conspicuously mountainous country in Europe. In the west 
the narrow fjords penetrate steep-walled, rocky gorges for ninety miles or 
more from the sea, while on the east long and sometimes wide valleys 
provide more gradual access to the high mountain regions. In the Jotun- 
heim, where the peninsula reaches its greatest height, Glittertind attains 
8,380 feet, and Galdhopiggen 8,400 feet, and further west Store Skagestols- 
tind, 7,861 feet. In the far north the mountains rising directly from the 
sea reach a considerable height, some exceeding 6,000 feet. The greatest 
heights in the north-west of Sweden are Kebnekaise (7,004 feet) and 
Sarjektjokko (6,988 feet). Southern Sweden contains a hilly district, cut 
off from the mountains of the north by the depression of the large lakes. 

Numerous snowfields and glaciers are formed in the great mountains, 
especially in the north and towards the west coast. In the south of 
Norway the Folgefonn, Jostedalsbrae, Aalfotebrae, and Hardangerjokel are 


The Scandinavian Peninsula 


r 99 


the most important, and in the north Svartisen, Heldalsisen, and Frostisen. 
The largest expanse of snow is the Jostedalsbrae, which reaches a height 
of 6,800 feet, and is surrounded by other great snowfields ; twenty-four 
glaciers of the first rank flow from it. The large glaciers of the eastern 
slope are confined to the far north. 

On account of the character of the soil and of the great average 
elevation the quantity of absolutely useless land is very great. In Norway 
only 3,500 square miles of land are available for agriculture or pasturage, 
but in Sweden more than 19,000 can be utilised. 

Coast. — The coast is extraordinarily broken and indented ; not only are 
there numerous fjords and bays, but in most places innumerable off-lying 
islands forming the Skjaergaard (“ Skerry wall ”) protect the coast, and give 
it a distinctive character. In Norway large islands lying far from the main- 
land take the place of the Skjaergaard in the 
north ; the largest of these groups are those of 
the Lofoten and Vesteraalen. Between many 
of the islands tremendous currents are formed 
by the tide, amongst them the famous Malstrom 
between Vaero and Moskeneso, the appearance 
and effects of which were greatly exaggerated by 
old writers. The large and interesting islands of 
Gottland and Oland lie off the coast of Sweden 
in the Baltic. The total area of all the islands 
connected with Sweden is about 3,000 square 
miles, and of those connected with Norway about 
8,600. 

The formation of the coast with the off-lying 
islands affords innumerable sheltered harbours 
for fishermen ; and many banks frequented by 
great shoals of cod occur in the broad Vestfjord, 
east of the Lofoten Islands. 

Lakes and Rivers. — While the average proportion of Europe occu- 
pied by lakes and rivers is only 0^5 per cent, of the area, the percentage of 
the area of lakes and rivers in Norway is 4, and in Sweden it is as much 
as 8. The rivers are frequently broken by picturesque waterfalls. The 
rivers on the eastern side of the main watershed are of course the longest. 
Several long rivers from the southern Norwegian mountains converge 
on Christiania Fjord, the Glommen which flows south through the Osterdal, 
and its tributary from the Gudbrandsdal being the chief. Many long 
rivers with numerous lakes in their course cross Sweden from west to east 
throughout its whole length. The Klarelf, the greatest Scandinavian river, 
runs southward to Lake Vener. The depression of the great lakes lies to 
the north of the plateau of southern Sweden, from which short streams are 
received by Lake Vetter, and discharged eastward by the large Motala 
river to the Baltic. The lakes of this depression are four in number — 



Fig. 94 . — Portion of the Coast 
of Norway 70 miles by 40, 
showing over 400 islands. 


200 The International Geography 


Jm ft*. Mm Api. Mat. 4m. Jut. Am Sip. On. Hov Dte in 


Lake Vener (2,100 square miles in area, the third greatest lake of Europe) lies 
on the west, and drains to the Kattegat through the Gotaelf, the continuation 
of the Klarelf, then Lake Vetter (730 square miles), and north-east of it 
Lakes Hjelmar and Malar draining to the Baltic. On account of their low 
elevation and their central position these lakes have been largely utilised 
as means of communication by the construction of canals which unite 
the lakes to each other and to two seas. They have thus been of the 
utmost service in the material development of Sweden. 

Climate. — Compared with other northern countries, the climate of 
Scandinavia is very favourable. On account of its great range of latitude 
there is necessarily a marked difference between the south and the north, 
and on account of exposure to prevailing winds the west has a much milder 

climate than the east ; the annual isotherm 
of 45 0 F. is found on the west coast at 
Ullensvang in 6o° N., and towards the east 
coast at Lund in 56° N. lat. The greatest 
cold in winter is experienced in the interior 
of northern Sweden and in Finmarken. 
The majority of the population of Norway, 
living upon the coast, enjoys much milder 
conditions than the people of Sweden, whose 
country is more exposed to continental in- 
fluences ; but the high valleys of Norway 
have a very severe and unfavourable climate. 
The rainfall is greatest on the Norwegian 
coast, where in winter rain and fog are very 
common, and there is comparatively little 
snow, though violent storms often occur. At 
Dombesten the annual rainfall is 79 inches, 
and in Floro in 6i£° N. it is 74 ; but the 
general rainfall along the Norwegian coast 
is estimated at from 32 to 35 inches. At 
Christiania the rainfall is only 28 inches, 
and Verkhoyansk (Siberia). and on the high plateau of the Dovrefjeld it 
is under 14. The greatest rainfall in Sweden is on the west coast, 
facing the Kattegat, where 35 inches are recorded ; but the east coast 
is very much drier, the fall at Kalmar being only 13 inches : thus the 
contrast between the mild and moist sea climate of western Norway and 
the dry continental climate of eastern Sweden is complete. The curves in 
Fig. 95 contrast the temperature and rainfall of the west coast of Norway 
with those of the most extreme continental climate in the world. In 
winter most of Scandinavia is covered with snow, and the peasants then 
employ ski or long snow-shoes, in the use of which they are very expert. 

People and History. — The great body of the population of the 
peninsula belong to the Scandinavian family of the Teutonic race. In 



















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The Scandinavian Peninsula 


201 


very early times the Lapps entered from the north along the central range 
of mountains. At a remote period a great immigration of Finns took 
place in the north of the peninsula, and another immigration of these 
people in 1600 was directed to the central parts of the country. The 
Scandinavians have long been divided into Norwegians living in Norway 
and Swedes in Sweden ; originally of the same stock, they have become 
more and more distinct. In the Middle Ages the Swedes were composed 
of two originally independent peoples, the Svear in the north, and Gotar in 
the south. The bright sonorous Swedish language is derived through a long 
history from the earliest common linguistic stock of Scandinavia, whilst 
Norway, during its union with Denmark, adopted Danish and lost its old 
language, the Norrona, from which the dialects still spoken are derived. 

Norway has formed a separate kingdom since 872 ; and in the ninth 
century also the Swedish lands were united under a single king. From 
that time the two nations have gone their several ways, as indeed they had 
done in the earlier viking period when the Norwegians carried their con- 
quests towards the British Islands, the Swedes towards Russia. Early 
Norwegian civilisation has been influenced from the west, particularly from 
England, with which intimate relations were long maintained, while 
Sweden has had more dealings with the east and with the south. 
The early Norwegian kings ruled over the Scottish Islands. In the 
thirteenth century the Swedes established a firm footing in Finland* 
Queen Margaret founded the Scandinavian Union of three nations in 
1397, and a long period of unrest followed. Sweden broke from this 
union under Gustavus Vasa ; but the less powerful Norway remained 
under Danish domination, and from 1537 to 1660 was a subordinate 
kingdom. During this period Sweden attained its climax of national 
greatness, and, especially during the Thirty Years’ War under Gustavus 
Adolphus, occupied a distinguished place amongst the European Powers. 
Several provinces of Norway and Denmark were incorporated, and 
Sweden became the most powerful country of the north ; but during the 
long wars of Carl XII. this place was lost, and Sweden fell under foreign 
influence, from which it was saved by Gustavus III., through his revolution 
of 1772. His son, Gustavus IV., involved the country in war with Russia 
and lost Finland in 1808. The Revolution of 1809 placed Carl XIII. upon 
the throne of Sweden. In 1810 the French Marshal Bernadotte, under the 
name of Carl Johann, was elected Crown Prince and succeeded in 1818. 
The idea of a union between Sweden and Norway, which had long been 
in contemplation, was rendered possible by the disruption of the bond 
between Norway and Denmark by the Kiel Treaty of 1814. Norway had 
at first proclaimed itself a separate kingdom, but the envoys of the Great 
Powers induced it to withdraw this proclamation after a short war ; 
and a Norwegian national assembly then chose Carl XIII. as king of 
Norway, and on his death the Bernadotte dynasty succeeded peaceably to 
both kingdoms. 


202 The International Geography 

Since 1814 the history of both nations has been a record of great economic 
progress and of unbroken peace. Yet the hope of a complete incorporation 
of the two peoples once entertained by the Swedes, has not been fulfilled. 

Since 1885 the question of separate consular and 
diplomatic representation for Norway, in accord- 
ance with the spirit of the agreement of 1814, was 
a source of growing friction, and in 1905 the union 
was peaceably dissolved, Sweden retaining the old 
King, while the people of Norway adopted as their 
monarch a prince of the Danish royal house. 

The former flags of Norway and Sweden passed 
out of use, being altered to suit the new condition 
of things by the omission of the badge of union. 

The Lutheran church has been established since the sixteenth century 
in both kingdoms. 



SWEDEN 

Government, People and Resources. — The name of Sweden is 
in the language of the country Sverige , i.e. y the kingdom of the Svears. 
The government, with its seat in Stockholm, where 
the King also resides, consists of a Minister and nine 
Councillors of State, these seven being heads of de- 
partments. The Swedish Parliament consists of two 
chambers, the elective franchise for both being limited. 

The population of Sweden is mainly agricultural, 
and several parts of the country are particularly well 
suited for the rearing of live stock. The most fertile 
districts are in the provinces of Scania and Halland, FlG 97 - — Average popu- 
the Baltic Islands, the coast of Smiland and western ^Sweden^^ 6 mile 
and eastern Gothland. Forestry is a very important 

source of wealth, the export of timber and forest 
products having the first place in the trade of the 
country. The tonnage of the merchant fleet is 
about 500,000. The Swedes have long been cele- 
brated for their industries and for their excellent 
technical institutions ; in recent years the progress 
in industrial matters has been rapid, the water 
power of the numerous rivers being largely utilised. 
The country possesses immense mineral wealth, 
particularly in iron, and Swedish mining has long been famous and has played 
a great part in the development of the country. The country is divided into 
separate mining districts known as bergslager. At the present time the 
immense deposits of very rich iron ore in Lappland, especially at Gellivara, 



Fig. 98 . — Swedish 
Merchant Service Flag. 



Sweden 


203 


take the first place. The principal copper mines are at Falun, zinc is pro- 
duced at Ammeberg, and silver at Sala ; but there is scarcely any coal in 
the country except in Scania. Swedish iron has a reputation all over the 
world for its purity. The United Kingdom and Germany come first in the 

foreign trade, then Denmark, Norway, Finland, and 
Russia. 

The means of communication are excellent in 
parts, and everywhere good. A network of roads 
extends over the whole country. The admirable 
natural waterways have been improved by the con- 
struction of canals, of which the most important is 
Fig. 99.— Swedish Naval ^ ie S y S t em between the Kattegat and the Baltic, in- 
cluding the Trollhattaand Gota canals and the great 
lakes. Steamer communication is kept up on the internal waterways and 
along the coast during the open part of the year. The railway system has 
been steadily improved, and Sweden now possesses a greater extent of rail- 
ways in proportion to inhabitants than any other country in Europe. The 
system is naturally most developed in the lowlands in the south, but it 
extends also far to the north. The principal mail routes to the continent 
are from Stockholm to Trelleborg, and thence across the Baltic to Sassnitz 
on Riigen ; and from Goteborgto Copenhagen by railway ferry at Helsing- 
borg (Fig. 107). Telegraph and telephone systems are highly developed. 

Education is general, almost every one can read and write ; the school 
system is well organised and attendance is compulsory. There is a large 
and well-disciplined army, and the fleet, although formerly neglected, has 
recently been improved 
and increased. 

Divisions and 
Towns. — Sweden has 
been divided from remote 
times into two great parts, 

Svealand and Gotaland> 
representing the historical 
distinction between differ- 
ent peoples and separated 
by the great forests of 
Tiveden, Tyloskogen, and 
Kolm&rden. The new 
southern provinces were 
joined to Gotaland in the 
seventeenth century. Norrland, the third great division, contains all the 
districts northwards from Gefle. 

In Svealand towns were first founded in the environs of the Malar 
Lake, and here the magnificent capital is situated at the short outlet of the 

lake. Stockholm is one of the most attractive towns of Europe. From the 
15 




204 The International Geography 

original city on an island the modern town has extended widely on all 
sides. It contains a great palace facing the quays, which is the chief resi- 
dence of the king. There are many old palaces and public buildings, 
such as the Riddarhus, the common property of the Swedish nobility, 
the Riddarholmskyrka, the burial-place of royal dynasties, several 
rich museums, the great royal library, a university college for natural 
science, a technical high school, a medical college, great hospitals, 
several academies and learned societies, a new opera-house, and several 
theatres. The different parts of the town are connected by numerous 
bridges. The old town is called Staden, with Sodermalm and Norrmalm 
on both sides, and Ostermalm, the newest and finest part. The beautiful 
park Djurgarden, and several royal palaces, form attractions in the 
environs. Stockholm, with its fine harbour, is the first trading-place of 
Sweden in regard to imports, but comes after Goteborg and Malmo for 
exports. It is the chief industrial town in Sweden, with manufactures 
of every kind. Stockholm is defended on the seaward side by the very 
strong fortress of Oscar Frederiksborg. Northward lies the ancient town of 
Upsala, with a venerable cathedral and the oldest Swedish university, 
founded in 1477. Falun has great copper mines. 

Farther north, in Norrland, the prosperity of which is steadily 
increasing, the towns occur principally on the coast, and Gefle, Sundswall , 
Hernbsand, Umea, Luled, and Haparanda are some of the many small sea- 
ports exporting wood and ores. In the interior, which also includes 

•• 

Lappland, there is only one little town, Ostersund , on the Storssjo lake, 
a station on the railway to Trondhjem. From Lulea a railway runs 
to the rich iron mines of Gellivara, and thence across to the Ofoten Fjord 
on the Atlantic in Norway. 

Gotaland, which includes the most fertile provinces, especially Oster- 
gotland and Scania, is rich in towns. The largest is Goteborg (Gothen- 
burg) on the Skagerrak, at the outlet of the Gotaelf, the first port for 
Swedish exports, and the centre for a great traffic along the coasts 
and on the canals. The town is regular and fine, with many splendid 
buildings, but is inferior to Stockholm in regard to picturesque situation. 
Goteborg has a well-endowed university college with a faculty of arts. On 
the coast of the Kattegat stands Halmstad , and on the Sound, Helsing - 
borg and Malmo , two flourishing and advancing towns, with large exports 
from the province of Scania. This province, distinguished by its many 
fine country seats, also contains the inland town of Lund , with an old 
cathedral, and the second university of Sweden, founded in 1668. On the 
coast of the Baltic there is a long succession of more or less important 
towns, including Carlskrona } the chief station of the Swedish navy, with 
wharves and docks. In the interior of Gotaland there are many small 
towns, including Wexio, the bishops’ seat in Smaland, Jonkoping, at the 
south end of Lake Vetter, and on the Motala river, the great manufacturing 
town of Norrkoping , the chief industrial town of Sweden. The great 


Norway 205 

manufactories of Motala stand on the same river. On Lake Vener 
there are several towns, including Venersborg and Lidkoping; and on the 
canal where it enters Lake Vetter is the central fortress of Carlsborg. One 
of the most interesting Swedish towns is the ancient Visby, on the island 
of Gothland, in old times one of the first commercial places on the Baltic 
and a member of the Hanseatic League, but now remarkable for its splendid 
ruins of churches and magnificent old walls. The population of the 
Swedish towns is 20 per cent, of that of the whole country. The peasants 
live mostly in farms, but in the south they also dwell in villages. 

NORWAY 

Government, People and Resources. — The native name of 
Norway is Norge from Norvegr , which means the Northern Way. The 

King exercises his functions through a Ministry of 
State and at least seven Councillors or Ministers. 
The government is that of a democratic monarchy ; 
the royal veto being limited to the extent that if a bill 
to which the royal assent has been refused is passed 
by three consecutive Storthings it becomes law. The 
legislature is in the hands of the Storthing (Parlia- 
ment), elected by delegates who are chosen by uni- 
versal suffrage. This assemblage has also exclusive 
power in finance. 

The people of Norway are to a great extent agri- 
culturists, although the country cannot produce corn 
enough for its inhabitants, and needs a great import. A large percentage 
of the people are seamen ; the merchant fleet, only inferior in Europe to the 
British, had a tonnage of 1,500,000 in 1901. Industry has long been at a 
very low level, but is now increasing, the country possessing great waterfalls, 
which can supply power to the factories. In many parts of the kingdom 
there are rich mines, Kongsberg (silver), Eidsvold 
(gold), Roros and Sulitelma (copper), being the 
best known. Most of the foreign trade is done 
with the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and 
Denmark. The fisheries of cod and herring are of 
great importance, especially those of Lofoten and 
Finmarken. Along the coast and on the fjords, 
communication is kept up by steamers all the year Fig. 102 . — The Norwegian 
round, up to the Russian frontier on the Arctic Sea. ^lag. 

Several lines of steamers connect Norway with the continent and the British 
Islands. The roads are built by government engineers, many of them being 
works of high technical skill. The railway system, also for the most part 
belonging to government, is only complete in the south-east. Between 
Christiania and Trondhjem a line follows the valley of the Glommen. 



• • • 


• • 


Fig. ioi. — Average 
population 0/ a 
square mile of 
Norway. 


206 The International Geography 



FiG. 103. — Norwegian 
Naval Ensign. 


Railways are now being constructed around the country, between Bergen 
and Christiania, and from Trondhjem towards the north. Three different 
lines connect Norway with Sweden. The great mail route is the southern 
railway via Goteborg to Copenhagen, by which the journey from London 
to Christiania may be made in less than sixty hours. The telegraph and 
telephone system has attained a high development, especially for the 
convenience of the fishing population in the remoter districts. 

Education receives particular attention from the 
State and from local authorities, and is compulsory. 
The elementary and higher schools are well 
equipped. The army and navy were long neg- 
lected, but are now improved, and important forti- 
fication works have recently been carried out. 

Divisions and Towns. — From old times 
Norway has been divided into two great divisions, 
the Nordenfjeldske and Sondenfjeldske or Northern 
and Southern Districts ; the Vestenfjeldske or Western District has been 
formed later. The Sondenfjeldske includes the lowlands around Christiania 
Fjord and Lake Mjosen, together with the great central valleys. 
Christiania (sometimes spelt Knstiania), is the real centre of the country, 
situated at the northern end of the long Christiania Fjord, which forms a 
splendid harbour. The city is the capital of Norway, the seat of the 
Government and of the Storthing. It contains a university, founded in 
18 1 1, a learned society, pr 
several museums for science 
and arts, among them a 
museum of northern an- 
tiquities, the richest in ob- 
jects from the Viking period. 

Christiania is the first com- 
mercial centre of Norway. 

The town is beautifully situ- 
ated among wood-clad hills, 
but much of it is irregu- 
larly built. Many flourishing 
towns are situated along the 
coasts of Norway on the 
fjords and islands. Close to the Swedish frontier is Frederikshald , with 
the celebrated fortress of Frederiksten, and at the estuary of the river 
Glommen Frederikstad, one of the chief centres of the timber trade. 
Drammen, on the western side of Christiania Fjord, another centre of the 
export of timber. Horten, with Carljohansvaern, the chief station of the 
Norwegian navy ; Tonsberg, the oldest town of Norway, and one of the 
head-quarters for Arctic sealing ; Christiansand, and other busy seaport 
towns, stand on Christiania Fjord, or on the Skagerrak. 



Fig. 104 . — The Site of Christiania. 


Norway 207 

Stavanger , one of the oldest towns of Norway, stands on the Atlantic 
coast at the south end of the great line of western islands. Bergen, 
further north on the west coast, was once the first, and is now the second, 
town of the country, and from the oldest times it has been the chief place 
in northern Europe for the fishing trade. In the fourteenth century 
the Hanseatic League founded an establishment there, which remained 
for four centuries. There are many remains from former times, including 
old churches, the royal hall, and the tower of Bergenhus. It is now a 
flourishing commercial town, with an intelligent and vivacious population ; 
it has a great museum and a biological station. Christiansund is an 
important place for fishing. Trondhjem, one of the oldest towns (it was 
founded in 997), and now the third in importance, is the northern terminus 
of the railways, with lines running south to Christiania and east to 
Sweden. The magnificent ancient cathedral is the coronation-place of 
the kings of Norway. Next to Bergen, it is a centre for steamer trade, 
and in summer for the immense tourist traffic attracted by the smooth seas 
and romantic scenery of the fjords. In the far north, beyond the Arctic 
circle, there are several flourishing little wood-built towns, centres for 
fishing in winter and for tourists in summer, including Bodd, Trornso, and 
near the North Cape, Hammerfest . Beyond the North Cape are Vardo, the 
Wardhouse of the first English Arctic explorers, and Vadso on the Varanger 
Fjord in the extreme north-east. 

The towns of Norway contain about 25 per cent, of the population 
of the whole country. In the country the people live on their farms; 
villages are unknown. It is an exception to find a town not situated on 
the sea ; the only inland towns are near mines, or on the shores of Lake 
Mjosen, among them the episcopal seat of Hamar, The rural population 
centres round the four large cities, Christiania, Hamar, Bergen, and 
Trondhjem ; especially round the two former. 


STATISTICS 


NORWAY. 


1875. 1890. 

Area of Norway in square miles .. .. 124,454 .. 124,454 

Population of Norway 1,813,424 .. 2,000,917 

Density of population per square mile . . 15 16 


1900. 

. . 124,454 

. . 2,239,880 

. . 18 


Population of Christiania 
„ „ Bergen 

„ „ Trondhjem 

„ „ Stavanger 


1890. 

1900, 

151,239 

227,626 

53,684 

72,251 

25,065 

38,180 

23,899 

30,613 


Imports 

Exports 


ANNUAL TRADE OF NORWAY (in founds sterling). 


1871-75. 

6.300.000 

4.880.000 


1881-85. 

8.100.000 

5.700.000 


1891-95- 

11,900,000 

7 , 000,000 


• • 


20 8 The International Geography 


SWEDEN. 


Area of Sweden in square miles . . 

Population of Sweden 

Density of population per square mile . . 
Population of Stockholm 

» 

»» 
t* 

H 


Goteborg 

Malmo 

Norrkoping 

Gefle 


1880. 

170,722 

4,565,668 

26 

168,706 

76,500 

38,082 

26,924 

18.749 


1890. 

170,722 

4.774,4<x> 

28 

246454 

104,657 

48,504 

32,826 

23484 


1900. 

170,722 

5,136,440 

30 

300,624 

130,619 

60,857 

41,008 

29,522 


ANNUAL TRADE OF SWEDEN (in pounds sterling ). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 

Imports 12,400,000 17,700,000 

Exports 10,700,000 13,500,000 


1891-95- 

19.500.000 

17.700.000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

G. Sundbarg (Editor). “ Sweden, its People and its Industry.” Stockholm, 1904. 
M. Hoyer. Konungariket Sverige.” 4 vols. Stockholm, 1875-1884. 

J. Fr. Nystrom. ” Handbok i Sveriges geografi.” Stockholm, 1895. 

‘ Norges Land og Folk,” in many volumes not yet completed. Christiania, 1885 to date. 
Joh. Dysing. “ Kongeriget Norge.” Christiania, 1890. 


II. — DENMARK 

By the Editor. 

Position and Coasts. — The name Denmark is properly Danmark, 
the mark, marches or frontier of the Danes. Jutland (in Danish Jyland), 
the northern portion of the Cimbrian Peninsula occupied by Denmark, lies 
between the same parallels of latitude as Scotland south of Inverness. 
The western shore facing the North Sea is low, sandy and unindented, but 
behind the sandy beaches and lines of dunes there are several large lagoons. 
A long, narrow, curved sand-spit called the Skaw or Skagen, forms the tip 
of the peninsula. The east coast is somewhat higher and more indented ; 
a number of its inlets form safe harbours for small vessels. The two 
largest islands of Denmark stretch between the south of Jutland and the 
south of Sweden, separated by the shallow and tortuous Little Belt between 
Jutland and Fiinen, the wider and deeper Great Belt between Fiinen and 
Zealand, both leading into Kiel Bay, and the Sound between Zealand and 
Sweden. The historic greatness of Denmark depended on the command 
of these channels, and the importance of having them in the possession of 
a neutral Power in case of war has probably preserved this small kingdom 
from absorption in any of its larger neighbours. 

Surface and Resources. — The west and north of Jutland consist 
of heather-covered moorland which yields peat for fuel. The south-east 
and the islands, being traversed by the western extremity of the Baltic 
coast-ridge, are hilly, and full of variety of landscape, although the highest 
summit is less than 600 feet above the sea. No coal or metallic ores 
occur in the country ; the soil is everywhere underlain by recent rocks. 
The hills and vales of Denmark were originally thickly covered with beech 


Denmark 


209 


forest, and although most of the land is now cleared for pasture and the 
growth of oats, barley and, rye, extensive woods still remain. The climate 
resembles that of eastern Scotland, but is a few degrees colder in 
winter and warmer in summer. It is, however, less extreme than the 
climate of central Germany. Although the Sound and other channels 
are often blocked with drifting ice in winter, they are rarely closed to 
navigation for any time. 

People and History. — The early Cimbrian race were succeeded by 

Teutonic tribes, who from Jutland and other parts 
of the Baltic and North Sea shores descended upon 
the coast of England, forming the English people. 
The Scandinavian Danes from the Baltic Islands 
then obtained a footing on the peninsula, and the 
power of their kings extended over Norway, the 
south of Sweden, and England. Denmark has re- 
mained free of foreign control, but in the seven- 
teenth century it lost the last of its territory in 
Sweden, and in 1814 Norway was separated from 
the Danish crown. The German-speaking people 
of the duchy of Holstein, in the south, who had, 
during previous centuries, sometimes been subject to the King of 
Denmark, at other times to the German Emperor, became dissatisfied ; 
and in. 1864, after a war between Denmark and Prussia, the duchies 
of Schleswig (Slesvig) and Holstein were incorporated with the kingdom 
of Prussia. 

The Danes have always been enterprising and persevering in war 
and commerce, winning for themselves colonies in Greenland, Africa, 
and the West Indies, but the tropical possessions are now reduced to 
the three small islands of St. Thomas, St. John, 
and St. Croix, while Iceland is a separate country 
acknowledging the Danish crown. At home more 
than half the people make their living by agri- 
culture, the rest by manufactures, by trade, fishing, 
and as sailors, many of them serving on British 
and other foreign ships. The form of government 
in Denmark is a limited monarchy, with a parlia- FlG - Io6 - — Danish Merchant 
ment of two houses, both elected by the people. 

Practically every man has a vote. The Lutheran Church is established by 
law, and education has long been universal. The land is divided up into a 
great number of small farms. Butter-making is the greatest industry of 
the country, being carried on by scientific methods, and butter forms more 
than half the value of the exports. There are few manufactures. Textile 
fabrics, metals, and coal are the principal imports. Most of the foreign 
trade is done with the United Kingdom, which takes more than half the 
exports, and Germany, which sends about one-third of the imports. The 



♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


FlG. 105 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square 
mile of Denmark. 


210 The International Geography 

railway system is very complete, the trains being ferried across arms of 
the sea in steamers, and most of the lines belong to the State. 

The Islands of Denmark. — Zealand (or Seeland), with the detached 
portions forming the picturesque islands of Laaland, Falster, and Moen to 
the south, form the eastern division of Denmark, flanked on the east by 
Sweden, and on the south by Germany ; its indented coasts are deeply 
penetrated by the water of the Kattegat and the Baltic. Helsingor 
(Elsinore) will be remembered as the scene of Shakespeare's “ Hamlet,” 
and from the reference of Campbell in his description of the battle of the 
Baltic, but both descriptions are geographically at fault, the shores are low, 
and the castle stands at the level of the sea. 

Copenhagen (Kj oh enhavn=MQv harbour), the one large town 

of Denmark, is situated near the 
widest part of the Sound where 
the island of Amager helps to 
form an excellent harbour. It is 
strongly fortified by • a series of 
modern batteries occupying arti- 
ficial islets, hardly showing above 
the water. The town is hand- 
somely laid out, with gardens and 
fine public buildings ; it is the seat 
of government, the residence of 
the king, and contains a univer- 
sity and several learned societies. 
Copenhagen concentrates the 
maritime trade of Denmark, as no 
other harbour can receive large 
vessels. Korsor, at the south-west of Zealand, and Giedeser, at the south of 
Falster, are steamer ports for the express routes to Kiel and Warnemunde 
(for Berlin). The richly cultivated island of Fiinen (or Fyen), with Lange- 
land and a maze of smaller islands to the south, forms the western shore 
of the Great Belt, which is crossed by ferry-steamers to Nyborg, whence a 
railway passes through the ancient town of Odense to Striib on the Little 
Belt. 

Jutland. — Jutland, though nearly twice as large as the islands, con- 
tains rather fewer inhabitants. Almost all the harbours lie on the Kattegat 
coast, and the southern and eastern parts of the peninsula are the most 
thickly peopled because agriculture is the mainstay of the people. Aal- 
borg , on the narrowest part of the Liim Fjord, where it can be crossed by a 
railway bridge, and reached by small vessels from the Kattegat, is the 
chief commercial centre of the north. At Thisted, on the wide lagoon of 
the Liim Fjord in the west, Malte-Brun, the author of a celebrated 
French treatise on geography, was born. Aarhuus, on the east coast, 
is the largest town of Jutland, with a busy harbour. Further south 



Denmark 


2 1 1 


Horsens, Veile, and Kolding , stand each at the head of a short fjord in 
the heart of beech forests. Fredericia is the railway harbour for Striib 
in Fiinen, on the route to Copenhagen which has the shortest sea passage. 
Esbjerg on the North Sea is an important and growing port. 

Bornholm. — When the southern provinces of Sweden were given up 
by Denmark, the rocky island of Bornholm in the Baltic was also ceded ; 
but the people of the island massacred the Swedish troops who came to 
take possession, and the island has remained part of Denmark. The lofty 
cliffs of granite and ancient sedimentary rocks are entirely different from 
the rocks of Denmark, and the island yields building stone and even a 
little coal. The principal town is Ronne. The chief value of Bornholm 
is as a lighthouse station. 

The Faroes (i.e., sheep islands) form a group of twenty-two small 
islands situated nearly mid-way between Shetland and Iceland on the great 
submarine ridge that runs from Scotland to Greenland. They are com- 
posed of volcanic rocks, in large part of horizontally bedded basalt, which 
once appear to have formed a plateau of great extent. This ancient 
plateau had been deeply cut into by river-valleys running parallel to 
each other from north-west to south-east, and by subsequent subsidence 
the valleys became fjords or sounds, cutting up the land into a succes- 
sion of long narrow islands or peninsulas. The climate is very equable, 
and the people make their living by sheep farming, the capture of 
sea-birds, chiefly loons, and fishing. They are of Norwegian descent, and 
speak an old Norse dialect, although Danish is the official language. 
The one town is ThorsJiavn, on the east coast of Stromo, the largest 
island ; a little place of wooden houses, frequented in summer by 
fishing vessels. 

STATISTICS. 



1880. 

- 1890. 

1900. 

Area of Denmark (square miles) 

15,280 

.. 15,289 

15,289 

Population of Denmark 

1,980,259 

.. 2,185 335 

• 2,449,540 

Density of population per square mile 

129 

143 

. . 160 

Population of Copenhagen (without suburbs) 

235,254 

.. 312,859 

.. 378,235 

,, Aarhuus 

24,831 

33.308 

51,814 

„ Odense 

20,804 

30,277 

40,138 

„ Aalborg 

14,152 

19,505 

3 M 57 


ANNUAL TRADE OF DENMARK ( in pounds sterling). 

Average 1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

6,000,000 . . 14,000,000 . . 18,800,000 

4,700,000 . . 10,000,000 . . 14,100,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Both. “ Kongeriget Danmark.” 2 vols. Copenhagen, 1882-85. 

H. Weitemayer. “ Danemark, Geschichte und Beschreibung,” and English translation. 
London, 1891. 


Imports 

Exports 


16 


212 The International Geogra p h y 


III— ICELAND 

By Dr. Thorvald Thoroddsen,* 

Position and Surface. — Iceland is a large island in the North 
Atlantic Ocean on the edge of the temperate zone. The arctic circle 
touches the most northerly points, and the south of the island lies in 
63^° N. Many fjords cut their way into the steep coast on the west, 
north, and east ; but the south coast is without indentations, and close 
to the sea is very low and sandy. The largest bays are in the west — 
Faxafloi and Breidafjordur, and north of the latter a nearly isolated 



Fig. 108 . — Iceland 


peninsula, intersected by many fjords, stretches to the north-west. Iceland 
is mainly composed of volcanic highlands, with an average height of about 
2,000 feet ; lowlands are only found in the south and south-west, and form 
only one-fourteenth of the whole area. They are all produced by river 
deposits silting up the heads of bays or fjords. The highlands bear 
several large snowfields, of which Vatnajokull is the largest, all producing 
glaciers which give rise to large rivers. The snow-level is lowest (1,300 
feet) in the north-west, and highest (3,500 to 4,000 feet) in the centre. 

1 Translated from the Danish by Fru Backer-Lund. 




Iceland 


213 

The highest parts of the country are in the south-east, the highest point 
in the southern ridge of Vatnajokull being Orsefajokull, which reaches 
6,241 feet. Most of the Icelandic rivers are short, but full of water, flow- 
ing strongly and broken by many waterfalls. The longest rivers (80 to 
100 miles) are the Thorsa, Olfusa, and Jokulsa in Axarfjord, the last with 
the imposing waterfall of Dettifoss. There are several lakes, the best 
known being Thingvallavatn. 

Geology. — Iceland is built up of volcanic masses of Tertiary age ; 
two-thirds of the country consists of basalt in horizontal beds of gentle 
dip with steep escarpments and cliffs falling to the sea, exactly as in the 
Faroes. Right across the country there runs a belt of tuff and breccia, 
occupying about one-third of its area. There are more than 100 volcanoes, 
of which 25 have been in eruption during historical times. Some have 
the same conical form as Vesuvius ; others are broad and of very 
gentle slope, like Mauna Loa in the Sandwich Islands; but most of the 
eruptions have come from fissures on which a long row of low craters 
have been formed. These volcanoes have produced large lava fields, 
which together cover an area of about 4,000 square miles. The best 
known volcanoes are Hekla, Katla, and Askja, the crater of which covers 
an area of 16 square miles. Katla is, like several other Icelandic volcanoes, 
covered with glaciers, which during the eruptions melt and cause dreadful 
inundations. Earthquakes are very common, and have often done great 
injury both to life and property. There are many hot intermittent springs, 
of which the Geysir is most famous, and its name is often applied to such 
springs as a general term. 

Climate and Productions. — Iceland has an insular climate, which 
is much warmer than the latitude would suggest. In the south the winter 
is mild and the summer proportionally temperate ; the mean temperature 
of the year in Eyarbakki, in the south, is 38*5° F., and for Akureyri, 
in the north, 36° F. The climate is rather wet and very stormy ; but 
snow does not lie long on the coast in winter, and many harbours in 
the west are never frozen. The highlands are very cold, and snowstorms 
are common even in summer. In the north of the island the climate is 
also cold, with a greater range between winter and summer. Floating ice 
from Greenland often blocks the north coast, stopping the shipping trade 
and the fisheries, and affecting the climate adversely. The vegetation has 
a European-Arctic character ; here and there small woods of stunted 
beech and a very few mountain-ash trees occur. The natural pastures are 
excellent, and sheep thrive well ; rich grass fields always surround the 
farms, and the hay yielded by them is used for the cattle. There is 
no other agriculture, even barley rarely ripens. Foxes are the most 
common animals, and polar bears sometimes come with the floating 
ice. The sea abounds with all sorts of fish, of which cod, herring, 
and flounders are amongst the most important ; and whales and seals 
are also plentiful. The coast is crowded with sea-birds ; the eider-duck is 


214 The International Geography 

of great importance to the inhabitants, and is tended almost like a 
domestic animal. 

History. — Iceland was first discovered by Irish monks about the 
year 790. It was next visited by Norwegian vikings in 870, and was 
colonised from Norway in the years 874 to 930. An Icelandic republic 
was then established with an aristocratic form of government, which 
lasted till 1262, when the country entered into a personal union with the 
kingdom of Norway. That was the golden age of Icelandic culture, and 
it is memorable for the splendid poetic and historical literature contained 
in the Edda and Sagas. The early Icelanders were daring sailors. They 
colonised Greenland in 982, and discovered America in 1000. After the 
year 1262 the prosperity of the country declined, mainly because of suc- 
cessive misfortunes, volcanic eruptions, plague, and bad government ; and 
practically it is only since 1874 that it has begun to recover ; but now there 
is progress in all directions. Together with Norway, Iceland in the year 
1389 came under Denmark, and it has since belonged to the Danish crown. 
In 1874 a separate free constitution was granted, with a legislative assembly 
(Althing), a Governor-General (Landshofding) in Reykjavik, and an 
Icelandic ministry in Copenhagen. 

People. — Only the lowlands, the coast, and the valleys are inhabited. 
The great highland area cannot support any inhabitants, for except a little 
grass on its outer slopes it consists only of bare ground, lava deserts, and 
snowfields. Trade was in olden times carried on by Icelanders and Nor- 
wegians. In the fifteenth century English sailors took a large share, and 
in the sixteenth German influence preponderated. From 1602 to 1786 
there was a Danish government monopoly ; in 1786 trade was throwm open 
to all Danish subjects, and in 1854 to all nations. At present the trade 
both with Great Britain and Denmark is chiefly carried on by Icelanders. 
The chief exports are fish, cod-liver oil, salmon, sheep and horses, salted 
mutton, wool, fur, eider-down, and feathers. There is no manufacturing 
industry. Most of the inhabitants live by breeding cattle, especially 
sheep ; a smaller number by fishing, with much risk to life, in open 
boats. On the great fishing banks French and British fishing-vessels of 
larger size are at work, while the Norwegians carry on whale hunting 
from stations on the coast. Many horses have to be kept because they 
furnish the only means of transport in the country, and the only roads in 
most places are bridle paths. Recently, however, good roads for driving 
have been commenced, and bridges are now being built over the rivers. 

The Icelanders still talk old Norwegian (the Saga language) almost 
unchanged, and every child can read the ancient Sagas. There is a good 
deal of current literature, and more books and newspapers are published 
per head of the population than in any other country. Education is uni- 
versal and thorough. Nearly all the people belong to the Lutheran Church. 

Postal communication with abroad is by steamers from Copenhagen 
calling at Leith in Scotland, and the Faroes. In summer there is also a 


Iceland 


215 


regular steamer service all round the coast. A telegraph cable connects 
Iceland through the Faeroes with Scotland. Reykjavik , the capital, and the 
only town, is built on a little projecting point in the south-eastern part of 
Faxafloi. Here the Althing is held, and the Governor-General and the 
Bishop of Iceland reside. Reykjavik has classes for medicine, theology, 
classical languages, and navigation, and there is a national library, a collec- 
tion of antiquities, and a national bank. In the centre of the town there is 
a statue of the famous sculptor, Albert Thorwaldsen, who was of Icelandic 
origin. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Iceland (square miles) 30,432 

Area of habitable portion (square miles) 6,784 

1880. 1890. 1895. 

Population of Iceland 72,445 . . 70,927 1 .. 73,449 

„ „ Reykjavik 2,567 .. 3,886 .. 4,222 

ANNUAL TRADE OF ICELAND (in pounds sterling). 

Average 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 340,000 . . 356,000 

Exports .. 310,000 .. 340,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Th. Thoroddsen. " Geschichte des Islandischen Geographic. Uebersetzt von A. Gebhardt.” 
Vols. i. ii. Leipzig, 1897, 1898. 

J. Coles. “ Summer Travelling in Iceland.” London, 1882. 

W. Bisiker. “ Across Iceland.” London, 1902. 


z From 1880 to 1890 there was a great emigration to America, chiefly to Manitoba, but this 
has now almost ceased. 


CHAPTER XIV.— THE LOW COUNTRIES 


I.— THE NETHERLANDS 

By Dr. C. M. Kan , 1 

Professor of Geography at the University of Amsterdam. 

Position and Geology. — Although one of the smallest countries in 
Europe, the kingdom of the Netherlands (Nederland = low country), or 
Holland (so called from its most important province, Holland, derived 
from Houtland, i.e., Woodland), is one of the most noteworthy. It lies 
between 50° 45' and 53 0 32' N. latitude, and between 3 0 25' and 7 0 12' E. 
longitude, on the north-west coast of central Europe, at the mouths of the 
Scheldt, Maas (Meuse), and Rhine. Its importance results from its posi- 
tion, its commerce, and its colonies. 

Traces of Coal Measures, Chalk, and Tertiary sands and loams cover less 
than 1 per cent, of the area, and appear only in the extreme east and 
south-east, while the most recent Quaternary formations, diluvium and 
alluvium, occupy respectively 40 and 59 per cent, of the surface. In 
the south the Maas and the Rhine have co-operated in the formation 
of the diluvium ; and in the north the inland glaciers of the Ice Age. In 
their period of enhanced activity consequent on the Great Ice Age, the 
Maas and Rhine brought down coarse sand and grit ; but at a later time 
principally finer sand. The diluvium of the northern provinces, being of 
Scandinavian origin, contains coarse gravel and loam, in addition to the 
sand ; it also lies higher, its surface is less flat, and forms more distinctive 
watersheds between the rivers of that part of the country. Vegetation, 
rivers, the sea and wind have combined in the formation of the alluvial 
strata. Plant remains have given origin to the fens and arable lands, and 
contributed to the formation of the iron-ore, found in the badly drained 
parts of the smaller river basins in the east, and the loess which occurs in 
the south of Limburg only. The high fens, which consist of heath, 
cotton-grass, rushes, moss, and sometimes trees, only occur upon the higher 
sandy soils ; they are found principally in the south and east of the country, 
and lie above the ordinary level of the water. The low fens in the north 
and west owe their origin largely to marsh plants, and frequently rest upon 
clay of high fertility. In process of time the sandbanks deposited in the 
sea develop into sand-spits ; then the sea builds up chains of marine dunes 
upon them, shutting off a haff or lagoon against the land. It is in such 

1 Translated froni the Dutch by J. T. Bealby. 

216 ' 


The Netherlands 


217 

lagoons that the greater number of the low fens have been formed. 
The most recent deposits of fluvial clays stretch chiefly east and west 
along the Rhine, the Waal, and the Maas, occurring more especially 
between the diluvial regions of the north and those of the south of the 
country. In the west recent marine clays have been deposited along the 


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Sea deeper 
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From Sealevel 
to20feet below 

From Sealevel 
to 35 feet above 

35 to 80 feet 
Above 80 feet 


edge of the diluvial strata. Wind has played Fig. 109. — The Nether- 

din active part in the formation of the sand- lao ids, showing height 

dunes, which still occupy extensive areas in 
the Veluwe, in Drenthe, and in North Brabant. 

Reclamation of Land. — Human energy has materially supple- 
mented the operations of natural forces by draining the marshes and 
trenching the fens, by fighting against the drifting sand, protecting the 
coasts with dunes and dykes, regulating the rivers and carrying out other 
works. Polders are low-lying inland tracts protected by means of dykes and 
mounds against the invasion of water from the higher land around them, 


2i8 The International Geography 

the superfluous water being at the same time pumped out and led away. 
By embanking the lands along the sea shore which are not sufficiently 
high, they are wrested from the dominion of the ocean, protected by dykes 
or banks, and gradually transformed into the most fertile districts. Thus 
the land that has been destroyed by the sea, which in 1894 amounted to a 
larger area than the united provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, is 
being to some extent made up for by reconquests of better land. 

Configuration. — The lowest-lying part of the Netherlands is on the 
west, bordering the sea (Fig. 109). With the exception of the narrow strip 
of sea-dunes, which have a mean height of 30 feet, nearly a quarter of the 
surface of the country lies between sea-level and 8 feet below, while about half 
as much lies between sea-level and 3 feet above ; in other words, 38 per cent, 
of the surface would be*overflowed by the ocean were it not protected by 
dunes and dykes. Some of the lower-lying tracts, consisting exclusively of 
reclaimed fens and marshes, are actually from 5 to 15 feet below sea-level. 
The remaining 62 per cent, of the surface on the whole forms a series of belts 
or zones stretching from south-west to north-east. In Drenthe, Gelderland, 
Overysel, Utrecht, and Limburg there are hills of gravel and sand ranging 
from 150 to over 300 feet in elevation ; and in the south-east of Limburg, 
the region of the old rocks, the highest elevation of the kingdom attains 
an altitude of 1055 feet. Small as these altitudes may appear they have 
produced their effect upon the flow of the rivers, drainage, the fertility of 
the soil, the climate, and even on the construction of roads and railways. 
The differences of level and relief themselves are largely due to the action 
of the glaciers of the Great Ice Age and their moraines. 

Rivers and Canals. — From the higher-lying diluvial tracts and 
gravel hills of Drenthe and Groningen a number of small streams radiate 
through diluvial valleys into the adjacent provinces ; and many short 
streams also flow westward from the east of Overysel and Gelderland. 
Elsewhere the minor streams make their way into the channels deserted by 
the larger rivers — for instance, the Eem and the Ysel, and in the south the 
Aa, Dommel, and Mark. The larger rivers do not follow the natural 
inclination of the diluvium, but flow in the direction of the general 
slope of the country, or from south-east to north-west. The east to 
west direction of the Rhine, Waal, and Lek is the most influential factor 
in determining their economic importance, since it makes them the chief 
natural highways between central Germany and the sea. Four-fifths of 
the river trade of Holland is carried by the Rhine and the Waal, these 
rivers being international waterways. 

The most important canals, from 12 to 25 feet deep, are the North Sea 
Ship Canal, connecting Amsterdam and the sea (Fig. 112) ; the Rotterdam 
Waterway, giving that city easier access to the North Sea ; the Canal of 
South Beveland connecting with the Scheldt ; the Merwede Canal and the 
King William Navigation, uniting various rivers with one another ; and 
the canals which terminate at the Helder and the Dollart. Minor canals 


The Netherlands 


219 


serve for the transport of turf, and for communication between towns. 
Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Flushing have a trade of nearly nine million 
tons between them, as compared with scarcely more than two million tons 
for all the ports not situated on the deep rivers or ship canals. 

Coast. — The characteristic features of the western coast are sand- 
banks, mud-flats, high dykes (embankments), and sand-dunes, with a 
shallow, gently sloping shore. Further north a series of low islands marks 
the former coast line ; indeed some of them still possess dunes. The sandy 
shallows are covered with water by the tides, otherwise they would be cut 
off from direct communication with the existing coast and the Zuider Zee. 

Natural Productions, Flora and Fauna. — Mineral products are 
limited to a very little coal from the mines of Limburg, bricks from the 
marine and fluvial clays, sandstone from quarries near Maastricht and else- 
where, and some bog-iron ore. Both the diluvial and alluvial lands are 
adapted for agriculture and grazing ; these occupations utilise respectively 
26 and 35 per cent, of the total area ; 7 per cent, is planted with forest, and 
about 20 per cent, is waste. The vegetable products of the sandy soils are 
principally rye, buckwheat, and potatoes, and thus differ from the chief 
products of the fluvial and marine clays — hops, rape-seed, sugar-beets, 
tobacco, and wheat. Orchards, market-gardens, and the characteristic 
Dutch industry of flower-gardening, occupying together i-j- per cent, of the 
country, are found principally on the geest or higher grounds along the 
edge of the marshes on the sandy soil, and in the reclaimed lands of the 
west. The different character of the soil in different parts occasions 
variations in the breed of horses, oxen, and sheep ; but does not affect the 
goats and swine to the same extent. 

Climate. — The climate of the Netherlands is determined by the 
position of the country between 50° and 53 0 N. latitude, by its situation on 
the eastern shore of the North Sea, and by its low elevation. The mean of 
nearly fifty years’ observations at Utrecht gives an annual temperature of 
50° F., with a mean of 49 0 for the spring and autumn months, 66° for summer, 
and 34‘5° for winter. Owing to the proximity of the sea, the winters are 
not cold, nor the summers unpleasantly warm. The water of the North 
Sea, which, as observed on the North H elder sandbank, has a January mean 
temperature of 46° F., and a July mean of 6o° F., is also an influencing 
factor. The average annual rainfall amounts to 28 inches ; rain falls on 
204 days in the year on an average, snow on 19, and thunderstorms occur 
on 18. The wind blows from the sea from directions between south-west 
and north for 219 days in the year on the average ; and from the land, 
from directions between north-east and south, for 146. The greatest 
quantity of rain falls upon and behind the maritime dunes. But the east 
differs most from the west in the smaller degree of its moisture and 
evaporation, both very important factors in the polders or reclaimed lands. 
There the people suffer considerably from the drawbacks of the climate, 
especially its variability, and the prevalence of diseases affected by it. 


220 The International Geography 

Consequently in the western lowlands the death-rate is relatively highest 
— 30 to 40 per 1,000, as compared with 20 to 30 per 1,000 in other parts 
of the kingdom. 

People and History. — The people of the Netherlands trace their 
origin to three Teutonic races the Frisians, who now preponderate in the 
west and north-west, and are best represented in the province of Friesland ; 
the Saxons, in the east and north-east as far as the Ysel and Rhine ; and 
the Franks, in the south, extending northwards a little beyond the Rhine. 
The three types differ in dialect, in the plan of the villages, styles of the 
houses, racial character, dress and customs. The fact that the Frisians 
inhabit chiefly the clay soils and low fens, the Saxons the diluvial tracts 
of the east, and the Franks the river-clays and diluvium of the south, has 
helped to maintain these differences. The races are now welded together 
into one people by the possession of a common written language, Dutch 
(neither “ Hollandsch” nor Low German), and in cultured circles a com- 
mon spoken language also. After Dutch the most important language 
of the Netherlands is Frisian, which possesses a separate literature, but 
is not officially recognised. 

After the Roman supremacy came to an end the country was sub- 
divided into various counties, duchies and bishop- 
rics, which were reunited under the rule of the 
Dukes of Burgundy ; separated from the German 
Empire, and enjoyed autonomy under Charles V. 
(1548). The Eighty Years’ War of Independence 
against Spain followed ; and after a lapse of time 
the country developed into a commercial and 
colonising State under the Statholders of the 
House of Orange-Nassau, its complete inde- 
pendence as a free republic was recognised at the Peace of Munster in 
1648. The civil liberty and religious toleration which the Dutch so 
jealously guarded attracted large numbers of strangers — Flemings, Wal- 
loons, Huguenots, and Germans, who paid for the hospitality extended to 
them by fostering the commerce, and especially the industry of the 
Netherlands. After the abolition of the republic and the establishment of 
the sovereignty of the House of Orange, the year 1848 marked a fresh era 
in the political life of the nation by introducing a new and more liberal 
constitution, initiating reforms in economic and social matters, and develop- 
ing the colonies to a high pitch of prosperity. 

Government. — According to the constitution of 1848, the Netherlands 
forms a hereditary limited monarchy. The legislative power is shared by 
the Crown and the States-General, which includes a First Chamber of 
thirty members, and a second chamber of a hundred members. The execu- 
tive powers of the Crown are delegated to eight responsible Ministers, and 
a Council of State of fourteen members. For administrative purposes the 
country is divided into eleven provinces and 1,123 communes ; the former 



Fig. iio . — Flag of the 
Netherlands. 


The Netherlands 


221 


♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 


♦ ♦ ♦ 


♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


governed by the Provincial States and a Royal Commissioner, the latter 
by the communal council and magistrates with a burgomaster or mayor. 

Occupations. — Fully one-third of the productive workers are occu- 
pied in agriculture, the breeding of cattle, gardening, and so forth ; about 
the same number in manufacturing industry and trade ; one-sixth in com- 
merce, on railways and other means of communication ; and a much smaller 
proportion in fishing. Agriculture on the clay soils, the sandy soils, and in 
the fens differs not only in its staple products but also in the methods of 
cultivation employed. Large estates are rare, and those which exist are 
chiefly confined to the clay soils. Tenant farmers preponderate in the 
provinces of Utrecht, Friesland, South Holland and Zealand ; in the other 
provinces peasant proprietors. After agriculture in order come the textile 
industries, principally developed in Overysel and North Brabant ; the 
working of metals for ship-building and agricultural implements ; the 
manufacture of paper and leather ; of chemical products, sugar, spirits and 
food materials, especially butter and cheese. More than three-quarters of 
the factories belong to the provinces, Overysel, North 
Brabant, North and South Holland. 

Trade. — The products of agriculture and stock- 
breeding, and of such manufactures as margarine, 
sugar, textiles, iron-ware, quinine, constitute the more 
important articles of commerce. The trade of Holland 
is chiefly carried on with Germany, the United King- 
dom, Belgium, Java and Russia. These countries send 
to the Netherlands about 90 per cent, of the total 
imports, and take about 75 per cent, of the total ex- 
ports. Very many of the trading steamers sail under 
foreign flags, chiefly British, German, and Norwegian. 

Trade and commerce, both foreign and inland, are greatly facilitated by 
a network of nearly 9,500 miles of roads and dykes practicable for vehicles, 
by about 7,000 miles of • tramways, mostly worked by steam, and ap- 
proximately 2,000 miles of railways, which are connected with the systems 
of the adjacent countries at several points in the east and south. 

Fishing is prosecuted principally in the North Sea ; but a large number 
of fishermen work in the Zuider Zee, in the rivers of South Holland and 
Zealand, and off the coasts of Groningen and Friesland. 

Density of Population. — The density of the population varies 
with the means of subsistence and the degree of concentration in 
large cities, the range amongst the provinces being from 127 to 816 
per square mile. But here the determining factor is the fundamental 
character of the soil. When the kingdom is mapped according to 
the soils, it appears that the higher gravel lands of Groningen and 
Drenthe, the sandy tracts and unreclaimed fens of North Brabant, and 
the regions of the dunes and sand-drifts, all show a density of population 
less than 65 per square mile ; the lower-lying diluvium of Scandi- 


♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦ ♦ 
♦ ♦ ♦ 




♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


Fig. hi . — A verage popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of the Netherlands. 


222 The International Geography 

navian origin, the intermediate diluviums of Overysel and Gelderland, the 
low fen pastures, the tracts adjacent to the sea-dunes on the islands of 
South Holland and Zealand, have a density of 65 to 125 per square 
mile ; the non-diluvial tracts in the interior of Groningen and Friesland, 
in the south-west of Drenthe, in the east of Overysel, and the diluvium of 
Limburg have from 125 to 250 per square mile ; a few settlements in 
Groningen, the valley of the Y sel, the fluvial clays of the Maas, Waal and 
Linge, the industrial regions of Brabant and Limburg, the reclaimed 
polders and certain of the marine clay districts — all exceed 250 per square 
mile ; and finally, in the neighbourhood of Maastricht and of Eindhoven, 
the banks of the Noord and Maas, the vicinity of the large towns of North 
and South Holland, the density exceeds 500 and in some places even 1,000 
per square mile. 

The Large Towns. — The size of the towns and their importance 
depend upon the same conditions as the density of population. The 

kingdom contains twenty-one towns, each 
possessing a population of more than 20,000, 
and at least one of these is found in each of 
the five sub-divisions just enumerated ; the 
larger towns being more frequent on the 
richer soils. The chief towns in the north- 
east are Groningen , a market for agricultural 
products, a shipping centre, seat of a uni- 
versity, and provincial capital ; Leeuwarden , 
the capital of Friesland, and an important 
cattle-market for the trade with England 
via Harlingen ; Zwolle and Deventer, the 

Fig. 112.— Amsterdam, showing c hj e f live-stock and corn markets of 
polders in its vicinity . 

Overysel. These towns possess but little 
industry. Arnhem and Nijmegen , the principal towns on the fluvial 
clay soils, attract many inhabitants by reason of their picturesque sur- 
roundings, their active river trade, and their important markets. In the 
south of the kingdom are the fertile districts and manufacturing centres of 
Breda, Tilburg , s’ Hertogenbosch ( Bois-le-Duc ) in North Brabant and Maas- 
tricht in Limburg. The last two are also provincial capitals. The most 
important city in the centre of the kingdom is Utrecht , on soil intermediate 
between the pure clays and the pure sands ; it is a provincial 
capital, seat of a university, and an important railway junction. The 
Helder , in North Holland, stands at the entrance of the North Holland 
Canal, and possesses several naval institutions. In the same province are 
Haarlem, capital of the province, and busy with the cultivation of flower- 
bulbs, and Amsterdam , the largest town, and one of the two chief com- 
mercial centres, famous for its Exchange and money market, its shipping, 
manufactures, diamond-cutting, and for its university and museums. The 
western parts of the province of South Holland are the most densely 



223 


Belgium 

peopled districts in the kingdom. There are the towns of The Hague 
(s’ Gravenhage), the capital of the kingdom and seat of the chief artistic 
industries ; Delft , a cheese and butter market, with manufactures of fine 
pottery, and of spirits ; Dordrecht, with active river-shipping and trade in 
timber, corn and wine ; Leiden, the seat of an ancient university, with a 
flourishing market, and a still considerable manufacture of cloth and cotton ; 
Schiedam, best known for its spirit distilleries producing gin or Hollands, 
but also important as a corn-market ; and Rotterdam, one of the most 
famous seaports and commercial centres on the Continent, though the 
bulk of its commercial activity is in connection with transit trade. 


STATISTICS. 



1879. 

1889. 


1899. 

Area of the Netherlands (square miles) 12.728 

.. 12,728 

• • 

12,728 

Population of the Netherlands 

4.012,693 

4,511,415 

• • 

£104,137 

Density of population per square mile 

316 

353 

• • 

401 

Population of Amsterdam . . 


399,424 

• • 

520,602 

„ Rotterdam 


197,722 

• • 

332.185 

„ The Hague 


153.340 

• • 

212,211 

„ Utrecht 


83,304 

• • 

104, 194 

„ Groningen 


. . 56.038 

• • 

67,563 

„ Haarlem 


. . 50.500 

• • 

65,189 

* Arnhem 


. . 49.727 

• • 

57,498 

THE DUTCH POSSESSIONS ABOUT 1897. 





Area sq. mis. 

Population. 

The Netherlands 



• ♦ 

5.104,137 

Java 



• • 

26,125,053 

Other Islands of Dutch East Indies 1 



• » 

7,964,947 

Dutch Guiana * 



• • 

67,128 

Dutch West Indies 


403 

• • 

51,693 

Total 




39 , 312,958 

ANNUAL TRADE OF THE NETHERLANDS (in pounds sterling). 


1872-76 

1882-86 


1892-96 

Imports 

56,750,000 

.. 89,750.000 

• • 

120,500,000 

Exports 

43,000,000 

. . 68,500,000 

• • 

98,000,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

“Algemeene Statistiek van Nederland." Leiden. (Published by the Dutch Government 
Statistical Society), 1870-onwards. 

H. Blink. “ Tegenwoordige Staat van Nederland." Amsterdam, 1895-96. 

R. Schuiling. “Aardrijkskunde van Nederland." Zwolle, 1897. 


II.— BELGIUM 

By J. du Fief , 2 

Professor of Geography in the A the nee royal of Brussels. 

Position and Configuration. — Belgium ( La Belgique) is situated 
between 49^-° and 51^° N., that is to say, between the parallels of the island 
of Guernsey and of London. It is bordered on the west by the North Sea 
which separates it from England, on all other sides there are land frontiers ; 
towards the Netherlands on the north, Germany and the grand duchy of 


1 Estimates. 


2 Translated from the French by the Editor 


224 The International Geography 

Luxemburg on the east, and France on the south. The short sea-coast, 
extending for only 42 miles, is washed by a sea so shallow that the depth 
does not exceed five fathoms until at least five miles from the shore. The 
shore itself is entirely composed of sand, very low and uniform, but suit- 
able for the establishment of seaside watering-places ; it is separated by 
a line of dunes from the low plain of the interior. From the dunes the 
land rises gradually towards the south-east, but to the north the surface is 
absolutely flat throughout the greater part of the provinces of Flanders, 
Antwerp, and Limburg. In the centre nearly parallel undulations of the 
ground separate the tributaries of the Schelde ; and the surface exceeds 
600 feet in elevation at a few points along the left bank of the Sambre 
• and Meuse (Maas). South-east of the line formed by these two rivers the 
land becomes more broken and picturesque, rising to the high plateau of 
the Ardennes with a maximum elevation of 2,230 feet, and sinking again on 
the southern frontier to about 1,000 feet above the sea. 

Geology. — Geologically the northern half of Belgium is covered by 
Quaternary deposits, including the marine and fluvial alluvium of the 
polders, the sand of the Campine, and the mud of Hesbaye. These are 
followed by Tertiary formations which extend across the whole breadth 
of the country as far south as the Sambre and the Meuse, containing the 
yellow sand of the province of Antwerp, the clay of the Rupel valley, 
which is of value for brickmaking, and the argillaceous sands and coarse 
limestones of Mons. Secondary strata are chiefly represented by the 
Cretaceous rocks which are utilised in the valley of the Haine, fire- 
clay of a refractory character capable of withstanding a very high 
temperature, white chalk and a brown phosphatic chalk, and marl and 
chalk in the valley of the Geer, a tributary of the Meuse. Primary rocks 
crop out at a few points in Hainaut and Brabant, and cover the greater 
part of the Ardennes in the provinces of Namur, Liege, and Luxemburg. 
These strata yield limestones of value both for building purposes and for 
making lime, sandstones useful for paving, slates, and, most important of 
all, great deposits of coal w’hich underlie the whole south of Belgium, from 
west to east, and give rise to rich coal-fields at Mons, Charleroi, and Liege. 

Rivers and Canals. — Belgium is traversed from south to north 
by two great rivers which enter the country from France and pass on into 
Holland where they reach the North Sea. The Meuse (Flemish Maas) which 
traverses the picturesque part of the country in the east, flow r s through 
the fine valley in which stand the towns of Dinant, Namur, Huy, Seraing, 
and Liege. Beyond this it serves as the boundary between Belgium and 
Holland. It has been canalised as far as Vise, close to the German frontier, 
to render it fully navigable. Its tributaries on the right are picturesque but 
unnavigable mountain streams ; the lower course of the Ourthe which flows 
in at Liege has however been canalised. The Schelde (French Escaut) 
traverses the low and level country of western Belgium, and the towns of 
Tournay, Oudenard, Ghent, Termonde, and Antwerp have grown upon its 


225 


Belgium 

banks. It is regulated by locks as far as Ghent, below which it flows 
freely to the sea. The chief right bank tributaries are the Dendre which is 
canalised, and the Rupel, formed by the junction of the Dyle and the 
Nethe ; and on the left bank the Lys which is canalised. A small coast 
river, the Yser, which also comes from France, passes Nieuport and flows 
into the North Sea. Two canals keep up communication between Ghent 
and the sea, one running to Bruges and Ostend, the other due north to 
Terneuzen; and a large ship canal is nowin construction going direct 
from Bruges to the sea at Heyst. A great many other canals have been 
established with the object of developing the system of inland naviga- 
tion, draining the low country, and irrigating the sandy soil of the Campine. 

Climate and Natural Productions. — Belgium enjoys a cool, 
temperate climate ; the mean annual temperature for the whole country 
is 50° F., but on the high plateau of the Ardennes the mean is only 45 0 . 
The prevailing winds are from the south-west and west bringing moisture 
from the ocean, a fact which accounts for an average number of 195 rainy 
days in the year. 

The most important natural resources are those of the mineral kingdom. 
Of these coal is the chief, occurring at various depths in the centre of the 
country, the west and the east, following the courses of the Haine, the 
Sambre, and the Meuse, where it accounts for the origin of the great 
industrial centres of Mons, Charleroi, and Liege. Iron ore is extracted 
principally in the provinces of Namur, Liege, and Luxemburg ; zinc in the 
province of Liege, while stone is quarried largely in Brabant, Hainaut, 
Namur, and Liege, and slate in Luxemburg. The principal products of 
agriculture are cereals, flax, hemp, and colza, and the most important fruits 
are plums and apples. The great Flemish and Brabant horses, and the 
smaller but stronger Ardennes horse have more than local fame. 

People and History. — Two distinct elements can be distinguished 
in the population of Belgium : a dark race preponderating in the Walloon 
district which appears to have come from the south at the most remote 
period, and a fair race descended from the Kelts and Germans. The 
latter, who were not numerous in the time of Julius Cassar, have since 
increased by immigration mainly in the north where Roman influence was 
weak and the people preserved their Germanic language and character, 
In the south, however, the Roman influence produced a profound effect, 
and hence two languages still exist, Flemish (closely akin to Dutch) and 
French (Walloon), each spoken exclusively by nearly half the population. 
This explains the fact that almost every place in the country has a Flemish 
and also a French name. The linguistic dividing line runs approximately 
from St. Omer in France to Vise on the Meuse. 

When Julius Caesar undertook the conquest of Belgian Gaul in the first 
century B.c., that region was bounded by the Rhine, the Marne, the Seine, 
and the sea, and was inhabited by 24 independent tribes. For five 
centuries it remained under the Romans, until the Franks who had 


226 The International Geography 

gradually been invading it, occupied it entirely. Thenceforward the 
territory of ancient Belgica was thrown into confusion, and it was several 
times divided between the Merovingians and Carolingians. The first 
internal divisions were formed during the administration of the Frankish 
counts, and many localities took their rise round their castles, or round the 
churches and monasteries. The feudal system was established in the tenth 
and eleventh centuries when the counties of Flanders, Brabant, Hainaut, 
Namur, Limburg, and Luxemburg, and the episcopal principality of Liege 
were established, and these served as the basis of the present provinces. 
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the 
municipal system developed, and towns such as 
Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, Courtrai, Antwerp, and 
Liege rose to considerable commercial and political 
power. Most of these principalities were absorbed 
into the possession of the Dukes of Burgundy 
(1384-1482), but without forming a real monarchy, 
and they then passed by inheritance to Charles V. 
and Philip II. of Spain. Under the last-named 
prince the Belgian provinces, or the Spanish 
Netherlands, were ruined by persecutions and 
religious wars, while the northern provinces, including Holland, separated 
and formed the republic of the United Provinces in 1570. Attacked 
by the French under Louis XIV. the Spanish Netherlands were handed 
over to the Emperors of the House of Austria (1713-95), then from 
1795 to 1815 they formed part of the French Republic and Empire. 
In 1815 they were united with Holland as the Kingdon of the Nether- 
lands, but in 1830 the Belgian provinces objecting to the Dutch Govern- 
ment became at last an independent country, the Kingdom of Belgium. 

The Belgians have continued since their inde- 
pendence, as they were in the past, to be dis- 
tinguished in science and in the arts. The 
richness of the soil and the aptitude and intelli- 
gence of the people have caused the country to 
rank amongst the greatest producing regions of 
the Earth, and to support an extremely dense 
population. 

Government. — The form of government is a hereditary constitu- 
tional monarchy; the constitution promulgated in 1831 proclaims the 
equality of all citizens before the law, the complete liberty of religion, of 
opinions, of forming societies, of speaking any language, of education 
and of the press. It also provides for two great principles, national 
sovereignty, and the separation of the legislative, executive and judicial 
functions. The legislative power is exercised jointly by the King, the 
Senate, and the Chamber of Representatives. The King is the head of 
the executive ; but he exercises the power through Ministers, none 


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FlG. 1 13 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of Belgium. 


227 


Belgium 

of his acts taking effect unless countersigned by a Minister, who 
thereby renders himself responsible. While Belgian soil has often been 
a battle-ground of European Powers — the classic held of Waterloo where 
Napoleon was finally crushed in 1815 lies near the centre of the country — it 
was on its formation as a kingdom declared neutral territory under the 
guarantee of the chief nations of Europe. Hence it has only to maintain 
sufficient military forces to preserve its internal security. For administra- 
tive purposes the kingdom is divided into nine provinces, West Flanders, 
East Flanders, Antwerp, Limburg, Brabant, Hainaut, Namur, Liege, and 
Luxemburg, the provinces being divided into 41 arrondissements which 
are subdivided into communes. All religions are free, and while the 
Belgians are almost all Roman Catholics (there are only about 10,000 



Fig. 1 i 5 . — The Belgian Railway System. 


Protestants and 4,000 jews in the country) the State subsidises Roman 
Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish ministers. 

Industry and Commerce. — Belgium is distinguished by its great 
industrial and commercial wealth, which is very remarkable when the 
smallness of the country (which is only one and a half times as large as 
Wales) is taken into account. Although the majority of the inhabitants are 
engaged in agriculture, the production of cereals is not sufficient to meet 
the demand. The minerals of southern Belgium have given rise to 
metallurgical industries of all kinds, including the manufacture of iron and 
steel, and the construction of machinery, for which many large establish- 
ments have been formed, especially in the neighbourhood of Liege and of 
Charleroi. The manufacture of firearms for military purposes and for 
trade has its centre at Liege ; cutlery and the manufacture of glass and 


228 The International Geography 


crystal are leading industries of the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, and 
Liege. The manufacture of cloths and woollen stuffs is most developed in 
the neighbourhood of Verviers, that of cotton yarn and cotton goods at 
Ghent, and linen in Flanders. Belgium is also renowned for the manu- 
facture of lace. The most important exports, according to value, are coal, 
grain of all kinds, linen yarn and raw flax, meat, cast-iron, and glass-ware. 
Most of the trade is done with the nearest countries, France, the United 
Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. 

The means of communication with other countries comprise first of all 
the steamer lines which connect the port of Antwerp with all the maritime 
countries in the world, the daily services between Ostend and Dover and 
between Antwerp and London, and finally a remarkably complete railway 
system, the longest per square mile of area of any country, which places 
Belgium in direct communication with France, Switzerland, and Italy, 
Vienna, and Constantinople, Berlin and St. Petersburg, thus giving to the 
country the full advantage of its geographical position in the matter of 
transport trade (Fig. 115). 

Chief Towns. — Brussels (French Bruxelle , Flemish Brussel ) is the 

capital of the country, the residence of the 
king, the seat of government, and of the 
legislative chambers. The population of 
the city of Brussels is scarcely more than 
200,000 ; but including the eight surrounding 
communes (Schaerbeek, Laeken, Molenbeek, 
Anderlecht, St. Gilles, Ixelles, St. Josse-ten- 
Noode, and Etterbeek) the whole concen- 
trated population considerably exceeds half a 
million. Each of these suburban communes 
has its own separate municipal adminis- 
tration. The Senne which flows through 
Brussels is not navigable, and water com- 
munication is carried on by a canal to 
the Schelde. Since 1870, great public works have transformed Brussels 
into a beautiful city, the Senne has been built over to guard against 
floods, a great central street runs from the northern to the southern 
stations, and other new thoroughfares have been opened. Amongst the 
modern buildings the Palais de Justice (law courts), the Post Office, the 
Exchange, and the National Bank are worthy of any capital, and amongst 
the ancient buildings the Hotel de Ville (town hall), dating from the 
fifteenth century, and the houses of the old trade corporations which 
surround the Grande Place form a magnificent artistic group not to be 
rivalled elsewhere. Brussels contains several important picture galleries, 
valuable museums, an Academy of Sciences, Literature and Arts, a 
university, and other educational institutions, a Botanic garden and 
several theatres. It has thus become an intellectual as well as a political 



FlG. 1 16 . — Brussels and its 
Suburbs. 




229 


Belgium 


centre ; the population is rapidly increasing, and many branches of industry 
have been established, of which the most important are carriage-building, 
the construction of artistic furniture and lace-making. 

Antwerp (French Anvers , Flemish Antwerpen), situated on the Schelde, 
60 miles from the sea, from which it is separated by Dutch territory, is one 
of the chief commercial ports of Europe ; it is also an important fortified 
place serving as the base for the defence of the country. The old Gothic 
cathedral containing some of the most celebrated pictures by Rubens, the 
church of St. James, and the Steen, an old 
castle of the fifteenth century, are amongst 
the most interesting of the ancient buildings. 

There are valuable museums, an Academy 
of Fine Arts, a musical Conservatoire, and 
a particularly well-arranged Zoological 
garden. The port of Antwerp carries on 
most of the external trade of Belgium, 
and the town is consequently flourishing. 

Amongst other branches of industry which 



Fig. i i 7 . — Antwerp and its Forts. 


have been attracted to the place, sugar refining, distilling, lace-making, and 
shipbuilding are of great importance. Liege (Flemish Luik, German Liittich ) 
is a large industrial town on the Meuse surrounded at a distance of about 
four miles by twelve detached forts, which in conjunction with those around 
Namur protect the valley of the Meuse (see Fig. 48). The most remarkable of 
the old buildings is the Palace of the Prince-Bishops of Liege, dating from the 
sixteenth century, and now occupied by the provincial government. Liege 
contains, amongst other intellectual institutions, many scientific bodies, an 
important university, especially well-equipped in the scientific depart- 
ments, a School of Mines, a School of Arts and Manufactures, a Botanic 
garden, an observatory, and a Conservatoire of Music. The great 
industrial prosperity of the town is due to the neighbouring coal mines ; 
its principal manufactures are firearms, the establishments including a 
Royal Arsenal and many metallurgical and engineering works. Many 
industrial towns occupy the neighbourhood, including Seraing, which 
contains the great engineering establishment founded in 1817 by the 
Englishman John Cockerill, and now one of the most important in the 
world. Ghent (Flemish Gent, French Gand), the principal town in Easi 
Flanders, is situated at the confluence of the Schelde and the Lys, the town 
being built upon a large number of islands in the latter river. A canal goes 
to Bruges and Ostend, and another larger one to Terneuzen on the lower 
Schelde. Ghent has played a considerable political part in the history 
of Flanders, the belfry dating from the fourteenth century, the town 
hall dating from the fifteenth, and the ruins of the Castle of the Counts 
preserve the memory of its ancient power. The town is now dis- 
tinguished for its industrial development, especially the spinning and 
weaving of linen and cotton, lace-making, and the construction of 


230 The International Geography 

machinery, and also for the cultivation of ornamental plants. It has a 
university with a school of Civil Engineering, and an Institute of Sciences; 
there are also a Botanic garden, a Flemish Academy, and a Conservatoire 
of Music. 

While Belgium has developed mainly as an industrial State and now is 
one of the most densely peopled regions in Europe, it has entered into 
relations with the outer world, thanks to the foresight and perseverance of 
King Leopold II. He has become the sovereign of the Congo Free State, 
and has done much to encourage the intrepid devotion of its explorers and 
administrators, thereby opening up in central Africa an important market 
for the trade not only of Belgium but of the world. 


STATISTICS. 


1875. 1895- 

, Area of Belgium in square miles .. 11,374 .. 1 1.374 

Population of Belgium 5,403,006 . . 6,410,783 

Density of population per square mile 475 . . 563 


1900. 

11.374 

6,693,810 

589 


NUMBER SPEAKING CHIEF LANGUAGES IN 1890. 

Flemish only. French only. French and Flemish. 

2,744,271 . . 2,485,072 . . 7oo,997 


POPULATION OF 

1875- 

Brussels (including suburbs) 385,388 

Antwerp 148,814 

Liege 117,638 

Ghent 131,026 

Mechlin 

Venders 

Bruges . . 


CHIEF TOWNS. 


1885. 

1895. 

1900. 

436,843 

. 518,381 

. 561,782 

198,174 

. 262,225 

. 285,600 

135.371 

. 163,207 

. 173,708 

143.241 

. 157,214 

. 160,959 

47.672 

53,772 

56,013 

45,521 

51,605 

52,203 

46,274 

. 49,606 

52,867 


ANNUAL TRADE [in pounds sterling). 


1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95- 

Imports 52,616,000 . . 60,496,000 . . 65,321,000 

Exports 42,516,000 . . 52,072,000 . . 55,464,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. Jourdain and L. von Stalle. " Dictionnaire Encyclopedique de Geographic de 

Belgique.” Brussels, 1895 onwards. 

The Geographical Societies of Brussels and Antwerp publish many important papers on 

the regional geography of Belgium. 


Luxemburg 


231 


III.— LUXEMBURG 

By the Editor . 1 

Position and Extent. — The Grand Duchy of Luxemburg forms the 
south-eastern and only remaining independent portion of the once large 
State of that name. It separates Germany from Belgium, while on its 
southern side the frontiers of France and Germany meet. Except on the 
east, where the Moselle and the Sauer, with its affluent the Our, form the 
border, it has no natural boundaries, and its separate existence is due to 
the convenience of having a neutral area between powerful neighbours. 

Surface and Resources. — The northern part of Luxemburg, 
known as the Eisling or CEsling, lies on the Palaeozoic slate plateau con- 
necting the Ardennes and the Eifel ; the soil is poor, and the general 
aspect sombre and rugged. The southern section known as the “ Bon 
Pays" is a continuation of the Triassic and Jurassic Lorraine plateau, the 
valleys of which are covered with fertile alluvium. Although the mean 
altitude of the country is little more than 1,000 feet, and the highest point 
less than 1,900 feet, the rivers have cut deep and narrow valleys, which 
give variety and even grandeur to the scenery. The forest of Griinwald is 
said to be the largest in central Europe, and the south of the country is 
generally well wooded. There are very rich deposits of iron in the south ; 
lead, antimony, and other ores are found ; alabaster of peculiar whiteness 
and excellent slates are quarried. 

People and History. — The people are Teutonic in origin and 
language, though modified by the admixture of other races. French and 
German are both official languages ; the former is the more generally 
used, but a dialect of Low German is commonly spoken by the people. 
In the time of the Romans the territory formed part of Belgica prima; 
under the Franks it was attached to Treves, and subsequently to Lorraine. 
In the tenth century it was erected into an immediate fief of the empire, 
when Siegfried, Count of Ardennes, acquired the old Roman castle of 
Luciliburgum, the site of the modern capital. In the fifteenth century it 
passed to the Habsburgs, and continued to be a dependency of Austria 
till 1795, when it became the French department “ des Forets." By the 
Treaty of Vienna, 1815, Luxemburg was freed from France, erected into 
a grand duchy, and given to the King of the Netherlands. In 1839, by 
the Treaty of London, dismemberment was formally effected by the 
Powers. The larger part then became a Belgian province, and the smaller 
south-eastern portion was constituted an independent State, which passed 
from the Dutch Crown on the accession of Queen Wilhelmina. In 1867 
the State was neutralised by agreement of the Great Powers and the demo- 
lition of the fortifications decreed. The government is a constitutional 


1 Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 


232 The International Geography 


hereditary monarchy, with a parliament of one chamber, the members of 
which are elected by the people for a term of six years. 

Agriculture occupies the greater number of the people, and the vintage 
is large. Iron working is the most important industry ; several consider- 
able manufactures are carried on. Luxemburg is a member of the 
Zollverein, and the trade returns are therefore included with those of 
Germany. The main railway traversing the country north and south is a 
link on the through line from Belgium to Switzerland. 

Luxemburg (Luciliburgum, Luzilinburch, Liitzelburg=“ little castle ”) 
took its name from a castle built by Siegfried on the site of a Roman 
stronghold, on the Bock, a rock overhanging the opposite bank of the river, 
and now connected with the town by a stone bridge. The town occupies 
a very strong position at the confluence of the Petrusse with the Alzette. 
It consists of two parts, an upper and a lower ; the former situated on a 
rocky plateau rising about 200 feet above the river, with precipitous cliffs 
on three sides, the only natural approach being from the west. The 
natural strength of the position caused it to be selected in early times 
as a strategic point, and the genius of Vauban made it one of the strongest 
fortresses in Europe. The old fortifications have been converted into fine 
boulevards and parks. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Luxemburg (square miles) 
Population of Luxemburg . . . . 

Density of population per square mile . . 
Population of Luxemburg (city). . 


1880. 

998 

209,570 

210 

16,70c 


1890. 
998 
21 1 088 
214 
18,817 


• • 


1900. 

998 

236,543 

247 

20,928 


• • 


CHAPTER XV.— FRANCE 


I.— PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 

By Professor A. de Lapparent, 

Paris 

Structure. — The physical structure of France exhibits, in a very high 
degree, the union of great structural simplicity with a marked variety of 
natural features. France may be spoken of as formed of two parts, which 
join along a straight line of 530 miles, from the mouth of the Bidassoa to the 
north-eastern corner of the Ardennes near the source of the Sambre. West 
of that line the land projects in a triangular shape more than 250 miles to 
the west-north- west, and is surrounded by sea. The larger part, to the east, 
with the exception of the Mediterranean coast, by which southern France 
enjoys easy access to the lands of the Far East, is surrounded by a semi- 
circle of mountains : the Pyrenees in the south, the Alps, Jura, Vosges in 
the east, the Rhine Highlands and the Ardennes in the north-east. The 
mean width of the country thus bounded remains over 250 miles. 

Thus France possesses natural boundaries throughout : but though 
encircled, it is not imprisoned ; not only because more than half of its 
outline is made up of the coast of open seas, but because the eastern 
mountainous girdle is interrupted at some points, such as the gap of the 
Rhone, between the Alps and Jura ; the opening at Belfort, between the 
Jura and Vosges ; that of Lower Alsace, between the Vosges and the 
Rhine Highlands, and the gorges of the Moselle and of the Meuse, through 
the same highlands. In the northern corner of France, also, down the 
slopes of Artois running waters and migrating people are naturally led 
to the plains of Belgium and Holland, and thence without obstacle to 
northern Germany and Scandinavia. 

Central Plateau. — The chief feature of central France is that a high- 
land stands near its centre — the so-called Central Plateau, consisting 
almost entirely of Archaean rocks, whose levelled surface is broken in the 
middle by volcanic accumulations. Thus the old and denuded cones of 
the Mont Dore and of the Cantal rise to nearly 6,000 feet above sea-level, 
while the Archaean base of these volcanic structures reveals itself between 
3,200 and 3,900 feet. Apart from minor irregularities, the Archaean plateau 
becomes continuously higher from north-west, where it is 1,500 to 2,000 feet, 
to south-east. There it ends abruptly, facing the Mediterranean Sea as a 
great wall, the dissected border of which is called the Cevennes, the highest 

233 


234 The International Geography 

summit, located quite on the rim, being the gigantic Mont Lozere, 5,584 
feet high. The Cevennes are succeeded in a northerly direction by the 
mounts of Lyonnais and Beaujolais. While on the whole elliptical in its 
outline, the Central Plateau is prolonged into two spurs of much the 
same constitution : the Morvan to the north, and the Montagne Noire to 
the south, approaching very near to the Pyrenees. 

Geological History of the Central Plateau. — The Central 
Plateau is the very nucleus of France. Early in Palaeozoic times it stood 
as an island, round which sediments were accumulating. Of varying size, 
according to the oscillations of the crust, it has persisted as a prominent 
feature through the whole range of geological evolution. Only near the 

middle of the Tertiary 
period it was broken 
by two fractures, from 
north to south, leading 
to the formation of 
Tertiary lakes, the 
floors of which are 
now occupied by the 
plains of the Limagne 
and Forez, with an 
elevated Archaean 
ridge intervening be- 
tween the two. By 
the light of the geo- 
logical and topo- 
graphical relations 
which prevail in the 
Central Plateau we 
may believe that, near 
the end of the Tertiary 
ranges period, it ought to 


Primary 

imiu 111 1 

have been reduced to 
the condition of a 
peneplain, on the average not much above sea-level, with old rivers 
meandering on its surface. But when, as a consequence of the Alpine 
movements, the plateau was tilted as a whole from south-east to north-west, 
the rivers had to excavate canyons on the site of their old valleys, while 
volcanic activity asserted itself through the fissures of the now fractured 
Archaean mass. 

Rivers of the Central Plateau. — Thus it is easily understood 
why, notwithstanding the actual dome-like shape of the country, which is 
entirely due to late volcanic accumulations, the rivers do not diverge out- 
wards in all directions from a common centre as they flow. Only two 
directions now prevail : the one south and north, the other east and west. 



V V V 
V V 
v V V 


Archaean 




Fig. 1 1 8 . — The Physical Structure of France. 





France 


235 


Both were acquired before the tilting was inaugurated. So the main 
lines of river-flow are inherited from the time when the flat Archaean 
mass divided the French region into two parts, one sloping towards a 
northern sea, the other towards the southern belt of waters. This 
conclusion is strengthened by another characteristic feature of western 
France. With the single exception of the Loire, no river comes from 
the eastern boundaries of the country to the Atlantic. The courses 
of the Vienne, of the Mayenne, of the Orne, clearly show that there is a 
marked tendency on the part of the rivers to follow the eastern limit of the 
Armorican region, which embraces Vendee, Brittany and Cotentin. And, 
in fact, this region, entirely made up of tilted and upturned Palaeozoic 
sediments, was an island early in Mesozoic times, while between it and the 
Central Plateau stretched the so-called Strait of Poitou. 

The Paris Basin. — The western highland extended far to the 
west, and was united with British Cornwall ; the present state of things 
being due to long-continued erosion by waves and currents. At the 
same time, the similar Palaeozoic land of the Ardennes became uplifted, 
while some islands were rising on the site of the Vosges. Thus, this 
series of emerged lands encircled a nearly closed trough of sedimenta- 
tion, the Anglo-Parisian Basin, and it has been the work of Mesozoic and 
Tertiary times, to fill up this trough with various sediments by the dis- 
integration of surrounding regions. When, about the middle of the 
Tertiary period, this work had been completed, and the Oligocene Sea 
vanished, there remained in the centre a large lake, the lake of the Beauce, 
to which rivers flowed chiefly from the north-east, east and south. But 
the lake was emptied, while its floor was raised in the north-east during 
Miocene times, and a large trough was opened between Vendee and 
Brittany, allowing the sea-waves to encroach as far as the vicinity of Blois. 
Therefore the Loire, formerly a tributary of the lake, abruptly turned 
west, forcing in the same direction the lower courses of the Cher, Indre, 
Creuse, and Vienne. Meanwhile the eastern drainage, that of the Moselle 
and of the Meuse, found an outlet to the north through the more lately 
elevated highland. But the central and south-eastern parts of the basin 
were sending their waters directly to the English Channel, the old meander- 
ing Seine maintaining its course by a continuous process of cutting through 
the recently elevated plateau of Normandy. 

The Pyrenean Region.— Till the close of the Eocene period, the 
southern slopes of the Central Plateau were drained into a southern sea, 
which stretched continuously from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean 
waters. At that time there was no chain of the Pyrenees, and while the 
northern basin was submitted to the ever-changing conditions of an 
enclosed area of sedimentation, in the southern area pelagic influences 
prevailed, resulting in a quite different and much more uniform type of 
deposits and fossils. But when the Pyrenees begun to be uplifted, the 
spur of the Montagne Noire soon was united with the foot of the newly 
17 


236 The International Geography 

elevated mountain. Therefore the south-western slope of the Central 
Plateau, together with the Pyrenees, outlined a large gulf, that of Aquitaine, 
progressively filled up with marine, brackish, fresh water, and fluvio-glacial 
deposits. Thus were laid down the large and uniform plains, whose 
drainage is now concentrated in the Garonne, and which terminate in 
the great alluvial fan of the Landes. 

South-Eastern France. — The south-east of France long remained 
under the western end of the Alpino-Mediterranean Sea, which, through 
the Strait of the Cote d’Or, remained in communication with the Paris Basin 
till the end of the Cretaceous period. Then the land was raised between 
Morvan and the Vosges, while the present valley of the Saone was 
depressed and finally became the lake of the Bresse. Meanwhile the Jura 
and the Western Alps were rising in crowded folds, so that between the 
outer folds and the linearly lifted border of the Central Plateau, there 
remained a Rhodanian depression. When Tertiary times came to an end, 
the Pliocene Sea, which had penetrated through this depression to the 
neighbourhood of Lyons, left the country, and its bed gave issue to the 
waters of the Rhone, which had forced their way through the weakest spot 
between the Jura and the Alps. 

Surface and Soils of France. — In accordance with its geological 
evolution, which has been so complete and continuous as to give rise to 
representatives of every epoch, the surface of France exhibits an unusual 
variety of composition. While the Central Plateau, with the exception of 
the volcanic accumulations, is almost entirely composed of crystalline 
schists, which give an infertile soil, the old Armorican land is not much 
better endowed on account of the prevalence of silicious, schistose, and 
limeless deposits. Nevertheless, the frequent alternation of slates, grits, 
granites and schists, in long, narrow bands, where the harder rocks 
project in ridges, makes the country look much less monotonous than the 
Limousin. 

The richest parts of France are to be sought for in the Paris Basin, 
where the different kinds of soil, though very numerous, have been 
distributed with great regularity. As the filling up of the basin has, on 
the whole, progressed from the rim towards the centre, each geological 
period being marked by peculiar sorts of deposits ; as, moreover, the 
tilting of the lately emerged land took place towards the north-east, 
east, and south-east, the successive sheets of sediments, formerly buried 
under one another, are now exposed rising towards the borderlands 
on the east. Therefore they crop out, one after the other, as con- 
centric girdles. Under the influence of running water, the softer parts 
in each girdle have been progressively removed on the edges, laying 
bare the flat surface of the more resisting ground. Now the traveller, 
going from Paris towards the east or north-east, walks over gently 
rising plains, each of which ends abruptly in a scarp facing eastward. 
The upper part of the scarp consists of a harder stratum, while at the 


France 


237 


foot the softer layers, the dispersion of which has given rise to the cliff, 
are trenched. As the development of this structure proceeded pari passu 
with the general uplifting of the old lake-floor, the chief rivers had to cut 
their way through the mass of the growing cliffs, where they now run on 
the floor of deep trenches. Every scarp-line constitutes a military front 
of defence, where the weak points are the entrances of the valleys. 

According to the nature of the outcropping sediments, as well as to the 
more or less advanced rate of dispersion of the projecting tongues of the 
dissected scarps, the successive girdles are marked by contrasting land- 
scapes, where every sort of land is to be found. Dry and pervious table- 
lands of compact limestones, with rare but well-fed watercourses (Barrois, 
Bassigny), alternate many times with low and argillaceous belts, covered 
with grass and crowded with forests, where plenty of rivulets furrow the 
ground, but only during the wet season (so-called wet Champagne). When, 
a sandy girdle has been passed, another is met, the earth of which is 
especially fitted for agricultural purposes (Valois, Vexin, Brie), till a new 
belt of smooth and bare hills is reached, where the white chalk is to be 
seen many hundred yards in thickness (Champagne, Picardie). 

Thus the numerous “pays” of the Paris Basin, strongly contrasting 
with each other in a cross section of the whole, keep, on the contrary, very 
constant characters along the direction of the concentric belts. The 
striking variety which they exhibit is due to the ever-changing conditions 
of sedimentation which prevailed, during geological times, in such a 
limited basin, and has been enhanced by the local deformations which the 
different parts of the country may have independently undergone. 

Elevation of France. — The mean height of France averages some 
1,000 feet, but more than one-half of the country (that is, the western 
portion) remains much below 650 feet ; there being only small patches of 
higher ground between Paris and the western seas, in any direction, and 
only one of these, in the hills of Normandy, stands a little over 1,300 feet. 

The chief relief is concentrated in definite lines : (1) in the great and 
abrupt wall of the Pyrenees , the crest of which maintains an elevation 
between 6,500 and 10,000 feet ; (2) in the eastern border of the Central 
Plateau ; (3) in the Western Alps, highly complicated, and culminating over 
I 3,° o ° feet in Mont Blanc and Pelvoux ; (4) in the parallel and arched 
ridges of the Jura , growing from west to east, till the terminal crest is 
reached, which directly faces the plains of Switzerland in some summits of 
5,500 feet ; (5) in the linear crest of the Vosges, with peaks from 4,000 to 
4,600 feet, and a rather gentle slope towards Lorraine ; (6) in the elevated 
border of the highland of the Ardennes, where some points of the levelled 
peneplain are over 1,300 feet. To which must be added the high table- 
land of Langres, which at 1,600 feet bridges over the space between 
Morvan and the Vosges, serving as a south-eastern divide for the Paris 
Basin, on the very spot where the Jurassic and Cretaceous waters of the 
same basin mingled in bygone epochs with the waves of Alpine seas. 


238 The International Geography 

Climate. — Thanks to such a disposition, the climate of France is a 
temperate one. As the true mountains of the land are all located on the 
eastern border, the warm and moist winds from the west, which prevail 
for the most part, are not stopped by any obstacle before they reach the 
highest summits. Nevertheless, on account of the neighbourhood of the 
snowfields of Switzerland and of the continental plains of Germany, the 
range of the thermometer is rather large, the minimum in some years 
reaching 13 0 F. in Paris, while in summer the thermometer rises there to 
95 0 F. in the shade. Sometimes the fall and rise of temperature succeed 
each other very rapidly. 

The great differences of altitude (the highest peak of Europe, Mont 
Blanc, 15,800 feet, belongs to France), cause every kind of climate to be 
encountered, from the mouth of the Loire, where frost is almost unknown, 

. to the perpetual snows of the Alps, with the intervening high plateaux of 

the Cevennes where, during many months, 
a bitter wind is constantly blowing. The 
mean annual rainfall for the whole of France 
amounts to 29^ inches, varying from a 
minimum of under 19^ inches on the Medi- 
terranean coast from Perpignan to Narbonne, 
and 19^ to 23^- inches in the region between 
Le Mans and Reims, to a maximum of 71 
inches which is reached on the western 

Fig. 1 19 Curves oj Mean Monthly corner of the Pyrenees, while on the Mont 

Rainfall and Temperature for Paris D 0 re, Cantal, Morvan and Vosges the rainfall 
and Marseilles. . 0 

is little over 60 inches. The general dis- 
tribution of rainfall may be seen on the map of rainfall of Europe in 

Fi g- 53- 

Mineral Resources. — France has been very poorly endowed with 
precious metals ; iron ore is rather abundant, especially in the state of 
oolitic layers. The coal-fields, though numerous and scattered, are not 
sufficient to prevent the necessity of importing from abroad. The 
country is exceptionally rich in building stones : either products of 
internal activity, like the granites of Brittany, Normandy, and the 
Central Plateau ; the trachytes and lavas of Auvergne, the porphyries of 
Esterel, or consolidated sediments of the various geological epochs. For 
examples of the latter kind we may mention the marbles and roofing slate 
of the Palaeozoic deposits; the Jurassic limestones, mostly oolitic, which 
are nowadays extensively quarried in Lorraine, Burgundy, Berry, Poitou, 
Lyonnais, &c.; the fire-clays of the lower Cretaceous formation ; the 
tufaceous chalk of Touraine ; the building-stones of the so-called rough 
limestone, so largely developed in the neighbourhood of Paris ; the 
travertines, plaster-stones, silicious millstones, and gritty paving-stones of 
the same basin ; and the calcareous molasse of Provence. 

Volcanic activity has now entirely disappeared from the country, and 



France 


239 


since historic times not the slightest eruption has taken place in Auvergne, 
where the freshness of the craters and volcanic cinder-cones bears testi- 
mony that internal fires must have found vent not many centuries before 
the settlement of the district. But in many parts of France, and always in 
association with the remnants of extinct vulcanism, or with the manifesta- 
tion of recent displacements of the crust, there are to be found thermo- 
mineral springs, successfully used for curative purposes. They occur 
along the foot of the Pyrenees, round the old eruptive centres of 
Auvergne, in the Alps, the Vosges, and on the fractured rim of the 
M or van. 

Flora and Fauna. — As France is everywhere in free communication 
with adjoining countries, its fauna does not essentially differ from that of 
western and central Europe. But, owing to the want of extensive forest- 
lands or mountain masses, the range of wild animals is becoming smaller, 
they being now for the most part artificially protected for sport. 

The flora is a rich one, on account of the great differences of climate, 
according to varying altitude and exposure. As the high mountains of the 
country generally face westward, that is seaward, their slopes enjoy better 
conditions than they could have done if turned eastward. Thanks to its 
special situation the south-eastern corner of France, called Provence, is the 
very garden of the country. There eucalyptus, introduced from Australia, 
is thriving, as well as the native olive and mulberry. For the remainder of 
the land oak, beech, lime-tree, yoke-elm, and the various sorts of maple- 
trees are the prevalent forest species, pine and fir being confined to 
mountains or to sandy grounds. With the exception of the mountainous 
parts, peat is to be found only to the north of Paris. The productions of the 
country are in accordance with the diversity of physical conditions. 
From the wind-swept downs of the North Sea to the “azure coast,” 
where a vegetation of almost tropical character thrives on the sun- 
glistening slope of the Southern Alps ; from the vineyards of the Medoc 
or the Cote d’Or to the Alpine woods and pastures below the perpetual 
snows; from the blooming grasses of Normandy to the desolate plateaux 
of the Causses every type of vegetation or cultivation is represented. 

II.— GENERAL GEOGRAPHY 

By Professor L. Raveneau , 1 

Of the “ Annates de Geographic Paris. 

People and Language. — The French people, like the English or the 
German, is made up of several races. In passing from Flanders through 
Paris and Poitou to the Gironde one can recognise amongst the people the 
essential features of the Gauls ; they are typically fair-haired, tall, and long- 
headed (dolichocephalic). In the west of France, Vendee, Anjou, Maine, 


1 Translated from the French by the Editor. 


240 The International Geography 

and Brittany, and on the Central Plateau in the heart of Caesar’s Celtica, 
the people have, as a rule, dark hair, and are short and thick-set with broad 
heads (brachycephalic), representing a much earlier invasion which had 
evicted the yet more ancient reindeer hunters and the remnants of the 
Quaternary races. In the Mediterranean region in the south-east and in 
Aquitaine in the south-west there are traces of the early Ligurian and 
Iberian peoples. Migrations which are still going on within the country 
have brought about a general fusion of all these races into one fairly 
homogeneous general type. 

The Gauls, when conquered by the Romans, forgot their own language 
and adopted Latin, from the popular form of which the new French 
language gradually formed itself. The language had taken shape by the 
twelfth century — about the time when France acquired a national existence ; 
but it appeared in two dialects, the northern or langue d'oil ( oil— oui= 
yes) and the southern or langue d’oc ( oc= oui== yes). The dialect of the 
lie de France and of Touraine, which was spoken by the kings, gradually 
superseded the other dialects of the langue d'oil in the north, but was not 
received with the same readiness in the south where some dialects of the 
langue d'oc , Provengal amongst others, are still spoken. The French 
language is used beyond the political limits of France ; the Walloon dialect 
is spoken throughout the whole of southern Belgium, and even in a corner 
of Prussia (Malmedy) ; it is also spoken in part of Lorraine, annexed to 
Germany in 1871, in several cantons of Switzerland, and in the high valleys 
of the Italian Alps. On the other hand the Flemish language encroaches 
upon the northern part of the department of the Nord, and Italian dialects 
are spoken in part of the Alpes-Maritimes and Corsica. Most of the 
inhabitants of the Pyrenees-Orientales still speak the Catalan language. 
At the western end of the Pyrenees the French Basques, who differ 
anthropologically from the much more numerous Basques of Spain, speak 
the same Euskarian language, the origin of which baffles the researches 
of philologists. Finally, in lower Brittany the Keltic language in four 
dialects is used by the peasants living to the west of a line drawn from 
the river Vilaine to Chatelaudren. 

Territorial Growth. — Neither community of race nor of language 
would have sufficed to form the nation ; two other forces were necessary, 
a line of kings working for centuries to build up the provinces into one 
country, and a devoted people supporting their royal leaders without stint 
of money or life. At the time when the Duke of Normandy conquered 
England in 1066 his suzerain, the King of France, only possessed in his own 
right Valois, lie de France and Orleanais. In the following century, as by 
the turn of a tide, England occupied the whole Atlantic coast of France, 
and for a time the French king was nothing more than King of Bourges. 
Jeanne d’Arc and Charles VII. recovered the territory, but Calais, the key 
of the Channel, was held by the English for another century. Interrupted 
by the chivalrous epic of the expeditions into Italy and by the sanguinary 


France 


241 


interlude of the religious wars, the policy of territorial consolidation was 
revived by Henry IV. Richelieu and Mazarin added to France the “four 
nations ” : Roussillon, Piemont (Pignerol), Alsace and Artois in 1648 to 1659. 
Under the personal reign of Louis XIV. the frontier reached the Alps at 
Barcelonnette in 1713 (the possessions beyond the Alps had been given 
up in 1697) ; it had already advanced towards Switzerland, incorporating 
Franche Comte in 1678, and towards the Spanish Netherlands, encroaching 
on Flanders in 1668. Louis XV. acquired an enclave , Lorraine, in 1766, and 
annexed Corsica in 1768. The Treaty of 1 8 14 left to France the enclaves which 
had been suppressed during the Revolution (Comtat Venaissin, Miihlhausen, 
Montbeliard), but required the restoration of the fruits of Napoleon’s 
conquests in Belgium, Holland, Germany (Hamburg), Switzerland (Geneva), 
and Italy (Rome). France gave up Savoy and Nice, gained during the 
Republic, and only touched the Rhine through Alsace. The Treaty of 1815 
broke into the northern frontier by the loss of Philippeville, Marienburg, 
and Landau. As a reward for the part taken by France in securing the 
unity of Italy Napoleon III. recovered the departments of Savoy and Nice, 
the inhabitants of which ratified their change of nationality by a popular 
vote. The war with Germany and the Treaty of 
Frankfort in 1871 threw back the French frontier 
to the crest of the Vosges, and Alsace and Lorraine 
were incorporated without the consultation of the 
inhabitants as an Imperial Territory of the German 
Empire. 

Government. — Since 1871 in fact, and since 
1875 by law, the form of government in France 
has been that of a constitutional republic. The 
Chamber of Deputies , elected directly by universal male suffrage, and the 
Senate nominated by a special electorate, exercise legislative powers, and 
united in Congress they elect the President of the Republic who exercises the 
executive authority through responsible Ministers. The democratic spirit 
of the country assures to all free education and the right of voting, and 
imposes in return compulsory personal military service. All religions are 
tolerated and the State allows an annual subsidy to Roman Catholic, 
Protestant, and Jewish ministers. The majority of the people are Roman 
Catholics. 

Administrative Divisions. — In 1790 the National Assembly sub- 
stituted for the old French provinces 83 departments. This number was 
raised to 89 by the creation of Vaucluse, the splitting of Rhone-et-Loire, 
the formation of Tarn-et-Garonne, the annexation of the two departments 
of Savoy and the Alpes-Maritimes ; and since 1871 it has been reduced to 
86 by the cession of the whole Bas-Rhin, of the Moselle, with the exception 
of the arrondissement of Briey (which was united to Meurthe to form 
Meurthe-et-Moselle) and of Haut-Rhin with the exception of the territory 
of Belfort. At the head of each department Napoleon placed a Prefect as 



Flag. 


242 The International Geography 

an agent of the central authority, and at the head of the arrondissement a 
sub-prefect. Each of the 36,000 communes , except Paris, is administered 
by an elected mayor. 

A larger, more elastic, and more geographical division is tending 
gradually to be superimposed upon the departments. This is the Region , 
represented by the ecclesiastical division which the National Assembly had 
adapted to the departments, and also used by the Courts of Appeal and the 
Academies instituted by Napoleon, by the Army Corps (for which there 
are 19 regions including Algeria, created in 1872) and finally by the Univer- 
sities, to which the State has recently restored liberty and vitality. 

Movements of the Population. — The population increases very 
slowly ; from 1872 to 1901 the total increase was not so much as 3,000,000, 
while in the same period the population of Germany had increased by 
more than 18,000,000. While the French Canadians continue to increase 
perhaps more rapidly than any other civilised people, the birth-rate in 
France itself has fallen lower than that of any other country in Europe. 
The increase, such as it is, results not from the general growth of the 

population but from the exceptional increase in a few 
departments. From 1846 to 1896 the five depart- 
ments of Seine, Nord, Rhone, Loire, and Bouches- 
du-Rhone, showed an increase greater than the 
average for France ; a large number of departments 
have remained stationary, while those of Normandy 
and of the basin of the Garonne show a marked 
diminution. Different parts of France exhibit im- 
portant movements of the population in the form of 
temporary removals, such as the exodus of people 
from the Central Plateau or the Alps to Paris, 
Lyons and Marseilles for work with the prospect of returning, and 
also of permanent displacement. The population of the department 
of the Seine in 1896 was made up of people coming from other parts 
of the country to the extent of 56 per cent. The rural population, 
that is to say people living in communes which do not contain an 
aggregation of more than 2,000 inhabitants, is diminishing, while the 
urban population increases ; thus the rural population amounted to 75 
per cent, of the whole in 1846, but only to 61 per cent, in 1896. The 
population of 34,000 purely rural communes is diminishing to the profit of 
from 400 to 500 towns ; the number of towns with a population exceeding 
30,000 has increased from 54 in 1886 to 69 in 1901. These currents of internal 
migration cross and at some points mix with those of immigration. Between 
1851 and 1891 the number of foreigners living in France increased by 200 
per cent., and in the latter year exceeded a million. Foreigners are very 
numerous in the large towns and in the departments near the frontiers, 
forming, for instance, one quarter of the population of the arrondissement 
of Lille, and concentrating in two places in the interior, at lie de France 


♦ ♦♦♦♦*♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 




FiG. 12 1 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square 
mile of France. 


France 


243 


and Adour-Garonne. A law passed in 1889 facilitates naturalisation, and 
provides that the children born in France of foreign parents who were 
themselves born in the country are by birth French citizens. 

There is at present but little emigration from France, and figures can 
hardly be given (say about 10,000 per annum). The people of the Basses- 
Alpes emigrate to Mexico where they are known as Barcelonnettes, the 
Basques habitually make their way to the Plata States, and people from 
the Mediterranean coasts have established themselves as vine-growers in 
Algeria. It is estimated that half a million French citizens live in foreign 
countries. 

Agriculture. — Half the total surface of France is made up of arable 
land, and almost half the working population (46 per cent.) is occupied in 
agriculture. Peasant proprietors are very numerous and cultivate their land 
with tireless assiduity. Agricultural societies are gradually extending the 
use of fertilising agents and the employment of scientific methods. 
Although the greater part of the arable land (58 per cent.) is devoted to the 
growth of cereals, and produces annually from 300 to 330 million bushels of 
wheat (nearly 19 bushels per acre on the average), the French, being great 
eaters of white bread, require, when the harvest is poor, to import wheat 
from the United States and Russia. Maize, for which a moist and warm 
climate is necessary, grows mainly in the basin of Aquitaine ; barley associ- 
ated with hops supplies many breweries in the north and east, and beetroot, 
cultivated on a large scale in the plains of Flanders, Picardy, Brie, Beauce 
and Limagne, is used for the production of alcohol in distilleries attached 
to the farms, or for the manufacture of sugar in sugar-mills. While the 
work on large farms tends more and more to assume an industrial character, 
the market gardens of Provence, Agenais, and Anjou supply fruit to the 
markets of Paris, and the early produce of Brittany (the Golden Belt) is 
also largely exported to London. Horse and cattle breeding is an 
important branch of farming on the coast of Flanders, the pastures of the 
Pays d’Auge, the meadows of Perche, Bocage of Vendee, and the “ pres 
d'embouche ” of Nivernais and Charolais. Sheep are largely kept on the dry 
pastures of Champagne Pouilleuse and of the Causses, those of Crau are 
fed in summer on the mountain pastures of the Alps and of the Cevennes, 
as is the custom in Spain and Italy. Dairy-farming and cheese-making 
prosper in Boulonnais, Bray (Neufchatel), Lower Normandy (Camembert), 
Brittany (Prevalaye), the Central Plateau (Roquefort) and the Jura. 

The vine was formerly cultivated as far north as the shores of the 
Channel, and in Champagne it is still grown north of lat. 49 0 , but otherwise 
its real importance is now confined to the valleys of the Saone (Cote 
d’Or and Maconnais) and the Rhone, to Lower Languedoc and Bordelais, 
whence there has been a regular export of wine to England since the 
Hundred Years' War. The production of wine in France is greater than 
that in Italy or Spain, although it has been very seriously affected by the 
phylloxera pest ; a production of 1,850 million gallons in 1875 having been 
18 


244 The International Geography 

reduced to 550 million gallons in 1887 ; but the vineyards have now been 
restored by the introduction of American plants, and in 1900 the production 
of wine in France exceeded 1,500 million gallons. The vine is associated 
in the valley of the Rhone with the mulberry, employed for rearing silk- 
worms, in Provence with the olive, and in the neighbourhood of Nice with, 
the orange. 

Industry. — Mineral and textile industries support one quarter of the 
population, but France is far from being so favoured as Great Britain in 
this respect ; its output of 33 million tons of coal (in 1900) is insufficient, 
and an annual import of from 12 to 15 million tons from England, Belgium 
and Germany is required. The numerous coal-fields include the group of the 
Nord and the Pas-de- Calais, which yield 60 per cent, of the total production, 
and those of the Loire (St. Etienne), Burgundy and Nivernais (Le Creusot), 

Gard (Alais), Tarn and Aveyron 
(Aubin, Carmaux), and Bourbon- 
nais (Commentry). Altogether 
140,000 workmen are employed in 
coal mines. The average price of 
the coal at the pit mouth varies 
from 7s. 6d. per ton in the northern 
coal-fields to ns. per ton in the 
Loire field ; but on account of the 
cost of transport the price as sold 
in the department of Haute-Vienne 
is increased to 29s. per ton, a fact 
which acts prejudicially on the 
manufactures of districts far from 
the coal-fields. The coal produc- 
tion of France is shown graphically 
in Fig. 70. Iron ore is largely ex- 
tracted from the oolitic rocks at 
Nancy and Briey, the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle yielding nine- 
tenths of the iron raised in France, and in the Oolite of Champagne 
(Vassy) ; some iron is also produced in Franche-Comte and the Pyrenees. 
The production of cast-iron, wrought-iron and steel exceeded five million 
tons in 1900, most of it being produced in Meurthe-et-Moselle, at Le 
Creusot, the rival of Essen in Germany and Seraing in Belgium, and at 
Fives-Lille. Building materials and other mineral products are obtained 
by quarrying. The more important are marble from the Pyrenees, 
building stones from Lorraine, Burgundy, Berry, and Bordelais, mill-stones 
and hydraulic cement from Ardeche, plaster from the neighbourhood of 
Paris, as well as phosphate of lime (Somme and Pas-de-Calais), and marl. 

Textile industries flourish most in the neighbourhood of coal-fields and 
near the supply of raw materials. With the coal-field of the Nord the 
spinning and weaving of linen, hemp, jute, and cotton are closely associated. 



France 


245 


On the other coal-fields, St. Etienne manufactures ribbons, Roanne cotton 
cloth, and Lyons is the queen of the silk trade. The old Norman weaving 
industry is now represented by the cloths of Elbeuf and Louviers, and 
the cottons of Rouen. Some industries have grouped themselves near 
waterfalls on the slopes of the Vosges (cotton- weaving) ; in the valley of 
the I sere, where there are paper-works and glove factories at Grenoble 
and Voiron ; along the banks of large rivers of pure water, such as the 
Charente with the gun-factory of Ruelle and the paper-works of Angou- 
leme, and of the Essonnes with the paper- works and flour-mills of Essonnes 
and Corbeil. Historical reasons and industrial tradition have as much 
to do as geographical conditions in explaining the woollen industries of 
Champagne (Reims), and Languedoc (Mazamet), the cloths of Sedan, the 
porcelain of Sevres and 
Limoges, the carpets of 
Gobelins, Beauvais, and 
Aubusson, the mirrors of 
St. Gobain, and the crys- 
tal of Baccarat. 

Means of Com- 
munication. — Trans- 
port and trade furnish a 
livelihood to 13 per cent, 
of the population. The 
means of communication 
comprise a close net- 
work of roads which are 
regarded with just pride ; 
these comprise the na- 
tional high roads, the mag- 
nificent engineering of 
which is a heritage from 
ancient France, depart- 
mental roads and parish roads. The expansion of railways has thrown 
undeserved discredit on the old roads which, after all, are their natural 
tributaries. Steam tramways and motor cars, not to speak of bicycles, have, 
however, led to an increase of road traffic, which produces its effect on the 
national statistics. 

Waterways. — The rivers, whose harmonious arrangement had attracted 
the attention of Strabo, have been regulated and deepened so as to render 
their current more uniform and permanent. A depth of nearly 7 feet now 
prevails in more than a quarter of the rivers used for navigation. Engineers 
have made projects for improving the sluggish and capricious Loire, and 
they have overcome in part the rapid current of the Rhone, for although 
the ascent of that river is always difficult it is descended by numerous 
vessels. In the north of France the triumph of the engineers is complete. 



Fig. 123 . — The Rivers and Canals of France. 


246 The International Geography 

Works carried on between 1878 and 1886 have established a depth of water 
exceeding 10 feet on the Seine between Paris and Rouen, and the traffic on 
that section has doubled in less than 20 years. Paris has become the 
principal port of France, and although, strictly speaking, it cannot be termed 
a seaport, it yet maintains regular direct communication with such places 
as Nantes and London. The natural waterways are supplemented by an 
excellent system of canals, the best of which are those of the north and 
east of France, but one-half of the canals in the country have a depth 
exceeding 6^ feet. Water transport has been rendered more and more 
economical by the introduction of steam traction, and of such modern 
developments as electric power in the tunnel of the Burgundy canal, and 
hydraulic lifts at Fontinettes on the Neuffosse. Forty-two per cent, of the 
mineral fuel for Paris is brought into the city by water. The system is of 
particular service in facilitating the exchange of heavy and bulky products 
between the north and east by the canals which join the Oise to the Marne 
and the Rhine, coal coming from the north, cast-iron and iron-ore from the 
east. The recently constructed Eastern Canal, and the canals joining the 
Marne to the Saone and the Doubs, which are on the point of completion, 
unite Franche-Comte to Champagne and Flanders. The canal of Briare, 
the first canal with level reaches which was constructed in France, and the 
Central Canal with their branches form important arteries of traffic between 
Paris, Montlugon, Roanne, and Chalon-sur-Saone. 

Railways. — The railway system converges on Paris even more con- 
spicuously than do the roads and canals, and each company's lines radiating 
from Paris serves a separate sector of France ; the cross lines as a rule have 
only moderate traffic except the sections from Dunkirk to Nancy, from 
Amiens to Chalons and Chaumont, from Caen to Le Mans by Alengon, from 
Tours to Vierzon and Chalon-sur-Saone, and from Bordeaux to Cette. 

The Northern Railway ( Cliemin de Fer du Nord), with a total extent of 
2,300 miles, covers a small territory with a close network ; its traffic is 
proportionally greater than that of the other lines as it serves a very fertile, 
populous, and industrial region. On this system Lille is 153 miles, or 3 
hours, from Paris ; Brussels 193 miles, or 4^ hours ; Berlin 665 miles, or 
18 hours, and the distance of 1,680 miles to St. Petersburg is covered in 48 
hours by the Northern Express. Only 7 hours are required for the journey 
from Paris to London by Calais and Dover, or by Boulogne and Folkestone, 
and the Northern Railway is the link connecting Great Britain, by the 
shortest sea-passage, through Paris with all parts of Europe. Special 
through trains connect Calais with Basel in 14 hours via Chalons-Chau- 
mont ; with Nice via Paris in 20 hours, and with Brindisi, the port of the 
Far Eastern mails, via Paris and Modane in 40 hours. The section of the 
Northern Railway between Amiens and Paris is one of the busiest in 
Europe, and some of the international trains travel over it at the remarkably 
high average rate of 56 miles an hour. 

The Eastern Railway (Chemin de Fer de l } Est ), has a system of 2,900 miles 


France 


247 


Dunkirk 


THE RAILWAYS 
F, R A MC E 


of line. By Nancy, it connects with the south of Germany and Austria 
(Vienna 870 miles in 22 hours). The Oriental Express runs from Paris to 
Constantinople, a distance of 1,900 miles in 62 hours. Another line by Chau- 
mont and Belfort communicates with Switzerland, reaching Basel in nine 
hours, and Milan by the St. Gothard tunnel in 18 hours from Paris. 

The Paris Lyons and Mediterranean Railway {Chemin de Fer Paris-Lyon - 
Mediterranee, or shortly P.-L.-M.) is the largest system in France, serving 
the greatest area, and with a total length of 5,400 miles of line. The 
importance of this great central artery of trade, which follows the old 
natural route formed by the valleys of the Yonne, the Saone, and the Rhone, 
is explained by the diversity of the districts which it unites, and the variety 
of the productions 
which it transports; 
the busiest section 
of the line is that 
between Lyons and 
the sea. The prin- 
cipal line unites 
Paris and Mar- 
seilles, a distance 
of 537 miles, tra- 
versed in 12 hours ; 
it passes through 
Dijon, Lyons, and 
Tarascon, the junc- 
tion for Nimes, 
whence trains run 
on the lines of the 
Southern Company 
to Cette, and thus 
to Barcelona, 754 
miles from Paris, 
reached in 23 hours. 

This system sends 
two lines to Switzerland ; one from Dijon by Pontarlier to Lausanne, 
and the other from Macon to Geneva. Two lines also go to Italy ; one 



Fig. 124 . — The French Railway System. The breadth of the 
lines indicates the volume of traffic. 


by Macon, Modane, and the Frejus (Mt. Cenis) tunnel to Turin and on to 
Rome, a distance of 910 miles, traversed in 29 hours from Paris. The 
second line runs along the coast of the Mediterranean from Marseilles. 

The Paris-Orleans Railway {Chemin de fer Pari s-Orl cans) and the Southern 
Railway {Chemin de fer du Midi) meet at several places, and, unlike most of 
the French lines, one occasionally penetrates the territory of the other. 
They connect the Spanish railway system with the French by one line 
round the eastern, and another round the western extremity of the Pyre- 
nees. The most important section of this system is that through Orleans 



248 The International Geography 

and Tours to Bordeaux, 363 miles, traversed in 7 hours. This journey can 
also be made by the State Railway (Chemin de fer de FEtat), via Chartres 
and Niort. The Southern Express from Paris by Bordeaux reaches Madrid, 
a distance of 900 miles, in 27 hours. Another line connects Paris with 
Limoges and Toulouse. The lines of the Orleans company have a total 
length of 4,300 miles, those of the Southern company 2,100 miles, and 
those of the State Railway 1,750 miles. The Neussargues-Beziers line 
traverses the Central Plateau by a series of great engineering works 
including the viaduct of Garabit. The departments of the Charentes and 
Vendee are served by the State Railway, while the districts of Anjou and 
southern Brittany have the advantage of the rivalry between the Orleans 
and the Western companies. 

The Western Railway (Chemin de fer de I'Ouest, 3,500 miles), runs from 
Paris to Brest, a distance of 387 miles, accomplished in 11 hours ; but this 
line is only important as far as Rennes. Other lines run to Granville and 
Cherbourg, but the heaviest traffic of the system is carried on in the 
neighbourhood of Paris, and on the great artery of trade running from 
Paris to Rouen, and terminating at Havre (141 miles, covered in 3 hours) 
and Dieppe, the latter on the route to London via Newhaven. 

Ocean Routes and Commerce. — The railways bring Paris into 
touch with the great lines of ocean steamers. The Messageries Maritimes 
unite Marseilles with the ports of the Mediterranean, and through the 
Suez Canal with Madagascar, Indo-China, Japan, Australia, and New 
Caledonia (in 37 days). From Bordeaux steamers of this line touch at 
Lisbon and go on to Dakar in West Africa, or to Rio de Janeiro in 16 days, 
and to Buenos Aires in 21 days. The Compagnie Generate Transatl antique 
runs from Marseilles to Algiers in 24 hours, from St. Nazaire to Colon and 
Vera Cruz, and from Havre to New York (7 days). 

The mercantile marine of France is declining ; not from the want of 
sailors, for the fisheries on the coast and in distant seas rear a vigorous 
race on the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Channel ; but because 
the seaports have not been improved in an adequate manner, and on 
account of the difficulty which vessels landing large cargoes find in obtain- 
ing an adequate return freight. France, in fact, imports more than she 
exports, just as she receives more foreigners than she sends out emigrants. 
The imports as a rule consist of raw materials for manufactures which are in 
general bulky : coal from the United Kingdom, copper from Chile, flax 
and hemp from Russia, jute from India, cotton from the United States, 
raw silk from the Levant and the Far East, wool and hides from the 
Cape, Australia and the Plata, wood from Norway and from America. 
The principal food-products imported are grain from Russia and the 
United States, and coffee from Brazil. The exports include agricultural 
produce such as wine, fruit, butter and cheese, but consist mainly of manu- 
factured articles of small weight and high price, too expensive indeed for 
customers who in all countries are more and more demanding cheaper and 


France 


249 


plainer goods ; they consist mainly of fine woollen cloth, silk, cotton, and 
the innumerable artistic manufactures known as articles de Paris. The 
fluctuations of the total trade of France are shown graphically in Fig. 71. 

Regions and Towns of the North. — France possesses three 
important seaports in the North Sea and on the Channel. Dunkirk pre- 
sents its deep and commodious harbour to ships from the north, between 
a flat shore bordered by dunes and the watery plain of the Wateringues. 
Near a repellant line of chalk cliffs the triple town of Calais stretches along 
the shore, comprising the port with its immense passenger traffic, the 
fortified town, and the industrial St. Pierre-les-Calais. Boulogne lies un- 
obtrusively on a little estuary amongst meadows. The relief of the country 
behind these seaports is as undecided as the political frontier which was 
gained at Lens and saved at Denain. The character of the populous towms 
of the north still exhibits the old 
Spanish pride softened by the wider 
municipal spirit of Flanders. Lille 
has been, thanks to Vauban, the 
principal fortress of the north, and 
it is now the first post in the great 
line of frontier fortifications which, 
with some gaps protected by the 
second line of defence, stretches as 
far as Belfort (see Fig. 48). The 
Black Country of Belgium seems 
to be prolonged underground to 
the mining district of Anzin and 
Lens, while the Flemish textile in- 
dustry, which preceded that of 
England and France, has revived 
again in the sister-towns of Tourcoing 
and Roubaix which are now united 
by the growing suburbs of Lille. 

The towns of the Somme share the intense industrial activity of French 
Flanders, especially Amiens , where the full river flows slowly through a 
peaty valley at the base of long ridges denuded of chalk, and St. Quentin , 
the capital of the district of Vermandois, where a canal unites the Somme 
and the Oise. 

One of the outlying hills of the old province of Ilede France is crowned 
by the citadel of Laon. Another, the Montagne de Reims, displays a rich 
covering of vineyards on its slopes, and conceals in the cellars beneath its 
surface millions of bottles of champagne. The town of Reims , where 
Clovis was baptized and the kings of France consecrated, covers with its 
factories the beginning of the plain of Champagne. Champagne Pouilleuse 
has two centres, Chalons-sur -Marne with its great camp, and Troyes, the 
scene of one of the most ancient fairs in northern France. Further east, 



Fig. 125. — The manufacturing district of Lille. 



250 The International Geography 

beyond the mountain ridge of the Cotes de Meuse, are the two strongly 
fortified episcopal cities Verdun and Toul. A furrow in the plateau of 
Lorraine is marked out by the blast furnaces near Nancy, a city proud of 
its squares and of its monuments, the heritage of Stanislas. 

Paris, situated in the hollow of the Paris Basin 85 feet above sea-level, 
is a centre towards which flow not only the rivers converging to the Seine 
but the commodities of the surrounding countries and the people of France 
and of the world. Originating on an island in the Seine, and at first, like 
London, a resting place for sailors, it has spread over the higher ground of 
both banks, until now it is bounded on the south, near Villejuif, by the 
lower slopes of an agricultural plateau, and is expanding in suburbs of 
villas towards Vincennes, and as a town of factories to the north including 
St. Ouen and St. Denis. On the west there are extensive woods, now diver- 



sified by numerous active towns including Neuilly, Boulogne, and Sevres; in 
the centre of these forests Louis XIV. created Versailles , with its beautiful 
gardens and artificial lakes. Paris illustrates the rich past of France in its 
monuments, and reflects the varied aspects of the country in the daily life 
of its people. Its beauty, made up of contrasts softened by time, makes 
many a Frenchman forget his province and attracts many a foreigner from 
his native land. 

Normandy, — The lower Seine, become a tidal river, bears on one 
of its wide curves the ancient city of Rouen, the spires of its old churches 
and the masts of its shipping standing out against the sky ; while cotton 
factories dot the little valleys cut deeply into the plateau of the Pays de 
Caux or Upper Normandy, the surface of which is covered with well- 
wooded farms. The third port of the Seine, Havre, created by Francis I., 
has killed Harfleur and strangled the trade of Honfleur, although it has not 



France 


25 1 


detracted from the ancient maritime fame of Dieppe. Havre does a large 
trade in coffee from Brazil and wheat from the United States, and great 
flour mills have been established in the town. The capital of Lower 
Normandy is the market town and seaport of Caen on the Orne. The 
stones from its famous quarries were used in the construction of some of 
the Norman buildings in England, and stone quarrying is still an important 
local industry. The Campagne de Caen is prolonged beyond Alen^on by 
the Campagne Mancelle, adapted for the growth of cereals and the rearing 
of poultry, by which the town of Le Mans in particular prospers. The fortified 
port of Cherbourg stands at the extremity of the peninsula of Cotentin, the 
geology of which marks it as Breton rather than Norman ; the breakwater, 
which has made it an excellent naval harbour, required a century and a 
half for its completion. 

Brittany. — Brittany, a land of granite and schists, appears infertile 
in the interior, the poorly cultivated ground being broken up by woods 
of oak and moorlands. The coast, on the contrary, bathed by the warm 
Atlantic water, is richly cultivated, and has also important sardine fisheries. 
The indented coast of the peninsula of Brittany abounds in harbours in- 
cluding St. Malo, an old haunt of corsairs ; Morlaix, which exports early 
vegetables to England ; Brest, a naval port on a great roadstead, the entrance 
to which, however, is rendered difficult of access by reefs and frequent 
fogs ; Lorient, another naval port, mainly of value as a dockyard where 
French men-of-war are built and repaired ; and Nantes, on the Loire, one 
of the two capitals of Brittany. The people of Nantes have endeavoured, 
by the construction of a direct outlet to the sea (the Loire Ship Canal^ 
opened in 1892), to recover their ancient prosperity, formerly fostered by 
the West Indian trade, which has been seriously menaced by the competi- 
tion of the rising port of St. Nazaire at the mouth of the river. The other 
capital is the old parliamentary town of Rennes lying in a Tertiary basin 
traversed by the railway and canal from St. Malo to Redon along a track 
which has always been an important north and south road. 

The Loire Basin and Central Plateau. — Angers, near the 
junction of the Maine and the Loire, is a centre for the surrounding 
orchards and slate quarries. Tours, at a point where several fertile vine- 
growing valleys open out on the Loire, is surrounded by parks and fine 
country houses. Orleans, on the most northerly curve of the Loire, stands 
between the district of Beauce on the north, which has always been one of 
the granaries of France, and that of Sologne, formerly a pestilential plain 
but now greatly improved. From its commanding position Orleans played 
a considerable part in the Hundred Years’ War and in the war of 1870-71; 
its trade, formerly very active, suffers from the loss of the boat traffic on 
the river. Bourges, situated almost in the geometrical centre of France, is 
the principal market town of the old province of Berry, the country 
watered by the tributaries of the Loire which flow northwards from the 
Central Plateau. Clermont-Ferrand, high on the Central Plateau, is the 


252 The International Geography 

successor of the old Gaulish town of Gergovia, and stands between the 
range of the Puys and the Limagne, a region of old lake beds now bearing 
rich harvests ; Royat, which almost touches it, and Vichy, not very far to 
the north, are famous for their mineral waters. Limoges stands at the 
meeting-place of several important routes which skirt the Central Plateau, 
and although far from the sea and far from coal mines, it is a prosperous 

industrial town on account of kaolin, the material 
for the manufacture of the porcelain which it 
produces, abounding in its neighbourhood. 
Poitiers , an old ecclesiastical and feudal town, 
commands the uniform plateau drained by the 
western rivers flowing from the Central Plateau 
to the Loire and uniting the Paris Basin with the 
south-west. On account of this position it has 
been the scene of many decisive battles. 

The South-West. — La Rochelle, with its 
new suburb La Pallice, has not yet recovered 
the importance which it formerly held as the 
Protestant capital. Rochefort, on the plain of 
Cognac, is an important naval harbour in spite of the tendency of the river 
Charente, on which it stands, to become blocked by sand. Bordeaux, 
founded by the Romans and long held by the English, stands on the 
Garonne in the centre of an ancient wine-growing district, which has 
retained its prosperity because it has in great measure escaped the ravages 
of the phylloxera. With its outport, Pauillac, on the Gironde, it carries on 
active trade with Great Britain, West Africa, 
and South America. The splendour of its 
monuments attests the; antiquity of its origin 
and the power of its commercial traditions. 

Pau , the capital of the old province of Bearn 
and the birthplace of Henri IV., in the midst of 
a wine-growing region, is the most important 
of the Pyrenean towns, some of which, like 
Cauterets and Bagneres-de-Luchon, are much 
frequented watering-places on account of their 
thermal springs. Toulouse, half way between 
Bordeaux and Cette, on the most easterly curve 
of the Garonne, is in the centre of rich grain- 
growing plains, whence there is easy access 
to the Central Plateau and to Languedoc. 

The South-East. — In the basin of the Saone Dijon, the capital of 
the old province of Burgundy, stands at the junction of the routes from 
the west and north by the valleys of the Yonne and the Marne and at the 
commencement of the vineyards of the Cote-d’Or. Besan^on, encircled by 
a curve of the Doubs, is the key of the Jura, the plateaux of which are 



Fig. 128. — Lyons. 



FlG. 127 . — The Gironde 
Estuary. 


* 


France 


253 


covered with pasturage while the valleys shelter numerous small industrial 
towns largely engaged in watch-making. Lyons is ranged upon the lower 
slopes of the eastern wall of the Central Plateau at the junction of the 
Saone and the Rhone, where the lake-dotted plateau of the Dombes meets 
the mountainous Dauphine. It is the second town in France for popula- 
tion, for industrial activity, and the enterprise of its capitalists ; in the silk 
trade it is unsurpassed. The neighbouring town of St. Etienne combines 
mining and the making of fire-arms with the manufacture of ribbons. The 
whole valley of the Rhone and the plain of Languedoc are dotted with old 
Roman towns, forming regular stages on the first great road built in Gaul : 
of these are Vienne , Orange , Avignon, the papal city ; Beaucaire t the glory 
of the south in the Middle Ages ; Nimes, which still retains many fine 
memorials of the past ; and the old commercial and university town of 
Montpellier , still celebrated for its Medical School. Cette was founded in the 
seventeenth century as a seaport to replace Narbonne, 
which had become an inland town by the silting up 
of the flat shore. Marseilles , on the edge of the old 
Roman province of Provence, of which Aix has long 
been the centre, has been successively Greek, Roman, 

Provencal, and French. Beside the old harbour, the 
plan of which has become classic in the whole Medi- 
terranean, the docks of La Joliette are thronged with 
large vessels trading with the East, not only French 
liners but the steamers of British companies which 
make it the port for embarking passengers for India 
and Australia. Toulon conceals in the depths of its 
safe harbour the vessels of war of the French Mediterranean fleet, and 
the naval shipbuilding yards. Further east the Azure Coast takes on an 
Italian splendour at Cannes and Nice, the favourite winter resort of the 
sovereigns of Europe and of a considerable portion of their subjects. 

Conclusion. — Although France is a remarkably homogeneous country 
it yet presents a great variety of soil, climate, and productions. This 
diversity is reflected in the national character, typically lively and frank, 
but, notwithstanding appearances, lacking neither in energy nor earnest- 
ness. France, toiling under the burden of a heavy history, has been 
distanced by younger and better equipped nations in some branches of 
human activity, but it has never ceased to maintain its old reputation for 
bright intelligence, sociability and generous hospitality. 



STATISTICS. 


1886. 

Area of France in sq. miles * . . 207,127 

Population (total) 38,219,000 

French and naturalised . . 37,092,000 

Foreigners 1,126,000 

Density of population per sq. mile 184 5 


1896. 

207,127 

38.518.000 

37.490.000 
1,027,000 

186 


1901. 

207,127 

39.031.000 

37.993.000 
1,037,000 

188 


1 This value, calculated by the Geographical Service of the Army, is preferable to that of 
204,210 square miles, the area calculated by the Survey Department (Cadastre). 


254 


The International Geography 


1891 

1896 


Belgians. 
. . 465,000 

. . 395 ,ooo 


THE FOREIGN POPULATION OF FRANCE. 


Italians. 
. , 286.000 

. . 292,000 


Germans. 
. . 83,000 

. . 91,000 


Swiss. 

83.000 

75.000 


Spaniards. 
. . 77,000 

77,000 


British subjects* 
39,000 
. . 36,000 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 



1886. 

1896. 

1901. 



1886. 

1896. 

1901. 

Paris 

2,344,000 

2,536,000 

2,660,000 

Brest . . 


71,000 

74.000 

81,000 

Marseilles 

376.000 

442,000 

494,000 

Nimes 


70,000 

74,000 

80,000 

Lyons 

402,000 

466,000 

453.000 

Tourcoing 


58,000 

73.000 

79,000 

Bordeaux . . 

241,000 

256,000 

257,000 

Montpellier 


57,000 

73,000 

76,000 

Lille 

188,000 

216,000 

215,000 

Rennes 


66,000 

69,000 

74,000 

Toulouse. . 

148,000 

149,000 

147,000 

Dijon 


61,000 

67,000 

70,000 

St. Etienne 

118,000 

136,000 

146,000 

Grenoble 


52,000 

64,000 

68,000 

Le Havre. . 

n 2,000 

119,000 

1 29,000 

Orleans 


61,000 

66.000 

67,000 

Nantes 

127.000 

123,000 

128,000 

Tours 


5 Loco 

63,000 

64,000 

Nice 

77,000 

93,000 

125,000 

Le Mans 


58,000 

60,000 

62,000 

Roubaix . . 

100,000 

124,000 

124,000 

St. Denis 


48,000 

54,000 

59,000 

Rouen 

107,000 

113,000 

115,000 

Calais 


59,000 

56,000 

59,000 

Reims 

98,000 

107.000 

107,000 

Besancon 


56,000 

57,000 

55.ooo 

Nancy 

79,000 

96,000 

102,000 

Versailles 


50,000 

54,000 

54,000 

Toulon 

70,000 

95,000 

101,000 

Levallois-Perret 

29,000 

47,000 

54.000 

Amiens . . 

80,000 

88,000 

90,000 

Troyes 


47,000 

52 000 

53.ooo 

Limoges . . 

68,000 

77,000 

83,000 

Beziers 


43,000 

48,000 

52,000 

Angers . . 

73,000 

77,000 

82,000 

Clermont-Ferrand 

47,000 

50,000 

52,000 


INTERNAL COMMERCE ON RAILWAYS AND WATERWAYS. 

Length. Amount of Traffic. 


1895 { 
1899 | 



Kilometres. 

Miles. 

Kilometre-Tons . 1 

Perc 

Railways 

36,337 . . 

22,579 

. . 12,898,000,000 

77 

Waterways 

.. 12,281 .. 

7,631 

• • 3,766,000,000 

23 

Railways 

42.433 . . 

26,355 

.. 13,716,000,000 

75 

Waterways 

... 12,130 .. 

7,534 

. . 4,489,000,000 

25 


100 


100 


SHIPPING TRADE— EXTERNAL AND COASTING— OF THE CHIEF SEAPORTS. 


In Tons weight of goods entered and cleared . 


1891. 

Paris .. .. 6,878,000 

Marseilles . . 4,798,000 
Le Havre . . 3,044.000 

Bordeaux . . 2,635,000 


1900. 

9.301.000 

6.221.000 

3.459.000 

2.853.000 


1891. 

Dunkirk .. 2,132,000 

Rouen . . 1,780,000 

St. Nazaire .. 1,153.000 

Algiers . . — 


1900. 

2.901.000 

2.684.000 

1 . 755.000 

1,327,000 


1891 . . 
1901 . . 


MERCHANT TONNAGE OF FRANCE. 


Sailing Ships. 

426.000 

564.000 


Steamers. 

522.000 

546.000 


Total. 

948,000 register tons. 
1,110,000 „ „ 


ANNUAL TRADE 2 OF FRANCE (in pounds sterling ). 

1867-76. 1878-86. 1887-96. 

Imports .. 136,300,000 .. 178,400,000 .. 164,250,000 

Exports .. 132,250,000 .. 133,900,000 .. 136,300,000 


1898-1901. 

184,000,000 

159,400,000 


PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF SPECIAL IMPORTS. 

Food Products. Raw Materials. Manufactures. Total. 

1895.. .. 27-8 .. 565 .. 157 .. 100 

1901.. .. 17-0 .. 663 .. 167 .. 100 


PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION OF SPECIAL EXPORTS. 

Food Products. Raw Materials. Manufactures. Total. 

1895.. .. 175 .. 260 .. 565 .. 100 

1901.. . . 187 .. 262 .. 551 .. 100 


* A kilometre-ton is 1 ton of goods carried fo r 1 kilometre of distance. 

* Special trade only, i . e ., Exports of home products or manufactures and Imports consumed in 
the country. 


France 


255 


FRENCH TRADE WITH OTHER COUNTRIES. 


Mean of 1898-1900. 


Country. 

Total trade. 
Pounds sterling. 

Imports 
into France. 
Pounds sterling. 

Per cent. 

Exports 
from France. 
Pounds sterling. 

Per cent 

United Kingdom 

. . 70,000,000 

• • 

23,500,000 . . 

of imports. 
13 

46,500,000 

of exports 
. . 29 6 

French Colonies 

. . 34,000,000 

• • 

16,000,000 . . 

9 

18,000,000 

.. 1 1'2 

Germany 

. . 33.7oo,ooo 

• • 

16,200,000 . . 

9 

17,500,000 

. . 11 

Belgium 

.. 31,500,000 

• • 

14,200,000 . . 

78 .. 

23,300,000 

15 

United States 

. . 30,500,000 

• • 

20,800,000 . . 

114 •• 

9,700,000 

. . 62 

Spain . . 

.. 15,500,000 

• • 

10,500,000 . . 

57 .. 

5,000,000 

32 

Argentine Republic. . 13,000,000 

• • 

11,000,000 .. 

6 

2,000,000 

i ‘3 

Italy . . 


• • 

6,000,000 . . 

3‘2 .. 

6,500.000 

42 

Switzerland . . 

. . 12,000,000 

• • 

3,500,000 . . 

2 

8,500,000 

5*4 

Russia.. 


• • 

9,200000 .. 

5 

1,500,000 

. . 1 

All other countries 

. . 70,000,000 

• • 

51,000,000 . . 

27 9 . . 

19,000,000 

u -9 


tIiE FOREIGN POSSESSIONS OF FRANCE 


French India 

French Indo-China 

Algeria 

Tunis 

Sahara 

French West Africa and French Congo 

French Somaliland 

Madagascar and Comoro 

Reunion 

American Possessions 

New Caledonia 

Pacific Islands 

Total Foreign Possessions 


Area sq. miles 

200 

275.000 

184.000 

50.000 
1,300,000 
2,000,000 

14.000 
228,700 

900 

31.000 
7 . 5 oo 
1,600 


4, 100,000 


Population. 

273.000 

16.000. 000 

4.740.000 

1.600.000 

18.000. 000 

200.000 

2.580.000 

173.000 

380.000 

51.000 

31.000 


. . 44,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. Michelet. "Tableau de la France.” Livre Ill.du Tome II. de "l’Histoire de France.” 
Paris, 1834. (In spite of its date an admirable description of the 
country.) 

Elisee Reclus. " Nouvelle Geographie Universelle.” Tome II. " La Vrance.” Paris. 
2nd edit. 1885. 

P. Joanne. “ Dictionnaire Geographique de la France et de ses colonies.” Paris, 
1890-1903. 

Ardouin-Dumazet. "Voyage en France.” 38 or 40 small volumes of which 22 have 
been published. Paris, 1893. In progress. 

A. de Foville. “ La France economique. Statistique raisonnee et comparative. Annee 
1889.” Paris, 1890. 

P. Vidal de la Blache and P. Camena d’Almeida. " La France.” 2nd edit. Paris, 1898. 

“ Atlas separe de la France.” Paris. 

“ Tableau de la Geographie de la France.” Paris, 1903. 

P. Pelet. "Atlas des Colonies fran^aises.” Paris, 1902. 


Numerous articles on the regional geography of France appear in the "Annales de 
Geographie” published periodically in Paris. 


CHAPTER XVI.— SWITZERLAND 


By Emile Chaix, 

Professor of Geography in the Ecole Suferieure de Commerce of Geneva. 

Position and Boundaries. — Switzerland (German Schweiz from 
Canton Schwyz, French Suisse , Italian Svizzera), lies between 46° and 48° 
N., or, on the average, 3 0 to the south of Lizard Head. *It extends in 
longitude from 6° to io£° E. ; and is thus as far east from Greenwich as 
the Island of Valentia lies west of it. The country is somewhat less than 
half the extent of Ireland. It measures little more than 200 miles from 
west to east, and 120 from north to south. Switzerland is a sort of 
buffer State between France, Germany, Austria and Italy. The Jura 
mountains form a natural boundary towards France, and, except for the 
Canton of Ticino, the main crest of the Alps is the frontier towards Italy ; 
but the details of the boundaries are complicated and do not follow natural 
features. 

Configuration and Geology. — Switzerland is naturally divided 
into four geological zones, extending across the country from south- 
west to north-east, and roughly parallel to each other. The first zone, to 
the north-west, is formed by the Jura, a limestone region, some 3,000 
feet in height, folded into a series of parallel waves. The second zone is 
the Swiss Plateau, composed of sandstone partially covered by the glacial 
deposits of the Ice Age. It is very irregular and hilly, varying in height 
between 1,000 and 3,000 feet above the sea. The remainder of Switzerland, 
about three-fifths of the whole, occupies the Alps, which are divided into 
two broad bands differing widely in character. The northern limestone 
Alps are stupendously folded, the folds being driven north-westward and 
piled up over each other. The central crystalline Alps occupy all the 
southern and south-eastern part of the land ; they are formed of huge 
masses of gneiss, granite, and other crystalline rocks, cropping out amid 
schists, and rising in many places to over 13,000 feet (Fig. 130). The action 
of running water has deeply modified the primitive structure. Only a few 
rivers, viz., the upper parts of the Rhone, the Rhine, and the Inn, continue 
to flow along longitudinal valleys, parallel to the south-west and north-east 
trend of the original folds ; most run through transverse valleys' excavated 
right across the folds towards the north-west, and exhibiting a succession 
of gorges and basin-like expansions. Denudation has been and is still 
intense. Large rivers have pushed their sources as far back as they could, 

to the very heart of the mountain groups, cutting through or turning 

256 


Switzerland 


257 


obstacles, and each tributary is pursuing the same work in its smaller 
sphere of action. 

Hydrography. — The principal system of rivers is formed by the 
Rhine and its tributaries flowing to the North Sea ; then come the Rhone, 
draining to the Mediterranean, the Ticino (Tessin), which discharges into 
Lago Maggiore and thence into the Adriatic, and the Inn flowing to 


,N-W. 


To. i u, ? a. r J 14 . T a. 

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FlG. 130 . — Profile across Switzerland , from Basel to Bellinzona. Showing the Folds of the 
Jura and the Alps; the dotted curve representing the Upper Jurassic Strata ( partly 
hypothetical ) as they may have been before being worn away . Worked out from E. 
Miihlberg and C. Schmidt , by E. Chaix. 


the Danube and thence to the Black Sea. Switzerland is thus the point 
of contact of many river systems. 

The Rhine, after many changes in its direction, has worked its way up 
to the Oberalp Pass. It has not yet completely graded its bed, since it 
forms a waterfall of 60 feet at Schaffhausen, and rapids somewhat lower 
down. Its different higher tributaries descend from the St. Bernardin and 
Spliigen Passes, from the Julier Pass, Albula Pass, &c. The great Lake of 
Constance (Bodensee) forms part of its course. The Linth rises in the 




2 58 The International Geography 

Alps of Glarus ; on leaving the Lake of Zurich under the name of Limmat, 
it flows into the Aar close to the junction of the Reuss. The Upper 
Reuss, before traversing the Lake of Lucerne, has cut its way in wild 
gorges through all the folds of the northern Alps, and carried its head to 
the centre of the system, the group of the Furca, St. Gothard and Oberalp 
Passes. The Aar comes from the Grimsel Pass, and its tributaries have 
radiated into the middle of the Bernese Oberland ; it traverses the lakes of 
Brienz and Thun, and carries all the drainage of northern Switzerland tc 
the Rhine. The Thiele (Zihl) rises, under the name of Orbe, in the valley 
of Joux in the Jura, and after flowing for some miles in an underground 
channel, passes through the lakes of Neuchateland Bienne to join the Aar. 

The Rhone has cut its way through the French Jura, and through 
the northern folds of the Alps at the foot of the Dent du Midi, up to the 
Furca Pass. Its southern tributaries penetrate deep into the Pennine 
Alps, and it leaves Switzerland after passing through the largest of the 
lakes, the Lake of Geneva (Leman), which is rather more than 200 square 
miles in area, and 1,000 feet in maximum depth. 

Mountains. — Besides being worn away by water and weather, all 
the Alpine system must have subsided after the glacial period. That 
movement determined the formation of the elongated lakes that surround 
the central Alps both in Switzerland and in Italy. The principal rivers 
have isolated and defined different groups of mountains (see Fig. 51). 
Between the Rhone and Aar lie the Alpes Vaudoises and the Bernese 
Oberland , with the summits of the Rochers de Naye, Moleson and Niesen 
in the limestone zone, and, in the crystalline zone, the Finsteraarhorn 
(14,026 feet), Jungfrau (13,672 feet), Monch (13,440 feet), Wetterhorn, &c., 
grouped in one compact mass of snows and rugged peaks above the valleys 
of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. More than twenty summits tower 
over 12,000 feet, and this group possesses the longest of all the 600 Swiss 
glaciers, the Aletsch Gletscher, sixteen miles in length. Between the Aar 
and Reuss extend the Alps of Unterwald, almost severed by the Briinig 
Pass. Among the summits the Brienzer Rothhorn and Pilatus (7,000 feet) 
are best known because of their railway. At the convergence of the head- 
waters of the Reuss, Rhine, and Ticino lies the St. Gothard group , cut off on all 
sides by important passes. Between the Reuss, the Rhine, and the Walen- 
see extend the Alps of Glarus and Schwyz, with the Todi (11,887 feet) in its 
centre and the hotel-crowned Righi (5,906 feet) in its north-western corner. 
Farther to the north-east the romantic Sentis group (8,215 feet) is isolated 
by the Walensee. South of the long Rhone valley the Pennine Alps extend 
as a splendid chain, carved into gigantic buttresses by the short southern 
tributaries of the Rhone. Round Zermatt gathers the most bewildering 
succession of bold peaks : Monte Rosa (15,217 feet), Mischabelhorner with 
the Dom (14,941 feet), Weisshorn (14,803 feet), and the incomparable 
pinnacle of the Matterhorn or Cervin (14,705 feet). Over thirty other 
summits exceed 12,000 feet. The next group to the east are the Alps op 


Switzerland 


259 


Ticino , profoundly trenched by torrent valleys. Between the Ticino, Rhine, 
and Inn lie the Alps of Grisons (Graubiinden), a powerful complex, deeply 
cut into by the tributaries of the Rhine. It culminates in numerous 
summits exceeding 10,000 feet, including Piz Kesch, and Adula, and 
separated by the high passes of St. Bernardin, Spliigen, Julier, and Albula. 
Lastly, to the south-east of the Inn the splendid Bernina group towers to a 
height of 13,288 feet. As to the Jura, its summits do not exceed 5,500 
feet, and its limestone ridges have effectively withstood partition by rivers. 

Perpetual snow begins at heights varying between 8,500 and 10,000 feet, 
according to the exposure of the slopes, to their convex or concave profile, 
and to the extent of the high masses ; but glaciers come down to 4,500 
feet. Perpetual ice and snow spread over 800 square miles, or one- 
twentieth of the total area of Switzerland. 

Climate. — Were Switzerland at sea-level it would enjoy a temperature 
varying between 35 0 F. for the average in January, and 72 0 for July. But 
this normal temperature is greatly modified by the altitude, diminish- 
ing on an average by 3 0 for each thousand feet of elevation. Thus the 
mean temperature of the plateau oscillates with the altitude between 32 0 
and 26° for January, and between 68° and 62° for July, while much 
lower temperatures occur on the mountains. Another cause of great dif- 
ferences in climate is the exposure : the northern slopes of the mountains 
never receive direct sunshine, while the southern slopes catch the solar 
rays as perpendicularly as flat ground does in the tropics. During winter, 
regions above 6,000 feet often enjoy splendid weather while cold fogs 
gather in the lower valleys. There are great extremes of temperature in 
consequence of strong insolation during the day, and active radiation at 
night through the pure and thin air of the heights ; and above 4,000 or 

5.000 feet the atmosphere is exceedingly free from noxious micro- 
organisms. 

Cloudiness and rainfall are great ; rain falls mostly with westerly and 
southerly winds, and the amount varies with the exposure of the 
slopes. Windward slopes generally get more than 60 inches of rain 
yearly (some as much as 90) ; but Geneva receives less than 33 inches, 
and parts of Canton Valais only 20, being protected by mountain ramparts 

10.000 feet high on all sides. The dry hot Fohn wind descending the 
northern slopes of the Alps is a characteristic feature of some valleys. As 
a whole the climate of Switzerland is not favourable to agriculture, but 
it is invigorating for man. 

Flora and Fauna. — Switzerland possesses many wild plants and 
animals which, although interesting, are generally useless. The flora of 
the summits, many members of which grow also in Scandinavia and 
Spitsbergen, is charming. One-third of the area of Switzerland is entirely 
valueless, being covered with ice or bare rock, while of the remainder 
more than half is available only as pasture, one-third is clad with forest, 
and only one-ninth of the whole area can be cultivated. Between 


26 o The International Geography 

6,500 and 4,000 feet forests are composed of Rolle pines ( Pinus cembra), 
larches and fir-trees ; under 4,000 feet beeches are prevalent, and oaks and 
chestnut-trees are abundant only in the southernmost parts of the country. 
Agriculture is generally not practised above 2,500 feet. 

Wild animals are becoming rare ; hardly a bear is left, no wolves and 
few lynxes ; there are no more ibex ( Capra ibex), chamois are few and 
extremely shy, and so are marmots and blackcock ( Tetrao urogallus). 
Eagles and bearded vultures ( Gypaetus barbaius , Ldmmergeier) are quickly 
disappearing. 

People and History— The first inhabitants of Switzerland who left 
somewhat important traces were the lake-dwellers ; but the earliest in 
historic times were the Helvetians , of Keltic race. They were conquered 
by Julius Caesar, and Helvetia remained under Roman rule down to the 
great migrations from the north. Then it was occupied by three peoples : 
the Allemanni in the north and east, the Burgundians in the west, and the 

Ostro-Goths in the south. 
The Allemanni retained 
their Germanic language, 
while the others adopted 
the Latin. In the fifth 
century Helvetia was 
united under the Franks, 
and Christianity was es- 
tablished by Irish mis- 
sionaries. In the eleventh 
century the German Em- 
perors ruled over the 
whole country. The 
Dukes of Austria subse- 
quently attempted to usurp the government, but the Cantons of Schwyz, 
Uri and Unterwald, which had made a first covenant in 1291, renewed it at 
the Griitli in 1307, and resisted and defeated the Austrians at Morgarten. 
In the first half of the fourteenth century Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug and 
Bern joined these cantons, and this Confederation of Eight Cantons after 
many wars became free of the German Empire, and from time to time 
their number was increased. During the first Revolution the French 
entered Vaud in 1798, and in place of the Confederation of Thirteen 
Cantons, then existing, they erected a “ Republic one and indivisible/’ as in 
France. But there was no peace in the country until the former Federation 
was restored in 1815, with the accession of fresh cantons, making twenty- 
two in all. The neutrality of the Confederation is now guaranteed by the 
European Powers. 

Language, Religion, and Government. — Switzerland has inherited 
many things from its past, especially in the distribution of religions and 
languages. Of the total population, 72 per cent, speak a German dialect, 5 per 



Fig. i 3 i. — The Languages of Switzerland. 


Switzerland 


261 


cent. Italian (in Ticino), 1 per cent. Raetho-Ronianch dialects (in Grisons), 
and 22 per cent. French (in Valais and Fribourg, Geneva, Vaud, Neuchatel 
and the Bernese Jura). The non-German part of the country is often termed 
Roman or Welsh Switzerland. On account of the vast number of tourists 
who visit Switzerland, English is spoken as a foreign language by a very 
large number of the people. In religion the cantons of Bern, Glarus 
Neuchatel, Schaffhausen, 

T h u r g a u , V aud and 
Zurich are almost en- 
tirely Protestant ; those 
of Fribourg, Lucerne, 

Schwyz, Ticino, Unter- 
wald, Uri, Valais and 
Zug are almost entirely 
Roman Catholic. In 
the other cantons the 
two religions are more 
or less mixed. On the 
whole three-fifths of 
the population are 
Protestant, and two-fifths Roman Catholic ; there are only 8,000 Jews. 

The federal institutions are obviously a consequence of the topography 
and history of Switzerland, the people of each valley or region having long 
lived by themselves before uniting with their neighbours. Each canton is 
a State, with its own constitution and government ; but common affairs are 
administered by a common executive power and two legislative assemblies. 

Every citizen has a vote. Two important and un- 
usual rights exist : the Referendum , by which the 
people can always oblige the authorities to submit 
newly made laws to a general vote of the country ; 
and the Right of Initiative , by which a group of 
citizens may at any time propose any new measures 
and submit them to a general vote. 

Public instruction has long been general, and is 
constantly progressing. Besides the general schools, 
there are all kinds of educational institutions, techni- 
cal, agricultural, commercial, and six universities, 
with their seats in Basel, Bern, Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich and Fribourg. 

Emigration is large, but the population nevertheless increases. The 
mean density of population is 184 inhabitants to the square mile ; but it 
naturally varies greatly. In the industrial cantons — such as Geneva (914), 
Basel, and Zurich — it is high ; in the agricultural cantons it approaches 
the average ; and in the Alpine cantons like Valais, Uri, and especially 
Grisons (34), it is very low. 

Industries and Trade. — Agriculture is as well developed as it can 


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Fig. 133 . — Average Popu- 
lation of a square 
mile of Switzerland. 




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2 62 The International Geography 

be with mediocre soil and climate. Wheat is grown everywhere on the 
Plateau under 2,500 feet, but it yields only half the quantity required in 
the country. Grapes are cultivated, in good exposures, generally up to 1,500 
feet (in Valais and Ticino even to 2,000 feet); but the country wants twice 
as much wine as it produces. Wood must be imported. Even cattle and 
meat are not sufficient ; cattle, however, are reared for dairy produce, and 
furnish under that form a good export, cheese being made everywhere, 
and condensed milk in many places. Silkworms are reared in Ticino. 
Notwithstanding the absolute lack of raw materials, there is a strong 
industrial development. The principal industry is cotton manufacture 
and embroidery in central and north-eastern Switzerland, from 
Bern to St. Gallen and Glarus ; then come silk manufactures 
round Basel, Zurich, Lucerne and in Ticino, and straw-plaiting. 
Watchmaking is carried on on a very large scale along the 
J ura and its base, from Geneva to Basel ; and machinery is 
made in all the towns. Electro-chemical works are now 
springing up wherever water-power may be obtained, even 
in mountain recesses hitherto untouched by manufactures. 

Trade is necessarily active in a country which must import 
half its food supplies, and has so many manufactured goods 
to export. But a great inconvenience results from the high 
tariffs established by all surrounding countries and the lack, 
of colonies. 

Communications. — Roads and 
railways are very difficult to establish 
on account of the configuration of 
the land. Yet the network of roads 
is complete, and that of railways is 
already highly developed. Good 
carriage roads follow all the large 
valleys of the Alps, and many high 
passes are crossed by splendid 

causeways. Five railways cross the 

Fig. 134 . — Map of the St. Gothard Railway. T 

^ J y Jura. There are two great trans- 

alpine lines, one carried under the St. Gothard (see plan in Fig. 134, and sec- 
tion in Fig. 130), and the other, which is the longest tunnel in the world, 
twelve miles, under the Simplon, from the Rhone valley. The Plateau is 
covered with a complete network of railways, and lines penetrate along 
many valleys into the very heart of the Alps. Some important inter- 
national routes pass through Switzerland, especially the St. Gothard 
route from Germany to Italy through Basel, Lucerne and on to Milan;; 
the Arlberg route from France to Austria through Basel, Zurich and 
eastward through the Arlberg tunnel; and from the south of France 
to Bavaria, through Geneva, Bern, Zurich and Winterthur. For the 
convenience of tourists a great many mountain railways have been con- 


st GoHiard 

6930 fr. 

Airolo 

3868 tt 


r . Spiral Tunnel 



Faido 

2363 ft. 


r* Spiral Tunnel® 


The. St. Gothard Railway. 



Switzerland 


203 

structed, actuated by cog-wheels, or worked by cables, and a daring 
project for an underground railway to the summit of the Jungfrau is in 
progress. Only the lakes and very short stretches of a few rivers are 
available for navigation. Post, telegraph and telephone penetrate every- 
where, and are highly organised. 

Cantons and Towns. — Soil, climate, and all conditions of exist- 
ence are so much better on the Plateau, that most of the inhabitants and 
important towns are found there, though the progress of communica- 
tions and industry, and the increase of pleasure-tours have led to the 
growth of noteworthy places everywhere. The canton of Grisons 
(Graubiinden) occupies the upper basins of the Rhine and Inn. Coire 
(Chur) was an important station for the Romans, and is yet noteworthy 
because of its situation at the convergence of many frequented passes. 
Davos , in a high valley, is much resorted to as a winter sanatorium. The 
Engadine, the elevated valley of the upper Inn, has an excellent summer 
climate, splendid mountains, lovely lakes, and important mineral springs 
at Si. Moritz and Tarasp, which attract many tourists. The canton of Uri 
occupies the upper valley of the Reuss. The railway ascends the valley 
by loops and spiral tunnels to Goeschenen, where it 
enters the long horizontal tunnel of St. Gothard. 

But the carriage road continues over the Devil’s 
Bridge to the valley of Andermait, where four 
passes meet, now defended by fortifications The 
canton of Unterwalden lies among the mountains 
south of the lake of Lucerne traversed by the rail- 
way to the Briinig pass. The canton of Schwyz, Fig. 135 .—The Swiss Flag. 
the centre of Swiss freedom, touches the lakes 

of Lucerne and of Zurich. Schwyz is surrounded by many visited resorts, 
including the battlefield of Morgarten, Einsiedeln with its pilgrimage, and 
the Righi. The canton of Glarus occupies the quiet, secluded valley of 
the Linth ; and its villages are full of cotton-factories. The canton of St. 
Gall extends between the Rhine and the Lakes of Constance, Zurich 
and Walenstatt. The manufacturing town of St. Gall preserves the rich 
manuscript collection of its ancient monastery. Ragatz is much frequented 
for its hot springs. The lovely canton of Appenzell, round the Sentis, 
has active manufactures of cotton goods and embroideries in all its towns. 

Thurgovia (Thurgau), along the lake of Constance, has an active 
import of Hungarian corn at Romanshorn on the lake The canton of 
Schaffhausen projects into Germany beyond the Rhine. ScJiaffhausen 
and Neuhausen stand near the Rhine cataract ; the former is known for 
its mediaeval appearance ; the latter for its manufacture of arms and alu- 
minium. The canton of Zurich is a great centre of industry. Ziirich is 
the largest town in Switzerland. It possesses a university, the federal 
Polytechnicum, the national museum and important manufactories for silk 
and machinery. Winterthur is very important as a manufacturing town. 



264 The International Geography 

The canton of Zug, with its pretty capital, is concerned with textile manu- 
factures. The canton of Lucerne contains the town of Lucerne , with 
its old towers, its covered wooden bridges and other attractions, which is 
much visited by tourists because of its situation near Mount Pilatus, the 
Righi and the picturesque lake. 

Argovia (Aargau) occupies an exceptional position near the con- 
fluences of the Rhine, Aar, Limmatt, and Reuss. Aarau is known for its 
manufacture of mathematical instruments. Near Brugg stand the ruins of 
Habsburg Castle, the cradle of the imperial family of Austria, and those 
of a large Roman city, Vindonissa. The canton of Basel (Bale) lies at 
the point where the Rhine leaves Swiss territory. The town of Basel 
has always been conspicuous because of its situation which makes it the 
busiest railway centre in the country. The canton of Soleure (Solothurn) 
is half on the Aar and half in the Jura. Soleure , with the surrounding small 
towns, and Olten, where important railways meet, are all busy with 
machinery and smelting works. The canton of Bern is large, occupying 
the Oberland, a part of the Plateau and the Bernese Jura. Bern is the 
federal capital, containing the federal palaces, numerous international 
offices, a fine cathedral and university. The Emmenthal is far-famed 
for its cheese, but is still more active in weaving and spinning. The 
Bernese Jura with Bienne (Biel), and other towns and villages, are occupied 
with watch-making. Thun , in a lovely situation, is the principal military 
centre in Switzerland. Between the two lakes of Thun and Brienz, 
Interlaken is a haunt of tourists visiting the grand scenery of the Oberland. 
The canton of Fribourg on the Sarine is covered with excellent pastures. 
Fribourg , an old town on a picturesque site, with celebrated suspension 
bridges over the surrounding gorges, has a Roman Catholic university. 
Further up stands Gruyere, in a lovely valley famed for its cheese. 

The canton of Neuchatel is well known for watch-making. The town 
of Neuchatel is more celebrated for its schools, its museum and its wine, but 
Chaux-de-fonds, in an arid region over 3,000 feet in elevation, and Le Locle, 
with a watchmakers’ school, are the greatest centres for watch-making in 
Europe. The agricultural canton of Vaud extends from the Jura to the 
Alps. Lausanne occupies a magnificent position. It possesses a very beauti- 
ful cathedral, the federal supreme courts and a university. Along the eastern 
bank of the lake, named La Vaux, and famed for rts wine, lie Vevey, 
Montreux, and other resorts of invalids and tourists in spring and autumn. 
In the north, Avenches (Aventicum) was the capital of the Roman Helvetia, 
and Ste. Croix is known for its manufacture of musical-boxes. The canton 
of Geneva, at the west end of the Lake of Geneva, is almost entirely 
surrounded by French territory, which lessens the natural advantages of 
its situation. Geneva is very old, but has few ancient remains. It is famed 
as a religious, educational and scientific centre. The making of chrono- 
meters, jewels, scientific instruments and chemicals is very active, 
particularly since the establishment of great water-works on the Rhone 


Switzerland 



generating, as it leaves the Lake of Geneva, 30,000 horse power. The 
canton of Valais occupies the high valley of the Rhone. Sion is 
picturesquely dominated by three rocks crowned with ruins, and 
Martigny stands at the entrance of the valley leading to the far-famed 
Grand St. Bernard. Leukerbad (Loueche), at the foot of the Gemmi pass, is 
known for its hot springs. To the south of the Rhone a series of 
splendid side valleys opens, in one of which Zermatt lies at the foot of the 
Matterhorn. Farther up Brieg is a point whence roads radiate to numerous 
passes including the Simplon Road, established by Napoleon I. for war 
purposes, which has served as a model for subsequent mountain-roads. 
The canton of Ticino, on the southern slopes of the Alps, is occupied by 
people speaking Italian. Bellinzona is the chief town. At the entrance of 
the St. Gothard tunnel lies Airolo , now fortified. Locarno , on Lago 
Maggiore, and Lugano on the northern bank of its lake, enjoy marvellous 
scenery, and wholly Italian climate and vegetation. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Switzerland square miles 
Population . . . . . . • . 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Zurich 

Basel 

Geneva 

Bern . . . . • • 


ft 

tf 

tP 


ft 

ft 


1880. 

1890, 

1900. 

15.964 

. . 15.964 

. . 15,964 

2,827,572 

.. 2,938,009 

•• 3 , 315,443 

177 

. . 184 

. . 207 

75.960 

. . 96,900 

. . 152,942 

61,400 

63,500 

.. 113,000 

68 300 

. . 74.800 

.. 105,139 

44,100 

46,500 

. . 64,864 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

M. Wirth. “ Allgemeine Beschreibungund Statistik der Schweiz.” 3 vols. Zurich, 1871-75. 
F. Umlauft. “Die Alpen.” Vienna, 1887, and translation London, 1889. 

Lord Avebury. “The Scenery of Switzerland and the causes to which it is due.” 
London, 1896. 


* The statistics of value of trade commence in 1885, 


CHAPTER XVII.— THE GERMAN EMPIRE 


By Dr. Alfred Kirchhoff , 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Halle. 

Position and Extent. — Germany is the most central country of 
Europe. It occupies almost the whole north and west of central Europe 
viewed from the morphological centre of the continent, the Fichtelgebirge, 
as the main mass of Austria occupies the south and east from the same 
centre. Germany extends from the Alps to the North Sea and the Baltic, over 
a range of latitude corresponding to that from the mouth of the Loire and 
the north-eastern apex of the Sea of Azov in the south, to that of Glasgow 
and Moscow in the north. The position in longitude is the same as that 
of Scandinavia and of Italy. South Germany, a comparatively narrow 
tract south of the northern watershed of the Main, is enclosed by France, 
Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary ; North Germany, which is much larger, 
is bounded on the west by Holland, Belgium, and Luxemburg, and on 
the east by Russia and Austria-Hungary. Almost two-thirds of the 
boundaries of Germany are land frontiers, and one-third is composed 
of sea coast on the north. The peninsula of Jutland projects between 
the short coast-line on the North Sea and the much longer coast of the 
Baltic, forming the bridge between Germany and Danish Jutland, and, 
next to East Prussia, the most northerly part of the German Empire. The 
length of Germany in a north and south direction, from the Konigsau, the 
boundary river towards Jutland, to the southern point of Bavaria near the 
source of the Iller, is exactly the same as that of Great Britain. From 
the north-west to the south-east, from northern Schleswig to Upper Silesia, 
the distance is also almost the same ; but the diagonal from south-west to 
north-east, from Upper Alsace to East Prussia, is much longer ; the distance 
being as great as from Gibraltar to Nice. Amongst the countries of 
Europe, Germany is only surpassed in area by Russia and Austria-Hungary ; 
France comes very closely after it, and Spain is not much smaller. South 
Germany extends, like the south of England, through 8° of longitude, 
while North Germany extends over 17 0 . 

Configuration. — The German Empire has been formed in the great 
natural region of Central Europe, which is shared also by Holland, 
Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, and the part of Austria which belonged 
to the German Confederation until 1866. But Germany alone occupies 

1 Translated from the German by the Editor. 

266 


The German Empire 



part of all the four zones into which the surface of Central Europe is 
naturally divided, viz., the Alps, Alpine Foreland, Central Highlands, and 
Northern Plain. 

The Alps. — Germany has but a small share of the Alps, limited only 
to the northern limestone Alps on the southern borders of Bavaria, between 
the Lake of Constance and Salzburg. In this district alone does the sur- 
face of Germany approach or exceed 6,500 feet in elevation, heaved up by 
the great pressure from the south to which the Alps as a whole owe their 
origin. Here alone does Germany extend into the region of eternal snow, 
the highest summit being the Zugspitze, 9,710 feet above sea-level. 

The Alpine Foreland. — Germany occupies the Alpine Foreland from 
the Lake of Constance to the mouth of the Inn. Together with the German 
Alps this Swabian- Bavarian high plain forms the German portion of 
the Danube basin, an undulating surface averaging 1,600 feet in elevation. 
In the Tertiary period this 
region was occupied by the 
great sea which extended 
from the Rhone in France 
through the north of Switzer- 
land and across the Alps to 
Hungary and Rumania. The 
surface of the high plain is, 
however, only partly com- 
posed of sediments deposited 
in that sea ; it is in great part 
covered by material more 
recently derived from the 
moraines of the huge Alpine 
glaciers of the Great Ice Age, 
which extended as far as the latitude of Munich, and by the alluvial 
deposits formed by the running water when these glaciers finally melted. 

The Central Highlands, extending north of the Danube from the 

Carpathians to the Rhine, exhibit the greatest variety in the direction 

of their heights and the arrangement of their rocks. One extensive low 

plain, that of the upper Rhine, is embedded amongst these heights. 

The structure of the mountains exhibits no recent upridging like the Alps ; 

they scarcely anywhere exceed 5,000 feet in height, Schneekoppe, in 

the Riesengebirge, alone reaching 5,266 feet. All geological formations are 

represented like mosaic work, although the Mesozoic, and particularly the 

Triassic, preponderate in the South-West German basin, Hesse, and 

Thuringia. The strata of the Central Highlands are for the most part 

ancient marine deposits. The most extensive mountain group of the 

region is that of the North German Rhine Highlands, composed of 

Devonian schists, but it is much too small to have been formed on the 

floor of an independent division of the sea. Hence it follows that 
19 



268 The International Geography 

the scattered portions of the same ancient marine formations, e.g ., the 
Coal Measures appearing on the edge of the Rhine Highlands, in 
Saxony and in Silesia, are connected by continuous strata underground, 
or that the once continuous strata have been worn away by denuda- 
tion. In fact, the variegated mosaic of this tesselated region can only 
be understood when one recognises it as a land where the Earth’s crust has 
been dislocated and broken up into blocks — a Schollenland. The isolated 
Palaeozoic masses show clearly how the Devonian strata of the Rhine, the 
Hartz, the Frankenwald, and the Sudetes have undergone violent dis- 
turbance, being wrinkled into ridges and domes, although the primitive 
foldings do not figure prominently in the scenery of to-day. The action of 
the encroaching and receding sea and the continual influence of atmo- 
spheric erosion have worn the crests away, until only the exceptionally hard 
rocks of the centre of the folds remain ; a good example of this is seen in 
the quartzite hills of the Hunsriick and Taunus. During the Cretaceous 
period the sea withdrew, so that Cretaceous formations are found only 
along the north-eastern edge of the Central Highlands from the Belgian 
frontier to Silesia. In the course of the Tertiary period the last portions 
of the land emerged from the sea. Then followed the fracturing and 
subsidence of the isolated blocks of the Earth’s crust, with or without 
marginal elevations, and the upwelling of molten rock, as shown by the 
basalt flows of the Siebengebirge, the Rhon and the Vogelsberg, and also 
by the little volcanoes of the Eifel, which did not become extinct until 
Quaternary times. The lines of fracture along which subsidence and the 
corresponding uptilting have taken place follow three special directions : 

(a) From north-west to south-east, the Hercynian (so-called from the 
Hartz) line of strike, marked by the Weser mountains in the north, the 
Thuringian mountains, the Hartz, the Bohemian Forest, and the Sudetes. 

(b) From south-west to north-east, as shown by the slate Rhine High- 
lands, the Swabian and Franconian Jura, and the Erzgebirge, (c) From 
north-north-east to south-south- west, including the Black Forest and 
Odenwald, the Vosges and the Hardt. 

Where the land remains highest as a rule denudation has been most 
complete, so that the upper sedimentary layers have been entirely removed, 
exposing the deep foundations of Archaean rocks which now form the 
summits of the Black Forest, the Vosges, the Brocken dominating the 
Hartz, and the highest crests of the Erzgebirge and Riesengebirge, all of 
which are composed of granite, gneiss, and mica-schist. In the lower 
grounds the less ancient marine sediments have been more protected from 
erosion, and, for example, the Trias, Bunter sandstone, Muschelkalk, and 
Keuper still remain in the Thuringian Basin, while they have been worn 
away both from the Hartz, which bounds the basin on the north, and from 
the Thuringian and Franconian forests which enclose it on the south. The 
existence of patches of Muschelkalk left on the southern Thuringian moun- 
tains proves that the sediment of the Triassic sea had at one time spread 


The German Empire 269 

over that district also. In the same way Triassic rocks are still found in 
the lower parts of the Black Forest and also on the Swabian-Franconian 
Terraces ; whilst the Swabian-Franconian Jura is named from the Jurassic 
rocks which at a considerable elevation above the sea rest upon the triple 
series of the Trias. The existence of Jurassic pebbles on the slopes of the 
granitic Feldberg similarly reveals the fact that at one tipie Triassic and 
Jurassic strata rested high over the southern part of the Black Forest. 

Crustal movements have not yet quite died away in the Central German 
Highlands. Where the solid mountain mass of the Black Forest with the 
Odenwald, and the Vosges with the Hardt, is trenched by the Upper 
Rhine Plain earthquake shocks are frequently experienced travelling in the 
direction of the Rhine, showing that deep within the Earth the vast rift 
which separates these blocks of the crust is still an unhealed wound. 

That the present relief of the Central German Highlands is more recent 
than the rivers of the region can be recognised from the fact that the 
rivers often flow in directions directly opposite to the general elevations of 
the land, frequently breaking through the highlands in valleys of erosion 
excavated by their own flow. Thus the Weser traverses the Weser chain, 
the Rhine flows in its gorge across the Rhine Highlands, and the Elbe 
through the Bohemian mountain barrier. The Main and the Neckar in their 
middle courses flow between high plains, which are less elevated than the 
mountain crests separating them from the Rhine, into which at one period 
they were enabled to force a passage in consequence of the relation 
of height having become inverted. 

The Northern Plain is the lowest and flattest part of Germany, yet 
only in parts is it a complete low plain. Its foundation consists of de- 
pressed blocks of all formations down to the Tertiary, for in the Tertiary 
period it was still covered by the sea. Even yet a few small island-like 
portions of the sunken crust-blocks project as hard rocks, such as the chalk 
cliffs of Riigen and a plateau of Muschelkalk near Riidersdorf, to the east 
of Berlin. For the rest the whole plain consists, like the Alpine Foreland, 
not of “ real rocks/’ but of soft material of Quaternary age, mainly sands 
and clays of alluvial and glacial origin. The ice-sheet of the Great Ice 
Age which extended from Scandinavia over the German plain has covered 
a great part of the land with the stiff clay of its ground-moraine mixed with 
boulders of ancient formations, the accumulations sometimes forming con- 
siderable eminences. Thus the land is by no means flat or level, although 
its height rarely exceeds 600 feet. On the melting of the ice, boulders 
of red granite and of gneiss carried over from Sweden were left scattered 
as “ foundlings ” or erratic blocks over the plain. As the land became free 
from ice the rivers which began to furrow its surface easily washed away 
the soft clay and deposited it in flood-time, forming meadows along the 
banks and round the river-mouths. 

A low coastal plain extends along the shore of the North Sea, separated 
from the tide-washed beach by a broken chain of sand-dunes. The sea is 


270 The International Geography 

encroaching, and has already separated from the land the line of the 
Frisian islands, which stretch from the Zuider Zee to the unbroken coast 
of Jutland, and, like the fertile land of the low coast, are still the prey 
of the devouring ocean. The shallow flats, or “ Watten,” only uncovered at 
low tide, merge on the landward side into the “ marshes,” which, being 
a little higher on account of the material washed up by the sea, are only 
reached by water at high tide. These tracts have been utilised since the 
Middle Ages, the people protecting them from the sea by constructing the 
H golden hoop ” of dykes or sea-walls. The pastures and corn-fields of this 
district pass without any orographical difference into the less fruitful soil 
of the sandy diluvium of the “ Geest.” 

Hydrography. — The Central Highlands and the Northern Plain 
belong to the North Sea and Baltic drainage areas, their rivers flowing 
as a rule in a northerly or north-westerly direction, thus contrasting with 
the German Alps and Alpine Foreland, which belong to the Black Sea 
drainage area, with the east-flowing Danube as the main river. The 
Rhine is the only river which binds southern to northern Germany, 
crossing the Central Highlands. Its sources rise in Switzerland, its 
delta forms Holland, yet the main part of its course makes it a German 
river, and on account of its facilities for navigation, its great wealth of 
water, and its exceptional depth, the most useful of them all. In 
summer, when the other rivers, the Danube system excepted, shrink on 
account of drought, the Rhine is fed by the melting of the Alpine glaciers. 
The system of tributaries on either side of the main stream is developed 
with beautiful symmetry, the longest flowing in near the middle of its 
course where the Mosel describes its great curve from the French slopes 
of the Vosges, and the Main pursues its zigzag course from the Fichtelge- 
birge. The whole of the South German Highlands except the south- 
eastern slopes of the Jura draining to the Danube, sends its rivers to the 
Rhine. On the contrary, North Germany is shared by several different 
river systems. The small Ems and Weser in the west are entirely German 
from source to sea, and so also is the Oder in the east with the exception 
of its actual source in Moravia. Between these the Elbe has sunk its roots 
most deeply into the innermost recesses of the Central European mountains, 
where it gathers the converging drainage of the Bohemian Basin, and dis- 
charges it into the North Sea. The share of Germany in the Russian 
rivers Vistula (Weichsel) and Memel is but small. Both of these 
discharge wholly or in part through great lagoons or “haffs” into the 
Baltic. The Oder also discharges through such a lagoon, the Stettiner 
Haff, which is united to the sea by channels between the two islands 
of Usedom and Wollin, while the Frisches Haff, into which a branch of the 
Vistula flows, and the Kurisches Haff, which receives the Memel, are almost 
cut off from the sea by narrow spits of sand. 

Rivers of the Plain. — All the great rivers of the Northern Plain 
have a peculiarity in common. Each receives its longest tributaries on 


2 71 


The German Empire 

the right, so that, instead of flowing across the plain in the centre of 
its drainage area, each river runs close to its western watershed. The 
long eastern tributary of the Ems is the Haase, of the Weser the 
Aller, of the Elbe the Havel, of the Oder the Netze, and of the Vistula 
the Bug. The sudden change of course from west to north in the 
Elbe at 52 0 N., in the Vistula at 53 0 N., is extremely striking. It 
would seem as if the Elbe at one time flowed through the present 
valley of the Aller and had received the Weser at Verden. The Oder 
similarly has at one time evidently continued its north-westerly course 
(south of Frankfort) and received on its left bank a great stream, pursuing 
its way to the sea at the present mouth of the Elbe. This primitive river 
must have been the Vistula, which then flowed along the southern base of 
the Baltic lake plateau. The primitive Vistula then found a way for the 
first time across this elevation down the Oder gorge to the present Stettiner 
Haff, the Elbe taking over its old mouth ; a second time, and nearer 
its source, it found another way across the ridge to the Danziger Haff, by 



Fig. 137 . — The Rivers of the North German Plain. 


which its former tributary, the Oder, was left an independent river with the 
deserted mouth. All these changes were brought about by the influence 
of Earth-movements which the crust-blocks, or “ buried mountains,” 
experienced far into the Quaternary period. In a plain quite small altera- 
tions in level suffice to break up the arrangement of river systems and to 
allow them to form new combinations. The great deserted valleys are still 
before us ; for example, the valley of the prehistoric Oder is now utilised 
by the Friedrich Wilhelm’s Canal to unite the Oder and the Spree, and 
nearer Berlin the small Spree in the great richly wooded valley of 
the primitive river is as little in harmony with its surroundings as a mouse 
in the cage of a lion. Hydrologically, however, all these bendings to the 
north result from the law that rivers, as soon as they have secured a shorter 
course, leave the earlier one in stagnation, so far as a portion of the earlier 
course is not taken possession of by a former tributary and thereby restored 
to activity. The portions of the ancient valley which have become swampy 
have in favourable circumstances been again utilised in order to restore the 


272 The International Geography 

prehistoric river-communications and render them available for boats ; on 
the site of the first deviation the Finow Canal now unites the Oder and the 
Havel, on the site of the second deviation the Bromberger Canal unites 
the Vistula and the Oder system. 

Lakes. — Lakes are most abundant on the most recent geological for- 
mations, the Alpine Foreland and the Northern Plain. The lakes of the 
Alpine Foreland are clearly related to the immense ice-sheet which 
descended from the Alps during the Great Ice Age, since the lakes only 
appear on ground which was once covered by glacier-ice. A few small 
lakes lie amongst the mountains themselves, including the charming 
Tegernsee and the Konigsee in the most southerly corner of Germany. 
The others lie at the northern base of the Alps, including Lakes Starnberg 
and Ammer south-west of Munich, the broader lake of Chiem between the 
Inn and Salzburg, and innumerable smaller sheets of water, dwindling 
to mere pools amongst the ancient moraine mounds. 

The Baltic Lake Plateau in the north-east of the Northern Plain is 
thickly pitted with small lakes, as its name implies. Many of the curi- 
ously irregular lakes of East Prussia resemble those of Finland, and are 
of considerable depth. The shallow shore lakes lying behind the chain 
of dunes on the Pomeranian coast are of quite a different type, identical in 
formation with the Haffs, although the latter are in free communication 
with the sea ; thus the Kurisches Haff may be considered the largest lake 
in Germany. The other parts of the Northern Plain are much poorer in 
sheets of water, particularly to the west of the Elbe, where the low-lying 
and very flat land, in consequence of the damp climate, has been overgrown 
and its lake basins filled up by the typical vegetation of the moors. 

The Central Highlands have few lakes ; but in bygone ages many of 
their valleys have been temporarily occupied by sheets of water. The 
largest is the rift valley of the Upper Rhine Plain, which was a gulf of the 
sea in Tertiary times, stretching northward from the present Switzerland, 
just as the existing Red Sea (the Erythraean rift valley) stretches northward 
from the Indian Ocean. The uplift of the Jura mountains shut off the gulf 
and changed it into a lake, which in course of time became filled up by 
sediment from the rivers, and converted into a plain. 

Climate. — The mean annual temperature (reduced to sea-level) of the 
west of Germany is the same as that of the British Islands, while that of the 
region east of the Oder is similar to the climate of Denmark and the south 
of Sweden. The mean annual isotherms cross Germany from north-west 
to south-east ; in other words, the climate grows colder from the south-west 
towards the north-east. In summer the zones of temperature correspond 
more closely with the parallels of latitude, tending to bend northward in the 
east, because at that season the greater specific heat of the land compared 
with the sea makes itself most felt on the air temperature in the east, where 
the land is widest. Thus the temperature of the air in South Germany 
in July is higher than 70° F., being equal to that in Central France, while 


273 


The German Empire 


in North Germany it is lower than 70° being the same as in England. In 
winter, on the contrary, the south is no warmer than the north in the same 
longitude ; but the east of the country is much colder than the west. In 
winter also the contrast between the high pressure area over the Azores 
and the low pressure near Iceland is increased, and frequent cyclonic 
storms sweep over the north-west of Germany. On this account the warm 
south-westerly and westerly winds from the Atlantic blow most frequently 
in winter, and western Germany consequently enjoys a mild climate, 
while the east suffers from unbroken frost. The isotherm of 32 0 F. in 
January enters Germany at the mouth of the Weser, runs southward, 
and finally curves eastward through Munich. The North Sea coast 
of Germany remains almost free from frost, while the harbours on the 
Baltic coast are usually closed by ice, and the further east they lie the 
longer is their trade arrested, the increasing shallowness and smaller 
salinity of the Baltic conspiring to increase the effects of the colder 
winter. The water of the Baltic in spring 
cannot rise above the freezing-point until 
the last of the ice has melted, hence the 
spring on the Baltic coasts is cold and late. 

In the Rhine district, when the swallows 
return and the almond and apricot blossoms 
are opening, snow is still lying in East 
Prussia, where the frost does not break up 
until the middle of March. The different 
elevation of the land necessarily deranges 
the simplicity of the distribution of tempera- 
ture outlined above. The south-western fig . 138 .—Mean Monthly Tempera- 

plains and valleys of the Rhine, Mosel, ture and Ra J n f aU Curves f°> 
* , . _ _ . ,, , Hamburg and Berlin. 

Neckar, and Mam, are actually the warmest 

parts of the country, enjoying an annual mean temperature of over 
50° F., with hot summers and mild winters, because they lie low. On the 
other hand, the high land of South Germany is in no way more favoured 
by climate than the northern low plain. Munich and Konigsberg have 
the same high temperature in July and very nearly the same degree of 
cold in January. High mountains everywhere act as refrigerators for 
the surrounding districts, and they act most vigorously in summer, when 
the temperature falls more rapidly than at other seasons with the increase 
of height. 

The mountains similarly receive the heaviest precipitation (on the 
average about, or over, 40 inches per annum) especially on their western 
and south-western slopes. The average rainfall for Germany is about 28 
inches ; it is greater in the west, where the moist westerly winds prevail ; 
and there it attains a 'maximum in July. In most places the rainfall is 
limited to about 20 inches per annum ; in the north-east there are some 
areas with less, while on the North Sea coast it may rise to over 27 



274 The International Geography 

inches on account of the moist sea winds blowing upon the rough 
land (Fig. 53). 

Flora and Fauna. — Of the whole area of Germany at the present 
time 49 per cent, is cultivated, 20 per cent, consists of natural pasture, 26 
per cent, is under forests, and only 5 per cent, can be classed as waste 
land. Thus the original plants and animals of the country can occupy 
only a very small area, the forests even being no longer in a state of nature, 
but under systematic management. Yet the German flora and fauna are 
extensive enough, including at least 2,250 species of vascular plants and 
16,000 species of insects alone. During the Great Ice Age the severe 
climate reduced the abundant life of the earlier time to a few surviving 
species strong enough to withstand it. In the Steppe period which 
followed, the vacant German lands were invaded from the arid regions of 
the south-east, as far as the Kirghiz steppe, by many species of plants and 
animals including the Saiga antelope, jerboa, and hamster. The feather- 
grass ( Stipa ) of the Hungarian and Black Sea steppes also obtained a 
footing in Germany at this period. Almost all the animals peculiar to the 
Steppe retired again to the east when the climate became moister, and thq 
land once more became wooded, not this time with tropical exuberance, 
but with northern simplicity. The hamster remains in many parts of Ger- 
many a surviving relic of the Steppe period. Most of the present plants and 
animals result from the post-glacial invasions from the east with which 
Germany is so closely connected in soil and climate. Thus there are com- 
paratively few species peculiar to the country ; of the 220 species of birds 
not one is confined to Germany. The larger wild animals, especially the 
bear and wolf, have been exterminated, and the last bison was killed in 
1775. The stag, roe, and wild boar still people the forests ; the reindeer 
has disappeared since the Middle Ages, but the elk is still found in one of 
the forests of East Prussia. The chamois and marmot are found only in 
the Alps above the tree limit. Reptiles requiring a dry, warm climate are 
not numerous ; all the varieties of lizard and snake known in Germany 
inhabit the south-west, and scarcely half of the species are found in other 
parts of the country. With regard to fish, the Danube district forms a 
province of the Black Sea faunal district where no salmon are found, 
although this fish abounds in the rivers flowing to the North Sea and the 
Baltic. There are numerous oyster banks off the shallow west coast of 
Schleswig, and the only place in German waters where the lobster lives is 
near Helgoland. 

Forests.— In order to secure a profitable supply of timber, pine and fir 
woods have recently been extended at the cost of the deciduous forests, 
which, consisting mainly of oak and beech, now occupy only one-third of 
the area of German forests. Larch woods are found chiefly in the Alps, 
and the beautiful Rolle pine ( Pinus cembra ) grows there only. Proud forests 
of the silver fir ( Edcltanne ) still beautify the Vosges and the Black Forest, 
and are found in places amongst the hills of Thuringia and on the slopes 


The German Empire 275 

of the Sudetes, but they do not occur much further north. The cha- 
racteristic tree of the Central Highlands is the spruce {Fichte), and that of 
the Northern Plain is the Scots pine [Kiefer), which makes up almost half 
of the German forests, together with the white birch. The beech, which 
still thrives so splendidly on Riigen and the other Baltic coast lands, is 
suddenly limited by the climate from Konigsberg towards the north-east ; 
beyond this it cannot thrive on account of the increasingly continental 
climate reducing the period with a mean day temperature of over 50° F. 
to less than five months, although it stands cold in winter better than the 
oak. In the north-west, on the contrary, the saltness of the stormy sea 
winds stunts the growth of trees, and moors and heaths cover that region 
which is the least wooded in all Germany. Vine-growing is impossible in 
the north-west on account of the damp air and dull skies, but formerly it 
was carried on in the sunnier regions of the north-east. Now, however, 
when better means of transport make it unnecessary to grow sour grapes, 
the German vineyards are mainly found in the valleys of the Rhine and its 
tributaries. On the Alpine Foreland, influenced by the yaw Alpine 
climate, the vine cannot be cultivated ; in eastern Germany, however, as 
far north as latitude 53 0 , the summer and early autumn are warmer and 
less cloudy than similar latitudes in the west, and the most northerly vine- 
yards in the world are those of Bomst, in the province of Posen, 
52 0 10 ' N. 

German Races. — Until the commencement of the Christian era the 
German tribes only inhabited the north of Germany, not extending to any 
great distance west of the Rhine. Then they began to displace or subju- 
gate the Keltic people of the southern half of Central Germany and the left 
bank of the Rhine. In the course of their wanderings the Germans next 
took possession of the Alpine Foreland and of the Alps. Even to the 
present day the mixture of Keltic blood in South Germany may be 
recognised in the large proportion (from 15 to 30 per cent.) of dark- 
complexioned and dark-eyed people ; in North Germany fair com- 
plexions predominate, or at the most brown hair with light-coloured 
eyes, the proportion with dark complexions scarcely ever reaching 15 
per cent. When, in the course of their migration, the German 
people had deserted the greater part of the eastern half of Central 
Europe, Slavonic tribes, called by the Germans Wends, entered from 
the east and spread over northern Germany to Holstein, the Elbe, and 
the Thuringian Saale. People of the closely-related Lithuanian group, 
coming from the east, settled themselves in East Prussia from the Vistula 
to beyond the Memel. They included the Prussians, whose language be- 
came extinct about the year 1700, the Letts, and in the extreme east to 
beyond the Russian frontier, the Lithuanians, who have still preserved their 
very ancient language, which in many ways resembles Sanscrit. During 
the second half of the Middle Ages the Germans again took possession of 

the eastern regions. The Slavs were, however, by no means driven out, 
20 


276 The International Geography 

but German colonists settled amongst them, gradually introducing their 
language and customs. So completely has the process of Germanisation 
been carried out in the districts settled by the early colonists that in most 
cases the only sign of the Slavonic origin of the peasantry is to be found 
in the foreign sound of the place-names, which often end in itz and ow. 
The Slavonic peoples of north-eastern Germany related to the Poles have 
completely adopted the German language since their contact and mixing 
with that people ; but the Slavs related to the Chech family have still pre- 
served the remembrance of their original tongue in the Spree valley between 
Bautzen and Cottbus. It is only in those parts of the country which belonged 
to the kingdom of Poland up to the eighteenth century that the population 
continue to speak Polish generally. The Poles are not quite three 
millions in number, and they live chiefly in the provinces of West Prussia, 
Posen, and south-eastern Silesia ; it is they principally who compose the 
8 per cent, of German subjects who speak foreign languages. Next to 
them come about a quarter of a million French- speaking inhabitants, mainly 
in Lorraine, about half as many Danish- speaking in northern Schleswig, 
and the same number of Lithuanians. 

The chief elements of the present German population are : — 

(1) Swabians from the Vosges mountains to the river Lech and in the 
Neckar district (the Germans of Switzerland also belong to this family). 
(2) Bavarians in the whole Danube basin east of the Lech (the Germans 
of the neighbouring parts of Austria are closely related). (3) Franks of the 
Mam, i.e., the Franks who migrated from the North German Rhine district 
to the Main valley. (4) Palatines , a mixed stock of Franks and Swabians 
in the Bavarian Palatinate, the south of the grand duchy of Hesse, and 
northern Baden. (5) Franks of the Rhine, in the Rhine province and in 
Nassau. (6) Hessians in the highlands of Hesse. (7) Thuringians in 
Thuringia. (8) Saxons extending from Westphalia to the Elbe and to 
Schleswig-Holstein, also called Low Saxons in contradistinction to the 
formerly-named Low German or Platt- Deutsch-speaking people. (9) Fri- 
sians, along the coast of the North Sea and the off-lying islands, formerly 
speaking Frisian, a dialect distinct from all other varieties of German, 
but now speaking Low Saxon. 

Language. — Where Low Saxons colonised the Slavonic lands on the 
Baltic coasts and in the Mark Brandenburg, Low German became the 
spoken language. East Prussia, on the other hand, was colonised by the 
most different races of North and South Germany after the Order of 
German Knights had conquered the country in the thirteenth century. 
Thuringians took the chief part in the Germanisation of Saxony ; and 
Thuringians and Hessians in the settling of Silesia ; hence in both these 
lands Upper German is spoken ; indeed, the dialect of the kingdom of 
Saxony (Upper Saxon or Meissnisch) was promoted in the sixteenth 
century to be the literary language, or “ High German.” Upper German 
was derived in the Middle Ages by phonetic change from the Low 


277 


The German Empire 

German, once the universal German tongue. It spread from the Swabians 
and Bavarians of the “ Upper Lands/’ who initiated the change, gradually 
displacing the northern dialects. At the present time Low Saxon only 
remains unaltered amongst the Frisians, who, to give an example, instead 
of using the High German das and Wasser , keep to the old unchanged 
form of dat and water, pronounced as in English, and in fact almost 
identical with the English words that and water. One of the most re* 
markable cases is the transitional position of the Franks. The Franks of 
the Main speak with the Upper German value of the consonants, the 
Franks of the Rhine Highlands retain some of the old unaltered words, 
while those in the Lower Rhine Plain near the Netherlands speak the 
ancient unmodified Frankish dialect. 

History. — The territory of the present German Empire (with the 
exception of the north-eastern provinces, which were added later) formed, 
together with the remaining States of Central Europe, the East Frankish 
Empire as it was constituted in 843 out of the Frankish Empire of Charles 
the Great (Charlemagne). The ancient German Empire, however, has been 
diminished by the withdrawal of the territories now belonging to Switzer- 
land, Belgium, and the Netherlands. What remained over fell at last into 
many hundred powerless fragments — temporal and spiritual principalities, 
free cities, even imperial villages — scarcely held together in a nominal 
empire. Only two of these practically independent little States attained 
any real importance. One of these was the Bavarian Mark of the 
Habsburgs which grew in the Middle Ages into the Austrian Duchy in the 
south-east ; the other was the State of the Hohenzollerns, which spread 
from the Mark of Brandenburg in the fifteenth century until it occupied, as 
Prussia, the whole of the north-east of the German Plain. 

The power of the great Napoleon brought the old German Empire to 
an end in 1806, shortly after the spiritual principalities (the domains of the 
Prince-Bishops) had been suppressed in favour of the claims of the 
temporal princes. States of the old empire to the number of thirty-nine, 
but later only thirty-five, again came together in the feeble union of the 
German Confederation ( Deutsche Bund ) which lasted from 1815 to 1866. 
This union terminated with the war of 1866, 
which was really a struggle between Prussia and 
Austria for the leadership in the Confederation, 
and led to the definite withdrawal of Austria. 

Thus the way was prepared for the new German 
Empire, under the leadership of Prussia, which 
was founded after the united forces of the German 
States defeated the French attack in 1870. 

Government. — The present German Empire 
is a strong Confederation of twenty-six sovereign 
States, each possessing its own independent form of government, but, for 
the common affairs of the empire, all subordinate to the central government. 




27 8 The International Geography 

This government consists of — (i) the Federal Council ( Bundesrath ) 
composed of 58 members representing the constituent States of the empire; 

(2) the Imperial Diet ( Reichstag ), a popular assembly 
elected directly by the votes of the whole German 
people ; (3) the Ministers appointed by the German 
Emperor, who, by the constitution of the empire, 
must be the King of Prussia for the time being. 
The Emperor is Federal Commander-in-Chief and 
supreme head of the whole imperial administra- 
tion ; but he is not the monarch of Germany — the 
authority he exercises is vested in him “in the 
name of the confederated governments.” 

Division. — In size Germany is the third, in population the second 
country of Europe. The constituent States may be distinguished into 
North German and South German, as the course of their development was 
affected by one or the other of the great commercial areas of central 
Europe — the northern depending on maritime trade, the southern on trade 
over the Alps or by the Danube. South Germany consists of Bavaria , 
Wiirttemberg , Baden, the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine (administered 
directly by the empire through a Statthalter, or governor) and the southern 
part of the grand duchy of Hesse , which is not inhabited by Hessians, but 
came under the duchy by inheritance. Prussia occupies the lion’s share 
of North Germany, although the growth of this State towards the west did 
not begin until 1609, and until 1866 included only the provinces of Rhine- 
land and Westphalia in the west. By the acquisition of Hanover, the 
Electorate of Hesse and Nassau, including Frankfort-on-the-Main, Prussia 
was able to unite its older provinces of the east with the hitherto isolated 
provinces in the west, and so to command a stretch of territory extending 
from the Belgian to the Russian frontiers ; and, with the exception of the 
Free Towns, Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck, left only three other States to 
share the German coast — viz., the two grand duchies of Mecklenburg, and 
Oldenburg. The only North German State besides Prussia which is large 
enough to contain several million inhabitants is the kingdom of Saxony 
lying close up to the Bohemian border. The fact that North Germany, 
particularly in Thuringia and in the Weser district, contains no less than 
twenty of the constituent States of the empire, shows that the northern 
States have been able to maintain their separate existence better than 
those in the south. 

Religion. — Germany, the cradle of the Reformation, where the strife 
between Protestants and Roman Catholics first broke out, has continued to 
be a land of mixed confessions — 63 per cent, of the people are Protestant, 
36 per cent. Roman Catholic, and 1 per cent, are Jews. Their distribution 
can be clearly explained by historical considerations. Parts of West 
Prussia, Posen, and southern Silesia form the eastern belt of predomin- 
ating Catholicism in the Oder and Vistula region, the people having 



Fig. 140 . — The German 
Flag. 


2 79 


The German Empire 

belonged to Roman Catholic Poland. Beyond this East Prussia is Pro- 
testant, because the Grand Master of the Order of Knights, the Hohen- 
zollern Albrecht, who became Duke, took up the cause of the Reformation. 
The broad middle district of the German Empire is almost throughout 
Protestant, but in the south-west a strip of Catholic country stretches from 
Bavaria to the old district of the Bishops of Munster on the Ems ; here 
one can see to this day the effect of the religious peace of Augsburg in 
3:555 when the dictum was published — Cujus regio, ejus religio. Thus 
where, in those days, the Prince-Bishops ruled on the Rhine, the Mosel, and 
the Main, and as far as Westphalia, or where the Bavarian Wittelsbacher 
remained true to the old beliefs, the Catholic ritual is followed to the 
present day ; but in old Wiirttemberg on the Neckar, in the Palatinate, and 
in Hesse, the Protestant form of worship prevails, because there the 
princes took up the cause of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. 
The distribution of the half-million Jews who inhabit Germany may also 
be explained historically, although in this case social conditions have also 
to be taken into account. They are confined principally to the districts 
on the east where there is a large Polish population, and to the south-west 
in Hesse, the Palatinate, and Swabia ; Bavaria contains the smallest num- 
ber of Jews. The larger number of Jews in Alsace compared with Baden 
is accounted for by the more favourable laws in the former State during 
the French period. 

The German People. — The density of population is to be explained 
by economic rather than historic considerations. The average density of 

population throughout Germany 
is 250 to the square mile, a figure 
which is only exceeded amongst 
the large countries of Europe 
by Italy and the United King- 
dom. The agricultural districts, 
especially in the Alpine Fore- 
land, the sandy North German 

plain, and the poor rocky soil 

FIG. 141. Average popu- Q f many parts of the Rhine Fig. 142.— Average popu- 
lation of a square mile lation of a square mile 

of Germany. Highlands, of course are much of Saxony. 

less densely peopled. Yet along 

the whole course of the Rhine the density of population reaches 250 per 
square mile, and wherever minerals, especially coal, give rise to flourishing 
industries, the density approaches 400. This is the case in south-eastern 
Silesia and on the Waldenburger coal-field to the south-west of Breslau, in 
the kingdom of Saxony, and especially in the Lower Rhine and Westphalian 
manufacturing district. With the exception of the Free Towns, Hamburg 
and Bremen, the most densely peopled State in the world is the kingdom 
of Saxony with an average density of 658 per square mile, thus surpassing 
even Belgium. 


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280 The International Geography 

The German people must be perseveringly laborious, frugal, and thrifty 
in order to make a living out of the soil of their country, which, although 
nowhere too rich, everywhere yields a fair return for hard work. The 
large families of the Germans present a curious contrast to those of 
other nations, especially of the French. Since 1871, for example, the 
natural increase of population in Germany has been over 11 million, and 
in France only 2 million. The result is considerable emigration from 
Germany to distant lands, especially to the United States and British 
Colonies, where Germans prosper and make good citizens. 

The German is not so quick and versatile as the people of the warmer 
countries of the south, but his inclement winters have given him a regard 
for the domestic hearth, fostered the family sentiment, encouraged a depth 
of feeling, and habits of contemplation, led to a love for reading and think- 
ing, and to the cultivation of science. Compulsory attendance at school 
and, since 1871, the service in the army of every able-bodied young man, 
have exercised a most salutary influence on the intellectual and physical 
life of the nation. Without being particularly rich, Germany is ready to 
make great sacrifices in order to maintain the army and navy in a con- 
dition of high excellence for the protection of its 
recently-won position amongst the armed Powers 
of Europe. 

Agriculture. — Until the middle of the nine- 
teenth century the German lands were almost ex- 
clusively of agricultural value. This is now the 
case with the north-east only, and even there many 
centres of manufacturing industry are springing 
up ; and these industries are the most important 
interests in the west. Taken as a whole 42 per cent, of the people of 
the German Empire are dependent on agriculture, 33 per cent, on manu- 
facturing industries, 8 per cent, on trade, and 3 per cent, on mining and 
the extraction of metals. 

The map (Fig. 144) shows the distribution of the more important 
branches of agriculture and related industries. The favourable climatic 
conditions of the south-western districts naturally fit them for the extensive 
growth of the vine, hops, and tobacco, and make the Upper Rhine plain 
almost the only part of the country where wheat and barley predominate 
among the crops. In all other places rye and oats, the chief grain crops of 
Germany, take the first place. With respect to its total production of all 
grain-crops Germany is hardly excelled by the more favoured fields of 
France, and Russia alone amongst the nations of Europe has a much greater 
production. But it must be remembered that the warm air and less sandy 
soil of France allow far more wheat to be grown there, and that the 
German peasants must, to a large extent, content themselves with black 
bread made from rye. The potato was naturalised in all parts of Germany 
in the eighteenth century ; it supplies a cheap form of food, the more valu- 



28 I 


The German Empire 


able because, like rye, it flourishes on a light soil and in a raw climate. 
Germany grows more potatoes than any other country, and provides a con- 
siderable surplus for export. In the north-east of Germany there are many 
distilleries for the manufacture of spirits from potatoes ; and thus great 
estates dating from the German conquests in feudal times, hitherto nearly 
useless on account of the sandy soil, have enormously increased in value. 
More recently this north-eastern region has become the centre of beet- 
growing mainly in connection with the manufacture of sugar, but partly also 
for distilling. The excessive drinking of spirits which formerly exercised a 



Fig. 144 . — Agricultural Map of Germany, 


bad effect on the lower classes in the wineless country of the eastern Elbe 
is now being remedied by the establishment in all parts of Germany of 
breweries producing light beer like that of Bavaria. In the excellence and 
quantity of the beer it produces Bavaria keeps the first place. 

The raising of live stock on the extensive pastures and well-cared-for 
meadows is an important branch of German farming, and Russia alone has 
a larger number of cattle in Europe. The plains of the Alpine Foreland 
and of the north are the best for horse-breeding ; cattle are kept every- 
where for beef and for dairy purposes trom the coast marshes to the Alps. 
The high farming now practised and the fall in the price of wool due to 


282 The International Geography 


imports from abroad have recently led to a considerable reduction in the 
number of sheep kept. There are in fact more cattle than sheep in Ger- 
many, and large flocks are now only to be found on the estates of the great 
proprietors in the north-east. Goats also are less numerous than formerly ; 
they are kept in the mountains for their milk, where they have earned the 
name of “the poor man’s cow.” The number of swine kept, on the other 
hand, has increased, mainly on account of the development of the beet- 
sugar industry, the refuse from the factories making good food for pigs. 

The Fisheries along the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic have 
been greatly stimulated by the extension of railways opening up the 
inland markets, and a society for artificial fish-culture is actively engaged 
in increasing the number of the more valuable fresh-water fish such as 
trout and salmon. 

Industry. — The Germans have been foremost in mining for many 
centuries, and German miners are now to be found in every continent. On 
many of the mountains of the country, particularly the Erzgebirge, the 
diminution of the output of ore from the old mines has led to the 
development of many forms of domestic industry through the efforts 
of the people to make a living on their native soil. Yet the methods 
of working and the enterprise of the German miners have brought all 
processes to a high degree of excellence. Almost half of the silver pro- 
duced in Europe is raised in Germany, most of it from silver-lead ores ; 
and the production of zinc, lead, and copper is equally advanced. These 
metals are obtained principally from the mountains of Prussia, from the 
neighbourhood of Aachen in the west to upper Silesia in the east. The 
most valuable of the Earth’s riches, however, are the supplies of iron-ore, 
found in almost all parts of Germany, and coal. The most important coal- 
fields, which as a rule abound in iron-ore also, occur on the northern 
border of the Rhine Highlands especially in the Ruhr valley, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Aachen, to which the Belgian coal-field extends, south of the 
Hunsriick on the Saar, in Saxony, in Silesia near Waldenburg, and in Upper 
Silesia. In the production of coal and iron Germany is far ahead of every 
other country on the continent, and is only surpassed by the United King- 
dom amongst European States (Fig. 70). It is besides very rich in rock-salt, 
and in potassium salts of enormous industrial importance, which accompany 
the common salt. Almost all the salt-bearing formations are found in the 
sunken mountains under the diluvium covering the North German plain ; 
and there a vast supply is stored up for the future. 

Brewing, spinning, and weaving were old domestic industries, and 
wood-carving is a national occupation of great antiquity. Domestic indus- 
tries have developed on the higher slopes of the mountains where agricul- 
ture becomes less profitable ; there the weaving of wool and flax were 
early favoured by the mountain climate, and wood-carving, lace-making, 
and, later, glass and porcelain manufacture were established. During the 
nineteenth century the introduction of factories and steam-power has swept 


The German Empire 283 

away many of the old village workshops, but has brought more lucrative 
employment to large numbers of working men and women. The most 
developed of these are the textile industries, now including cotton and silk 
as well as wool, and the manufacture of iron where the ore and coal are 
mined together, or can be brought to the same place by steam and railway 
at small cost. The iron trade alone occupies nearly a quarter of a million 
of workmen. By the quantity and excellence of its manufactures Germany 
has rapidly distanced all other countries on the continent in the markets of 
the world, and takes rank next to the United Kingdom. An index of the 
rapidity of the growth of great industries is afforded by the increasingly 
rapid migration of people from the country to the towns, and from the 
small towns to the larger cities. Thus in 1871 there were 8 German towns 
of over 100,000 inhabitants, together making up rather less than 5 per cent, 
of the population of the empire ; in 1891 there were 26 of these towns with 
12 per cent, of the population, and in 1895 there were 28 with 14 per cent. 

Trade. — The external trade of Germany amounts to about #2,000,000,000 
per annum, or #40 per head of the population (see Fig. 71). It is that of a 
typical industrial State, the exports consisting mainly of manufactured 
articles and the imports of food and raw materials, the proportions being : — 

Food Material. Animals. Raw Materials. Manufactures. Total. 

Imports. . . . 28-4 66 587 63 100 0 

Exports.. ..92 — 19-1 717 1000 

The principal trade is done with the United Kingdom, then follow the 
United States, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. The two last-named 
countries are important for the supply of grain, for Germany itself, even in 
years of good harvest, does not produce enough food for the population 
which increases by half a million. The importance of the United States, 
on the other hand, is mainly for the supply of raw cotton. 

The over-sea trade of Germany is carried on by means of a merchant 
fleet, only second in tonnage to that of the United Kingdom amongst 
European States. Since 1895 the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, through Holstein 
from the Baltic to the estuary of the Elbe, has stimulated German trade by 
opening a shorter route from the Baltic ports to the Atlantic. 

Internal Communications. — The navigable waterways of Ger- 
many measure nearly 7,500 miles, of which 1,500 miles are canals. The 
Rhine is the most important of the navigable rivers ; the Elbe, Oder, and 
Vistula come next in order. South Germany is poorly supplied with 
water transport as the Rhine above Mannheim is too rapid for easy navi- 
gation, and the Bavarian Danube is not much wider than the Ems ; hence 
the railways carry most of the traffic between North and South Germany. 

The German Empire has the greatest railway system in the world, with 
the exception of Russia and the United States. There are 29,600 miles 
of railway, and there is scarcely a point in the empire which cannot be 
reached within twenty-four hours from Berlin. The capital sunk in these 
railways is $2,600,000,000 ; and the railways are of more than national im- 


284 The International Geography 

portance. The lines along both banks of the Rhine have formed an 
important link in the communication between England and India since the 
St. Gothard tunnel was opened ; the line from Strassburg through Munich 
to Vienna is traversed by the Orient Express from Paris to Constantinople, 
while the line from Cologne through Berlin to Warsaw unites Paris by 
the town of Samara on the Volga to Siberia, and thus to the whole of 
eastern Asia. The central position of Berlin in the railway system of 
Europe is clearly shown in Fig. 54. 

Districts and Towns of the Alpine Foreland. — The German 
share of the Alpine Foreland which stretches from the Lake of Constance 
to the Inn, is crossed by the rivers Iller and Lech flowing towards the north 
and the Isar and Inn towards the north-east, but these rivers are so rapid 
that they are only available for floating rafts. The Alpine Foreland is 
prolonged on the north bank of the Danube towards the Fichtelgebirge in 
the Upper Palatinate, which stretches between the Franconian Jura and 
the Bohemian Forest, and is drained by the south-flowing Naab. In the 
Bavarian Alps and the neighbouring parts of the Foreland coniferous 
forests and pastures predominate, and the people are principally engaged 
in cattle-rearing. Towards the Danube, however, agriculture prevails, 
and the wooden cottages with shingle roofs adapted to an Alpine climate 
give place to tiled farm-houses. The western or Swabian end of the 
Foreland belongs to the kingdom of Wiirttemberg as far as the Iller ; and 
at the point where that river enters the Danube at the commencement of 
navigation, the city of Ulm stands on the left bank. It is renowned for its 
splendid cathedral, and is besides an ancient commercial town at the end 
of the most convenient passage between the Danube valley through the 
Franconian Jura to an eastern tributary of the Neckar. Between the Iller 
and Lech lies the Swabian district of the kingdom of Bavaria. Augsburg , 
the former chief town of the Alpine Foreland, stands on the Lech. It 
dates from Roman times, and remained a very important commercial 
centre until the fifteenth century, on account of the Oriental goods 

brought over the Alpine passes from Italy 
and down the Lech valley. The road forked 
at Augsburg westward to Ulm and north- 
ward through the Franconian Jura. The 
eastern portion of the Foreland is the original 
country of Bavaria, which became a king- 
dom in 1806 and secured as an extension 
the Swabian district as well as the three dis- 
tricts of Franconia in the basin of the Main. 

Munich ( Miinchen ), on the Isar, has grown 
up since the thirteenth century, and suc- 
ceeded Augsburg as the royal residence. 
The kings have beautified the city by the erection of many fine build- 
ings, and made it the centre of South German art, especially painting, 



The German Empire 285 

and of art industries. It is the greatest beer-brewing town in the world, 
and the chief grain market for the non-agricultural region of the 
Bavarian plateau and the Bavarian Alps ; but, above all, it has a great 
future as a commercial centre on account of the railways converging 
to it from the north, from the south over the Brenner Pass and down the 
Inn valley, from Paris on the west and Vienna on the east. The lack of 
coal in the Alpine Foreland has restricted manufactures. Regensburg 
( Ratisbon ), the old residence of the Dukes of Bavaria, stands on the 
Danube at the most northerly point reached by that river, where in the 
early Middle Ages the incoming Bavarians first encountered it as they 
came from Bohemia, and where in antiquity the Romans erected a fort 
against the independent German tribes. 

South-West German Districts and Towns. — “The Garden of 
Germany” is the name fondly given to the rich, flat plain of the Upper Rhine, 
aglow with varied agriculture, and framed by the finely wooded ranges of 
the Vosges and Black Forest. Behind these bordering ranges of ancient 
rock there follow stretches of Triassic and Jurassic formations. The 
eastern flank of the system belongs entirely to Germany, and includes the 
Swabian-Franconian Jura, a limestone plateau with an abrupt slope down- 
wards on the side towards the Rhine, crowned by prominent castles, such 
as those of Hohenzollern and Hohenstaufen, and merging into the 
Swabian-Franconian terrace region through which the Main and Neckar 
flow. The western flank extends into France ; here the boundary strips 
exhibit a striking section where, on the right of the Mosel in German 
Lorraine, the Jurassic rocks remain above the Triassic. 

The Rhine receives almost all the streams of the south-west German 
basin ; the Neckar and Main, the chief rivers of the eastern flank, have 
cut their way through the Central Highlands to the middle Rhine plain, 
and on the western flank the Mosel, flowing from the southern Vosges like 
a twin of the Neckar, describes a wide arc and returns to the Rhine 
through the gorges of the Rhine Highlands. 

Until the South German States extended their territory under 
Napoleon’s influence the State of Wurttemberg was confined to the 
Swabian portion of the Neckar basin. It became a kingdom at the 
same time as Bavaria, and its capital, Stuttgart , has recently acquired 
considerable importance. It is situated amidst charming scenery on the 
left side of the Neckar, and prospers on account of the cheap transport of 
raw materials and coal by the Neckar valley railway from the Rhine, 
enabling it to become an industrial centre particularly for engine-con- 
struction and cotton-weaving. It is also the chief centre of the South 
German printing and publishing trade. In Bavarian Franconia two 
ancient episcopal cities stand in the valley of the Main, the only large 
river in Germany which flows westward. These are Bamberg , on the 
Rednitz close to its confluence with the Main, and Wurzburg , a larger town 
on the Main itself where the river cuts its zigzag course almost in the 


286 The International Geography 

shape of a W into the Muschelkalk of the Triassic Franconian plateau. 
Niirnberg (Nuremberg), on the Pegnitz, an eastern tributary of the Rednitz, 
is nearly twice as large. It was founded in the eleventh century on 
barren ground under the protection of an imperial castle ; then, through 
the energy of its citizens, it acquired the rank of a self-governing “ Free 
Imperial Town,” and became the most famous centre of industry and 
invention in Germany during the Middle Ages. Now it has again become 
a busy industrial town, and a great centre of commerce on the railway 
which runs through it directly northwards from Augsburg to Erfurt. 
Niirnberg is a gem among the towns of Germany on account of the 
perfection in which its ancient buildings have been preserved, and 
especially for its nOble Gothic churches. 

F rankfort-on-th e-Main is on the threshold of North Germany, and 
has grown into the greatest of all the towns of the Main valley. Like 
Vienna it stands on a point where two routes cross at right angles ; the 
east to west route following the Main valley being cut by the north to 
south route from the Upper Rhine plain to ithe north coast. It was the 
true centre of the earliest development of German culture in the Rhine 
valley, and in many respects the chief town of the old German Empire. 
It has always been a place of civic affairs, and of high intellectual activity 
— it is the birthplace of Goethe. Since 1866 it has been attached to the 
new Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and now, by the deepening of the 
lower channel of the Main, Frankfort is practically one of the Rhine river- 
ports, and one of the foremost trading and banking centres of the west of 
Germany. The southern part of Hesse, formerly belonging to the 
Electoral Palatinate, contains Darmstadt, the capital of the grand duchy, at 
the base of the Odenwald, and Mainz (Mayence), a fortress on the bend of 
the Rhine towards the north-west and the most important crossing-place 
of the Middle Rhine. The Bavarian Palatinate lies entirely on the left of 
the Rhine, enriched by the generous vineyards of the eastern slope of the 
Hardt. Finally, the northern portion of the grand duchy of Baden 
contains Heidelberg at the point where the Neckar enters the plain ; this 
old capital of the Elector Palatine is dominated by the magnificent 

ruins of an ancient castle destroyed by the 
French in 1689. The later capital, Mann- 
heim, is an entirely modern town at the con- 
fluence of the Neckar and the Rhine, and 
carrying on an active trade on the great 
river. The present boundaries of Baden 
date only from the nineteenth century. The 
capital, Carlsruhe, was built in 1715 at the 
command of the Prince round a hunting 
castle, from which, as a centre, the straight 
main streets radiate. Konstanz (Const antia, Constance), on the other hand, has 
been a town since the time of the Romans, and was an episcopal city in 



The German Empire 287 

# 

the Middle Ages ; it is the only town of Baden on the left bank of the 
Rhine, being situated at the point where the Untersee unites with the Lake 
of Constance. 

The imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine, re-taken from the French 
in 1870, is made up of Alsace on the slopes of the Vosges draining directly 
into the Rhine, and Lorraine in the Mosel district ; the former is inhabited 
by people of Swabian and the latter of Rhenish-Franconian stock so far as 
they were not occupied by the later immigration of Romanised Kelts. 
Sfrassburg, the capital of Alsace-Lorraine, is a very important traffic-centre 
and a strong fortress, because it lies almost in a straight line between the 
valley of the Zorn by which the route from Paris crosses the Vosges, and 
the valley of the Kinzig which leads across the Black Forest to the source 
of the Danube (see Fig. 48). Miihlhausen , in the south of Alsace, is the most 
important cotton manufacturing town of southern Germany. The strong 
fortress of Metz protects the Mosel valley, which forms the most natural 
line of communication between France and Germany. It was the ancient 
capital of the Keltic Mediomatriker. 

The Rhine Highlands and their Towns. — This division of the 
country presents an undulating surface little over 1,500 feet above sea- 
level, forming the worn-down residue of a mountain range now presenting 
a reniform outline, the indentation being represented by the low plain of 
Cologne towards the north-west. The Rhine flows across this plateau in a 
gorge towards the north-west, which is most contracted between Bingen to 
the small volcanic mountain group of the Siebengebirge opposite Bonn 
The eastern wing of the Slate Highlands is divided by the Mosel valley into 
the Hunsriick on the south and the Eifel on the north ; the right wing is 
called the Taunus as far as the Lahn, the Westerwald as far as the Sieg, 
the Sauerland as far as the Ruhr, and the Haar to the north of that river. 
The plateaux between those valleys of the Rhine system have for the most 
part an inclement climate and infertile soil ; in the Eifel there are ex- 
tensive moorlands on account of the amount of clay present forming an 
impervious soil ; other parts bear extensive forests. The deeply cut 
valleys, on the contrary, are extremely fertile because of their sheltered 
position and productive alluvial or loess soil. Here in the Rheingau at the 
base of the Taunus and on the slopes of the steep slate banks of the Rhine 
and Mosel, frequently crowned by the ruins of ancient castles, the best 
wines of Germany are grown. Here also, close to the thinly peopled 
plateaux untouched by trade, is one of the most thickly peopled and 
busiest districts of the country, the river itself traversed by a ceaseless 
stream of passenger and cargo steamers, and railways following both 
banks through the gorges. The pulse of traffic beats less strongly in the 
lateral valleys, but recently a railway of great importance for strategic 
purposes has been constructed along the valleys of the Lahn and Mosel 
connecting Metz with Berlin. The whole is now Prussian, the greater 
part being included in the Rhine Province inhabited by people of the 


288 The International Geography 

Rhenish-Franconian stock ; only the Taunus and the Rheingau belong to 
the new province of Hesse-Nassau, and the north-east of Sauerland (the 
Ruhr district) to the Low Saxon province of Westphalia. On the left side 
of the Rhine, once occupied by the Romans, there are towns whose 
history goes back for more than a thousand years. Trier ( Treves ) was 
once the chief town of the Keltic Treverer ; it stands in a widening of the 
Mosel valley and was often the residence of the Roman emperors, who 
made it an outpost against the attacks of the German tribes. 

Other ancient towns are Bingen, the university city of Bonn, and right 
in the centre of the Slate Highlands Coblentz (i.e., Confluence), at the mouth 
of the Mosel, the capital of the Rhine province, and strongly fortified in 
order to protect the valley of the Rhine from an attack by way of the 
Mosel. Aachen (. Aix-la-Chapelle ), at the northern base of the Eifel, stands 
on a coal and iron field, the only great industrial town of Germany, which 
is at the same time celebrated for its baths, its warm springs having in 

fact given it its name from 
the Latin Aquae. The 
charming bathing-place of 
Wiesbaden, in a sheltered 
spot at the base of the 
Taunus, has also been cele- 
brated for its baths since 
Roman times. 

Thanks to the metal pro- 
duction, and principally to 
the iron of Sauerland and 
the neighbourhood of the 
Ruhr coal-field, a close 
swarm of industrial towns has grown up, including on and near the Wupper, 
the contiguous towns of Elberfeld and Barmen, engaged in textile industries ; 
Solingen and Remscheid, with iron and steel manufactures ; and north of 
the Ruhr valley, Essen, with Krupp’s famous cast steel works, and further 
east Dortmund, a centre of iron and coal mining on the edge of the Haar 
and the seat of a great iron industry, particularly the construction of 
machinery. 

The Hessian Uplands. — The narrow Hesse and Weser Uplands 
lying east of the Rhine Highlands, are unified by the Weser river system 
but fall naturally into two divisions. That of Hesse to the south is higher, 
with masses of hard basalt standing out from the prevailing Triassic 
rocks and forming the highest parts of the district in the Vogelsberg 
(2,533 feet) an d the Rhon mountain (3,146 feet). The river Fulda 
rises in the Rhon, and unites at Miinden (i.e., mouth, called after the 
confluence) with the Weser, which flows from the south-western slope of 
the Thiiringerwald, and is called as far as Miinden by the Upper German 
dialect name of Werra. The Eder flows east to the Fulda from the slopes 



FlG. 147 . — The Railways of the Ruhr Coal-field. 



The German Empire 289 

of the Rhine Highlands, and the Diemel north-east to the Weser below 
Miinden. Being without mineral wealth Hesse has perforce developed as 
a purely agricultural district ; until the thirteenth century it could only 
boast of small villages, and even yet there are scarcely any but small 
market towns. The two famous mediaeval abbey-towns of Fulda and 
Hersjeld stand on the Fulda; and lower down the same river Kassel , the 
capital of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, is built on a fertile ex- 
pansion of the valley, an important meeting-place of traffic from the 
north and south, and from Thuringia on the east. The flat dome-like 
mass of the Vogelsberg, together with the fruit-growing plain of the 
Wetterau stretching from the bed of the Lahn at Giessen to Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, forms the North German half of the grand duchy of Hesse. 
The Principality of Waldeck stretches from the Eder to the Diemel 
west of Kassel. 

The Weser Uplands. — The varied scenery of the Weser Uplands, 
scarcely any parts of which exceed 1,500 feet in elevation, is formed almost 
entirely of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. It consists mainly of fairly 
abrupt and finely wooded hills which pleasantly break the monotony of 
' the flat fields and meadows on either side of the Weser. In the north 
there are two long narrow mountain ridges, the Teutoburger Wald and 
the Weser chain converging towards it and cut through by the Weser in 
the Porta Westfalica. There is no natural centre for the growth of a 
town, but the Low Saxon people have always combined their farming 
with other work, particularly with weaving, and recently the utilisation of 
supplies of coal, both of Carboniferous and of Cretaceous age, has led to 
an advance in industrial enterprise. Bielefeld , renowned from an early 
period for the fine linen it produces, is in the Prussian province of West- 
phalia, at a remarkable gap in the Teutoburger Wald which gives passage 
to the railway from Cologne to Minden. Most of the rest of this' region 
belongs to the Prussian province of Hanover. The university town of 
Gottingen , in the south, stands on the Leine, which flows out of Thuringia, 
and runs parallel to the Weser, reaching the northern plain before it joins 
the Aller, a tributary of the Weser. In the north of the province of 
Hanover there are two interesting old episcopal cities : Hildesheim , on 
the Innerste, which flows from the Hartz plateau to the Leine, a town 
whose quaint architecture has won for it the name of “the North German 
Niirnberg,” and Osnabriick lying between the converging spurs of the 
Weser chain and Teutoburger Wald in the west, now the seat of varied 
industries in consequence of the recent discovery of coal. The two parts 
of the province of Hanover are almost completely separated by a series of 
small States running east and west, including the principality of Lippe 
between the Weser and the Teutoburger Wald, with its capital Detmoldj 
and a narrow strip of the territory of Brunswick ( Braunschweig ) from the 
Weser to the Hartz, and north-east of the Porta Westfalica, the principality 
of Schaumburg-Lippe, one of the smallest States in Germany. 


290 The International Geography 

Thuringia and the Hartz. — The Thuringian basin lies between 
the elliptical plateau of the Hartz on the north and the Thiiringerwald 
which runs north-westward as a mountain ridge from the plateau of 
the Frankenwald dominated by the Fichtelgebirge. It is a comparatively 
low district of Triassic formation covered in great part by cultivated fields, 
contrasting with the bare ancient rocks and old forests of the bordering 
highlands which rise in places to over 3,000 feet (the Brocken 3,740 feet) 
in elevation, too high for profitable agriculture. The Hartz contains great 
mineral wealth, its mines yielding large quantities of iron, lead, silver, and 
copper ore ; while the Thiiringerwald and Frankenwald are noted for the 
variety of their industries, amongst which the manufacture of glass and 
porcelain and wood-carving are pre-eminent. In the Thuringian basin 
also there is a good deal of small industry, although with the exception of 
salt there are no useful minerals, and farming is the chief occupation of 
the people. Northern Thuringia and part of the Hartz, including the 
Brocken, belong to the Prussian province of Saxony. Erfurt, the metro- 
polis of Thuringia, is an important traffic centre on the east-and-west 
artery of trade formed by the Thuringian railway between Eisenach and 
Halle. Halle-a-S. (i.e., Halle on the Saale, the river which rises in the 
Fichtelgebirge and receives on the left the chief Thuringian stream, the 
Unstrutt) has recently outstripped Erfurt in the growth of population on 
account of its fine commercial situation in the south-eastern “ bay ” of the 
North German plain, and to the promotion of manufactures on a large 
scale by the presence in the neighbourhood of large deposits of Tertiary 
lignite. On account of the frequent divisions of inheritance amongst the 
branches of the Saxon Ernestine family, the south of Thuringia forms a 
mosaic of small States, which are grouped into about a dozen areas 
scattered over the district. The grand duchy of Weimar is made up 
of two parts, one containing Weimar to the east of Erfurt, the other 
Eisenach with the old castle of the Wartburg, celebrated throughout the 
world for its associations with Luther, finely situated at the north-western 
end of the Thiiringerwald. Coburg-Gotha is a double State made up of 
two separate parts — the Thuringian duchy surrounding Gotha, between 
Eisenach and Erfurt, and the Franconian duchy, containing Coburg, in the 
drainage area of the Main. Meiningen stretches from the Werra valley, 
in which its capital Meiningen stands, to the Frankenwald, where Sonnenberg 
is the greatest doll-making town in the world, and as far as the upper 
Saale. Altenburg shares part of the Saale valley near the borders of 
Meiningen, and a separate portion farther east where the capital Altenburg 
is situated, near the Pleisse to the south of Leipzig. There are two other 
pairs of little States not of the Ernestine group, but also made up of 
scattered bits of territory, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt with Rudolstadt on 
the Saale, where the beautiful Schwartzathal opens ; Schwarzburg- 
Sondershausen with Sondersliausen, entirely surrounded by Prussian 
territory to the north of Erfurt ; Reuss of the older line, with Greiz on the 




The German Empire 291 

Elster, and Reuss of the younger line, with the industrial town of Gera 
further down the same river. 

The Kingdom of Saxony. — The kingdom of Saxony with the 
outline of a right-angled triangle, lies close to the east of Thuringia. 
The Erzgebirge which rise steeply from Bohemia sink gradually in the 
form of a plateau towards the north-west on the Saxon side, down which 
the two Mulde rivers flow to unite on the fertile loess-covered plain 
and pass onwards to the Elbe. The highest summit of the Erzgebirge, 
which run north-eastwards from the Fichtelgebirge, is the Keilberg, 4,052 
feet. The granitic plateau of Leusitz lies at the eastern angle of Saxony in 
the line of the south-east running Sudetes. Between these ranges the 
Elbe breaks through from Bohemia, and with its tributaries has cut up a 
plateau of Cretaceous sandstone into a series of miniature table-topped 
mountains of great picturesqueness, which have been termed the Bohemian- 
Saxon Switzerland. The Elbe, a navigable river before it leaves Bohemia, 
flows in a north-westerly direction across the fertile and in some parts 
vine-clad Saxon lands. The capital, Dresden, stands on both sides of the 
river in a beautiful expansion of the valley. Its collected art treasures and 
fine architecture have won for it the name of “ the Florence of the Elbe ” ; 
but it has recently become a great industrial and commercial town as well. 
The somewhat more populous city of Leipzig, at the confluence of the 
Elster and the Pleisse, stands at the north-western angle of the kingdom, its 
position in the south-western “bay” of the North German plain corre- 
sponding to that of Halle. Hence it is the natural objective for warlike 
movements or peaceful commerce coming from the north-east and keep- 
ing as long as possible on the plain, or coming from the south-west with 
the design of reaching the low ground as rapidly as possible. Thus, next 
to Berlin, Leipzig is the most important inland trade centre of Germany, 
and consequently it has become a great industrial town also. It is the 
chief seat of the German book trade. The most productive coal basin of 
Saxony stretches over the Mulde district between the great manufacturing 
towns of Zwickau and Chemnitz. On the poor, forest-clad soil of the 
Erzgebirge, the inhabitants, like those of the Thuringerwald, maintain 
themselves by a variety of domestic industries such as lace-making, and 
through their diligence and frugality have attained a greater density 
of population than the agricultural people of the fruit-bearing lands 
along the northern border. 

The Sudetes. — The Sudetic mountain system is composed of moun- 
tain ridges and plateaux of Hercynian strike. It separates the drainage 
areas of the Bohemian Elbe and the Moravian March from that of the 
Oder, which flows through the “Moravian Gate” (a gap less than 1,000 
feet in elevation between the Sudetes and the Carpathians) in a curve 
towards North Germany, and receives on its course north-westwards 
through Silesia tributaries flowing north-eastward from the eastern 
Sudetes and those flowing northward from the western end of the range. 


292 The International Geography 

The range runs next rather to the east-south-east, the Lausitzer mountains, 
from the edge of the plateau towards Bohemia, and on the other side of 
the deep valley of the upper Neossa come the Iser mountains and their 
immediate continuation, the Riesengebirge, at the east end of which, not far 
from Schneekoppe, the most important and central pass of the Sudetes 
leads from Landshut in the Silesian Bober valley to Bohemia. Finally it 
follows the irregularly grouped Waldenburger hills and the two closely 
approaching terminal members of the whole system with a due south- 
easterly direction, enclosing the rectangular mountain basin of Glatz out 
of which the Neisse flows north-eastwards through a deep and narrow 
gorge, and the similarly formed but wider plateau-like depression which 
gives birth to the Oder. Many of the summits of the Riesengebirge 
exceed 5,000 feet, and the Altvater in the Gesenke reaches 4,890 
feet, heights not found elsewhere in Germany except in the Alps. The 
whole crest of the Riesengebirge, averaging 4,250 feet in height, rises 
above the forest limit and is covered only with bushy mountain pine. The 
high-stemmed coniferous forests belong as a rule to the upper mountain 
slopes, and are mixed with deciduous trees lower down. The hot summers 
of eastern Europe allow of agriculture being practised up to 3,000 feet, 
and the juicy mountain pastures are favourable for cattle-rearing ; on the 
Riesengebirge the Alpine method of cattle farming prevails, and formerly 
large flocks of sheep were kept. The wool produced on the spot and the 
excellent mountain flax supply the materials for an active domestic weaving 
industry which has been long established ; and recently textile factories, 
including those for cotton, have developed, and are supported by the 
charcoal made in the forests. The abundance of timber and the rapid 
currents of the mountain streams have led to the establishment of many 
saw-mills, and glass-making has also been introduced from Bohemia. 
Thus the whole of this mountain region is thickly peopled, but although 
the villages of weavers stretch for miles along the valleys there are no 
large towns. Since the three Silesian wars of Frederick the Great almost 
the half of the Sudetes have belonged to Prussia, and with the plain of 
the Oder forms the province of Silesia ( Schlesien ). 

The North German Low Plain. — The north of Germany is 
characterised by open plains with, at most, an undulating surface, and is 
divided up by the numerous streams and rivers which have frequently 
cut steep-sided valleys through the gently swelling elevations. The most 
charming features of the landscape in the plain are the small lakes 
with their fringe of reeds and the white and yellow water-lilies mirrored 
in the placid surface. These are most numerous on the Baltic ridge and 
south of it in Brandenburg ; in Posen they disappear as the base of the 
mountains is approached, but there fertile stretches of loess are mixed 
with the otherwise sandy soil, and pine forests take the place of the 
deciduous woods, while wheat, barley, and sugar-beet are cultivated. 
Deciduous forests, however, do not entirely fail to grace the other 


293 


The German Empire 

regions ; Oldenburg itself boasts some fine oak woods, and the most 
westerly coast lands of the Baltic rejoice in magnificent beech forests. 
The sandier the soil grows towards the east the more monotonous do 
its pine woods become, relieved only by the silvery bark of the birch. 
About one-third of the surface is covered by such woods, the rest being 
occupied by sheep pastures and fields of rye, oats and potatoes. The 
Luneburg Heath extending west from the Elbe to the Aller, is covered 
with heather and now has many oases of tree plantations. Beyond it the 
scenery becomes more and more like that of the neighbouring country 
of Holland, quite flat and sterile, with wide moors on account of the 
lack of natural drainage ; the smell of peat fills the air, windmills are 
prominent features, and the Frisian cattle graze on the rich marsh 
meadows behind the protecting sea-walls on the North Sea coast. 
Remains of the row of North Sea dunes are only to be found along the 
former coast line of the Continent long since worn away and represented 
only by the line of Frisian islands, while sand-dunes run along the Baltic 
coast in place of marsh lands. The only rocky island in the North Sea 
belonging to Germany is the sandstone islet of Helgoland, lying off the 
mouth of the Elbe, which was held as a British possession from 1807 to 1890. 

Political Divisions of the Plain. — The North German low plain 
is politically much more homogeneous than the rest of the empire. 
Besides the three Free Towns — Liibeck, Hamburg, and Bremen — the 
grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin stretches from the lower 
Elbe to Pomerania containing the pretty capital Schwerin on a lake of 
the same name, flanked on east and west by the two unequal divisions 
of the smaller grand duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The duchy 
of Anhalt extends in the south across the province of Saxony from the 
Hartz eastward, with the capital Dessau on the lower Mulde. In the north 
of the Hartz lies the main portion of the duchy of Brunswick, with 
its capital Brunswick (. Braunschweig ) on both sides of the little river Oker 
which flows from the Hartz to the Aller. Finally, the grand duchy of 
Oldenburg extends from the Jade Gulf and the lower Weser southward 
into the interior. Its capital, Oldenburg , stands on the Hunte, a left-bank 
tributary of the Weser ; other portions of this duchy are detached from 
the main body. All the rest of North Germany is made up of provinces of 
the kingdom of Prussia. East Prussia extends from the Frisches to the 
Kurisches Haff and the Russian frontier, with Konigsberg just above the 
mouth of the Pregel in the Frisches Haft. West Prussia lies on both sides 
of the Vistula, with Danzig at the mouth of that river as its chief town, and 
south of it comes the province of Posen with the capital Posen on the 
Warte, the chief right-bank tributary of the Oder. Silesia is the fourth 
Prussian province touching the Russian frontier, and has Breslau as its 
capital. Brandenburg, historically the nucleus of the kingdom of Prussia, 
lies between Mecklenburg and the kingdom of Saxony and between the 
Warte and Oder and the Elbe with its tributary the Havel. At 


294 The International Geography 

Spandau, the westerly fort protecting Berlin, the Havel receives its 
tributary the Spree. The province of Saxony lies on both sides of the 
Elbe, and its capital, Magdeburg , stands on that river. Schleswig-Holstein, 
in the south of Jutland, has as its capital Schleswig , on one of the long 
narrow inlets which penetrate the land from the Baltic shore. Hanover 
extends to the Teutoburger Wald and the frontier of the Netherlands, with 
its capital Hanover on the Leine ; and Westphalia (with Munster in the 
“ bay ” of the plain between the Teutoburger Wald and the Haar) and the 
Rhine Province on both sides of the river before it leaves Germany, com- 
plete the divisions of Prussia. 

Chief Coast Towns. — The two great naval stations of Germany are 
Wilhelmshaven on Jade Bay on the North Sea, and Kiel on the inlet of the 
same name near the Baltic entrance of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal, which 
enables German war vessels to pass rapidly from one sea to the other and 
concentrate at any desired point on either coast. In the extreme east, 
Konigsberg belongs to the group of towns that have prospered through 
over-sea trade, although on account of the shallowness of the Frisches 
Haff large vessels cannot reach the harbour, and the outport of Pillau on 
the sand-spit enclosing the lagoon has been built to carry on the trade. 
The navigable Pregel enables Konigsberg to serve as a centre for dis- 
tributing goods through the interior of East Prussia, and in winter when 
the Russian harbours are frozen up, there is great traffic by railway to the 
Baltic provinces of Russia. Danzig is not only the great commercial 
centre of West Prussia, but is important as the seaport of Russian Poland, 
exporting the wood and wheat brought down the Vistula. Stettin is 
similarly not only the chief seaport of Pomerania but of an extensive 
hinterland, even to a certain extent serving as the Baltic port of Berlin, 
since it is the most southerly point which sea-going vessels can reach from 
the Baltic, and the navigable Oder is linked by canals to all parts of 
northern Germany, including the Elbe system. Liibeck, on the Trave, 
which falls into the head of the Baltic bay, which reaches farthest to the 

south-west, has since the 
time of the Hanseatic 
League been a favourite 
centre for Baltic trade. 

On the North Sea 
coast the ports are the 
small Emden at the 
mouth of the Ems, and 
the great harbours, 
Bremen and Hamburg, 
which in happy rivalry 
command the whole German trade with America. Bremen has only 
recently been made accessible to the largest sea-going vessels by the 
deepening of the lower Weser ; but Hamburg receives the greater share 



Fig. 148. — Hamburg. 


295 


The German Empire 

of the trade on account of its situation on the most south-easterly inlet of 
the North Sea where the Elbe allows of easy anchorage for ships of any 
draught, and because of the cheap water-transport by which goods can be 
forwarded to the interior of the country ; so it has become the greatest 
seaport on the continent of Europe, and now realises the benefits of being 
no longer separated from the rest of the country by a Customs barrier. 
The large town Altona , in Schleswig-Holstein, shares the favourable 
situation of Hamburg, and is now united with it by continuous streets. 

Inland Towns of the North German Low Plain. — Within 
recent years the coal-fields of the Ruhr valley have enabled many of the 
towns of the lower Rhine district to become great manufacturing centres. 
Such in particular are Krefeld , some distance from the left bank of the 
Rhine, which is now the chief silk manufacturing town in Germany, and 
Diisseldorf, the splendid river-port on the right bank of the Rhine, in close 
railway communication with the neighbouring Barmen and Elberfeld 
(see Fig. 147) and celebrated also for its Academy of Painting. In the inland 
trade between east and west, Cologne, Hanover, Brunswick, Magdeburg, 
Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and Posen have all in- 
creased in importance on account of their 
position at the crossing places of important 
rivers. Cologne (. Koln ), with its lordly cathedral, 
is naturally the most important of the series, for 
sea-going vessels can reach it easily from Rotter- 
dam, thus it is a place for transhipping cargo 
and of immense activity on account of the great 
north and south river highway of the west cross- 
ing the greatest east and west railway of the 
north. Cologne is very strongly fortified on this 
account, and so are Magdeburg, the chief centre of the German beet-sugar 
trade, and Posen, which lies on the central line of approach from Russia 
towards Berlin. Breslau also, the true centre of Silesia, became important 
from its position at a crossing of trade routes, the roads from Bohemia 
through the Landeshut Pass, and from the March through Glatz, meet 
there and cross the Oder in the direction of Posen. 

Berlin. — Berlin has grown as the seat of the Hohenzollerns in the 
centre of Mark Brandenburg, increasing in importance with the growing 
power of the Brandenburg- Prussian state. Its position on the Spree has 
assisted its development as a commercial town from an early period ; even 
in the thirteenth century it shipped wheat to Hamburg, and now, by means 
of canals from the Spree and Havel to the Oder, goods can be carried cheaply 
over the whole Elbe and Oder river systems, a very important consideration 
for the supply of food and fuel to the city. The full advantages of situation 
only appeared in the nineteenth century, when the level stretches of the 
north-east plain, equidistant between the coast and the highlands, developed 
a system of direct lines of communication with Hamburg and Breslau, with 



Fig. 149. — Cologne. 


296 The International Geography 

the Halle-Leipzig lowland “ bay ” and Stettin. Thus Berlin naturally be- 
came the greatest centre of radiating railway lines in Central Europe, in 
direct touch with every capital on the Continent (see Fig. 54), a huge com- 
mercial city, the head-quarters of German banking, and one of the chief 
industrial towns of Europe, especially for the manufacture of clothing and 
artistic articles, in fact, half the population live by its manufactures. 
Frederick the Great made Berlin a leading town in the scientific and 
artistic world, a position it has since maintained and improved. Including 
the suburbs and the inseparable town of Charloitenburg on the west, the 
total population of Berlin is at least 2,000,000, making it second in size 
only to Paris amongst the cities of continental Europe. 



FIG. 150 . — The Surroundings of Berlin . 


STATISTICS. 


AREA AND POPULATION OF THE GERMAN STATES. 

Population. 

In 1890. 


State. 

Style. 

Area in 
sq. miles. 

Number. 

per'sq. 

mile. 

Number. 

Prussia (including Haffs) . . 

Kingdom 

• • 

136,116 

29 , 957,367 

223 

34,472,509 

Bavaria 


• • 

29,291 

5,594,982 

191 

6,176,057 

Wiirttemburg 

It 

• • 

7,535 

2,036,522 

270 

2,169,480 

Baden 

Grand Duchy 

• • 

5,822 

1,657,867 

285 

1,867,944 

Saxony 

Kingdom 

• • 

5,789 

3,502.684 

605 

4,202,216 

Alsace-Lorraine 

Imperial Territory 

5 , 5 oo 

1,603,506 

286 

1 719,470 

Mecklenburg-Schwerin 

Grand Duchy 


5 ,i 35 

578,342 

113 

607,770 

Hesse 

)) 


2,966 

992,883 

335 

1,119,893 

Oldenburg 

if 


2,481 

354,968 

143 

399,180 

Brunswick 

Duchy 


1,418 

403,773 

283 

464,333 

Saxe Weimar 

Grand Duchy 


1,396 

326,091 

235 

362,873 

Mecklenburg-Strelitz 

it 


1,131 

97,978 

87 

102,602 

Saxe Meiningen 

Duchy . . 


953 

223,832 

235 

250,731 

Anhalt . . 

tf • • 


906 

271,963 

300 

316,085 

Saxe Coburg-Gotha . . 

it • • 


756 

206,513 

273 

229,550 

Saxe Altenburg 

u • • 


5 ii 

170,864 

332 

194,914 


In 1900. 

per sq„ 
mile. 


253 

210 

288 

320 

743 
306 
1 18 

377 

161 

326 

260 

90 

263 

348 

3<H 

380 



2 97 


The German Empire 


AREA AND POPULATION OF THE GERMAN STATES — (continued). 


State. 

Lippe 

Waldeck 

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt . . 
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen 
Reuss, younger line 

Hamburg 

Schaumburg Lippe. . 

Reuss, older line 

Liibeck 

Bremen 

German Empire 


Population. 


Style. 


Area in 
sq. miles. 

In 1890. 

per sq. 

Number, mile. 

In 1900. 

per sq. 
Number, mile. 

Principality 

• • 

469 

128,495 

274 

138,952 

296 

>t • • 

• • 

433 

57,281 

132 

59,9i8 

133 

}} • • 

• • 

363 

85,863 

236 

93-059 

255 

}> • • 

• • 

333 

75-510 

227 

80,898 

242 

t* • • 

• • 

319 

119,811 

376 

139,210 

435 

Free Town 

• • 

158 

622,530 

3-949 

768,349 

4,862 

Principality 

• • 

131 

39,163 

299 

43.132 

329 

JJ • • 

• • 

122 

62,754 

514 

68,396 

559 

Free Town 

• • 

ii5 

76,485 

665 

96,775 

841 

)f • • 

• • 

99 

180,443 

1,823 

224,882 

2,269 

• • • • 

• • 

210,248 

49,428,470 

236 

56,367,178 

269 


POPULATION OF THE LARGEST GERMAN TOWNS. 


Berlin 

Hamburg . . 

Munich (Miinchen) 
Leipzig 
Breslau 
Dresden 

Cologne (Koln) . . 
Frankfort-on-the-Main 
Nuremberg (Niirnberg) 
Hanover 
Magdeburg. . 
Dusseldorf . . 

Stettin 
Chemnitz . . 
Charlottenburg 
Konigsberg. . 

Essen 

Stuttgart . . 

Altona 


Imports 

Exports 


1890. 

1900. 



1890. 

1900. 

1,578,794 

1,888,326 

Elberfeld . . 


93,538 

156,937 

569,260 

705,738 

Bremen 


125,684 

156,718 

349,024 

499,959 

Halle 


101,401 

156.611 

357,122 

456,126 

Strassburg . . 


123,500 

150,268 

335,186 

422,738 

Dortmund . . 


89,663 

142,418 

289,844 

395,349 

Barmen . . . . 


116,228 

I4L947 

281,681 

372,229 

Danzig 


120,338 

140,539 

136,819 

288,489 

Mannheim . . 


79,058 

140,385 

142,590 

261,022 

Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) 

103,470 

135,235 

174-455 

235,666 

Brunswick . . 


101,074 

128,177 

202,234 

229.663 

Kiel 


69,172 

121,790 

144,642 

213,767 

Posen 


69.627 

117,014 

116,228 

210,680 

Krefeld 


105,376 

109,119 

138,954 

206,584 

Kassel 


72,477 

106,001 

76,859 

189,296 

Carlsruhe . . 


73,684 

97,i6i 

161,666 

187,897 

Duisburg . . 


59-285 

92,729 

78,706 

182,135 

Augsburg . . 


75,629 

89,109 

139,817 

176,318 

Miilhausen.. 


76,892 

89,012 

143,249 

161,507 

Wiesbaden.. 


64,670 

86,086 

ADE OF THE GERMAN EMRIRE (in pounds sterling). 


•age for 1872-75.1 

1881-85. 


1891-95. 

187,041,000 

. . 157,207,000 

• • 

. . 212,960,000 

124,720,000 

.. 158,039,000 

• • 

. . 172,100,000 


THE GERMAN FOREIGN POSSESSIONS ( estimates ). 


German East Africa 

Kamerun 

Togoland 

German South-West Africa 
German New Guinea 

Marshall Islands 

Caroline and Marianne Islands 


Area in square miles. 

Population 

8,000,000 

3.500.000 

2.500.000 

200.000 

110.000 

13.000 

40.000 


Total . . 

. . 1,002,220 

14,363,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

G. B. Mendelssohn. " Das germanische Europa.” Berlin, 1836. 

A. Penck. “ Das Deutsche Reich.” Vienna, 1887. 

R. Lepsius. “ Geologie von Deutschland und den angrenzenden Gebieten I Teil. Das 
westliche und siidliche Deutschland.” 1887-1892. 

“Geologische Kartevon Deutschland” (Atlas in 27 sheets). 1892-93. 

C. Vogel. “ Karte des Deutschen Reiches ” (Atlas in 27 sheets). 1892-93. 

O. Drude. “ Deutschlands Pflanzengeographie.” I Teil. 1896. 

44 Forschungen zur Deutschen Landes- und Volkskunde.” Edited by R. Lehmann, and later 
by A. Kirchhoff (in progress). 14 vols. Stuttgart, 1886-1902. 


1 The earlier statistics are less satisfactory than the later. 


CHAPTER XVIII THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN 

MONARCHY 


I.— AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

By Dr. Albrecht Penck, 

Formerly Professor of Geography in the University of Vienna,. 

Position and General Character. — The Austro-Hungarian Mon- 
archy lies in the latitude of France, between 42 0 and 51 0 N., but farther 
east, in the interior of the continent, between io° and 26° E. long. Whilst 
France has the sea on three sides and has longer coast-lines than land 
frontiers, Austria-Hungary is only touched by an arm of the Mediterranean, 
and its land frontiers, towards the German Empire, Russia, Rumania, 
Servia, Turkey, Montenegro, Italy and Switzerland, are five times longer 
than its coast-line. No other part of Europe has so great a variety 
of geographical features, climates and nations. It embraces the greater 

part of the Eastern Alps, with their high, 
snow-clad summits, the greater part of 
the Boian or Bohemian plateau, nearly 
the whole chain of the Carpathians, with 
a large part of their northern forelands, 
the nearly level plains of Hungary, and a 
part of the Dinaric Mountains of the Balkan 
peninsula. Its western parts are under the 
climatic influence of the Atlantic Ocean ; 
in the east a continental climate prevails, 
with hot summers and cold winters ; the 
south has the mild winters and dry summers 
of the Mediterranean, whilst the highest 

Fig. i 51 .—Mean Monthly Rainfall summits in the Alps and Carpathians have 
and Temperature Curves of Vienna ^he mean annual temperature of the Arctic 

regions. Extensive forests are found, es- 
pecially in the mountain districts. The eastern plains in the interior 
of Hungary, and on the northern slope of the Carpathians, are natural 
meadows, belonging to the steppes of south-eastern Europe. Consider- 
able areas in the south show bare rock with only traces of vegetation. 
All the races of Europe are represented in the Monarchy. The north-west 
belongs to the Teutonic race — it is German. The east is occupied by 
different Slavonic peoples, separated into a northern group of three, the 

2Q8 




The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 299 

Chechs, Poles and Ruthenians ; and a southern group of two, the Croats 
and Slovenians ; and by the Hungarians , whose language is not allied to that 
of the other European races, but points to an affinity with the Uralian 
peoples. The Mediterranean coasts and the south-east corner belong to 
the Latin race ; Italians in the west and Rumanians in the east. There are 
only three provinces of Austria in which one language (German) is 
generally spoken. In Hungary there are numerous villages and even 
towns where three distinct languages are in common use. As to religion, 
only the western parts of Austria are uniform ; they belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church. In the east Greek Catholics, adherents of the Eastern 
Church, and Protestants of different denominations are met with, and in 
several towns the Jewish population is in the majority. On the Mediter- 
ranean coasts the civilisation is directly derived from the Romans ; the 
Alpine and Boian countries have shared in the evolution of German life 
since the Middle Ages. The Carpathian lands and Hungary possess a 
newer civilisation, the Turks having been driven out from several parts 
only two hundred years ago. The Dinaric lands are only now entering 
into the life of civilised Europe. The north-west of the Monarchy belongs 
to the great manufacturing belt of Central Europe ; the east, however, to 
the agricultural lands of Eastern Europe. 

Boundaries. — All these differences are found in a group of countries 
which are united by their natural frontiers. The northern boundary is de- 
termined by a nearly continuous succession of different mountains. There 
are the mountainous rims of the Boian lands, which surround the upper Elbe 
basin, and the long arc of the Carpathians around the basin of the middle 
Danube ; thus Bohemia and Hungary are circumscribed, and both coun- 
tries are connected by frequent passes. South of Bohemia the Eastern 
Alps form a mountainous country, which, drained mainly by the Danube, 
is connected by that river with the Hungarian basin. The same holds 
good of the Dinaric Mountains. Austria-Hungary is in fact the basin of the 
middle Danube, with its mountainous surroundings, to which is added the 
neighbouring upper Elbe basin. Only that part of the Danubian slope of the 
Dinaric Mountains, which forms the kingdom of Servia, does not belong to the 
Monarchy, and there the frontiers are determined by the great river Save 
On the other hand, the Monarchy reaches the Adriatic Sea and stretches in 
the Alps into the basin of the Adige, and even of the Rhine. In the north- 
east Austria extends over the water-parting of the Carpathians and embraces 
the lowlands beyond. Towards the north a natural limit is drawn by the 
infertile land along the Vistula, the river itself forming the boundary for a 
considerable distance, but towards the east the frontier is arbitrary. There 
are four considerable openings in the mountain border, one by which the 
Danube enters Austria as a navigable river ; the second by which it leaves 
Hungary ; the third is a breach between the Sudetes and the Carpathians ; 
and the fourth is the saddle-like gap between the Alps and the Dinaric 
Mountains, which opens the way to the Adriatic Sea. Two highways of 
21 


300 The International Geography 

European commerce are determined by these openings ; one follows the 
Danube to the south-east, to Asia Minor, the other connects the Medi- 
terranean with the great plains of northern Europe. The crossing of both 
ways is the site of Vienna, the capital of the Monarchy, and a great centre 
of European activity. 

People and History. — The large Austro-Hungarian basin has always 
been an attraction for the neighbouring peoples, but it has rarely been in 
the possession of one nation. The Romans extended their Empire over 
the south-western half, in general not farther than to the Danube. They 
were thrown backward to the Mediterranean coast by Teutonic peoples 
who did not occupy the conquered country, but left it to the Slavonic 
tribes which wandered, in the sixth century, over nearly the whole 
ground with the exception only of the western Alpine provinces. Then 
came a new German immigration. The Bavarians followed the course of 
the Danube on its right bank, and settled between the Slavonic clans as 
far as the mouth of the river Drave. Charles the Great (Charlemagne) 
extended the frontiers of his mighty empire as far east as this, forming its 
eastern marches (Ostmark) there ; and he also conquered Bohemia. In 
this way the western half of the Monarchy became connected with the old 
German Empire. The east, however, was conquered at the end of the 
tenth century by the Hungarians, who formed a national kingdom ; another 
arose in Poland, a third in Bohemia, which however never ceased to be a 
German fief. Some of the rulers of these kingdoms favoured German 
immigration, and North Germans cleared the forests of the Boian mountains 
and of the Carpathians as far as Transylvania, and founded numerous 
towns on the left bank of the Danube, those on the right being mostly of 
Roman origin. In 1276 the remnants of the old eastern marches, then called 
Oesterreicli (Eastern realm), came into the possession of the Habsburg 
family, who gained the neighbouring countries by treaties of inheritance. 
At first they obtained the Alpine provinces, and later succeeded to Bohemia 
and Hungary. This happened at a moment when the Turks had invaded 
Hungary, and it needed two hundred years of continual fighting to conquer 
that kingdom, and after its conquest Germans were settled on the devastated 
lands. When, at the end of the eighteenth century, the kingdom of 
Poland was divided, Austria gained Galicia, and soon afterwards received 
Bukovina from the Turks. When the old German Empire ceased to exist 
the Habsburg countries were declared an Austrian Empire, and this was 
enlarged after the Napoleonic wars by some provinces in Italy, which have 
since been lost, with the exception of the Venetian colonies on the east 
shore of the Adriatic Sea, in Dalmatia and Istria. Finally, in 1878, the 
adjoining parts of Turkey (Bosnia and Hercegovina) were occupied, 
though nominally they still belong to the Sultan. 

Organisation. — The gradual growth of the Monarchy can be com- 
pared with a crystallisation of lands around their natural centre, that is, 
Vienna. This happened in a peaceful way ; the different countries pre- 


The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 301 

served their own organisations, and their inhabitants retained their own 
languages ; but by the fact that German colonists were and are active 
nearly everywhere the whole came into the sphere of German culture, and 
though the Germans form only 27 per cent, of the population, German is the 
language of intercourse of the whole Monarchy, and is spoken by every 
educated man. Several attempts to amalgamate the different countries of 
the Monarchy into one 
uniform State have been 
made and failed. In 1867 
complete home rule was 
established for Hungary, 
and the title of the 
Austrian Empire was re- 
placed by that of the 
Austro-Hungarian Mon- 
archy. This name recalls 
that of the United King- 
dom of Great Britain and 
Ireland. Indeed, the re- 
lations between Austria 
and Hungary may be 
compared to those be- 
tween Great Britain and Ireland as they were before the final union. 
The Emperor of Austria is always King of Hungary, and in Hungary 
uses only that title. The foreign relations, the army and navy, as 
well as the customs-tariffs and currency, are common affairs to the 
whole Monarchy. In their internal administration both moieties of the 

Monarchy have complete independence, with their 
own parliaments and governments. Delegates 
elected by both parliaments arrange a new mutual 
treaty ( Ausgleich ) every ten years, and control the 
common affairs, which are administered by 
common Ministries for Foreign affairs, War, and 
Finance ; the last named also administers Bosnia 
Fig. 153 . — Anstro-Hun- anc i Hercegovina. The official title of Austria is, 

“ The Kingdoms and Countries represented in the 
Reichsrat ” (Austrian parliament) ; Hungary is called “The Lands of the 
Hungarian Crown.” Thus, independent in their own administration, both 
moieties are mutually dependent on one another in all foreign matters; 
and both together form one of the six Great Powers of Europe with a 
common flag. 




E.H. 

Fig. 152. — Austria-Hungary, showing countries and 
provinces. Austria white , Hungary stippled. 




302 The International Geography 


II.— AUSTRIA 

By Dr. Albrecht Penck, 

Formerly Professor of Geography in the University of Vienna. 

The Empire of Austria. — Austria embraces the old Habsburg 
possessions of the Alps (Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, 
Carinthia, Carniola, Tirol, Gorz, Triest), most of the lands of the old king- 
dom of Bohemia (Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia), parts of the former kingdom 
of Poland (Galicia and Bukovina), and the Venetian colonies on the east 
side of the Adriatic (Istria and Dalmatia). These four historical groups 
correspond in general to the natural groups of the Alpine, Boian, Car- 
pathian, and Dinaric lands. Each of these groups consist of provinces 
or Crown lands (Fig. 152), which still bear their old titles such as kingdom 
or duchy, &c. Each has its governor, called Statthalter, and its own 
provincial diet or parliament. They are all represented together in the 

Reichsrat, or Austrian parliament, partly by popular 
election, partly by the election of privileged classes. 

Alpine Provinces. — The Alpine lands of 
Austria cover the larger part of the Eastern Alps 
and of the northern and eastern Alpine forelands. 
The characteristic features of the Austrian Alps are 
two long rows of longitudinal valleys, with a mean 
elevation of 2,000 to 2,500 feet running, like the 

Fig 154 —Average popu- mountains, from west to east. They separate a cen- 
lation of a square mile tral zone from two lateral mountainous belts. The 
of Austria. Central Zone consists of ancient rocks, gneiss, 

mica-schist and granite. In the west it is cut into separate groups of 
mountains, which reach heights of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet, and are 
divided by passes of moderate elevation ; the Ortler (12,800 feet) is the 
culminating point ; the Brenner (4,400 feet) is the lowest and most important 
pass (Fig. 51). East of the Brenner the Central Zone forms a long wall 
with summits of 12,460 feet (Gross Glockner), which is not interrupted by 
any pass lower than 7,500 feet for a distance of 100 miles. Farther east 
their height diminishes to 6,000 feet, and glaciers cease ; the mountains 
lose their rugged form and become rounded, the valleys widen at several 
places, especially in Carinthia, into basins, and some passes are below 
3,000 feet. The lateral zones of the Eastern Alps consist of limestone, and 
are therefore called the Northern and Southern Limestone Alps. In the 
west they are lower than the Central Zone ; the Northern range does not 
reach more than 10,000 feet, the Southern not more than 11,500 feet. 
In the east, however, they surpass the Central Zone, and even at their 
ends have heights of 6,600 feet on the north, and 8,200 feet on the south. 


— 

♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


Austria 


3°3 


In general, they rise as steep masses of naked rock, separated by 
deep valleys and low passes. In some parts there are beautiful lakes 
in these hollows, e.g., the Garda-lake, Achen-lake in Tirol ; and the lakes 
of the Salzkammergut. The Northern Belt is cut through by three 
important rivers, which leave the northern row of longitudinal valleys ; 
the Inn, the Salzach and the Enns are direct affluents of the Upper 
Danube. Only one river of this line, the Mur, turns to the south-east 
and reaches the eastern forelands. In the southern row of valleys, how- 
ever, the main river, the Drave, flows eastward, and parallel to it farther 
south is another Alpine affluent of the middle Danube, the Save. Only 
one river of the southern line, the Adige, or Etsch, turns in a deep valley 
to the Plain of Lombardy on the south. There are numerous other 
passages between the steep mountains, especially in the east, where the 
valleys of the Drave, the Save and the Tagliamento are connected by a 
set of passes lower than 2,700 feet. 

North of the Alps there is a narrow strip of flat, undulating land, which 
sinks eastward from 1,500 to 600 feet in elevation. It is narrowed in the 
middle by the projecting southern corner of the Boian plateau to a width 
of only six miles, forming the important Austrian Gap. To the west and 
east this foreland widens out between its mountainous walls. Its general 
trend is followed by the Danube ; but this mighty river prefers the course 
in a gorge-like valley through the border of the Bohemian plateau to that 
in the lowlands. At Krems it leaves the plateau and runs to the north- 
eastern extremity of the Alps at Vienna. In the east several chains of the 
Alps branch off into the Hungarian plain, a corner of which penetrates 
basin-like between them westward. The frontier between the two 
countries cuts off the branches and leaves the Stvrian basin with Austria. 
It is a hilly country, which rises gradually from 600 to 1,500 feet. In the 
south-east the Southern Limestone Alps are connected with the Dinaric 
Mountains by the saddle-like Karst plateau, whose lowest point is a little 
below 1,900 feet. It consists principally of limestone and exhibits the 
typical development of all those features which are called Karst phenomena. 
A distinct valley-system is wanting ; the rivers run over flat basins, 
descend into caves, and reappear as great springs in other basins. The 
surroundings of Adelsberg are famous for the cave where the river Poik 
disappears. In the same neighbourhood the lake of Zirknitz is formed 
now and then by the inundation of the low grounds from springs. The 
grandest scenery is found along the subterranean course of the Reka in 
the Caves of St. Canzian (Fig. 158). 

Climate and Agriculture of the Alpine Provinces. — The 

climate of the Alpine lands shows great variety. The highest meteoro- 
logical station on the Sonnblick Sun-glimpse, 11,190 feet) has the 

winter of north-east Russia and the summer of Franz Josef Land. In 
the principal valleys the climate of the Alpine forelands reigns in a some- 
what intensified form. Thus the eastern valleys have a strongly continental 


304 The International Geography 

climate with cold winters ; in the valley of the Adige, however, the 
Mediterranean climate with warm winters extends nearly to the centre of 
the mountains, where Bozen and Meran lie in a climatic oasis. The 
northern valleys, like the northern Alpine forelands, have the relatively 
mild winters of western Central Europe, and the temperature is often 
raised by a warm south wind, called fbhn. The range of temperature, 
however, is determined also by the elevation, and is less in the interior 
than in the border regions, especially on the forelands ; on the Karst 
plateau, however, it is raw and severe. The rainfall is highest on the 
northern and southern rim of the mountains, where it rises in several 
places to 80 inches per annum ; the valleys are dryer than the forelands. 
The snowfall increases with the elevation, and from 8,500 feet in the 
border region, from 10,000 feet in the inner parts, the Eastern Alps are 
covered to the extent of 600 square miles with perpetual snow. The 
Austrian Alps produce 1,000 glaciers ; the largest and finest is the Pasterze, 
near the Gross Glockner, 12 square miles in area. 

Below the snow-line there is a zone of natural pastures, called the 
Alpine region. The last trees mount up to 6,000 feet, and in the interior 
at several places to 7,000 feet. The high ground is used during the summer 
as pasture ; the lower slopes are woodland. Cultivated fields are rarely 
found above 4,000 feet. Agriculture is therefore concentrated in the 
valleys, and no large village lies higher than 4,000 feet, only some hamlets 
are met w 7 ith in the western Central Zone as high as 6,000 feet. In the 
northern and eastern valleys grain is grown ; in the valley of the Adige 
vine-growing prevails, and the mulberry-tree is cultivated for silkworms. 
In the three Alpine provinces which are confined to the mountains 
(the County of Tirol with Vorarlberg, and the Duchies of Salzburg and 
Carinthia or Karnten) nearly one-half of the ground is uninhabited ; only one- 
seventh of the area consists of arable land, while three-fifths are woodland 
and one-fourth pasture lands. The density of population averages 85 per 
square mile. The Alpine forelands, however, are excellent agricultural 
lands. In the eastern parts of the northern and in the Styrian basin there 
is extensive vine-culture ; the Karst plateau bears still in most parts its 
extensive original forests. The four Alpine Crown-lands, therefore, which 
lie partly on the forelands, are far better populated than the three of the 
interior. The arable lands amount to 30 per cent., and the pastures to less 
than 10 per cent. The Archduchies of Lower and Upper Austria ( Unter - 
and Ober-Oesterreich ), which extend from the Alps over their northern fore- 
lands and the opposite slope of the Boian plateau, have (without Vienna) 
184 inhabitants per square mile, w'hile the Duchies of Styria (Steiermark) 
and Carniola ( Krain ), which extend over the eastern parts of the Alps, the 
Styrian basin and the Karst, have 149. 

The principality of Liechtenstein is a very small independent State 
on the western frontier of Vorarlberg, united with Austria-Hungary merely 
by a Customs treaty. 


Austria 


305 


Minerals and Manufactures of the Alpine Provinces. — The 

gold mines of the Central Zone being now exhausted, there are only five 
important mineral products in these mountains : salt in several parts of 
the Northern Limestone Alps ; iron in Styria and Carinthia, especially at 
Eisenerz, where a whole mountain consists of the purest iron-ore (whence 
the name) ; lignite in some parts of Upper Austria, in the valleys of 
Styria and the Styrian basin ; lead in Carinthia (at Bleiberg) and Carniola ; 
and mercury at Idria in Carniola. The Styrian iron, worked only with 
charcoal, already known to the Romans as Norian, has caused an extensive 
iron-manufacture in the valleys of Upper Styria and the neighbouring parts of 
Lower and Upper Austria. But since the new processes of refining enable 
good iron to be made from poor ores, the Boian lands with their coal have 
become the chief centre of iron manufacturing in Austria. Another 
industrial region of the Alpine lands is close to the Swiss frontier in 
Vorarlberg, where there are numerous spinning factories, and where 
embroidery is a branch of domestic industry. A third is in the south of 
Tirol, where silk is produced and manufactured. 

Communications and Towns of the Alpine Provinces. — The 
great lines of communication avoid the Alps as far as possible and follow 
the Alpine forelands. There are two important routes in the northern 
and eastern foreland, both converging on Vienna. (1) That of the northein 
foreland has the natural waterway of the Danube, and is followed by the 
Western Railway of Austria, which prefers, however, the low country be- 
tween the Alps and the Boian plateau to the narrow valley of the great river. 
Where the river leaves its gorge for the first time and runs for some miles 
along the Alpine foreland, Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, is situated ; 
and where the land route passes into Bavaria at the entrance of the Valley 
of the Salzach, lies Salzburg, the beautifully situated capital of the duchy. 
(2) The eastern foreland route, which goes to the sea, has no waterway, 
although an artificial one was commenced but not finished ; it is followed 
by the Southern Railway which has rather heavy gradients, for it cuts off 
the north-eastern branch of the Alps, ascending by a wonderful piece of 
engineering to the Semmering Pass (3,000 feet) and crossing the Karst. 
Graz , the capital of Styria, stands on the Mur, where the railway enters 
the Styrian basin. The quarters on the left bank of the Mur are the site of 
the Government offices, of a university and a technical school. On account 
of their garden-like surroundings they are much favoured by Austrian 
pensioners. On the right side of the river there are large industrial estab- 
lishments. The ascent of the Karst begins at Laibach ( Lubiana ), the capital 
of Carniola, in a wide and partly fertile basin. The Southern Railway con- 
nects with a line going over the low passes of the Central Zone and between 
the Drave and Tagliamento directly to Italy. It passes near Klagen- 
furty the capital of Carinthia. One other great railway crosses the western 
part of the Central Alps by the Brenner ; it connects Germany with Italy and 
is therefore of international importance. It leaves the Inn Valley at Inns - 


306 The International Geography 

bruck, the capital and university-city of Tirol, and reaches the valley of the 
Adige at Bozen , a place well known for the grandeur of its surroundings. 
Farther down the line Irient ( Trento ) is the capital of the industrial part of 
Tirol with Italian population. A third railway across the Eastern Alps 
is in course of construction between Salzburg and Sorizia. The long 
northern row of longitudinal valleys has special importance for Austria, as 
they establish a direct connection with Switzerland, which is made prac- 
ticable by a tunnel almost miles long through the Arlberg. 

Taken as a whole, the Alpine provinces of Austria are a poor country, 
though there are some very rich parts in the valley of the Adige and on 
the Alpine forelands. One-tenth of their area is uncultivated, nearly one- 
fourth is poor pasture land, only one-fifth is arable. The population, 
without Vienna, is less dense than anywhere else in Austria, there being 
only 140 per square mile. It is for the greater part German (72 per cent.); 
Italian, however, in the south of Tirol (8 per cent.), and the Slovenian 
language is spoken in parts of Styria and Carinthia, and nearly the whole 
of Carmola. Cattle, cheese, wine, wood, iron, lead, and mercury form 
the chief exports ; grain must be imported. In recent years the higher 
parts especially of Tirol, with their magnificent glaciers of the Oetzthal, 
Zillerthal, and Sulden, and the grand rocky scenery of the Dolomites, have 
become favourite summer resorts. Visitors also flock to the valleys of 
Salzburg, Upper Austiia (the Salzkammergut), and Carinthia with their 
char ming lakes, d he south of Tirol is important as a winter resort, 
especially Meran, Arco and Riva on the Garda lake. The hot springs of 
Gastein in the Central Alps and those at several places along the eastern 

rim of the Alps, e.g., Baden near Vienna, Gleichenberg and Romerbad in 
Styria, are much frequented. 

Bohemia. The Boian lands of Central Europe form a plateau of 
primitive and Palceozoic rocks, which are covered only in the north by 
Cretaceous sandstones and marls. The centre is a basin-like depression 
forming Bohemia ; the peripheral parts belong in the north and west to the 
German Empire, in the south to Upper and Lower Austria, and in the east to 
Moravia and Silesia. Bohemia (German Bohmen) is nearly conterminous 
with the upper Elbe basin. Its south-west side is formed by the parallel 
ridges of the Bohemian forest, which reach nearly 5,000 feet in the 
south, whilst they are in general lower than 3,000 feet in the north. On 
the north-west side the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) rise abruptly to 
heights of over 4,000 feet, which slope gently down to Saxony. The 
Sudetes chain stretches in the north-east, the highest part, known as 
Riesengebirge (Giants Mountains) reaches in the Schneekoppe (snow- 
dome) an elevation of 5,300 feet, which is the highest point of West- 
Central Europe north of the Alps. Only the south-east side of Bohemia is 
without a distinct chain of mountains ; but instead there is a highland 
region averaging 2,000 feet in elevation and in two groups of mountains 
approaching 3*000 feet. The interior of Bohemia is hilly in the southern 


Austria 


3°7 


half, and has a mean elevation of 1,500 feet ; some chains, such as the Brda 
(mountains) exceed 2,500 feet. The north is in general a level lowland, 
from 600 to 900 feet in elevation ; near the Erzgebirge there is a group of 
isolated conical mountains of volcanic origin, called the Mittelgebirge, 2,800 
feet in height, and in the northern corner a plateau of sandstone extends, 
which is dissected by numerous valleys and gullies, forming the wonderful 
scenery which is generally known under the name of Saxon Switzerland, 
but which, for the greater part, belongs to Austria. 

The drainage of Bohemia is very regular. The Moldau, running from 
south to north, forms a median axis to which rivers approach from 
both sides. Among them is the Elbe, which comes from the Riesenge- 
birge and continues the course of the Moldau northward. It breaks 
through the Mittelgebirge in a charming valley, and leaves Bohemia in 
a winding gap of the sandstone mountains walled by heights of 400 feet. 
This is the only point at which Bohemia can be left at a level below 
1,500 feet. 

Climate and Vegetation of Bohemia. — The climate of the 
interior lowland is very agreeable, the summer is warm, the winter not 
too cold. The rainfall is moderate ; some parts, especially at the foot of 
the Erzgebirge, are dry, the annual precipitation being only 16 inches. 
In the south the climate is more severe, and it is raw on the surrounding 
mountains. The winter is rich in snow, but the elevation is nowhere so 
high as to bring Bohemia beyond the limits of forest growth, and its 
whole surface is productive. The excellent soil of the interior lowland 
favours extensive agriculture ; wheat and beetroots are grown on the 
southern slopes of the Mittelgebirge, the vine is productive as far north 
as in the Rhine valley, and hops are cultivated at the foot of the 
Erzgebirge. Orchards surround all the villages. The hilly south is 
a rye, oat, and potato country ; while extensive forests cover the moun- 
tains of the interior and of the border region. More than one half of 
Bohemia is cultivated as arable land, and two-fifths are well-administered 
forests. 

Bohemian Minerals, Manufactures and Towns. — The wealth 
in precious metals once attracted many settlers, especially to the Erzge- 
birge ; now most of the mines are exhausted ; only at Mies in the west 
and at Przibram in the centre there are still silver mines, the latter being 
the deepest on the continent (3,691 feet). The actual mineral wealth of 
Bohemia consists in its coal. Coal Measures occur in the centre near 
Prague and Pilsen ; lignite is found in enormous quantities, sometimes in 
layers nearly 100 feet thick, at the foot of the Erzgebirge near Teplitz, 
Dux and Briix, and near Eger. The centre has iron mines, and all the 
conditions for extensive iron working exist. The quartz of the sandstone 
mountains in the north has given rise to glass manufactures of all kinds, 
especially of the well-known Bohemian cut glass. The kaolin deposits 

connected with the granite of Karlsbad favour the making of porcelain. 

92 


308 The International Geography 

The rapid rivers of the Sudetes supply power for many spinning factories ; 
cotton manufactures are spread over the whole of the mountains, and 
Reichenberg is a centre of woollen manufacture. Many paper mills work 
up the wood of the forest districts. A flourishing sugar manufacture is 
based on the extensive cultivation of the beet ; beer of superior quality is 
brewed, especially at Pilsen. Numerous thermal springs are connected 
with the former volcanic activity on the foot of the Erzgebirge. Tcplitz , 

Karlsbad, Franzensbad and Marienbad are bathing-places of European 
celebrity. The picturesque scenery of the sandstone mountains near the 
Elbe Gap is also well known as a tourist resort. 

The kingdom of Bohemia belongs to the densely populated countries 
of Central Europe. Its population has an average density of 315 per 
square mile ; but in the industrial parts of the north it rises to 1,000 and 
1,200. Of the people 37 per cent, are German, occupying the border region* 
especially the industrial district of the north, and 63 per cent. Chechs* 
who occupy the centre, and reach the frontiers only at three places. 

The peripheral arrangement of the mountains and the convergent course 
of the rivers of Bohemia favour the development of a natural centre, which 
is the main crossing-point of all radial lines of communication. This is 
Prague (Prag, Praha). It lies in the midst of the country on both sides of 
the Moldau in a rather narrow valley, but the suburbs extend over the 
neighbouring heights. Seen from the Hradschin, the castle of the old 
Bohemian kings on the left bank of the Moldau, the city is highly pictu- 
resque, with its numerous towers and monumental buildings on prominent 
points. But the interior is narrow and unhealthy ; an aqueduct is wanting,, 
and the population increases slowly. Prague is the capital of Bohemia,, 
with the Government offices, two universities and two technical schools — 
one for the Germans, one for the Chechs. The suburbs, which raise the 
number of the mainly Chech population to over 470,000, are the industrial 
quarters. The manufacture of engines and railway cars is considerable. 
The other towns of Bohemia are of less importance. They lie on the 
numerous radial railway lines near the frontiers, Budweis on the southern, 
Pilsen on the south-western, and Reichenberg on the northern line. The 
Elbe is the chief traffic route from Bohemia to the sea ; on it, the frontier 
is passed annually by 20,000 vessels, and there are railways on both sides 
of the river. Aussig and Bodenbach-T etschen are considerable river-ports. 

Moravia and Silesia. — Moravia and Silesia (in German Mahren 
and Schlesien) occupy the south-east side of the Boian plateau and stretch 
over the lowlands, bordering the western chains of the Carpathians, which 
form their eastern frontier. The south is drained by the March to 
the Danube, the north by the Oder to the Baltic Sea. The water- 
parting between the two rivers is low in the Carpathian forelands, and 
forms the deep Moravian Gap between the Boian plateau and the 
Carpathians. It allows of the construction of a canal connecting the 
Baltic and Black Seas, the summit level on which is less than 1,000 feet* 


Austria 


309 


In the north of both countries, at the sources of the Oder and the 
March, the eastern extremity of the Sudetes forms a plateau 2,000 feet 
high, and rising in the Altvater to nearly 5,000 feet. In spite of the 
rough climate there is a crowded German population, carrying on the 
Austrian linen manufacture. In the south the low ground penetrates 
basinlike between the Boian plateau and the Carpathians ; the climate 
of these parts is mild, and agriculture flourishes ; barley and beetroot are 
extensively grown ; even the vine is found. The Carpathians at the 
eastern frontier are extensively wooded. The Silesian coal basin of Prussia 
extends over the Austrian frontiers ; Witkowitz and Mdhrisch Ostrau are 
the chief places for coal-mining in Austria, and since the neighbouring 
Carpathians supply iron, there is also a centre of iron manufacture. 
The plateaux at the sources of the Oder contain beds of roofing slates, 
which are much worked. The south has scarcely any mineral wealth. The 
Margravate of Moravia and the Duchy of Silesia have an average density 
of population of 295 per square mile ; the industrial north having a denser 
population than the agricultural south — in some parts of Silesia there are 
1,000 inhabitants to the square mile. Of the people, 33 per cent, are 
Germans, 60 per cent, are Chechs, and 7 per cent., in the eastern parts of 
Silesia, are Poles. 

Towns of Moravia and Silesia. — The lowland between the Car- 
pathians and the Boian plateau is the principal way of communication of 
the Monarchy. Its rivers are not navigable, but it is followed by the most 
frequented Austrian railway, the Northern. It points to Vienna, which 
therefore absorbs the Moravian trade, and hinders the development of 
any considerable centre in that country. The capital of the margravate is 
Briinn (Brno), on the edge of the Boian plateau, where the main route 
from Bohemia enters the lowlands. It is the chief centre of Austria for 
woollen manufactures, and has two technical schools. One-half of its in- 
habitants are German. Another woollen manufacturing place is Iglau, a 
German-speaking town on the heights adjoining Bohemia. The former 
capital of Moravia, Olmiitz , is situated in a fertile basin of the Upper 
March, and has, though it is the ecclesiastical centre of the country, only 
local importance. The capital of Silesia, Troppau, is an active place with a 
German population close to the Prussian frontier. 

Vienna. — The two main routes in the eastern and northern Alpine 
forelands and the Moravian route along the south-east side of the Boian 
plateau meet at Vienna. In the east there is a whole series of gaps 
between the Alps and the Carpathians, termed together the Hungarian 
gate, where the Danube enters the great Hungarian plains. Vienna, there- 
fore, has a commanding position between the Boian and Alpine lands on 
one side, and Hungary on the other. The routes through the Austrian 
Gap to South Germany, and through the Moravian Gap to the plains of 
northern Europe, unite here with the Semmering route to Italy, and 
the ways through Hungary to the south-east of Europe. Over the low 


310 The International Geography 

south-eastern edge of the Boian plateau the Elbe Gap of Bohemia can 
also be easily reached, and by means of the longitudinal valleys of the 
Alps the Rhine basin is accessible. Vienna lies at the crossing of great 
routes from London, Berlin and Paris to Constantinople, and from St. 
Petersburg to Rome (Fig. 54). Its general situation has thus no equal 
in Europe, and the more immediate surroundings of its site are also very 
distinguished. 

The north-eastern branch of the Alps, called the Kahlengebirge, termi- 
nates with a height of nearly 1,800 feet over the low plain of the Vienna 
basin with an elevation of 600 feet, and both are cut off by the magnificent 
river. The mountains bear a beautiful forest, the Wiener Wald ; their 



Fig. 155. — The Site of Vienna. 


base is covered with vineyards, and the plain is richly cultivated. The 
site of the city is the corner between mountains, plain and river. Only 
one industrial suburb ( Floridsdorf ) lies on the left bank of the Danube, and 
only the smaller part of the city is on the river plain ; the principal 
quarters extend on the hills to the right of the river and stretch even into 
the valleys of the Kahlengebirge, along the base of which there is a con- 
tinuous belt of small towns from Klosterneuburg in the north to Modling 
in the south, a distance of 20 miles. Vienna is the intellectual and material 
capital of Austria-Hungary. It is the seat of the Imperial Court, of the 
Common Ministries and of the Austrian Government. There is an old, 
much-frequented university, and there are also a polytechnic school, 



Austria 


3ii 

an academy of agriculture, and rich museums of fine art and natural 
history. Commerce has at its disposal in the Danube the longest water- 
way of Europe outside Russia, and eight important railways radiate in all 
directions. The city and its neighbourhood form the chief industrial 
district of the monarchy. There are extensive iron and engine works, the 
manufacture of all kinds of metal goods, especially of bronze and instru- 
ments, is important ; Viennese furniture, clothes, leather and fancy wares 
are objects of large export. In the Vienna basin there are numerous 
spinning factories and paper mills. 

Vienna (German Wien ) derives its name from the Roman camp of 
Vindobona, but it does not retain many signs of high antiquity. The 
sieges of the Turks destroyed the ancient suburbs totally, and large parts 
of the city ; the magnificent St. Stephen’s Cathedral is the only relic of 
ancient times. The older houses date principally from the eighteenth 
century, but the greater part are modern ; the Ringstrasse is one of the 
most magnificent modern boulevards in the world. The quickly 
increasing population is almost exclusively German. 

The Carpathian Lands. — The long arc of the Carpathians is 
occupied by Austria only on its western and north-eastern slopes. The 
former stretches through Moravia and Silesia, the latter through Galicia 
and Bukovina. These two Crown-lands extend from the mountains over 
the Carpathian foreland ; and Galicia even reaches the Podolian plateau, 
which forms the water-parting between the Dniester and the Dnieper. 
The Austrian Carpathians form a chain of sandstone ridges which con- 
tinue the Kahlengebirge, at first in a north-easterly and then in a south- 
easterly direction. In the west they gradually rise to 4,000 feet in Silesia 
and 5,000 feet in western Galicia ; at the point where the direction of the 
chains turns at a right angle there are numerous passes of from 1,150 to 
2,000 feet in height, called the Eastern Beskids, which afford short 
passages from Galicia to the plains of lower Hungary ; the Western 
Beskids are the passes between Silesia and upper Hungary. The eastern 
chains rise in the Czornahora (Black Mountain, over 6,750 feet). In the 
south of these sandstone mountains the Upper Hungarian plateau extends. 
It consists of old rocks, which now and then rise to sharp ridges. The 
highest is the High Tatra, which culminates with 8,740 feet. From this 
highest part of the whole Carpathians two rivers break through the sand- 
stone chains ; along one of them the frontier of Galicia sweeps up to the 
High Tatra. The sandstone ridges of the Carpathians are thickly covered 
with forests ; the whole chain, therefore, is often called the Forest Car- 
pathians. Only the highest chains of the east arise above the tree-line ; 
they are covered with grassy flats called polonines, which correspond 
to the Alpine region. The Tatra, however, is a rocky ridge with some 
deep corries, the tarns of which are called “eyes of the sea.” 

Galicia and Bukovina. — The Carpathian foreland is a low, un- 
dulating country with a mean height of from 600 to 900 feet. As there is 


312 The International Geography 

only a low watershed in the west between the March and the Oder, there 
are also in the east, in Galicia, low water-partings between the Vistula, 
Dniester and Pruth. These rivers are navigable for flat-bottomed boats. 
The soil is fertile, with the exception of the angle between the Vistula 
and the San, where it is too sandy. The Podolian plateau swells gently 
north of the Dniester, and forms an escarpment of 600 feet against the 
flat moorlands, which are drained to the Vistula and to the Dnieper. The 
water-parting between the Baltic and Black Seas is here flat and indistinct. 
Numerous parallel rivers run from the plateau southward to the Dniester ; 
they have, like the latter, a meandering course, and flow in deep valleys. 
The heights of the plateau are part of the steppes of south-eastern Europe ; 
the woods are restricted to the steep sides of the valleys. 

The climate of Galicia and Bukovina is continental ; the summers 
are hot, the winters cold ; the country is open to the snowstorms of Russia. 
The rainfall is not great, but occurs throughout the whole year. In the 
mountains it is sufficient, but the temperature is low. By their elevation 
the Carpathian lands are divided into agricultural lowlands and wooded 
highlands. Nearly one-half of the land is arable ; wheat and maize in the 
east, rye and potatoes in the higher regions, are the chief crops. The 
forests cover two-sevenths of the surface ; they consist in the lower 
mountains of beech (the name of Bukovina is derived from the beech 
forests), and in the higher regions pine woods prevail. The sandstone of 
the Carpathians contains natural oil at numerous places, which is bored for, 
especially at Drohobycz, in the same way as in Pennsylvania. Natural wax 
is also dug. The Carpathian foreland is rich in salt, which has been 
mined as rock-salt at Wieliczka, near Cracow, for centuries ; at Stanislau 
and other places it is obtained in the form of brine. In the west a small 
part of the Silesian coal-field extends into Galicia. 

The population of the Carpathian lands is large, and its density 
is nearly the same as the average for Austria. The lowlands con- 
tinue the thickly populated zone of the German central mountains 
eastward to the Podolian plateau, and there 300 per square mile are 

found. The Carpathians are, however, poor in men. There are still 

* 

hundreds of square miles in eastern Galicia and Bukovina covered with 
virgin forests, without a single village. The two Slavonic nationalities in 
Galicia are nearly equal in number ; the west belongs to the Poles (55 per 
cent.), who are dominant, the east to the Ruthenians (42 per cent.). In 
Bukovina the latter meet with the Rumanians, and there are 22 per 
cent, of Germans. The general condition of the population is unsatis- 
factory. There are rich landowners and poor peasants, whose wages are 
below the minimum which can be held sufficient, and who are, for the 
greater part, illiterate. The trade is in the hands of the Jews, who form 
one-eighth of the inhabitants ; manufactures are undeveloped, with the 
exception of distilling brandy, which, together with potatoes, forms the 
usual diet of the people. Everything else must be imported ; the exports 


Austria 313 

consist of grain, cattle, wood and horses, which are bred in the east, 
especially in Bukovina. 

Towns of the Carpathian Lands. — The Carpathian foreland in 
Galicia is followed by one European main route. In the south the 
mountains, in the north the swamps of the Pripet, hinder free communi- 
cation. The ways from western Austria and Germany to the south-east 
converge to one point of the western Carpathian foreland, run together on 
the east, and diverge on the Podolian plateau to Russia and Rumania. 
Thus there are two centres in Galicia. Cracow (German, Krakau, Polish, 
Krakow) commands the entrance from the west, and the substantial 
appearance of the city bears witness to its importance from olden times, 
when it was one of the outposts of the Germans in the east. Later, 
Cracow was the capital of Poland ; the Polish kings are buried there, and 
it is still a centre of Polish life. It has an old Polish university and a 
modern Polish Academy of Science. The commerce is still considerable. 
The commanding position of the city is expressed by its selection as one 
of the strongest Austrian fortresses for the defence of the upper valley of 
the Vistula. The inhabitants are mostly Poles. Lemberg (Polish, Lwow) is 
the radiating point of the east. Here the main railway line, which follows 
the Carpathian foreland, and is the continuation of the Austrian Northern 
Railway, sends off two branches to Russia, to Kiyev and to Odessa, and is 
connected by a transverse line with Budapest. Lemberg was, since its 
foundation, the capital of the Ruthenian provinces of Poland, and the 
neighbourhood has a Ruthenian population, but its inhabitants are for the 
greater part Poles, and the Ruthenians are less in number than the 
Germans. In the Middle Ages Lemberg also was a German outpost. 
There is a university and a technical school. The manufactures have 
only local importance. Between Cracow and Lemberg lies Tarnow , on the 
Dwnajec, and Przemysl, a strong fortress, which defends the eastern 
Beskids, on the San. On the two lines from Lemberg to Russia the chief 
towns are Brody and Tarnopol ; the continuation of the main line to the 
south-east passes through Kolomea, on the Pruth, and reaches the Russian 
and Rumanian frontier near Czernowitz , a somewhat new town on the 
right bank of the Pruth, which is the capital of Bukovina. It has im- 
portance as a local centre, and as a frontier place. Its population is more 
mixed than that of any other town in Austria ; Jews, Greek Christians, 
and Roman Catholics are nearly equal in number ; the German language 
predominates, and is used in the university, which was founded in 1875. 

The Dinaric Lands. — The narrow strip of the Dinaric lands 
which forms the Austrian coast is accompanied by a mountain range, 
5,000 to 6,000 feet in height, which consists of limestone, and shows all the 
irregularities of the Karst phenomena. Deep valleys are wanting, and 
only one fairly long river from the interior, the Narenta, reaches the sea. 
A low foreland forms the peninsula of Istria. Farther south there are 
some low grounds in the middle of the Dalmatian coast, on both sides of 


314 The International Geography 


which rows of long islands follow the coast, the ridges of a drowned land. 
The northern part of the coast extends along the Karst, which continues 
the mountain range at a height of only 2,000 feet ; and a small part of the 

Plain of Lombardy, at the mouth of 
the Isonzo, belongs also to Austria. 

The climate of the Austrian 
coast, which stretches between 
45 0 45' and 42 0 N., is truly Mediter- 
ranean. The winters are warm 
and relatively rainy, the summers 
are hot and dry. In the north, 

Fig. 156 —The Karst. The map measures 300 especially along the Karst, the 
mT 



Bora is a fre q« en t cold and dry 
wind coming from the interior, 
and the charms of the Mediterranean climate can only be enjoyed at 
places like Abbazia, which are sheltered from it. The south wind, called 
Scirocco, is warm and moist ; the sudden changes between Bora and 
Scirocco are consequently very disagreeable. The evergreen bushes and 
trees, and the culture of the olive reach from the sea to 600 and 1,000 feet. 
The higher slopes are bare rock, and the growth of trees is hindered by 
the strength of the Bora and the heavy rain showers of the Scirocco. The 
mean annual precipitation, which is at the coast above 40 inches, rises 
here to 80 inches, and at several places even to 200 inches. The 
forests have often been devastated by reckless wood-cutting. 

Resources and People of the Dinaric Lands. — The con- 
figuration and the soil of the Austrian Coast-lands do not favour agriculture. 
Only one-eighth of the land is arable ; the olive gardens and vineyards are 
nearly as extensive. In the north, near the mouth of the Isonzo, mul- 
berries are cultivated for silkworms. Nearly one-half of the ground 
serves as pasture for sheep, and especially goats. The mineral wealth 
is confined to some coal-beds in Dalmatia : excellent building stone 
is quarried in Istria ; the Brionian islands, near Pola, furnished the 
marbles of Venice. The sea affords a rich fishing-ground, resorted to by 
11,000 fishermen. The trade in fish with the interior suffers, however, 
from the want of means of communication. 

The population of the maritime provinces, consisting of the County of 
Gorizia, the Territory of Triest, the Margravate of Istria, and of the King- 
dom of Dalmatia has a density of 168 per square mile, much below the 
average. The greater number of the people (68 per cent.) are Slavonic, 
in the north Slovenians, in the south Croats and Servians. In the 
harbours, and along the coast of the maritime provinces, descendants 
of the old Roman population still exist, refreshed by Italian colonists. 
Nearly 30 per cent, of the inhabitants are Italians, and Italian is the 
language along the sea. The German element forms little over 1 per cent. 

Coast Towns. — The Austrian coast has many excellent ports along 


Hungary 3 1 5 

the Dinaric Mountains, but most of the deep and sheltered bays have no 
importance, since there are no practicable ways from them into the 
interior. That part of the coast, however, which can be easily reached 
from the other Austrian provinces over the Karst has no good harbour. 
Triest lies on the slope which rises directly to 1,000 feet round an open bay. 
The ancient Greeks had a settlement (Tergeste) on this site, but its de- 
velopment as a harbour dates only from the decay of Venice, when Austria 
began to make efforts for maritime power. By the foundation of the 
Austrian Lloyd Steamship Company, and since the opening of the railway, 
which ascends the Karst in a long loop, Triest became a port of interna- 
tional importance, but being exposed to the full force of the Bora, and 
having only one mountain railway to the interior, notwithstanding many 
improvements, it has not the rank which the country deserves for its chief 
seaport, and the trade of the whole north of Austria gravitates to German 
ports. The population of Triest does not increase 
as much as that of other Austrian cities ; it is mainly 
Italian. The great military port of Austria, Pola, 
lies on a deep and sheltered bay near the south 
point of the peninsula of Istria, from which the 
neighbouring coasts can be easily defended. The 
capital of Dalmatia, Zara, is a port of local value 
on the Dalmatian lowlands. In the south, Ragusa 
was in the Middle Ages the chief harbour of the 
whole Dinaric coast ; now it is a dead place, but there is a narrow-gauge 
railway to the interior of Hercegovina and Bosnia. 

The shores of Dalmatia are amongst the most beautiful of Europe. 
They combine the steepness of the Norwegian coast with Mediter- 
ranean scenery and the picturesque relics of an old civilisation. Nothing 
can be compared with the deep narrows ( bocclie ) of Cattaro, where the 
sea penetrates in several basins among cliffs of 6,000 feet in height. At 
Spalato a whole town is built in the ruins of the palace of the Roman 
Emperor Diocletian (whence, indeed, the name of palace is derived). Palms 
grow on some of the islands, especially at Lissa. Dalmatia will one 
day become a favourite haunt of tourists, and its sheltered towns will be 
prized as winter resorts. But it is still very isolated, and its inhabitants 
extremely ignorant, only 31 per cent, of them being able to read and write. 
Abbazia, near Fiume, and the island Lussinpiccolo, are winter stations. 

III.— HUNGARY 

By Dr. Bela Erodi, 

President of the Hungarian Geographical Society , Budapest. 

Position and Extent. — The Kingdom or State of Hungary 
(Magyarorszdg=hd.nd of the Magyars) lies about the middle of the southern 
half of Europe in the basin of the Danube, between the same parallels of 



Fig. 157. — A ustro-Hun 
garian Naval Ensign. 


3 1 6 The International Geography 

latitude as France, north of Bordeaux. Its form resembles a semicircle, 
and excepting a small part of the western side, it is separated on three sides 
by natural boundaries from the neighbouring lands. On the west, north 
and north-east these are hereditary provinces of Austria, which form with 
it one monarchy ; on the south-east and south Rumania and Servia, on 
the south-west the occupied provinces of Austria-Hungary. Hungary 
is a continental country ; only on its extreme western boundary does a 
small portion of it touch on the Adriatic Sea. The natural boundaries 
are formed on the west, north-west, north, north-east, east, south-east and 
south by the mighty range of the Carpathians, then on the south by the 
Danube, the Save and the Unna, and finally on the west by the Leitha 
( Lajta ) river and Leitha hills, which separate it from Austria. 

Configuration of Surface. — Hungary is surrounded for more than 
1,000 miles by the immense curve of the Carpathians, which, starting 
from the gate of the Danube at Deveny (near Pozsony) sweep round one- 
half of the country from west, through north and east, to south, where they 
again reach the Danube at the so-called Iron Gates ( Vaskapu ) near Orsova. 
This great range of mountains is divided into three principal sections 
forming the north-western, the north-eastern, and the south-eastern high- 
lands. The most interesting of the mountains is the High Tatra ( Magas 
Tatra), in the north, a picturesque high mountain group, without any foot 
hills. Its loftiest peaks are those of Lomnicz, more than 8,6oo feet high, 
and Gerlachfalva (named since 1896 Ferencz Jozsef Peak), 8,737 feet, the 
highest mountain in Hungary. These are all bare rocks, on which in 
some places snow remains even in summer ; and in their hollows more 
than a hundred small mountain tarns, the fairy-like “eyes of the sea/' 
attract many visitors to this splendid mountain wilderness. The most 
extensive members of the Carpathian system are the south-eastern high- 
lands, which form one grand natural fortress, through which there are 
few passes. The Vereczke Pass, in the north-eastern frontier range, is 
famous in history as that by which the Magyars entered the country in the 
year 898. The offshoots of the mountain system of the Alps, which enter 
Hungary, are divided into three chief groups. Between the Danube and 
the Drave, the eastern offshoots of the Noric Alps, between the Drave and 
the Save, the last spurs of the Carnic Alps, and finally between the Save 
and the Adriatic the eastern continuation of the Julian Alps. In the space 
surrounded by the Carpathians and the Alps stretch two level expanses of 
land — the Little and the Great Hungarian Plains. The Little Hungarian 
Plain (. Kis-Alfold ) lies in the western part of the country, upon the islands 
and both sides of the Danube from Pozsony to Esztergom. Its extent is 
about 5,000 square miles ; the lowest portion of it is the Hansag, between 
the Ferto (N eusiedler) lake and the Rabcza river. This plain, called also 
the Pozsony basin, is exceedingly fertile. Coming through the passes of 
the Danube at Vacz from the small plain, we reach the Great Hungarian 
Plain, the most characteristic part of the country, lying in the centre of 


Hungary 317 

the land and bounded by the Carpathians on one side and the Lower 
Danube on the other. It occupies about 30,000 square miles. The Tisza 
( Theiss ) traverses its greatest length. This plain, appearing as an unend- 
ing, and for tne most part uniformly flat surface, is not so monotonous as it 
appears upon a map. Its surface is undulating ; rows of mounds and sand- 
dunes are frequent, in many places there are deep hollows which are damp 
and impregnated with alkaline salts, in other parts there are marshes. 
But in general the plain is very fertile, ploughed fields stretch to the 
horizon, and the immense pasture-grounds are filled with herds of horned 
cattle, horses, sheep and swine. The villages, fringed by rows of shady 
trees, especially acacias, stand at great distances apart, but are large and 
populous, and are transversed bv State, county and communal roads and 
railway lines. 

Hydrography. — Most of the rivers belong to the Danube system ; 



Fig. 158 . — The Chief Canal at the Iron Gates. 


only two streams having their sources in the High Tatra flow to the 
Vistula. The Danube ( Duna ), which is the principal waterway of 

Hungary, traverses the country for almost 600 miles, forming several 

large islands in its course, of which the most important are Csallojkoz 
and Szigetkoz between Pozsony and Komarom, the first formed by a 

branch on the left, the second by a branch on the right of the main 

stream. The island of Szent Endre is above and that of Csepel below 
the capital. The Danube is navigable by steamships ; the rocky bed of 
the Iron Gates, which was dangerous to navigation, has been cleared and 
all obstacles removed by the Hungarian Government. Tributary streams 
of the Danube on the left hand are the Morva (forming in part the Austrian 
boundary), Vag, Garam, Ipoly, Tisza, Temes ; on the right side the Lajta 
(Leitha), Raba, Kapo's, Drave (which receives the Mura) and Save. The 
Tisza is the one great truly Hungarian river, as it rises and ends in 



3 1 8 The International Geography 

the country. In the Hungarian coat-of-arms four silver stripes represent 
the Danube, the Tisza, the Drave and the Save (Fig. 159.) Hungary contains 
only two large lakes, the Balaton and the Ferto, both on the right side of 
the Danube. The Balaton (or Platten lake) has an area of 230 square miles, 
and stands 420 feet above sea-level. It is separated into two parts by the 
mountainous peninsula of Tihany. On its banks mineral springs of acid 
water burst out at Balaton-Fiired, which is a celebrated watering-place. 
The lake is commonly called the Hungarian Sea, and its shores are much 
cultivated. The Ferto (or Neusiedler lake) has an area of no square miles, 
and stands 370 feet above sea-level, but its surface is not permanent. 
Between the streams there are many canals for navigation. Mineral waters 
are abundant in many places. 

Resources of Hungary. — More than 97 per cent, of the soil of Hun- 
gary is productive, and about half of this is arable land. The plains, the 
land between the Danube and the Drave, and between the Drave and Save 
are covered with black, yellow, and sandy earth, which, in the highlands, 
is mixed with gravel. The alluvial and diluvial deposits in the plains form 
good soils for the growth of wheat, rye, barley and maize, the crop of which 
not only supplies the country but furnishes a great export. The mountains 
are chiefly formed by granite, upon which rest crystalline schist formations. 
The Carpathian sandstone is widely distributed. The mountains conceal 
many mineral treasures, which have been mined from very early times. 
Iron-ore is very abundant ; the mountains of Transylvania produce much 
gold ; silver, copper, cobalt, nickel, mercury, zinc and lead are found in 
varying quantities. A special product of the country is the noble opal, 
which is found in the trachyte beds near Vorosvagas. Salt is found in 
immense abundance in Transylvania and Maramaros. There is plenty 
of coal and lignite, and petroleum is also worked. The mountainous 
districts are covered for the most part with forests ; the woods occupy 
30 per cent, of their area, in contrast with only from 1 to 5 per cent, 
of the plains. The export of timber is important. The most common 
trees are the oak, poplar and acacia. Fruit trees are largely cultivated, and 
Hungary furnishes apples, pears, and plums for export. Wine production 
is of great importance, for the grape grows and ripens well almost every- 
where. Cattle breeding has not received as much attention as agriculture, 
though lately the breeding of horned cattle, horses and swine, has shown 
improvement. The bear, fox, wolf, badger, wild cat and lynx, the roe, 
red deer, wild swine and wild goat are common in the immense forests. 

Climate. — As Hungary, excepting one small portion on the Adriatic 
Sea, lies far from the ocean, the climate is moderately continental. Three 
types may be distinguished — that of the mountain districts, of the plains 
and of the sea-coast. The winter is in general very cold, especially in the 
great plain and in the inner basin of Transylvania ; the summer is hotter 
than in western Europe in the same latitude. In the highlands the climate 
is very variable, but snow does not lie in summer, except in some hollows 


Hungary 319 

of the High Tatra. The rainfall is very capricious. Most falls, on the 
average, in spring and autumn in the north and north-eastern highlands, and 
in the Transylvanian mountains ; and less in the Great Plain. The yearly 
rainfall in the Carpathians is on an average 40 to 50 inches, while on the 
Great Plain it is 20 to 25 inches. The most cloudy season is spring. In 
summer the delibdb, or Fata Morgana, is a very charming and everyday 
phenomenon, which on tranquil, warm days rises about noontide, and like 
a resplendent sea spreads over the heated plain as far as the eye can 
reach. Fiume has a very dry summer and a very rainy autumn and 
winter ; strong north and north-east winds (bora) prevail. 

History. — The territory of the present kingdom of Hungary was 
a great highway of nations. At the earliest period after the Romans 
came the Huns, under King Attila, after whose death the empire fell in 
pieces. After German people came the Avars, an Asiatic nation, which 
inhabited this land for two and a half centuries, until Charlemagne 
broke their power. The Hungarians, who lived in the earliest time in 
Asia, between the Lower Irtish and the Ural, and later between the Lower 
Dnieper and the Don (Lebedia), penetrated in 
898, under the leadership of Arpad, through the 
pass of Vereczke into their present country, and 
settled in it after subduing the different nations of 
the land. The house of Arpad reigned till 1301. 

Stephen, the first king, converted the nation from 
heathenism to Christianity, was crowned in 1000, 
and organised the Hungarian State according to 
western patterns. The Hungarian State attained 
its greatest area under King Nagy Lajos (fourteenth century), and under 
King Matyas, surnamed the Just, it came to the climax of its glory, both 
military and political. In 1526, after the catastrophe of Mohacs, where the 
Hungarians were defeated by the Turks, the Habsburg dynasty succeeded, 
and Transylvania was created a separate principality under national 
princes. The Turks occupied a great portion of the land and were not 
finally expelled for nearly two hundred years. In 1723 the Hungarian 
Parliament accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, which established the 
succession of the female line of the Habsburgs. In 1848 laws were enacted 
which abrogated the old constitution, introduced parliamentary govern- 
ment with a responsible national ministry, reunited Transylvania to the 
mother country, abolished all agrarian burdens, asserted the freedom of 
the press and the complete legal equality of the recognised religions, and 1 
made many important reforms. Events, however, necessitated a fresh 
struggle with Austria, which, by the help of a large Russian army, imposed 
a period of absolute government on Hungary for eighteen years. 

The constitution of 1848 was restored by King Francis Joseph in 1867. 
That year was the beginning of a new era, and since then progress in 
every department of national life has been rapid. In virtue of the 



320 The International Geography 

Hungarian Constitution the Apostolic King of Hungary, whose person is 
sacred and inviolable, shares legislation as a joint right with the parliament, 
which he summons for a term of five years. The House of Commons 
consists of 413 representatives chosen by Hungarian districts, and of 40 
deputies of the Croatian-Slavonian Diet. Members of the House of 
Magnates sit in virtue of inherited right, office, or dignity, or by nomi- 
nation or election. The Royal Hungarian Cabinet consists of the presi- 
dent of the council and of nine Ministers, including the Croatian-Slavonian 
Minister without a portfolio. In virtue of the Pragmatic Sanction, Hungary 
and Austria are independent States allied with each other, but preserving 
their own sovereignty undiminished, with separate and independent State 
administration. But by the personal identity of the ruler, they form for 
mutual protection one monarchy. For the management of the common 
affairs 60 delegates, who meet alternately at Budapest and Vienna, are 
chosen by each parliament, the Hungarian Parliament selecting 40 
members from the House of Deputies and 20 from the Magnates. The 

contribution for common expenses is arranged by 

♦ mutual agreement for ten years at a time ; the actual 

I I l l * I ♦ ! I ! I ! quotas are 30 per cent, for Hungary and 70 per 

! I ! I ! I T I I I ! I cent, for Austria. 

**•*•••*•**• People. — The people of Hungary are composed 

of several nationalities, all together forming the Hun- 

garian nation. The Hungarians proper, or Magyars, 

!!!!!!!!!!!! are the leading element, for although they form 

only about one-half of the population, 80 per cent. 

Fig. 160 .— Average pop- Q f p e0 pj e speak the Hungarian language — a 
ulatton of a square r r r o & 

mile of Hungary. proportion which is increasing every year. It must 

be particularly stated that the Hungarian race 
who conquered the country and created the kingdom take the leading 
position also in intelligence ; and far from oppressing the other nation- 
alities, they allow to all the same rights and privileges. Besides 
Hungarians there are (in order of their number) Serbo-Croats, Ru- 
manians or Walachians, Germans, Slovaks and other nationalities, whose 
number together does not amount to more than a million. According to 
religion, the greatest part of the population belongs to the Roman and 
Greek Catholic Churches ; then follow the non-united (or schismatic) Church, 
the Protestant Churches of Calvinist and Lutheran confession ; finally the 
Unitarian confession and the Jews. The Roman Catholics, the United 
Greek Church, and the Armenian Catholics are under the authority of the 
Pope in Rome. The king must belong to the Roman Catholic faith. 

The people of Hungary live chiefly by agriculture, the breeding of live 
stock, and mining, to which occupations they are directed by the nature 
of the soil. They have no great inclination for industry ; therefore the 
imports are almost double the value of the exports. Though trade 
makes great progress by the increasing extension of railways, the want 


Hungary 


321 


of corresponding capital and enterprise allows many natural resources 
of great value to lie undeveloped. Yet material and intellectual progress 
is remarkable. At the census of 1890, 61 per cent, of the male and 
46 per cent, of the female population above the age of six years could 
write and read. Higher instruction is provided by three universities, 
namely, at Budapest, Kolozsvar, and Zagreb, and many colleges for higher 
training in special subjects. The supply of secondary schools is better 
than in Austria, and approaches to that of some States of Germany. The 
pharmaceutical, philosophical and medical faculties of the universities 
are open to ladies. Great progress is made in the provision of technical 
schools. As for the administration, Hungary (the mother-land), is divided 
into 63 counties ( vdrmegye ), at the head of which stand the prefects ( fdispdn ) 
and deputy-prefects (< alispdn ). Croatia-Slavonia numbers eight counties. 
Hungary is well supplied with railways ; more than three-quarters of the 
whole Hungarian system belong to the State or are under the management 
of the Hungarian State Railways. The present tariff for passengers, the so- 
called zone system, was inaugurated in 1889, according to which the long 
distance is divided into fourteen zones, and the price is regulated by 
sections. In the zone tariff the longest journey, from 140 miles to any 
distance which can be traversed in twenty-four hours, costs only $5 first- 
class, which is the maximum fare for any journey in the kingdom. 

Hungary Proper. — Budapest is the capital and residence-town of 
Hungary, situated in a splendid 
position on both sides of the 
Danube, a short distance below 
its great bend from an east- 
ward to a southward course, 
surrounded on the right bank 
by picturesque hills, the off- 
shoots of the Alps. One of 
these hills which dominates 
the city is the site of the 
Royal Palace, and another, 
named Mount St. Gerard 
(Szent Gellerthegy), rises 
abruptly from the Danube to 
a height of 720 feet above 
sea-level. The left bank of 
the Danube is a plain. Buda 
on the right and Pest on the 



Fig. 161. — Budapest. 


left side formed, before 1873, 
two towns with separate ad- 
ministrations, but are now united. They are connected by several bridges 
for passengers and two railway bridges. The town is the residence of. the 
king, who is understood to reside there for half the year ; it is the seat 


322 The International Geography 

of government, of the parliament and of the supreme courts. It has 
many public institutions, including the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 
the National Museum, with rich collections in different branches, and 
the National Picture Gallery. Budapest has a university, a polytechnic, 
many colleges, technical schools, and learned societies. It is also the 
centre of the commercial as well as of public and intellectual life of the 
kingdom. The population is increasing rapidly, at the average rate of 
about 10,000 a year. The town presents a very animated appearance, with 
the electric tram-lines which intersect it in all directions, and the great 
steamer traffic on the Danube. The boulevards and ring-streets and the 
colossal new buildings testify to the enthusiastic spirit in which the 
improvement of the city is carried on with reference to art as well as 
material progress. Amongst them the new Royal Palace, the new Parlia- 
ment House on the left bank of the Danube, modelled after the Parliament 
Houses in London, the new Palace of Justice, and many of the theatres and 
churches may be mentioned as of conspicuous merit. Budapest has many 
hydropathic establishments with hot mineral springs. The fairy -like 
Margaret Island, the property of the Archduke Joseph, but used as a public 
park, and the hilly environs of Buda are charming places of popular resort. 

Szeged, Debreczen and Arad are the chief towns of the Great Plain. 
Szeged , on the bank of the Tisza, has been rebuilt and improved since 
the great inundation of 1879, which destroyed the whole city. Debreczen , 
a railway centre east of the Tisza, is a large provincial centre of com- 
merce, industry, and intellectual life. It is situated in the Hortobagy 
puszta (steppe), the most important part of Hungary for cattle and horse- 
breeding. Debreczen has been termed “Calvinist Rome," as most of its 
inhabitants are of the Calvinist confession and the town takes a leading 
part in religious affairs. Arad is a fine, intelligent, and commercial town 
on the shore of the river Maros, which comes from Transylvania and 
discharges near Szeged into the Tisza. Pozsony ( Pressburg ) is one of the 
most cultivated provincial towns, and, after Budapest, the handsomest city 
of the country. It is situated on the Danube in a very fine position close 
to the Austrian border, and was the seat of the Hungarian Parliament until 
1848, and since 1526 the place of coronation of the kings. Kassa is the 
most considerable town of Upper or northern Hungary, an ancient royal 
free town, with an interesting cathedral, the finest Gothic church in the 
country, built in the years 1290-1382. Szekesfehervar [Alba Realis ) is the 
most flourishing commercial town in the Trans- Danubian region ( i.e ., the 
region west of the Danube), the earliest coronation and burial-place of 
the Hungarian kings. Esztergom (Latin, Strigonium ; German, Gran), on 
the right bank of the Danube, above its great bend to the south, is a 
picturesque city, the seat of the Prince-primate, the ecclesiastical chief 
of Hungary. 

Kolozsvar ( Klausenburg ), situated on the banks of the river Szamos, is 
the capital of Transylvania ( Erdely ), after Budapest, the first centre of 


Hungary 323 

intellectual and public life of Hungary. It has a university, a remarkable 
museum, three colleges (a Roman Catholic, a Calvinist, and a Unitarian), 
and is the seat of the Calvinist and the Unitarian bishops of Transylvania. 
It was the birthplace of Matyas (Matthias Corvinus), the greatest king of 
Hungary. Gyulafeheivar (Karlsburg the Roman Apulum), near the river 
Maros, was the ancient residence of the princes and is the seat of the 
Roman Catholic Bishop of Transylvania. 

Croatia-Slavonia and Dalmatia form a self-governing political 
unit inside the dominion of Hungary, and on that account bear the name 
of Borderland (. Partes adnexce). Despite this legal and correct triple desig- 
nation, Dalmatia, which at the beginning of the twelfth century was united 
to Hungary by King Kalman, now belongs only de jure to Hungary and 
the Borderlands, while de facto it is united to Austria. Croatia was united 
to Hungary under Kings Ladislaus and Kalman, and King Kalman was the 
first, who in the year 1 102 was crowned King of Croatia and Dalmatia. 
The local government is concerned only with home affairs, religious 
service and public instruction, and justice. Croatia-Slavonia has a 
National Assembly of one Chamber, which consists of 90 elected depu- 
ties, and of personal voters holding a privileged position. It is repre- 
sented in both Chambers of the Hungarian Parliament. 

Zagreb (Hungarian, Zdgrdb ; German, Agram), near the Save, is the seat 
of the Banus (governor), of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Croatia, and 
of the Diet (National Assembly). It has a university, academy of sciences, 
museum, and a remarkable late Gothic cathedral of the fifteenth century, 
recently restored after an earthquake, which damaged it seriously. 

Fiume and its Territory, annexed to Hungary in 1779 by Queen 
Maria Theresa as a separate body ( corpus separatum ), is represented in 
the Hungarian Parliament, but administered by a special governor. The 
town of Fiume lies in the north-east corner of the Gulf of Quarnero, in the 
Adriatic Sea. It was formerly an insignificant fishing village, but since its 
union with Hungary it has developed into a considerable seaport and a 
commercial town of the first rank, a notable rival of the Austrian Triest. 
Fiume has three good harbours, one the petroleum harbour. Whitehead’s 
torpedo factory, a great paper factory, petroleum refineries, and rice-mills, 
give it considerable industrial importance. Fiume is the residence of the 
Governor, of the Imperial and Royal Marine Academy, and of a Royal 
Mercantile Marine Academy. The greater part of the inhabitants speak 
Italian, which is the recognised official language of the territory. 


324 The International Geography 

IV.— BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 

By Prof. A. Penck. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina. — The hinterland of Dalmatia, nearly 

the whole north-west of the Dinaric lands, is “ occupied and 
administered" by Austria-Hungary. It is a mountainous, country ; the 
west consists of limestone, which is partially bare, and reaches at several 
points to from 6,500 to 7,500 feet. Between the ridges there are numerous 
broad basins called Poljes, which are drained by subterranean channels 
and are inundated during the wet season. In the east slates and 
sandstone prevail ; the mountains are covered there with dense forests, 
which extend over one-half of the country ; they contain iron ores, 
and silver at several places. Coal and salt are found in broad basins 
along the rivers. The west, embracing Herzegovina, has a Medi- 
terranean climate in the valleys. It is drained by the Narenta to the 
Adriatic Sea. The east, Bosnia proper, has severer winters and cooler 
summers ; rain occurs at all seasons. It is drained by the Una, Vrbas, 
Bosna and Drina to the Save, and belongs in all respects to the lands of 
the Danube. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina formed, before the conquest of the Turks, a 
separate kingdom, and from an ethnographical point of view they are still 
uniform. Their inhabitants belong to the Croatian branch of the Southern 
Slavs, but they are diversified by religion. Forty-three per cent, are 
Christians of the Eastern Church, called Servians ; 20 per cent, are Roman 
Catholics, called Croats ; and 37 per cent, are Mohammedans, called Turks, 
though there has been only a very insignificant Turkish immigration. 
The landowners, or Begs, are mostly Mohammedans ; the tenants, or Kmets , 
are Christians. This state of things has not been changed since the occu- 
pation, but the old system of despotism has disappeared, and the country, 
which twenty years ago had only bridle-tracks, has now an extensive net- 
work of excellent public roads, and some narrow-gauge railways, by which 
it is connected with Hungary and the mouth of the Narenta. Different 
manufactures are now established ; mining is going on ; there are iron 
and salt works, and even paper mills. The population is growing rapidly ; 
and the average density of the population has increased from 59 in 1879 
to 68 in 1885. The exports are wood, especially oak, plums and cattle. 
Sarajevo , formerly called Bosna Serail, is the flourishing capital, lying in 
a basin of the Upper Bosna, surrounded by high mountains. The chief 
place of Herzegovina is Mostar, on the Narenta. 

STATISTICS OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 

{Without Bosnia and Herzegovina.) 

1880. 1890. 1900. 

Area of Austria-Hungary (square miles) 240,942 .. 240,942 .. 240,942 

Population „ .... 37*883,609 . . 41,358,886 . . 45,242,889 

Density of population per square mile . . 157 .. 171 .. 187 


Austria-Hungary : Statistics 32 


THE PEOPLE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY BY LANGUAGE (1890).! 


German 


Austria. 

Hungary. 
.. 2,107,000 

Total. 

10,568,000 

Chech, Moravian, and Slovak 

.. 5,-172,000 

. . 1,910,000 

7,382,000 

Polish 



3,719,000 

Ruthenian 



383,000 

3,488,000 

Slovenian 

• • 

. . 1,176,000 

. . 94,000 

1,270,000 

Servian and Croatian . . 



. . 2,604,000 

3,249,000 

Italian and Ladin 

• • 

. . 675,000 

675,000 

Rumanian 



. . 2,592,000 

2,801,000 

Magyar 



. . 7,426,000 

7,434,000 

Gypsies 



. . 82,000 

82,000 

Total . . 



17,463,000 

41,358,000 


AVERAGE ANNUAL TRADE OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY {in pounds sterling). 


* 1876-1880. 1880-1885. 1891-1895. 

Imports 46,861,000 .. 51,525,000 .. 55,491,000 

Exports 54,609,000 . . 60.448,000 . . 64,205,000 


STATISTICS OF AUSTRIA. 





1880. 

1890. 


1900. 

Area of Austria (square miles) 

• • • • 

115,925 

115,925 

• • 

115,925 

Population of Austria 


.. 22,144,244 

23,895,413 

.. 26, 150,597 

Density of Population (per square mile) 

192 

207 

♦ • 

226 


POPULATION OF AUSTRIAN TOWNS. 



1880. 

1890. 

1900. 


1880. 

1890. 

190a 

Vienna .. 1,112,025 

1,364,548 

1,674,957 

Triest 

144,844 

157,466 

134,143 

Prague .. 177,026 

182,530 

201,589 

Briinn 

82,600 

94,462 

109,346 

Lemberg 109,746 

127,943 

159,143 

Cracow . . 

66,095 

74,593 

9U323 

Graz . . 97.791 

112,069 

138,080 

Czernowitz 

45,600 

54.174 

67,622 


THE LANDS OF THE AUSTRIAN CROWN. 

Mean Density 

Inhabitants. per Square Mile. 



Area Sq. Miles. 

1880. 

1890. 

1900. 

1880. 

1890. 

1900. 

Lower Austria 


7,654 

2,330,621 

2,661,799 

785,831 

3,100,493 

303 

347 

405 

Upper Austria 


4,627 

759,620 

810,246 

163 

170 

175 

Salzburg . . 


2,762 

163,570 

i73,5io 

192,763 

60 

62 

69 

Styria 


8,659 

1,213,597 

1,282,708 

361,008 

1,356,494 

140 

148 

156 

Carinthia . , 


3,988 

348,730 

367,337 

88 

91 

92 

Carniola . . 


3,844 

481,243 

498,958 

508,150 

124 

129 

132 

Tirol & Vorarlberg 

11,307 

912,549 

928,769 

981,949 

80 

83 

86 

Alpine lands 

• • 

42,841 

6,209,930 

6,692,583 

7,327,282 

145 

156 

171 

Bohemia . , 

• • 

20,058 

5,560,819 

5,843,094 

6,318,697 

277 

293 

315 

Moravia 

• • 

8,580 

2,153,407 

2,276,870 

2,437,706 

251 

264 

284 

Silesia 

• • 

1,987 

565,475 

605,649 

680,422 

282 

306 

342 

Boian lands 

• • 

30,625 

8,279,701 

8,725,613 

9,436,825 

270 

285 

308 

Galicia 

• • 

30,307 

5,958,907 

6,607,816 

7,3I5,8i6 

196 

218 

241 

Bukovina . . 

• • 

4,032 

571,671 

646,591 

730,195 

142 

161 

181 

Carpathian lands 

34,339 

6,530,578 

7,254,407 

8,046,011 

190 

211 

234 

Maritime Provinces 

3,077 

647,934 

695.384 

756,546 

210 

225 

249 

Dalmatia . . 

• • 

4,956 

476,101 

527,426 

593,783 

96 

106 

120 

Dinaric lands 

• • 

8,033 

1,124,335 

1,222,810 

1,350,329 

140 

152 

168 


STATISTICS OF HUNGARY. 


1880. 1890. 1900. 

Area of the Hungarian Crown Lands, square miles 125,039 125,039 125,039 

Population of Hungarian Crown Lands . . . . 15,739,375 17.709, 375 19, 254,550 

Density of population, per square mile . . . . 126 139 153 


* From '1 he Statesman s Year Book. 


326 The International Geography 


POPULATION OF HUNGARIAN TOWNS. 


Budapest (without military) 

Szeged 

Szabadka (Maria Theresiopol) 

Debreczen 

Pozsony (Pressburg) . . 
Zagreb (Agram) 

Kolozsvar (Klausenburg) 
Fiume and territory . . 


1880. 

1890. 

190a 

360,551 

505,763 

732,322 

73,675 

87,410 

102,991 

61,367 

73.526 

82,122 

51,122 

58,952 

75,006 

48,006 

56 048 

65,867 

28,388 

40,268 

61,002 

29.923 

34.858 

49,295 

20,981 

30,337 

38,955 


STATISTICS OF THE HUNGARIAN CROWN LANDS. 

Area Population, Density of Population 

square miles. 1880. 1890. 1900. 1880. 1890. 190&, 

Hungary, with Transylvania 108,258 13812,446 15,232,159 16,838,255 127 139 155 

Croatia and Slavonia .. .. 16,773 i, 9°5> 2 95 2,200,977 2,416,304 113 130 147 

Territory of Fiume . . . . 8 20,981 30.337 38,955 — — — 

(For analysis of population according to language see Statistics of Austria-Hungary.) 


STATISTICS OF BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA. 


1879- 

Area of Bosnia and Hercegovina (sq. miles) 19,734 
Population „ „ .. 1,158,453 

Density of Population 59 


1885. 1900. 

19,734 • • 19,734 

1,336,091 . . 1,568,092 

68 80 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

H. F. Brachelli. " Handbuch der Geographic und Statistik des Kaiserthums Oesterreich.” 
Leipzig, 1861. 

“ Statistische Skizze der Oesterreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchic.” 

13th edit. 1892 

Grassauer. " Landeskunde von Oesterreich-Ungam." Vienna, 1875. 

F. Umlauft. " Die Oesterreichisch-Ungarische Monarchic. Geographisch-Statistisches 
Handbuch.” 3rd edit. 1896-7. 

“ Die Lander Oesterreich-Ungarns in Wort und Bild.” 15 small volumes. 

Vienna. 1880-89. 

H. Neumeyer-Vukassowitsch. “Oesterreich-Ungam nach eigenen Beobachtungen ge- 
schildert.” Leipzig, 1885. 

A. Supan. “ Oesterreich-Ungam.” Vienna, &c., 1889. 

** Die Oesterreichisch-Ungarische Monarchic in Wort und Bild. Auf Anregung und 
unter Mitwirkung Seiner k. und k. Hoheit Kronprinzen Erzherzog 
Rudolf.” Vienna. 17 volumes. 1887-1900. 

R. Sieger. “ Geographischer Jahresbericht iiber Oesterreich.” Vienna, annually since 

1894. 

C. Diener (and others). “ Bau und Bild Oesterreichs.” Vienna and Leipzig, 1903. 


CHAPTER XIX. — THE DANUBIAN AND BALKAN 

STATES 1 


By Dr. A. Philippson, 

Lecturer on Geography in the University of Bonn. 

I.— RUMANIA 

Position and Boundaries. — The great mountain chain of the 
Carpathians on the east of Transylvania runs trom north to south, turns 
at right angles towards the west, as the Transylvanian Alps, and again 
towards the south at the point where the Danube breaks through it in the 
gorge of the Iron Gates, and there the chain enters the Balkan Peninsula. 
The Carpathians form the western boundary of Rumania towards 
Hungary. The country includes the low plain on the east and south, 
which is physically part of the great plain of Russia. On the north the 
boundary is an artificial line towards Bukovina ; on the east the river 
Pruth separates Rumania from Russia, and on the south the Danube is 
the boundary towards Bulgaria. Rumania also includes the delta of the 
Danube and the district of the Dobruja, the coast of which is a low plain, 
bordered by lagoons on the Black Sea. Thus the country is the gate of the 
Balkan Peninsula towards Russia, stretching as it does from the Carpathian 
barrier to the Black Sea. Together with Russia it commands the mouths 
of the Danube, and with Bulgaria the lower course of that river, the 
greatest channel of inland navigation in Central Europe. 

Surface and Resources. — The great wall of the Carpathians, 
which rises in several summits above 8,000 feet, slopes down to the 
Rumanian plain in beautiful wooded declivities cut by the valleys of 
numerous rivers fed by the high rainfall of the region. The foot-hills of 
recent Tertiary formation contain important deposits of rock salt and 
petroleum springs. The province of Moldavia occupies the eastern foreland 
and forms a tableland sloping to the south, covered with the black earth 
of the steppes, and trenched deeply by the steep-walled valleys of the 
Sereth, the Pruth and other tributaries of the Danube. The province of 
Walachia occupies the southern slope from the Transylvanian Alps. It 
forms a low plain of pebbles and clay, which is crossed by the broad, flat 
valleys of rivers flowing southward or south-eastward to the Danube. 
The most important of these rivers is the Aluta, which rises in Tran- 
sylvania and breaks through the Transylvanian Alps. The left bank 

x Translated from the German by the Editor. 

327 


328 The International Geography 

of the Danube, which is here divided into numerous branches, forms a 
perfectly flat, marshy, alluvial plain, so that the river can only be approached 
at a few points, and there are very few towns upon it. The right or 
Bulgarian bank, on the other hand, is high and forms the site of several 
towns. The higher steppe-like plateau of the Dobruja causes the Danube 
to turn northward, and where it resumes its easterly course the delta, a 
mere wilderness of swamps, begins at once. The most important mouths 

are, from north to south, those of Kilia, 
Sulina, and St. George ; the Sulina 
mouth is that used by shipping, silting 
being overcome by engineering w r orks. 
The Dobruja and south-eastern Wala- 
chia are mainly pastoral Steppes ; the 
rest of the Rumanian plain is very 
fertile, especially for grain. In the 
hill-zone fruit and excellent wine are 
produced ; while in the mountains 
cattle-rearing and forestry are more 
important. 

Climate. — In climate, as well as in 
soil, Rumania belongs to the region of 
the Russian Steppes. The winters are very cold, the temperature may even 
fall as low as -20° F. ; the summers are hot, the range of temperature being 
great. The rainfall is small and irregularly distributed throughout the year. 
It is heaviest in early summer (June), while the later part of summer is very 
dry. The mean temperature of the year at Bukarest is 51 0 , that for July 
73 0 , and the extreme temperatures of the year are -6° and +94 0 . 

History. — The Rumanian region was inhabited in ancient times by the 
Thracian tribe called Dacians, and formed a part 
of the Roman province of Dacia. When or how 
the Rumanian people, who speak a language closely 
allied to Latin, and call their country Romana, 
took their rise is doubtful. Some believe that they 
were originally Roman colonists, others that they 
were Romanised natives of the Balkan peninsula, 
who came into the country in the Middle Ages. Fig. 163. — The Rumanian 
The independent principalities of Moldavia and Fla &’ 

Walachia date from the thirteenth century ; but later they came under 
the power of Turkey. During the nineteenth century Russian influence 
has been gradually increasing. The efforts of the Rumanian people to 
secure their independence of both Powers led, after the Crimean War, to 
the union of the two principalities in 1859. By the Berlin Treaty of 1878 
Rumania was obliged to give up Bessarabia to Russia, but received in 
return the Dobruja, and attained complete independence of Turkey. In 
1881 it was declared a hereditary kingdom, the power of the king being 




Fig. 162. — The Mouths of the Danube. 


Rumania 329 

limited by a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies representing the 
people. 

People and Trade. — The great majority of the people belong to 
the Rumanian nation and the Greek Catholic Church ; the remainder 
are nearly all Jews. The people live mainly by agriculture, the growing 
of wheat and maize being most important. Cattle-breeding also occupies 
a considerable part of the population ; there is very little other industry 
except salt-mining and the extraction of petroleum. Rumania is one of 
the most important grain-growing countries in Europe, 73 per cent, of its 
exports being grain, and the rest consisting almost entirely of other farm 
produce. The exports, which are considerably less than the imports, go 
mainly to Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. 
The order of importance for imports is : Austria-Hungary, Germany, the 
United Kingdom, and France. The Danube shipping trade is of great 
importance to Rumania ; the chief seaports are the mouths of the river, 
the navigation of which is under the charge of an international com- 
mission meeting in Galatz. The Pruth is also navi- 
gable for a considerable distance. The railway 
system, with Bukarest as its centre, is well de- 
veloped. Three lines enter the country from 
Austria-Hungary; on the west at Orsova at the 
Iron Gates ; from Translyvania by the Predeal Pass 
(3,400 feet high) ; and on the north-east from 
Lemberg through Moldavia. Two lines cross the 
Danube to Varna and Constantsa (Kustenji), on 
the Black Sea, with direct communication to Con- 
stantinople ; and there are also two lines into Russia. 

Towns. — The capital is Bukarest, in the middle of the Walachian 
Plain on the small river Dimbovitsa. It is first referred to in history in the 
fourteenth century, and since the seventeenth century it has been the 
capital of Walachia. The town has quite a western appearance, and is 
indeed one of the most elegant cities of southern Europe. In every 
respect it is the intellectual centre of the Rumanian people, possessing a 
university and other educational establishments. Eighteen forts protect 
the capital. North of Bukarest, on the railway to Transylvania, Ploesci 
stands at the foot of the mountains. In western Walachia, Craiova is the 
most important town. In Moldavia the chief towns are the provincial 
capital, Jassy, situated near the Pruth, and Botosani in the extreme north. 
The principal commercial harbours, particularly for the export of grain, 
are Galatz and Braila, on the left bank of the Lower Danube, not far 
from the mouths of the Sereth and Pruth. Constantsa, the only harbour 
of the Dobruja, has recently acquired importance for trade with 
Constantinople. 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


Fig. 164 . — Average 'pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Rumania. 


33 o The International Geography 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Rumania (square miles). . 

Population 

Density of population per square mile . . 


1887. 

50,700 

5,500,000 

109 

1899. 

50,700 
. • 5,912,520 

. . 116 


POPULATION OF TOWNS. 



Bukarest 

Jassy. 

Galatz 

1876.* 1899. 

221.000 .. 282.071 

90.000 . . 78,067 

81.000 . . 62,678 

Braila 

Craiova 

Ploesci 

1876.* 

28.000 

23.000 

33 .000 

1899. 

. . 5 8 .392 

45,438 

. . 42,687 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 


Imports . . 
Exports . . 

Average 1870-75 2 

1881-85. 

11,700,000 

8,800,000 

1891-95. 
.. 15,800,000 

.. 11,900,000 


II. — THE BALKAN PENINSULA 

General Features. — The Balkan Peninsula is the most easterly of 
the three great peninsulas of southern Europe, and, unlike the others, is 
united to the body of Europe along a long la'nd boundary. In the west 
the Dinaric Alps and in the middle the Carpathians run into the peninsula 
which is bounded between them by the Hungarian Plain, and in the north- 
east by the plain of Rumania. The boundary of the Balkan Peninsula 
can best be drawn from the Gulf of Fiume to the source of the Kulpa, and 
along that river, the Save, and the Danube to the Black Sea. 

From this border the peninsula stretches as a broad quadrilateral 
towards the south. The Black Sea coast on the east is for the most part a 
steep, low shore, the only sharp indentation being the Gulf of Burgas in 
the middle. In the south-east it almost touches Asia Minor, being 
separated only by the narrow river-like Strait of Constantinople (the 
ancient Bosporus ), the small Sea of Marmora {Propontis), and the Strait 
of the Dardanelles {Hellespont). The south coast in the east is for the 
most part low and uniform, but in the west the deeply notched mountainous 
peninsula of Chalcidice projects and forms the Gulf of Salonica. The 
south-west corner is formed by the peninsula of Greece which is separately 
described. The west coast, facing the Adriatic, runs northward as a flat 
shore as far as the mouth of the Drin ; thence, north-westwards to Fiume, 
it is mountainous, and bordered by a complicated series of long, narrow 
islands and peninsulas separated by straits and bays, and stretching for the 
most part parallel to the coast, a formation resulting from the partial 
submergence of a folded mountain region. 

The great importance of the Balkan Peninsula depends upon the fact 
that the channels separating it from Asia Minor are so narrow that it forms 
a bridge between Asia and Europe, connecting the mountain structure of 
the continents, and interposing no barrier to plants and animals, or human 


* These figures are estimates, not the results of a census. 


2 No data for 1873. 


The Balkan Peninsula 


33i 


movements. Through its channels it commands the communication 
between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and thus the “ Eastern 
Question ” has acquired its importance in modern European politics. 

Configuration. — Two great systems of folded mountains penetrate 
the Balkan Peninsula from the north ; one of these, the Balkan, occupies 
the north-eastern part ; the other, the Dinaric Alps (called after Mount 
Dinara in Dalmatia), occupies the whole western portion. Between the 
two extends the ancient crystalline mass of the Thraco-Macedonian 
Highlands, forming the nucleus of the peninsula (Fig. 165). 

The Balkan Region. — The Carpathians, turning southwards after 
having formed the boundary between Hungary and Rumania, are broken 
through by the Danube in a long picturesque gorge between Bazias and 
Turn Severin. The numerous rapids, the most dangerous of which is 
called the Iron Gates, were formerly a serious obstacle to shipping ; but the 
difficulties have now been removed by blasting and canalising (Fig. 158). 
South of the Danube gorge the Balkan range begins as the immediate con- 
tinuation of the Carpathians, and with a similar structure runs first south- 
wards, and then east to the Black Sea, shutting in the Lower Danube Plain 
on the south. The first section of the Balkans, running southward, occu- 
pies eastern Servia ; ranges of crystalline schist yielding iron, lead, and 
copper ore, alternate with broad, wild limestone ridges rising to 6,500 feet 
in height. The Central Balkans, on the contrary, form a long and nearly 
uniformly high central ridge, running eastwards, with rounded summits 
up to 7,800 feet in height. On the north this ridge is bordered by a broad 
zone of parallel folded chains of sedimentary rock which become gradually 
lower towards the plain. These bordering heights form the third or 
eastern section of the Balkans, after the main ridge has disappeared. 
The mountains sink gradually towards the north, but break away in steep 
slopes on the south to a series of fertile intermont basins of which the 
most important is that of Sofia. From the Sofia basin the river Isker flows 
northward, cutting through the Balkans in a narrow gorge. South of this 
series of basins several mountain masses rise parallel to the Balkan, and 
are named the Anti- Balkan ; Mount Vitosha near Sofia is the most 
important of these. 

The Bulgarian Foreland, stretching from the foot of the Balkans to- 
wards the north, is formed of horizontal Cretaceous and Tertiary strata, 
covered with the fertile earth of the steppes, and well cultivated. The 
north-running rivers flow through deep, steep-walled valleys across the 
plateau, which forms a high bank where it meets the Danube. From the 
ferries on the river roads cross the tableland, and the wooded foot-hills 
gradually rising to the great barrier of the main ridge which is crossed 
by numerous easy but very important passes. On this account the high 
bank of the Danube, the valleys which furrow the Bulgarian plateau, and 
the Balkan passes, are the natural defensive lines of the peninsula and have 

been the scenes of many great battles. 

23 


332 The International Geography 

The Thraco-Macedonian Region. — In contrast to the younger 
folded mountains, the relief of the ancient highlands of crystalline rock 
in Thrace, Macedonia, and western Servia is of an extremely irregular 
character. Here and there rounded mountain masses rise to a great 
height, while in other places the land forms broad, flat, undulating hills ; 
and the whole district is so penetrated by deep basins and river valleys 
that lofty mountains are often immediate neighbours of low plains. The 
valleys with their fertile soil naturally form the centres of cultivation 
and lines of communication, especially where several basins approach 
each other so as to form a continuous furrow. One of these which 
traverses the whole peninsula from north-west to south-east is known as 
the Diagonal Furrow. It is formed by the broad valley of the Morava, 

flowing northwards 
to the river Danube, 
through the fertile 
hills of Servia, from 
which low passes 
lead through the 
basin of Sofia to the 
great river Maritsa 
flowing to the ^gean 
Sea through the two 
most extensive basins 
of the Balkan Penin- 
sula in the ancient 
province of Thrace. 
The first of these 
is the extremely fer- 
tile plain of Eastern 
Rumelia, which 
stretches along the 
south of the Balkans ; 
and the second is the 
steppe-like basin of Adrianople, which reaches to the Marmora and -T^gean 
Seas, and is separated from the Black Sea by the low range of the Stranja 
hills. This great diagonal furrow was used for the old road, as it is for the 
modern railway, from central Europe by Belgrade to Constantinople and Asia 
Minor. Another important furrow, followed by a road and railway, branches 
southward from the Morava valley over a low pass, and the river Vardar, 
flowing along it, traverses several basins in Macedonia to the Gulf of 
Salonica. These two furrows diverging towards the south are the greatest 
highways of traffic and of industry in the peninsula, and in all ages they 
have been the sites of the greatest centres of population. Between the two 
stretches the wild mountainous district of the Rhodope, which in the north 
reaches a height of almost 10,000 feet in the peaks of Rilodagh and Muss- 



The Balkan Peninsula 


333 


Alla. Upper Macedonia, west of the Vardar valley, contains the mass of 
Shardagh, the highest summit in the Balkan Peninsula, just 10,000 feet 
above sea-level. Both of these mountainous districts are intersected with 
numerous basins and fruitful valleys, some of which in Macedonia, 
particularly in the west near the Albanian frontier, contain large lakes. 

The Dinaric Region. — The west of the peninsula is occupied by the 
broad folds of the Dinaric Mountains, which, continuous with the Alps in 
the north, turn south-eastward and then southward parallel to the coast 
through Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania, into 
the Greek peninsula. They consist of a great number of parallel chains 
for the most part of limestone formation, rising in places in jagged crests 
to more than 6,500 feet above the sea ; and in other places showing the 
peculiar features of the Karst, swallow-holes and subterranean channels 
abounding on account of the solution of the rock. Stony and barren 
plateaux separated by longitudinal valleys following strips of softer 
schistose rocks, are characteristic features. The rivers Narenta, Drin, 
and Semen, break through the chains in wild inaccessible ravines. Com- 
munication with the interior is exceptionally difficult, as a traveller from 
the coast has to cross a succession of high ridges and deep valleys ; and, 
to add to the physical difficulties, these barren mountain lands have 
always been the home of robber tribes. 

The mountain barrier on the west walled in the important and easily 
accessible trade routes from Hungary, Asia Minor, the Aegean Sea, and the 
Lower Danube Plain, which have made the centre of the Balkan Peninsula 
a channel for trade, for the passage of armies and for the migration of 
peoples in all ages. This central part is rich in fertile plains, and mineral 
resources are not wanting ; so that the country is capable of supporting 
a dense and highly civilised population, were it not for the thousand years 
of confusion and misgovernment which have made it the least advanced 
part of Europe. 

Climate and Productions. — The Balkan Peninsula exhibits several 
varieties of climate. The centre and the east coast, as far as the Bosporus, 
are intermediate between Central Europe and the south of Russia, with 
winters as cold and snowy as in the east of Germany or in the north of 
Norway, the temperature often sinking below zero F. ; the summers, on 
the contrary, are as warm as in the south of France. The rainfall is less 
on the east coast than in the interior ; June is the wettest month, but rain 
is fairly uniformly distributed throughout the year. On the ^Egean coast 
the climate is that of the Mediterranean, with mild winters like those of the 
south of France ; the rainfall, especially on the south-east, is small, with a 
maximum in autumn and winter. The greatest contrast occurs between 
the interior and the west coast, which is exposed to the warm winds from 
the Adriatic and protected by mountains from the north-east ; the average 
January temperature, in the same latitude, is about 7 0 F. higher on the west 
than on the east. The rainfall on the Adriatic coast is heavy at all seasons, 


334 The International Geography 

especially in autumn. The typical Mediterranean vegetation of evergreen 
shrubs, olives, figs, oranges, and lemons, is luxuriant along the whole west 
coast, very poorly developed in the south, and altogether wanting in the 
interior, where the forests and fruits of central Europe take its place. In 
the east, particularly in the Adrianople Plain, there are steppes like those of 
Asia. The Balkan Peninsula is also a meeting-place for European, Medi- 
terranean and Asiatic animals ; the wolf and bear are at home on the 
mountains, the jackal prowls over the southern plains, herds of buffaloes 
and Oriental fat-tailed sheep graze beside the ordinary European cattle ; 
but the camel has now almost disappeared. 

People and History. — In ancient times the Balkan Peninsula was 
occupied by two Aryan races, the Thracians in the east and the Illyrians in 
the west ; the Vardar Valley between them was the dwelling-place of the 
Macedonians of mixed Illyrian, Thracian and Grecian stock. The Greeks , 
who settled on the coast as sailors and traders, gradually spread over the 
south-east of the peninsula as far as the Balkans, introducing the Greek 
language and culture, although Latin was afterwards adopted in the north. 
Under Roman and Byzantine rule the land prospered greatly, and in the 
time of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople became the most 
renowned city in the world through its trade and industry. In the seventh 
century the Slavs from the north, pressing upon the declining empire, drove 
the Greeks back to the coast, the Romans into the distant mountains, and 
the Illyrians (the present Albanians) into the south-west of the peninsula. 
These Slavs consisted essentially of two peoples, the Servians in the west 
and the Bulgarians in the east : both accepted Christianity in the ninth 
century and gradually raised themselves out of barbarism into civilisation. 
The Bulgarians by the fourteenth century had made themselves masters of 
the whole peninsula, and were then conquered by the Servians, but their 
short supremacy was brought to an end by the invasion of the conquering 
Turks before whom the Byzantine Empire fell in 1453, and Servia in 1459. 
The heavy rule of the Turks put a stop to progress, and the subject peoples 
sunk into ignorance and barbarity, except on the north-west coast where 
Dalmatia remained in the possession of Venice and later passed to Austria. 
Comparatively few Turks settled in the interior, but many of the natives were 
perverted to Mohammedanism. In the course of the nineteenth century 
the oppressed nationalities were roused, with Russian help, to throw off the 
Turkish yoke, or to acquire some measure of independence. The present 
political condition of the peninsula was determined by the Treaty of Berlin 
which followed the last Russo-Turkish War in 1878. The Balkan Peninsula 
was by it divided into five States. (1) The north-western part of the Dinaric 
Mountains, including Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzogovina, attached to 
Austria-Hungary. (2) The small independent principality of Montenegro 
to the south. (3) On the east the kingdom of Servia around the Morava 
valley. (4) The principality of Bulgaria, under the suzerainty of the 
Sultan, occupying the north-eastern part of the peninsula on both sides of 
the Balkan Mountains. (5) The Ottoman Empire, or Turkey, in the south. 


Servia 


335 


The ethnographical boundaries do not correspond with the political. 
The Servians occupy the north-west, the Bulgarians the east, and Slavs 
of doubtful origin Macedonia. The 
ancient Albanian people remain 
by themselves in the south-west. 

Many Greeks live on the coast, and, 
with the Armenians, are settled as 
merchants in all the towns. Jews, 
descended from those who were 
expelled from Spain in the fifteenth 
century and still speaking Spanish, 
also occupy the towns as trades- 
men and merchants. The Turks 
are numerous only in Constanti- 
nople ; they live in small groups in 

Thrace, Bulgaria and Macedonia, Fig . l66 ,_ The shrinking of Turkey in Europe. 
and elsewhere as Government 

officials and soldiers. The Balkan Peninsula is thus the theatre of 
numerous races and religions, the adherents of which live in an atmosphere 
of fanatical hatred and political rivalry. 



III. — SERVIA 


History. — The Servians were the first of the Balkan peoples to recover 
their liberty from the Turks. As early as 1817 the land on both sides of the 
Lower Morava was formed into a principality under Turkish suzerainty, but 
the Turks occupied the fortresses till 1867. Repeated wars and internal 
troubles, the struggle between the dynasties of Karageorgevich and 
Obrenovich, ending in the victory of the latter, hindered the progress of 

the country. The Berlin Congress at last 
secured complete independence to Servia, and 
an important increase of territory in the south, 
including the upper reaches of the Morava above 
Nish. Immediately afterwards, in 1882, it was 
declared a kingdom, the power of the king being 
limited by a popularly elected Parliament, the 
Skupchina. 

Configuration. — Servia is separated on the 
north by the Save and Danube from Hungary and Rumania, on the west 
by the Drina from Bosnia, while the boundaries on the east and south 
are merely arbitrary lines drawn towards Bulgaria and the district still 
known as Turkish Old Servia, which was the nucleus of the Servian Empire 
in the Middle Ages. The east of Servia lies on the rugged chains of the 
Balkans, and is therefore very thinly inhabited, although containing copper, 



Fig. 167 . — The Servian Flag. 


336 The International Geography 


lead, and iron at Maidanpek, and coal near Cuprija. The highlands of 
crystalline rock in the south include the Kopaonik Mountains, rising to 
7,000 feet ; but western Servia consists of a hilly district of younger 
Tertiary strata, which extends to the Hungarian Plain. The hills are 
covered by beautiful oak forests interspersed with fertile fields. The 
Morava Valley, the great artery of commerce through the peninsula, with 
its tributary valley of the Western Morava, forms the best part of the 
country. The central position of this valley, commanding the entrance to 

the Balkan Peninsula from central Europe, to some 
degree compensates Servia for being completely shut 
out from the sea. 

Resources and Trade. — Servia is the most 
fertile and densely peopled of the Balkan States, but 
the want of tranquility and diligence amongst the 
people, and the violence of party strife in politics 
lead to maladministration and retard the progress of 
the country. Only 18 per cent, of the surface is cul- 
Fig. 168 —Average popu- tivated, yet the people depend almost exclusively upon 

mile of Set via. agriculture and the rearing of live stock, particularly 

of swine in the great oak forests. The exports, princi- 
pally of swine, fowls, dried plums (prunes), wheat, maize, and other farm 
products considerably exceed the imports of manufactured goods, and the 
external trade is practically with Austria-Hungary alone. Except for the 
undeveloped mines, there is no other industry in the country. Means of 
communication stand sorely in need of improvement ; the roads are bad, 
and the railway system is confined to the lines from Belgrade to Nish, and 
thence to Constantinople and Salonica, with a few unimportant branches. 
River trade, on the other hand, is important both towards central Europe, 
by the Save and Danube, and towards the sea by the latter river. The 
education of the people, who are practically all of Servian race, and 
belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, still leaves much room for im- 
provement. 

Towns. — Belgrade , the capital, is situated in a splendid position on a hill 
at the confluence of the Save and Danube, 
not far from the mouth of the Morava, and 
thus it commands the great artery of traffic 
between central Europe and the peninsula. 

It was formerly of great importance as a 
fortress, and was the scene of many battles 
in the Turkish wars. It now concentrates 
the national life of Servia ; it contains the 
Servian University and Government build- 
ings, but it is by no means a handsome 
town. The railway junction Nish on the Upper Morava is the only other 
town that requires to be mentioned. 



Fig. 169. — Belgrade. 


Montenegro 


337 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Servia in square miles 

Population 

Density of population per square mile 
Population of Belgrade 

.. Nish 


1871-75- 

Imports 1,200,000 

Exports 1,300,000 


1890. 

1900. 

18,650 

18,650 

2,162,759 

2,493.770 

116 

134 

54.249 

69,097 

19.877 

24.451 

ids sterling). 

1884-88. 

1891-95. 

1,600,000 

1,500,000 

1,500,000 

1,900,000 


IV.— MONTENEGRO 

Position and Surface. — On the stony limestone mountains which 
rise above the steep coast of southern Dalmatia, the Black or Barren Moun- 
tains (.Montenegro in Italian, Chernagora in Slavonic), a small and very poor 
tribe of the Servian race has always maintained its independence against 
both Turks and Venetians, and through their warlike spirit and frequent 
raids the clansmen have made themselves feared by the surrounding 
people. The nucleus of the little State is an elevated, stony, limestone 
region, a portion of the Karst, with a raw climate and possessing only a 
few patches of cultivable land scattered amongst the poor pastures. The 
natural entrance is by the steep ascent from the deeply cut Bay of Cattaro, 
which, however, is in Austrian territory. In the north-east the Karst 
plateau is dominated by huge limestone mountains exceeding 8,000 feet in 
height, and cleft by profound gorges, which form the boundary towards 
Turkey. In the south-east a we 11- watered and wooded schistose range, 
the Brda, rises to a similar height. By the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 the 
fertile and warm low plain of the river Zeta and the north shore of the 
Lake of Scutari, into which it flows, as well as a strip of coast west of this 
lake containing the harbours of Antivari and Dulcigno, were added to 
Montenegro. 

People and Trade. — On the low ground maize, fruit and wine are 
cultivated, but most of the Montenegrins, a tall, powerful and honest moun- 
tain people, make their living by cattle-rearing. The very small export trade 
is almost entirely with Austria-Hungary, and consists of products of the 
pastures. Many Montenegrins emigrate as workmen to other countries. 
The State, like the people, is very poor, and can only exist through the help 
of Russia. There is absolutely no industry, and in spite of all attempts at 
improvement, roads, commerce, and education are in a very backward 
state ; there are no railways at all. The hereditary Prince is an absolute 
monarch ; every man serves in the army in time of war, and almost all 
belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. 

The area of Montenegro is only 3,500 square miles, and the population 
about a quarter of a million. The capital, Cetinje (Cettigne), situated on the 
plateau not far from the Bay of Cattaro, and the larger town Podgoritza , 
on the Zeta, are little more than villages. 


338 The International Geography 


V.— BULGARIA 



Fig. 170 . — The Bulgarian 
Flag. 


History and Constitution. — The national life of Bulgaria recovered 
later than that of Servia. It was only in the second half of the nine- 
teenth century that the Bulgarians began to try to escape from Turkish 
tutelage and from the influence and guidance of the Greek nation, 
md to found a national church, schools and literature. The Russo- 
Turkish War secured to the principality of Bulgaria an autonomous 
government under Turkish suzerainty, and the Treaty of Berlin in 1878 
defined it as the land between the Danube and the Balkans, together with 

the Sofia plain and its surrounding mountains. 
The autonomous province of Turkey, Eastern 
Rumelia, formed at the same time, has been 
treated as an integral part of Bulgaria since 1885. 
The whole country is governed constitutionally, 
the Sobranye, or parliament, being elected by the 
people. 

Surface. — The form of the country is that of 
a rectangle directed from west to east, from Servia 
to the Black Sea. The Danube divides it on the north from Rumania, 
except the Dobruja. On the south the frontier follows the hills which 
separate the plains of Eastern Rumelia and Adrianople, and zigzags across 
the northern Rhodope. The chain of the Balkans divides Bulgaria into 
two large parts — the Danubian-Bulgarian plateau in the north, with an 
extreme and dry climate but good soil for grain-growing, and the hill- 
girdled basins in the south. To the west a group of high valley basins 
with a raw climate surround the central Sofia basin. The eastern group 
of basins south of the Balkans, especially the Eastern 
Rumelian Plain, through which the Maritza flows, 
is warm, well-w 7 atered, and fertile, forming the best 
part of the country. The Rilodagh and other moun- 
tains south of the fertile zone are wild and thinly 
peopled. 

People and Trade. — Bulgaria is the strongest 
and most settled of the Balkan States, in spite of 
some troubles resulting from past centuries of 
misgovernment. A keen desire exists amongst 
the people to annex the neighbouring part of 
European Turkey inhabited by Slavs, especially Macedonia ; hence the 
national interests conflict with those of Servia, Greece and Austria, 
and necessitate the maintenance of a large standing army. Three- 
quarters of the population are Bulgarians belonging to the Greek Ortho- 
dox Church, which is established under a separate Exarch. About 
half a million Turks still remain in the east of the country, but the 
number is being reduced by emigration, and the Greek element is con- 


4 4 4 4 


4 4 4 . 


4 4 4 4 


4 4 4 


4 4 4 


4 4 4 * 


Fig. 1 7 1. — Average pop- 
ulation of a squa z 
mile of Bulgaria 


Bulgaria 


339 


siderable in the coast towns. The population is not yet nearly so dense as 
the fertility of the land can support, and consequently the peasants are in 
easy circumstances ; yet they are steadily improving their methods of 
agriculture. Maize and wheat are grown in Danubian Bulgaria ; in 
Eastern Rumelia rice, cotton, wine, and fruit, particularly plums, are also 
cultivated. Silk-growing is a feature of this district, and the cultivation of 
roses is carried on to a very large extent for the extraction of the typical 
Oriental perfume, attar of roses. Sheep, goats, many cattle and buffaloes 
are kept. The woods on the mountains yield excellent timber ; and the 
water-power is utilised for industrial purposes, particularly wool-weaving 
and small ironworks. The mineral resources are insignificant. External 
commerce is more developed than in Servia, the exports consisting chiefly of 
grain, particularly wheat, pastoral products, and attar of roses ; it is carried 
on principally with Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. 
The imports are principally manufactured goods from Austria-Hungary, 
the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Germany. The Danube and the fairly 
good harbours of Varna to the north and Burgas to the south of the Balkans 
facilitate external trade. Numerous roads traverse the country in all 
directions. A railway connects Rushchuk on the Danube with Varna, and 
a branch from the great Orient railway, which traverses the Diagonal 
Furrow, reaches Burgas. A line in course of construction from Sofia 
through the Isker valley will be the first railway to cross the Balkans. 

Towns. — The capital, Sofia , is situated in the basin between the 
Vitosh Mountains and the Balkans, at an important meeting-place of 
roads. It is very ancient, but has only begun to flourish since the in- 
dependence of the country ; it has been completely rebuilt after the 
style of a Russian town. Philippopolis is picturesquely built on an iso- 
lated basaltic height overlooking the Maritza in the middle of the Eastern 
Rumelian Plain. A series of fortified towns along the high bank of 
the Danube command the ferries. Rushchuk is the most important, but 
Vidin and Silislria have played a great part in military history. Plevna in 
the east of the Bulgarian plateau was, from its commanding position, the 
scene of the decisive battle in the last Russo-Turkish War. 


STATISTICS. 

1893. 

Area of Bulgaria (square miles) 37,282 

Population of Bulgaria 3,309,816 

Density of population per square mile 89 

Population of Sofia . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,000 

„ Philippopolis 36,000 

„ Varna . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,000 

„ Rushchuk 28,000 

ANNUAL TRADE (in founds sterling). 

1880-84.2 

Imports 1,900,000 

Exports 1,600,000 


1900. 

37,282 

3 . 733.189 

100 

67,920 

42,849 

33 443 
32,661 


1891-95. 

3.300.000 

3.100.000 


1 It is to be noted that in commercial reports, throughout the East generally, Austria- 
Hungary is credited with a considerable amount of export trade which really consists of 
German goods sent by rail into the Balkan Peninsula (or by Triest). 

2 Before the annexation of Eastern Rumelia. 

24 


340 The International Geography 

VI.— EUROPEAN TURKEY 

Position and Surface. — The centre of gravity of the Ottoman? 
Empire now lies entirely in Asia, only the crumbling ruins of former 
great possessions remain in Europe. It includes the greater part of Asia 
Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, parts of Arabia, and exercises suzerain rights 
over Tripoli and nominally over Egypt and Cyprus. European Turkey 
now (Fig. 166) occupies a narrow strip of the Balkan Peninsula between 
Bulgaria and the ^Egean Sea, the southern part of ancient Thrace, and in 
the west a triangular area including Macedonia, Old Servia, and Albania, 
reaching to the Adriatic and bordered by Servia, Bosnia, and Montenegro 
in the north, and by Greece in the south. The western portion of 
Turkey is so shut in by the Rhodope Mountains from eastern Thrace 
that the two are only put in communication by the plain along the coast. 
The provinces have no common interests, they are peopled by a mixture 
of races, amongst which the Turks are in a minority, and they are only 
held together by the force of arms and the jealousy of the Great Powers. 
While the possession of the straits and the proximity of Asia Minor domi- 
nate the eastern part, and have led to it becoming the centre of both the 
Byzantine and the Ottoman Empires, the Vardar valley in western 
Turkey supplies the line of communication between central Europe and 
the .Egean Sea. The possession of the straits as an outlet for its Black 
Sea fleet is a great desideratum for Russia, and the control of the Vardar 
valley is of equal importance to Austria. The Greeks look upon Epirus and 
western Macedonia as belonging by right to Greece ; in Albania, Austrian 
and Italian interests oppose each other, and are met by the ambition of 
the inhabitants for an independent Albania. 

People, Government and Trade.— In spite of many reforms in 

details the methods of Turkish government still 
remain essentially Oriental, and foreign to modern 
principles. The Sultan is absolute master of the 
land and the people, his ministers and officials being 
responsible to him alone. Only Mohammedans 
possess civil rights, small as these are in such a 
State, and they have to bear the whole heavy 
burden of military service. The Christian popu- 
lation is practically without rights. The Turkish 
administration shows by the arbitrary conduct, the acceptance of bribes, and 
the entire want of method on the part of the frequently changed officials, 
that it has never understood, and still does not understand, how to utilise 
or develop the rich resources of the country. The population lives almost 
exclusively by agriculture and cattle-rearing, very carelessly carried out and 
leaving much of the land unutilised. Almost all the land belongs to the 
crown, the church, or to large proprietors ; the peasants live in the 
deepest poverty and ignorance, oppressed by heavy taxation. The chief 



34i 


European Turkey 

productions are grain, maize, flax, hemp, cotton, tobacco, silk, wine, and, on 

the coast, olives. Oxen and buffaloes are used as beasts of burden and for 

farm-work. The forests have been nearly destroyed, and are very badly 

managed. There is practically no industry except hand-loom weaving and 

artisan’s work. Most of the trade in the towns, and almost all the shipping 

are in the hands of Greeks and Armenians, or of foreigners who enjoy the 

great privileges of freedom from taxation, and the protection of their consular 

courts. The roads are so bad and so little developed that large districts are 

unable to place their products on the market. Yet 

there are now a few important railways, including 

the lines from Belgrade by Sofia to Constantinople 

and to Salonica, and the line along the coast from 

Constantinople to Salonica and Monastir, and that 

from Uskub to Mitrevitza. The postal and telegraph 

systems are undeveloped and so unsatisfactory that 

the Great Powers have their own post-offices in FlG * I 73-~ Turkish Mer- 

chant Flag. 

the large towns. In spite of the exceptionally 

favourable geographical position of European Turkey, political conditions 
have prevented any developments of transit trade or shipping. The chief 
exports are grain, beans, fruit, honey, wax, wine, tobacco, wool, attar of 
roses, also carpets, arms, and leather goods. The chief imports are 
textiles, colonial wares, wool and coal, rice, petroleum and iron. The 
United Kingdom, France, Austria-Hungary, and indirectly Germany, have 
the chief trade with Turkey. 

The population consists in nearly equal parts of Turks, Greeks, 
Albanians, and Slavs (Bulgarians and Servians), and also a certain number 

of Rumanians, Jews, Cherkesses, Armenians, and 
Gypsies. About half the population are Moham- 
medans, including the Turks and Cherkesses, most 
of the Albanians and some Bulgarians. The rest 
are principally Greek Catholics, and were formerly 
under the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople, but 
now most of the nationalities have a separate form 
of Church government. None of the Turkish 
statistics can be viewed as trustworthy, and all 
figures must be looked upon as mere estimates. 
The country is divided into a number of vilayets or 
provinces, the boundaries of which are arbitrarily drawn and frequently 
changed. 

The Bosporus. — The Bosporus forms the focus of the shipping routes 
between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and of the land routes between 
Europe and Asia Minor. It is a winding, river-like valley with picturesque 
slopes leading up on both sides to a level-topped plateau of schistose rocks. 

A strong current flows through it from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, 
and the depth is more than sufficient for the largest ships. The beautifully 


♦ ♦ 
♦ ♦ 


♦ ♦ 


Fig. 174 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of European 
Turkey. 



342 The International Geography 

wooded and cultivaed banks are lined witth towns and villages, castles and 
parks, ancient towers and modern forts which can stop the passage of a 
hostile fleet. In contrast to the rich fertility of the banks the plateau is 
bare and desolate. The southern end of the Bosporus is the great centre of 
population, and here the world-famous city of Constantinople surrounds the 
narrow curved inlet of the Golden Horn which forms a magnificent 
harbour on the European side, and the coast of the Sea of Marmora bounds 
a triangular hilly peninsula on which the Greek colony of Byzantium was 
founded about 700 B.c. The Roman Emperor Constantine, changing its 
name to Constantinople, made it the capital of the Roman Empire ; and as 
the metropolis of the Eastern Empire it became in the Middle Ages the most 
splendid and richest town in the world, the great meeting-place of East 

and West. The glory of those days is 
still recalled by the incomparable church 
of St. Sofia, now a mosque, the great city 
walls and other buildings. When the 
Turks conquered it in 1453, “ Stambul ” 
lost much of its commercial value, but it 
has always continued to be the centre of 
the Islamic as well as of the Greek Orient. 
Its beautiful mosques with their minarets 
commanding magical views of the city, 
the bazars, the public wells, the multi- 
farious street life, give to the town even 
yet a purely Oriental aspect. Here the 
Turkish element preponderates as the 
Greek does in the adjoining suburb of 
Phanar. On the contrary the suburbs of 
Pera and Galata on the northern side of 
the Golden Horn are quite European in 
appearance, and form the modern com- 
mercial city. Scutari on the opposite side 
of the Bosporus is entirely Turkish. 
Altogether these towns contain about a million inhabitants, half of them 
Mohammedans, the other half almost equally divided between Armenians, 
Greeks and foreigners, most of whom are Greek subjects ; about 5 per cent, 
of the population are Jews. On the wider and less picturesque strait of the 
Dardenelles, also protected by numerous forts, stands the harbour of 
Gallipoli. 

Eastern Turkey. — Compared with the neighbourhood of the straits, 
the whole of Eastern Turkey, the vilayets of Constantinople and Adrian- 
ople, are thinly peopled, except on the notable Maritza river which flows 
through a very fertile vallev. Where it enters the hill-girdled plain, and 
is rendered navigable by the junction of important tributaries, at the 
intersection of the Diagonal Furrow with the roads from the Balkan 



Fig. 175 . — The Bosporus. 


343 


European Turkey 

Passes, the town of Adrianople , the most important military post of 
European Turkey, has its site. Dede Agach is the harbour of the 
Maritza region, exporting grain on the ^Egean Sea. From this point the 
railway to Salonica passes along the low coastland which, like the off- 
lying islands, is mainly inhabited by Greeks. The Rhodope Mountains 
in the north are inhabited by wild Pomaks or Mohammedan Bulgarians. 
The island of Thasos, although the nearest to Europe, is politically part 
of Egypt, while Samothrace, Imbros, Lemnos, and Strati, belong to 
Asia. 

Macedonia. — Macedonia, including the vilayet of Salonica and part 
of Monastir, is the best part of European Turkey. It contains many 
fertile hill-girdled plains ; and in the south-east gold and silver were 
formerly mined, but the mineral resources are not yet properly utilised. 
The principal products are grain, tobacco, and, on the coast, olives. 
On the coast and in the south-west the people are Greeks ; elsewhere the 
Slavs predominate, with a sprinkling of Greeks, Turks, Rumanians and 
Jews, and the strife of races is very acute. The important seaport of 
Salonica, inhabited mainly by Spanish Jews, stands at the outlet of the great 
Vardar valley. The other towns of importance are Seres , in the east, and 
Bitolia, in the fertile high basin of Monastir in the west. 

Old Servia, or the vilayet Korsovo, between Macedonia, Albania, Monte- 
negro, Bosnia, Servia and Bulgaria, on the upper tributaries of the Vardar, 
Morava, Drina, and Drin, contains an alternation of fertile hill-girdled 
valleys and high mountains. In this district Albanians, Servians and 
Bulgarians struggle and intrigue for supremacy, and on account of its com- 
manding geographical position it is of exceptional political importance. The 
north-western part forming the Sanjak (district) of Novi-Bazar, between 
Servia and Montenegro, is in the military occupation of Austria-Hungary. 
The chief towns are Prisrend, at the northern base of the Shardagh and 
Uskub on the upper Vardar, where the roads from Servia, Bosnia, and 
Montenegro to Salonica converge. 

Albania. — Albania, comprising the vilayets of Scutari, Janina, and part 
of Monastir, is a wild and inaccessible mountain-land descending on the 
west to a swampy and unhealthy coastal plain. Epirus, which belongs physi- 
cally to the Greek Peninsula, and is inhabited almost exclusively by Greeks, 
is included in Albania, and has quite a similar character. The Albanians 
are a warlike and very uncultivated people, whose speech has never up to 
modern times become a literary language ; they are divided into several 
tribes at enmity with each other, and many fall victims to family feuds and 
private vengeance. The authority of the Turkish jurisdiction is confined to 
the larger towns. The people are in almost equal parts Mohammedans, 
Greek and Roman Catholics — a fact which places a very serious obstacle 
in the way of independence for Albania. The resources of the land are 
small, consisting of cattle-breeding in the interior, and olive culture in the 
coast. The principal towns are Scutari in the north on the Drin, not far 


344 The International Geography 

from the coast and close to Lake Scutari, and Janina in the interior. In 
ancient times the harbour of Dyrrhachion (Durazzo) and Apollonia 
(Valona) carried on a great trade with Italy, but there are no Albanian 
harbours of modern importance. 


STATISTICS [estimates). 


Area of European Turkey in square miles 65,598 

Population 5,864,000 

Density of population per square mile 89 


POPULATION OF 
Constantinople (with European 


suburbs, 1 1885) 874,000 

Salonica 150,000 

Adrianople 71,000 

Monastir 50,000 

Prisrend 40.000 


CHIEF TOWNS. 


Gallipoli 


Janina 


Seres 


Skutari 


Uskub 



THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE {estimates). 


Turkey in Europe 

Anatolia (Asia Minor) 

Armenia and Kurdistan 

Mesopotamia 

Syria 

Arabia 

Tripoli 


in square miles. 

Population. 

65,600 

5,864,000 

200,000 

9,000,000 

89,200 

2,457,000 

100,200 

1,350,000 

115,100 

2,677,000 

i 73 - 7 oo 

6,000,000 

398,700 

1,300,000 

1,142,500 

28,648,000 


Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Samos and Egypt are also considered to form part of the 
Sultan’s dominions. 


VII.— GREECE 

Position and Boundaries. — The Greek Peninsula stretches south- 
ward from the south-west corner of the Balkan Peninsula between the 
^Egean and the Ionian Seas. The coast, which is almost everywhere 
mountainous, is deeply indented by great gulfs and by innumerable small 
bays which form a great number of excellent harbours. The country is 

divided by gulfs on opposite 
coasts into three parts, Northern 
Greece, Central Greece and the 
Peleponnesus ; the last named is 
connected only by the low and 
narrow Isthmus of Corinth, across 
which the Gulfs of Corinth and 
^Egina are now united by a ship 
canal. Numerous islands diver- 
sify the ^gean Sea ; the sailor in 
passing from Greece to Asia Minor 
Islands lie along the west coast. 
While the barren mountains of the Balkan Peninsula effectually shut off 
Greece from overland trade, its position is exceptionally favourable for 
traffic by sea. 

Surface. — The Greek Peninsula is filled with the continuation of the 



Fig. 176 . — The Isthmus of Corinth Ship Canal. 

has always land in sight. The Ionian 


Greece 


345 


mountain systems of the Balkan Peninsula (see Fig. 165). The folds of the 
Dinaric Mountains, with their long, parallel limestone ridges, separated by 
troughs of sandstone and schists, run through the west of the region, and 
are closely bordered by the wild Pindus range, which divides Greece as far 
as the Gulf of Corinth into definite eastern and western parts. The Dinaric 
mountain system also occupies the Ionian Islands and the greater part of the 
Peleponnesus, where Mount Taygetos reaches the height of 7,890 feet, and 
finally it turns and runs in a curve of islands towards Asia Minor, shutting 
in the ^gean Sea on the south. The north-east of , Greece is traversed by 
the continuation of the crystalline rocks of Thrace and Macedonia, which 
build the mountains of Thessaly, including the fabled mount of the gods, 
Olympus (9,800 feet). The east of Central Greece, Euboea, and north-eastern 
Peleponnesus are, on the contrary, mainly occupied by mountain chains of 
Mesozoic limestone stretching in curves from west to east ; the best-known 
summit of these mountains is Parnassus, rising in the very heart of Greece 
to the height of 8,060 feet. The Cyclades stretching to the east of the 
Peleponnesus are occupied by less abrupt and lower mountains of crystal- 
line formation. 

The steep and rugged highlands of Greece are cleft by many irregular 
depressions or rifts, the floors of which are sometimes occupied by the 
sea, sometimes by fertile plains or hilly ground. Strong earthquake shocks 
which originate in them often cause great destruction. Many of these 
basins are drained by subterranean channels in the limestone ; these 
sometimes get blocked and lead to the formation of lakes, which frequently 
disappear again after some years, but are often permanent. Although the 
little mountain-girdled plains take up but a small part of the area of the 
country, they have in all ages been the centres of culture. In this 
small region the sharpest physical contrasts are crowded together ; 
wild mountains and sterile limestone plateaux rise close to fertile plains 
and tranquil inlets of the sea. While this arrangement gives much 
variety and beauty to the landscape and is favourable for seafaring and to 
some extent for mining, it leads, on the other hand, to a low general 
average of productiveness and to the subdivision of the country into a 
number of separate provinces. 

Climate and Vegetation. — On the low grounds Greece enjoys the 
typical Mediterranean climate, hot and almost rainless summers with warm 
and rainy winters, although frost and snow are not entirely unknown. The 
rainfall is considerable in the west but small in the east, where the drought 
is often excessive ; there are few permanent streams, and in summer all 
grass and vegetation on the plains wither. Artificial irrigation is conse- 
quently necessary for successful fruit-growing. In the mountains rain falls 
in summer and much snow in winter. The vegetation of the plains con- 
sists principally of evergreen shrubs and occasional fir and oak woods. In 
the mountains there are some fine forests of conifers and oak, but at great 
heights the vegetation assumes an Alpine character. 


346 The International Geography 

History and People. — From the dawn of authentic history Greece 
has been inhabited by the Hellenic people ( Greed , Greeks) a branch of 
the Aryan family. The intellectual supremacy of Greece in antiquity was 
the foundation of modern civilisation, and, from the material point of view, 
was not due only to the careful utilisation of the manifold though not rich 
resources of the country by a highly gifted people, but also to the fine 
situation of Greece for the trade of the early world between the ancient 
civilised countries of Asia and the newly opened lands of the western Medi- 
terranean. Side by side with the commercial, there was a great industrial 
development, and Greek merchants and sailors spread the culture of their 
people by founding colonies in every part of the then known world. 
During the last centuries of antiquity Greece lost its importance more and 
more on account of changes in trade routes ; while political subdivision 
and the small fertility of the land led to its gradual impoverishment and 
depopulation. In consequence of the destruction of woods and allowing 
the land to lie fallow, much of the soil was washed away by the heavy 
rains of winter and the old harvest-fields became useless. The inroads of 
barbaric tribes, the endless wars of the Middle Ages, and lastly the 
tyranny of the Turks completed the ruin of the land. Yet Greece all along 
retained a certain importance in the trade of the Levant, and Venice held 
some of the best of the Greek islands and harbours on the coast for cen- 
turies against the Turks. In the course of the Middle Ages many Slavs 
and Albanians settled in the mainland, and many Italians on the islands ; 
but all of these gradually became assimilated with the original Greeks in 
speech and habit, until now only a few of the Albanians speak their 
original language. 

The reawakening of the Hellenes began late in the eighteenth century, 
and culminated in the spirited war of independence from 1821 till 1829. The 
result was the creation of the kingdom of Greece which contained only 
the Peleponnesus, Central Greece, Euboea and the Cyclades. In 1864 the 
Ionian Islands were ceded to Greece by the United Kingdom, and the Treaty 
of Berlin in 1878 extended its territory to the north so as to include the 
greater part of Thessaly. The northern boundary of Greece is now a line 
starting from the Gulf of Arta in the west, following the Arta river north- 
wards, then crossing the Pindus and the low ranges of Thessaly to the 
southern base of Olympus ; it does not coincide with the natural frontier, 
which should run from Cape Akrokeranian to Olympus and include the 
whole of Thessaly and Epirus. Crete and other neighbouring islands 
belonging geographically and ethnographically to Greece are also outside 
its limits. The Greek people indeed are scattered over all the islands 
and the coast of the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor. 

Government. — The population is almost entirely Greek ; it includes 
only about a quarter of a million Albanians in the east of Central Greece 
and the north-east of the Peleponnesus, and a few Rumanians in 
northern Greece The Greek Orthodox Church includes almost the whole 


Greece 


347 


people ; it is an independent national church under a Metropolitan in 
Athens. Education is well cared for, and the number of illiterates is 
smaller than in any other part of eastern or southern Europe. The govern- 
ment is that of a very free constitutional monarchy, the parliament being 
chosen directly by the people. Party strife, frequent changes of ministry 
and officials, do serious harm ; yet, in spite of the great weakness of the 
government, the country has made immense progress since its indepen- 
dence, and the Greeks are the best-educated people 
and the highest in culture in the Balkan States. 

Resources and Trade. — Agriculture is the 
principal resource of the country, although the 
amount of cultivable land is small (only about 18 per 
cent.), the warm plains are of extraordinary fertility. 

The condition of the peasants is very good, except 
in Thessaly where large estates are the rule. Grain 
and maize are not produced in sufficient quantity to 
meet the home demand, but wine, olives, tobacco 
and fruit give an abundance for export, and some 
cotton and silk are also produced. The fruit most important in trade is the 
currant (the name is a corruption of Corinth ) which is produced only in 
Greece and mainly in the west. The rearing of live stock, principally 
sheep and goats, the wasted forests and the fisheries do not yield enough 
for home needs. The only important products of the sea are bath sponges. 
Laurion, in Eastern Attica, is an important mining district ; emery is 
obtained in the island of Naxos, and inferior lignite occurs in Greece. No 
great industrial development is possible on account of the want of coal, 
water-power and capital. 

The merchant fleet is important and carries on a great part of the trade 
in the eastern Mediterranean ; and the foreign trade of Greece itself is 

considerable. One-half of the value of the exports 
consists of currants, then follow lead and zinc 
ores, wine, oil, tobacco, figs, sponges and valonia 
(acorns). The exports go principally to the United 
Kingdom, France, Austria-Hungary and the United 
States ; the imports, consisting mainly of grain, 
manufactures of all kinds, wood and fish, come 
chiefly from the United Kingdom, Russia, Turkey 
and Austria-Hungary. Traffic is mainly by sea 
along the coast ; the roads, formerly for the most part mere mule-tracks, 
are being improved ; and railways are also being developed. The only 
lines of importance are one from Athens across the Isthmus of Corinth to 
the Peleponnesus, where it branches to the west along the coast to Patras, 
and to the south. There are two lines in Thessaly, and a few local 
railways. Post and telegraphic communication are, however, well pro- 
vided for. 


71 


FlG. 178 . — The Greek 
Merchant Flag. 


Fig. 177. — Average popu- 
lation of a square 
mile of Greece. 


348 The International Geography 

Northern Greece. — Northern Greece includes the wild mountain 
district of the Pindus, except Turkish Epirus, inhabited by poor and some- 
times predatory herdsmen, and Thessaly to the east, the mountains of 
which surround the largest and most fertile plains of Greece. The land is 
comparatively ill-cultivated and thinly peopled, as it was only recently freed 
from Turkey. Still, since that time the province has made surprising 
strides as the flourishing condition of its towns, Trikkala in the interior and 
Volo on the coast demonstrated before the last war, in 1896, had again 
thrown the province back. 

Central Greece. — Central Greece, although mainly mountainous in 
the west, contains some fertile plains where currant-growing is carried on 
in ^Etolia. The chief harbour of the district is Missolonghi, lying on a great 
lagoon, and renowned for its heroic defence during the war of independ- 
ence, and for the death of Lord Byron whose verse celebrated the revival 
of Greek nationality. On the east there are some rich inland plains, par- 
ticularly in Boeotia, one of which contained the recently drained lake Kopais. 

Cotton is largely culti- 
vated in this district. 
Thebes , the old capital of 
Boeotia, is now merely a 
village. The large moun- 
tainous island of Euboea 
is celebrated for its 
wine-growing, and is 
separated from the main- 
land by the very narrow 
Strait of Euripus. The 
south-eastern extremity 
of Central Greece, which projects as a peninsula, only shelters small stony 
plains between its mountains, which are low and barren, although rich in 
marble and ores. Six miles from the sea, in one of the little plains opening 
southward on the beautiful island-studded Gulf of ^gina stands Athens, the 
city which in ancient times embodied the highest development of Greek 
culture. Its material prosperity depended upon its position in the centre 
of the Greek world on the most important trade route which traversed the 
Gulfs of AEgina and Corinth uniting the trade of the .Aegean with that of 
the West. After a long period of obscurity Athens is now once more the 
centre of the whole Greek nation. The brilliant and beautiful city is 
entirely modern, but built round the steep, rocky hill of the Acropolis with 
its splendid world-renowned ruins. Museums, educational establishments, 
including a university and a polytechnic, and other fine public buildings 
adorn the capital, while trade and industry have their seat around the 
excellent natural harbour of the Piraeus which now forms a suburb of 
Athens. 

Peleponnesus. — The Peleponnesus, approached from Central Greece 



Fig. 179 . — Athens and the Piraeus. 


Greece 


349 


by the Isthmus of Corinth, contains in the luxuriant plains of the north and 
west coasts the richest part of Greece ; the districts of Achaia, Elis and 
Messenia producing the greatest crops of currants, which are exported 
mainly from the harbour of Patras in the north-west. The plains of 
Laconia (Sparta) in the south-east of Argos, and Corinth in the north-east 
were important centres of ancient culture ; but the towns now known by 
these names are of small importance. The highland district of Arcadia 
in the interior also contains some fertile land. 

The Greek Islands.— The Ionian Islands , Corfu, Leukas, Cephalonia, 
Ithaca, Zante and Cythera are all mountainous in the middle, but round the 
heights there are zones of hilly land and plains of extraordinary produc- 
tivity in currants, wine and fruit. A large part of the Greek merchant 
shipping belongs to these islands. The good government which they 
long enjoyed under the Venetian Republic and the United Kingdom 
leaves its mark in their well-ordered affairs. The town of Corfu, with its 
splendid harbour, is specially engaged in the trade with Italy and Austria. 

The Greek Islands in the ^Egean Sea are on the whole of small fertility, 
yet the Cyclades , particularly Naxos and Santorin, produce excellent wine 
and fruits. Santorin is a ruined volcano, the 
great crater of which has been invaded by 
the sea, and in the centre of it repeated 
eruptions, the latest in 1866, have formed 
several new small volcanic islands. Little 
Syra, in the centre of the Cyclades, contains 
the town of Syra , also called Hermoupolis, 
which has risen during the nineteenth cen- 
tury into the most important trading centre 
of the whole ^Egean ; but it is now de- 
clining. Several small islands on the east 
coast of the Peleponnesus, Hydra, Spetsae and Paros are inhabited by 
Albanians and carry on considerable shipping trade. 



Fig. 180. — Santorin. (Sea less than 
100 fathoms is shown white.) 


STATISTICS. 





1889. 

1896. 

Area of Greece (square miles) 



.. 25,152 

Population of Greece 

• • • • 

.. 2,187,208 

. . 2,433,806 

Density of population (per square mile). . 


87 

. . 96 

Population of Athens 

• • • • 

107,251 

.. 111,486 

f) 

„ (with Piraeus and suburbs) 

148,924 

179,755 

99 

Piraeus 




99 

Patras 

• • • • 

. . 33,529 

37,985 

9 ) 

Trikkala 

• • • • 

. . 14,820 

.. 21,149 

99 

Syra 



. . 18,760 

99 

Corfu 



. . 18,581 

tt 

Volo 



. . 16,788 


ANNUAL TRADE OF 

GREECE \.n dollars ). 




1871-75- 

1879-83- 

1891-95. 

Imports. . 


20,000,000 

. , 24,500,000 

. . 22,500,000 

Exports. . 


15.500.000 

. . 13,500,000 

. . 17,000,000 


350 The International Geography 



Fig. 181 . — The Cretan Flag 
of 1898. 


VIII.— CRETE 

Crete. — The Island of Crete (modern Greek Kriti, Italian Candia) forms 
part of the great curve of islands which bounds the .Egean Sea on the south. 
Three mountain masses, principally composed of limestone, occupy the 
island ; the chief being Mount Ida, 8,070 feet high. The mountains fall 
steeply on the south to a harbourless coast, in the middle of which the 
only low ground occurs as the plain of Mesara. To the north they fall 

more gently, forming a hilly region of con- 
siderable fertility and ending in a richly in- 
dented coast. The climate is warm and the 
rainfall sufficient. Extensive herds are pastured 
on the mountains, and the plains yield grain, 
oil, wine and fruit plentifully. Crete has ac- 
quired particular importance on account of its 
position at the exit of the Egean Sea, which 
made it in ancient times a great sea power, 
with numerous thriving towns. In the Middle 
Ages it was for some time in the possession of the Arabs ; it declined 
gradually in importance under the Venetians, and its ruin was com- 
pleted by the dominion of the Turks from 1669 to 1898. The island has 
now received autonomous government, guaranteed by the Great Powers, 
but it remains under Turkish suzerainty. A part of the population having 
become perverted to Mohammedanism, bitter religious feuds have led to 
continuous strife and bloodshed, in which the brave mountain tribe of 
the Sphakiotes took a conspicuous part. In spite of religious differences 
almost all the people belong to the same Greek stock, 
even the Mohammedans speaking no language but 
Greek. Before the revolution of 1896 about one- 
quarter of the population were Mohammedans, but 
now most of them have left the island. The people 
live almost exclusively by agriculture and cattle- 
breeding ; the principal products being wine, olive 
oil and carobs. The three towns of the island all lie 
on the north coast, and possess indifferent harbours ; 

Khania {Catted) in the west, Rethymnon further east, 
and the largest town, Iraklion (M egalokastrom or Candia ), about the 
middle of the coast-line. Suda Bay, with the best anchorage for shipping, 
lies a little to the east of Canea. 


«* + 


• « 


FlG. 182 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Crete. 


STATISTICS. 

Area of Crete in square miles 

Population of Crete (estimated) . . . . . . . . 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Candia 

„ Canea 

Rhetymnon.. 


1900. 

3,324 

303,543 

91 

22,331 

21,025 

9,3H 


Crete 


35i 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Th. Fischer. “ Die drei siideuropaische Halbinseln ” in Kirchhoff's “ Unser Wissen von 
der Erde.” Vienna. 

F. Kanitz. "Serbien.” Leipzig, 1868. 

“ Donau, Bulgarien und der Balkan.” Leipzig, 1882. 

K. H assert. “ Beitrage zur physischen Geographic von Montenegro.” Gotha, 1895. 

A. Boue. “ Die Europaische Turkei.” 2 vols. Vienna, 1889. 

C. Neumann and J. Partsch. “ Physikalische Geographic von Griechenland.” Breslau, 188s. 
A. Philippson. “ Der Peloponnes.” Berlin, 1892. 

— " Thessalien und Epirus.” Berlin, 1897. 

" Griechenland und seine Stellung in Orient.” Leipzig, 1897. 

T. A. B. Spratt. “ Travels and Researches in Crete.” 2 vols. London, 1865. 

E. de Lavelaye. “ La peninsule des Balkans.” 2 vols. Brussels, 1886. English transla- 
tion, London, 1887. 

E. A. Freeman. “ The Ottoman Power in Europe.” London, 1877. 


CHAPTER XX— ITALY AND MALTA 

I— ITALY 


By Dr. Theobald Fischer, 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Marburg. 

Position and Geological History. — The Italian Peninsula, central 
amongst the peninsulas of southern Europe, owes its origin and configura- 
tion to the circumstance that a branch of the great Eurasian Earth-fold on 
the eastern edge of the old Tyrrhenian crust-block diverges in a southerly 
direction across the Mediterranean belt of subsidence, and only resumes the 

east and west direction 
of the Eurasian folds in 
the south in the present 
Sicily. This accounts 
for the configuration of 
Italy and its extent 
through ii° of latitude 
from 47° to 36° N. as a 
long, narrow land bridge 
across the Mediterranean 
Sea. The Appennines 
are perhaps the most 
recently formed moun- 
tains in Europe. The 
plain of Lombardy in the 
north took its rise from 
the elevation in Quater- 
nary times of a deep gulf 
of the Adriatic Sea be- 
tween the Alps and 
Appennines, combined 
with the accumulation 
of the sediment brought 
down from both ranges 
by glaciers and rivers. 
The Quaternary uplift 



Appennme fore lands E23 Alluvium 


Remnanfs of Tyrrhenian crust block 
Up! Fold system of Alps and Appennines. 

Fig. 183 . — Tectonic Map of Italy. 

also brought together the severed portions of an older pre-Miocene 
Appennine range which had not been incorporated by the last folding 
movement ; thus Gargano and the Apulian Cretaceous plateau in the south- 
west were united with the Appennines. A portion of the Appennine land 

1 Translated from the German by the Editor 

352 


353 


Italy 

separated in the Pliocene epoch by a rift, being cut off at the same time by 
a similar dislocation from the continuation of the Appennines in Tunisia, 
forms the present island of Sicily. The Malta group, Lampedusa, and the 
^gadian Islands at the west end of Sicily are all that remain of the great 
Tertiary plateau which once united Sicily with Tunisia. Only fragments are 
left of the ancient mass of Tyrrhenia which lay to the west of the present 
Appennine lands, and in the course of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods 
gave rise by direct subsidence to the vast depression now occupied by the 
Tyrrhenian Sea. Some of these relics were attached to the Appennine lands 
by the latest crustal movements and form the plateau of Tuscany, Calabria 
and the north-east of Sicily, while the twin islands Sardinia and Corsica 
represent a portion left standing in the middle of the depression. 

Natural Divisions and Coasts. — Italy consists of three parts : 
the Continental — including the slopes of the Alps and Appennines towards 
the northern plain — the Peninsular, and the Insular. The two latter 
form more than two-thirds of the whole, and even in continental Italy 
the distance from the coast is so small that 80 per cent, of the whole 
country is within 62 miles of the sea; Turin is 65 miles and Milan 
only 75 miles from the coast. Italy is separated from central Europe by 
the great wall of the Alps, and it is as a whole a maritime Mediterranean 
country. The detailed structure of the coast emphasises this character 
by its remarkable richness in natural harbours, particularly on the west, 
where the bays of Genoa, Spezia, Talamone, Gaeta, Naples, Salerno, 
Policastro, Santa Eufemia, Palermo, and Castellamare succeed one 
another. The numerous islands off the coast include Elba, a remnant 
of the ancient Tyrrhenia, and the volcanic groups of Ponza, Ischia, 
and the Lipari Islands, which beautify the surface of a sea rich in 
fisheries and precious coral. While the land frontier of Italy measures 
only 1,200 miles, the coast stretches for more than 4,000. Except on 
the shallow shores at the head of the Adriatic, the coast is everywhere 
easily accessible from the interior, and is as a rule bold and rocky with 
picturesque promontories furnishing magnificent landmarks and offering 
fine sites for lighthouses visible far to seaward. On the west coast only the 
northern part from Spezia to the Gulf of Gaeta is flat and swampy, making 
artificial harbours necessary at Civita Vecchia and Leghorn. The population 
of Italy is generally dense along the coast, and more than 16 per cent, of 
the present population live within three miles of the sea. 

Value of the Position and Resources of Italy. — Italy, as a 
whole, looks towards the west, and in a sense towards the east also, 
although, so to speak, the peninsula turns its back upon the Adriatic, 
which is only no miles wide on the average, and at the Strait of 
Otranto less than fifty. The country is singularly well placed for 
communication with the eastern Mediterranean and the Suez Canal 
on account of its fine eastward-facing harbours of Venice, Brindisi 
Taranto, Messina, and Syracuse. From Sicily and Sardinia com- 


354 The International Geography 

munication with the north coast of Africa is easy, the distance from 
Sicily being less than ioo miles. With continental Europe there is land 
communication by the Alpine roads which converge on Turin, Milan, and 
Venice. These many-sided relations make the geographical position of 
Italy exceptionally favourable for commerce, and on this account it became 
the focus of the trade and civilisation of the narrow world of antiquity and 
the Middle Ages. It is to-day the very heart of the Mediterranean lands 
and plays a great part as a link in the chain of communication between 
north-western Europe and the Far East. Italy may become one of the 
real Great Powers only if it succeeds in commanding the Mediterranean 
by its naval forces. The Italian people are directed to the sea as their 
field of enterprise the more distinctly because three-quarters of the surface 
of the land is built up of geological formations not older than the Tertiary 
period, and consequently there is little mineral wealth. No coal is found, 
and the sulphur deposits which occur mainly in Sicily are the most 
valuable mineral resources ; they supplied till a short time ago most 
of the sulphur used throughout the world. The marble quarries of 
Massa, Carrara, and Serravezza are of great value. Iron-mining is 
only important in the relics of the ancient Tyrrhenia in Elba and 
Sardinia. The industrial value of the country is due to the production 
of a few important raw materials — silk, flax, hemp, and straw — to the 
economy of sea-transport, the cheapness of labour in a country with so 
rich a soil and so genial a climate, and at the present day to the utilisa- 
tion through electricity of the important water power made available 
in the Alps and Appennines. 

Configuration of the Alps. — Since Italy is mainly composed of the 
Appennine range with which the inner slopes of the Alps unite, it is on the 
whole a mountainous land. Only one-third of the surface is made up of 
plains, most of this being the great Plain of Lombardy. The Italian Alps 
(Fig. 51), usually named after the provinces of the neighbouring plain, 
e.g., the Alps of Piedmont, Lombardy, and Venetia, tower into lofty summits 
and abound in snow-fields and glaciers. Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa rise 
on the boundary line. The Alpine chain is trenched by numerous transverse 
valleys running parallel to one another, formed by the erosion of the Po 
and its tributaries the Dora Baltea, Sesia, Ticino, Adda, and further east 
the Adige and Tagliamento, by which roads are carried through the border- 
ing mountains up to the important passes across the Alps — the Mt. Cenis, 
Simplon, St. Gothard, Spliigen, Maloja and Brenner. Where the valleys 
meet the plains they are often occupied by long, narrow lakes along which 
the Alpine roads run through scenes of famous beauty. The upper Italian 
lakes, especially Lago Maggiore, Lago di Como and Lago di Garda are not 
only important as pleasure resorts but they form the great reservoirs for 
the rivers of the plain. 

Configuration of the Plain. — The Plain of Lombardy is a long, 
narrow trough formed by subsidence between the Alps and Appennines, 


355 


which inclines eastward towards the Adriatic as well as inwards towards 
the central line along which the river Po flows. In the middle of the 
plain beautiful groups of small hills arise, especially the Monti Berici near 
Vicenza and the Colli Euganei near Padua, both of which are remains of old 
volcanic activity, on the inner side of the great crack between the Alps and 
the plain. The Montferrato hills between Turin and Alessandria in which La 
Superga rises to 2,140 feet, commanding a splendid view across the plain, 
are orographically separated from the Appennines by the broad valley of the 
Tanaro, which occupies a synclinal fold of the Appennine system. These 
hills give a special character to the Piedmont portion of the plain. A hilly 
region, for the most part made up of old moraine amphitheatres set with 
small lakes and moors, the peat of which is already in most cases exhausted, 
runs close along the base of the Alps, the perfect form of the plain first 
appearing at some distance further out. The many rapidly flowing 
rivers, the rich cultivation and, in a special degree, the wealth of forests 
together with the many towns and villages and the views of the encircling 
mountains free this part 
of the plain from any 
appearance of monotony. 

All the rivers flow towards 
the central line running 
from west to east formed 
at first by the Dora Riparia 
and from Turin onwards 
by the Po, which, from its 
volume of water and the 
force of its flow, has drawn 
their lower courses in an 
easterly direction as is shown in the Ticino, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio, while 
the Adige has been completely turned aside and pursues an independent 
course eastward across the deltaic plain. Although as true torrential rivers 
the streams of the Plain of Lombardy do not attract population to their 
banks, their valleys have played an important part as strategic lines in time 
of war. 

Configuration of the Appennines. — The Appennines present a 
fine example of a folded mountain chain broken off abruptly on one 
side by the sunken area of the Tyrrhenian depression. The parallelism of 
the successive chains is clearly shown in the northern and central Appen- 
nines by their arrangement en echelon so that the general south-easterly 
trend of the chains, like the wings of a theatre, pushes a more easterly 
before a more westerly which gradually falls off in height and is finally 
broken at the Tyrrhenian trough. Each chain thus forms a portion 
of the watershed until that function is taken over by a more easterly. 
In this way — and not as a simple chain — the mountain wall, which serves 
also as a dividing line of climates, is formed between Genoa and 



356 The International Geography 

Ancona, and about the 44th parallel separates Northern and Central 
Italy. 

The Northern Appennines are usually separated into the Ligurian and 
Etruscan from the Col di Cadibona (1,600 feet high) which separates the 
Ligurian Appennines from the Alps, to the Bocca Serriola (2,400 feet). 
They have a small elevation both for crest and peaks, the highest summit 
being Monte Cimone (7,110 feet) which is crowned by a meteorological 
observatory. The northern section of the range is formed throughout of 
Tertiary strata, mainly clay, which, in spite of the moderate elevation of the 
passes (rarely above 3,000 feet) makes the construction and maintenance 
of roads very difficult. This is true, indeed, for the whole range of the 
Appennines as far as Sicily. Throughout the whole range also, the outer 
or eastern side is cut into blocks by the valleys of parallel streams 
which flow at right angles to the direction of the chain, e.g., the Trebbia, 
Panars, and Reno, while on the inner or western side the rivers 
have been developed in the longitudinal valleys of the mountain-folds 
where they form a few large drainage systems and are much longer than 
those of the other slope. The chief western rivers are the Magra, Serchio, 
Arno, Tiber, Garigliano, Volturno, and Sele. 

The Central Appennines may be divided into those of Umbria and the 
Marches in the north, and those of the Abruzzi in the south. They are 
very clearly distinguished from the Northern Appennines by the absence 
of the numerous intrusions of serpentine which distinguish the former, 
and by the increasing prevalence of limestones, principally Cretaceous, 
which give rise to steep bald slopes and wildly rugged crests and peaks. 
These have suggested the erroneous idea that the Appennines are a lime- 
stone range, whereas they really are mainly argillaceous. From Monte 
Nerone to the Matese mountains the country exhibits the karst phenomena 
of lakes, caverns, and powerful springs which give rise to permanent rivers. 
There are signs also of great vertical displacements or faults which 
here play an important part in mountain building. These dislocations 
are associated with the increased frequency and force of the earth- 
quakes experienced towards the south. The Central Appennines contain 
some high summits, chief amongst which is the Gran Sasso d’ltalia, 9,583 
feet, and there are many peaks exceeding 8,000 feet. On the Tyrrhenian 
side the development of numerous folds of gentle curvature in the main 
chain forms extensive highlands such as those of Umbria and Abruzzi with 
sharply defined longitudinal valleys in which the rivers flow, and depressed 
intermont basins. 

The Southern Appennines, beginning at the Vinchiaturo Pass (1,800 feet), 
may be divided into a Neapolitan and a Calabrian portion. The Neapolitan 
Appennines are characterised by the outcrop of older Triassic limestones 
along the whole Tyrrhenian side and by plateaux made up of flat-lying 
recent Tertiary strata, particularly on the eastern side. Traffic across the 
range is impeded not so much by the height of the passes (the two 


357 


Italy 

important railways from Campania to the Apulian plain at Foggia and to 
the Gulf of Taranto hardly reach an elevation of 2,000 feet) as by the 
narrowness of the defiles which in former times played their part in 
military history, and later opposed great difficulties to the construction of 
railways. Monte Polino, with an elevation of 7,450 feet, rises in rugged 
limestone peaks above the valley of the Crati, which separates it abruptly 
from the gentler forms of the Archaean rocks of Sila in Calabria. The 
drainage of the Southern Appennines runs in regular parallel valleys of 
erosion eastward to the Adriatic, the Biferno Fortore and Ofanto, or south- 
ward to the Gulf of Taranto, the Bradano Basento, Agri, and Sinni. The 
Calabrian Appennines are mainly composed of fragments of the ancient 
Tyrrhenian crust-block, with remains of ancient sedimentary strata on the 
eastern side which formed a group of islands in Pliocene times and were 
only united by a Quaternary uplift as a narrow land bridge rising from a 
great depth between the Tyrrhenian depression on one side and the yet 
greater Ionian deep on the other. The flanking Tertiary zone of the 
Appennines is in this part submerged in the Ionian depression and only 
reappears in Sicily where it forms the broad southern slope of the 
island. The Calabrian range consists practically of the masses of the 
Sila mountains and of the Aspromonte. No point of it quite reaches 
6,500 feet; its rounded, massive forms are explained by the gneisses, 
crystalline schists and granite of which it is composed. A usually 
narrow zone of the most recent formations borders the ancient rock 
masses ; it is built up principally of the deltaic fans of the torrents and 
forms a coast line without shelter, so that Calabria remains a closed land to 
this day. 

The Appennine Foreland. — A broad, low foreland formed by the 
unsubmerged border of the Tyrrhenian depression and gulfs filled up by 
river and volcanic sediments lies along the Appennine region from 
the Gulf of Spezia to that of Policastro. The line of fracture separating 
the two is distinct both orographically and hydrographically : all the 
rivers follow the longitudinal valley to which it gave rise, after leaving 
the Appennine region, and it is also one of the most important lines of 
communication in Italy, along which a railway runs from Pistoja and 
Florence to the Vallo di Diano which separates the mountains of Cilento 
from the Appennines. The broad belt of land cut off by this valley is 
partly composed of surviving fragments of Tyrrhenia, such as the highlands 
of Tuscany, partly of sunk portions of the Appennines, like the Lepini and 
Cilento mountains, and partly of small volcanic cones and craters contain- 
ing lakes, such as the Albanian mountains and the Phlegraean fields with 
Vesuvius (Figs. 191 and 192), and finally of elevated portions of the sea-bed 
covered with volcanic ejecta, such as the plains of Rome and Cam- 
pania, or river sediments of the Arno, Tiber, &c. As the Tyrrhenian 
Appennine foreland was first brought into contact with the Appennine 
region in the Quaternary period so also was the much lower foreland 


358 The International Geography 

on the Adriatic side. At the beginning of that period a strait ran from 
the Gulf of Taranto through the Plain of Foggia to the Adriatic and here, 
where a transverse fault crossed the great longitudinal crack, the mass 
of Monte Volturno (4,265 feet) was upheaved. From the depression, which 
is still easily recognisable, rise the heights of Monte Gargano and the 
chalk tableland of Apulia (Le Murgie) a poorly watered karst-land 
rendered very fertile in parts by a covering of loess. 

The Italian Islands. — Of the many straits which divided the south 
of Italy into islands in Pliocene times only one, the Strait of Messina, has 
resisted the great Quaternary upheavals whose action produced the 
wonderful terraced scenery of Calabria. The Strait of Messina was 
produced by an exceptionally deep-seated fracture, which accounts for 
the severe earthquakes still experienced in Messina and Calabria. The 
crossing of this fracture by the fault which gave rise to the steep south-eastern 
scarp of Calabria is marked by the upheaval of the greatest of the Mediter- 
ranean volcanoes — the giant mass of Etna, which towers to the height of 
10,740 feet. The triangular island of Sicily resembles the Appennine region 
in having its steepest slope to the Tyrrhenian depression out of which rise 
the volcanic Lipari Islands. This steep northern side is composed like 
southern Italy of Triassic formations, while on the outer side towards Africa 
soft Tertiary rocks, rich in sulphur, form a gently sloping tableland with a 
mean height of 1,450 feet which has been cut into a chaos of rounded hills 
by river-erosion and denudation. Except Etna, no mountain in Sicily 
attains 6,500 feet, and the highest summits all lie in the well-watered 
district near the north coast, the scenery of which is remarkably varied and 
picturesque. Its agricultural resources make this the most densely peopled 
part of the island, and in the strip of land from the sea-shore to the height 
of 160 feet the density of population reaches 2,530 per square mile. 

Only the Peloritanian mountains in the extreme north-east of Sicily can be 
viewed as a relic of the ancient Tyrrhenia, but the whole of Sardinia is a 
portion of that vanished land. Sardinia is mainly composed of ancient 
crystalline rocks, especially granite ; but in the south there are Palaeozoic 
strata rich in copper and silver-lead ores, and on the west side recent 
eruptive rocks appear. The island is almost all occupied by mountains 
covered with wasted forests and undergrowths, and with a raw climate, 
although no point reaches the height of 6,000 feet. The small plains are 
swampy and malarial, and of the little islands only Caprera, the dwelling- 
place of Garibaldi, need be mentioned. La Maddalena, now united to 
Caprera by a bridge, has been converted into a naval station commanding 
the Strait of Bonifacio. 

Climate. — Its climate makes Italy one of the most favoured lands of 
the Earth, and the garden of Europe. The great wall of the Alps protects 
it from the northerly winter winds and from continental influences. The 
Appennines from Nice to Ancona form a second line of climatic defence, and 
the whole land is open to the south and to the equalising influence of the 


359 


Italy 


p* 4aa. ft*. Maa Apa.May. Am. Aii. Auc Sep. 0«r. mnr Ore. la 


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Fig. 185 . — Rainfall and Tempera- 
ture of Turin and Naples. 


Mediterranean, a sea filled to its greatest depth with water over 50° F. in tem- 
perature. The winters are mile. everywhere, even in the Plain of Lombardy, 
and south of the Appennines the temperature seldom falls to the freezing 
point, and never goes far below it, while 
January in Sicily is like May in England. 

South of the 40th parallel the prevailing 
wind in summer is northerly, and tends to 
moderate the heat. The protection of the 
mountains forms veritable climatic oases 
close to the foot of the Alps, on the Ligurian 
coast, and at Amalfi and Salerno. Yet even 
in Sicily a little snow is no very rare occur- 
rence. On account of the position of the 
Atlantic high pressure area to the north of 
Italy in summer and to the south in winter, 
the Italian summer is deficient in rain, and 
there is an accumulation of rainfall in winter, but towards the north the 
summer rainfall is not so deficient, and in some places at the foot of the Alps 
there is not much difference in the amount of precipitation in spring, summer, 
or autumn. In Sicily and Sardinia from 35 to 40 per cent, of the annual 
rainfall comes in the winter months. Hence the rivers, except those fed by 
the powerful springs of the limestone regions, are remarkably variable in 
volume. Floods and inundations occur in the rainy period with very high 
water during autumn, especially in the rivers flowing from the Alps, but in 
the centre and south of Italy the rivers are little more than dry stony beds 

during summer, and artificial irrigation 
is rendered necessary. The distribution 
of rainfall is determined by the configu- 
ration of the land. It is greater on the 
Tyrrhenian than on the Adriatic slope : 
greater on the southern margin of the 
Alps than on that of the Appennines, but 
greatest on the slopes of the mountains 
near Genoa, where it is 51 inches, and at 
Tolmezzo in Friaul, where it reaches 100 
inches. The rainfall of northern Italy 
may be stated as about 40 inches on the 
average, that of central Italy about 32 
inches, and of southern Italy not much 
more than 27. 

Malaria, which is characteristic of all 
the Mediterranean lands, is particularly common in Italy, and is the 
greatest drawback to a land otherwise so favoured. Only six of the 
69 provinces — Porto Maurizio, Genoa, Messa-Carrara, Florence, Pesaro, 
and Piacenza — are entirely free from malaria. It makes large areas un- 



FiG. 186 . — The Malarial Districts 
of Italy , shown in stipple. 



The International Geography 


inhabitable and uncultivable in spite of the fertility of the soil, which can 
only be utilised for winter pastures, and it hampers the railway service. 
One-sixth of the population of Italy suffers from malaria, which causes 
14,000 deaths per annum. 

Flora and Fauna. — The flora of Italy is that typical of the Mediter- 
ranean region, at least so far as regards the centre and south, and along a 
broad belt of the west coast south of Liguria. It includes evergreen trees 
of kinds fitted to withstand the long drought ; and the olive may be looked 
upon as the most characteristic growth. The olive is excluded from the 
Plain of Lombardy by the comparatively severe winter ; but it appears 
along the immediate foot of the Alps, especially round the borders of the 
lakes, and it surrounds the whole coast of Italy, growing in Liguria to 
altitudes of nearly 2,000 feet, and in Sicily to 3,000 feet. The flora of 
central Europe prevails in the Plain of Lombardy, and in the mountains ; 
in Sicily there are forests of chestnut trees between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, 
and of beech from 3,000 to 5,500 feet. The Mediterranean belt is charac- 
terised by the evergreen oak and pine, the Aleppo-pine, cypress, and 
especially a number of low evergreen and often thorny aromatic shrubs. 

The fauna of Italy is poor, and has little of geographical interest. The 
reptiles (lizards), however, are almost too abundant, and so are the 
snails. 

People. — The favoured land of Italy has been the goal of many 
migrating peoples both from the north and south, yet they all adopted 
one language, and at present unity of speech prevails in Italy to an 
extent unapproached in any other country of Europe. The people is 
ethnically remarkably mixed, and the contrast between the northern and 
southern Italians is very great. The mixture of races may be traced back 
to the great Roman trade in slaves, by which Phoenicians, Greeks, Berbers 
and Arabs from the south were brought into contact with Kelts, Germans, 
and Slavs from the north. Five ethnical groups are now believed to have 
inhabited prehistoric Italy. These were the Iberians in Sardinia, the Ligu- 
rians in Liguria, the Italians in the greater part of central and southern Italy, 
the Illyrians , in Venetia and Apulia, and the Etruscans , amongst whom the 
Kelts intruded themselves, in the Plain of Lombardy. All of these adopted 
the Latin language in the Roman period, but to this day traces of the 
primitive physical types may be recognised in the local dialects of Italian. 
In the south, especially in Sardinia and Calabria, the physical type is 
narrow-skulled (dolichocephalic), of short stature, with dark complexion and 
hair, while in the north the type is on the whole broad-skulled (brachy- 
cephalic), tall, fair, and light-haired. Of the dialects of Italian, Tuscan is 
considered the purest form of the language. In the valleys of the western 
Alps about 120,000 people still speak French, and in the east half a million 
Friaulians preserve their Rhasto-romanic tongue. A few German settle- 
ments in the Alpine valleys and some Slavs in Friaul and Abruzzi are 
almost all bilingual. There are also a few Albanians in Calabria and Sicily, 



some Greeks in Apulia, and about 40,000 Jews, mainly in northern Italy 
and in Leghorn. Reckoning the Friaulians as Italians, there is a foreign 
population of only 1 per cent, on Italian soil, while about 5 per cent, of the 
Italian people live abroad, about one million in North and South America, 
and the others mainly in Switzerland, Austria, Corsica, and Malta. 

History and Government.— The historical subdivision of Italy 
stands in the sharpest contrast to the physical unity and isolation of the 
land. The Romans united Italy first politically and then linguistically ; 
the splitting up commenced with the fall of the Empire, and led to the 
establishment of foreign rule over larger or smaller areas by the Germans, 
Spaniards, French, and Austrians. Yet in spite of this the linguistic and 
intellectual individuality of Italy was never lost, and in the Middle Ages 
Italian influence on the rest of the world, on 
account of the power of the Pope in the Roman 
Catholic Church, was hardly less than in Roman 
times. In maritime trade the Republics of Amalfi 
and Pisa, and still more those of Venice and Genoa, 
dominated the world until the sixteenth century, 
and they also centralised a large share of the land- 
trade of Europe. In recent times Italy was united 
after the war of i860, when six of the independent 
States combined to form the kingdom of Italy as a constitutional monarchy. 
To this Lombardy was added, and Venetia in 1866, both being reconquered 
from the Austrians, while in 1870 the last remnant of the Papal States was 
incorporated and Rome became the capital. The kingdom of Sardinia 
was the nucleus around which the united nation crystallised. The new 
kingdom was subject at first to great dangers and difficulties, not least 
those due to the fact that the citizens had not been trained to freedom and 
self-government, while a heavy national debt has involved excessive taxa- 
tion under which the country still suffers. 

Economic Geography. — Italy is destined by nature to be an 
agricultural country. The climate allows of all the crops of Europe and 
many of those of the tropics being grown, while in Sicily, by artificial 
irrigation, seed-time and harvest may occur at all seasons of the year. In 
the Campagna the irrigated meadows may yield as many as ten crops in 
the year, and in Lombardy from four to six. In almost all parts of the 
country two or three harvests can be reaped in one year from the same 
land. Artificial watering is very important in the north where the object is 
to increase the yield of the crops and to allow rice to be grown in the 
Plain of Lombardy, and in the south to allow of the growth of oranges 
and lemons. The irrigated area is nearly 8,000 square miles, and it can 
still be greatly increased. The yield is enhanced two or three-fold on the 
average, and as much as twenty-fold in Sicily, on account of the growth of 
oranges and lemons. The cultivation of southern fruit trees, especially of 
the olive, to which alone 3,500 square miles are devoted, gives to whole 




The International Geography 


countrysides the appearance of well-cultivated gardens. Terrace cultiva- 
tion also is a characteristic of Italian agriculture. Wheat of exceptional 
quality is raised in Sicily, rice and maize are more grown in the north. 
Vineyards occupy about 8,000 square miles, and Italy is second only to 
France as a wine-producing country. Yet agriculture no longer stands at 

The system of large estates and the prevalence of 
malaria renders great areas of the most fertile land 
unproductive. In some provinces only 18 per cent, 
of the land is under cultivation, and the average 
for the whole country is 37 per cent., while only 
11 per cent, can be considered as naturally unpro- 
ductive. Cattle-breeding is in a still worse position. 
Italy is poor in live stock, and it is only in the 
north, especially in Lombardy, that cattle are profi- 
tably kept for butter and cheese. There also 
poultry farming and artificial fish-breeding are largely carried on. In 
the centre and south the flocks and herds wander as the season changes 
from the mountains to the coastal plain and back again. 

Trade and Communications. — In Lombardy, Liguria and Pied- 
mont, silk spinning and weaving give employment to 200,000 people, and 
there are factories for woollen and cotton weaving and for the preparation 
of flax and hemp, as well as other industries. 

The trade of Italy is mainly maritime ; but the opening of the Alpine 
tunnels has developed a considerable land trade as well, bringing pros- 
perity to Turin and Milan, and even making Genoa to some extent the port 
of south-western Germany. The mercantile fleet of Italy has recently been 
declining in importance, and now comes fifth amongst the nations ; but 
Genoa, although mainly an import harbour, attracts much shipping, and is a 
serious rival to Marseilles. Most trade is done with 
France, and next with the United Kingdom, Austria- 
Hungary and Germany. The exports are chiefly 
agricultural products, the imports grain and textiles. 

The improvement of trade has been fostered since 
i860 by the construction of harbours, railways, and 
roads on a scale attempted in few other countries— 
too much, indeed, for the finances of Italy if not yet 
enough for its necessities. The railway system 
amounts to about 7,500 miles, and there are also 1,200 
miles of steam-tramways. For a land in which agri- 
culture predominates, Italy is very densely peopled, even although many 
extensive districts, such as the neighbourhood of Rome, are entirely unin- 
habited, and the number of emigrants is steadily increasing on account of 
the poverty of the country. 

Towns of Northern Italy. — For administrative purposes Italy is 
divided into 69 provinces, differing greatly in area and population, and with 


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Fig. 189 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of Italy. 


its former high level. 



FlG. 188 . — The Merchant 
Flag of Italy. 


3 6 3 


Italy 

boundaries showing little relation to physical features. The old division 
into sixteen regions is better for geographical purposes. Five of these 
divisions — Piedmont, Lombardy, Venetia, Emilia, and Liguria — belong to 
northern Italy. They are the most important from an economic point of 
view and contain 45 per cent, of the popu- 
lation. The principal towns have, as a rule, 
grown up on the edge of the plain along 
the borders of the Alps and Appennines 
(Fig. 184). There is a town at the outlet of 
every mountain valley ; the larger the valley 
and the more important as an entrance to 
the mountains or a passage through them, 
the more important is the town, and the 
greater the part it has played historically. 

Only those, however, on which the Alpine 
and Appennine roads converge have become 
really great cities ; such for instance is 
Bologna, and, in a still higher degree, Turin 
and Milan. These also lie on the most 
important east-and-west line of communi- FlG ‘ I9 °" The Slte °-? Vemce - 
cation, and are centres of a fertile and diligently cultivated neighbour- 
hood in which manufacturing industries are well developed. Amongst 
the historically important towns of the plain are Pavla at the mouth of 
the Ticino, Piacenza and Cremona at points where the Po could easily 
be bridged, Mantua, a fortress in the midst of a defensive system of lakes ; 
Padua, an ancient seat of learning, and Ferrara, which dominated the 

trade on the waterways 
of the Po delta ; but their 
old greatness has waned. 
Venice {Venezia), a lagoon 
port unassailable alike by 
land or sea, which suc- 
ceeded to the importance 
of Ravenna when the 
sea approaches to that 
town were silted up, 
now preserves only the 
shadow of the splendour 
it attained in the Middle 
Ages. Genoa {Genova), 
on the other hand, on 
account of the trade through the Alpine tunnels and because it is the true 
centre of the whole of Liguria, has grown in importance and secures still 
further advances by continuous improvements of the harbour. Spezia, on 

the border of Central Italy, is a purely naval port. 

25 ► 



Fig. 19 1 . — The Environs of Rome. 



Hi*ggta 


1 % \ 


3 64 The International Geography 

Towns of Central Italy. — This division includes the regions of 
Tuscany, the Marches, Umbria, Rome, Abruzzi, and Molise, and contains 
21 per cent, of the population. The coasts are unfavourable, and the only 
seaport requiring mention is the artificial harbour of Leghorn ( Livorno ) taking 
the place of Pisa which was silted up long ago. The centres of population 
are dependent on the north-and-south lines of communication, e.g., Siena , 
Perugia, Florence (Firenze), and even Rome itself, each of which is connected 
with the passes of the Appennines and is also the chief town of a rich agri- 
cultural neighbourhood. Rome {Roma), founded on a group of tufa hills at 
a crossing-place of the Tiber, and the mouth of the Anio, indeed in some 
respects commanding the mouth of the Tiber itself, occupies a remarkably 
favourable position for the Tyrrhenian coast (Fig. 191). At the same time 
the convenient route across the Appennines to Ancona on the Adriatic and 
thence by Rimini to northern Italy makes it almost the geometrical centre 



ever 


Fig'. 192 . — The Environs of Naples. 

of the peninsula. On this account it has become the capital of united Italy, 
and so entered upon a third period of prosperity, the former epochs mark- 
ing the climax of the greatness of the ancient and the mediaeval world. No 
city approaches it in the number and interest of its historical associations. 
The ruins of the ancient Forum and Colosseum are grand relics of ancient 
Rome, while the Cathedral of St. Peter’s is the most famous church in 
the world. The King of Italy resides in the Quirinal ; the Pope lives in 
seclusion in his palace of the Vatican. 

Towns of Southern Italy. — The regions of Campania, Apulia, the 
Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia form Southern Italy with 34 per 
cent, of the population of the country. All the important towns of this 
division are situated on the coast. The comparatively easy conditions of 
life in the fertile Campania have caused Naples ( Napoli ) to grow into the 
largest city of Italy. Its surroundings are of rare beauty, and the climate 
is typical of the south at its best, while the neighbouring town of Pozzuoli 


San Marino 



stands in the midst of vast ruins of the Roman period. The ancient 
Roman watering-places of Herculaneum and Pompeii at the base of Mt. 
Vesuvius, destroyed and buried by the great eruption of a.d. 79, have been 
to a large extent excavated, and the old streets and houses have become 
once more a centre of attraction for pleasure-seekers. Amalfi and Salerno 
have shrunk to shadows of what they were, but the fine natural harbours of 
Brindisi and Tarento have given a new lease of prosperity to these towns, 
and they rank next to Bari, the largest of the coast towns of Apulia. 

Palermo, the capital of Sicily, stands on a grandly sheltered bay of the 
north coast, facing Italy, in the middle of a vast forest of fruit trees. On 
the eastern side turned towards Greece, Syracuse, once the chief town of 
the Greek world, has fallen into decay, and is surpassed in importance by 
Catania at the foot of Mount Etna on the shore of the Strait of Messina. 
For centuries during the Middle Ages and even in antiquity, Sicily main- 
tained the closest relations with Africa, and Girgenti on the south coast was 
then a flourishing town. 

In Sardinia the chief towns, Cagliari on the south and Sassari in the 
north, have never had more than local importance. 


STATISTICS. 


1881. 

(Census.) 

Area of Italy in square miles 1 10,684 

Population 28459,628 

Density of Population per square mile 257 . . 


1901. 

(Census.) 

110,684 

32,449,754 

293 


POPULATION OF LARGE TOWNS. 


Naples (Napoli), . . 
Rome (Roma) 
Milan (Milano) 
Turin (Torino) 
Palermo 

Genoa (Genova) . . 
Florence (Firenze) 
Venice (Venezia) . . 
Bologna 


1881. 

1901. 

463.000 

564,000 

273,000 

463,000 

296,000 

491,000 

230,000 

336,000 

206,000 

310,000 

138,000 

235,000 

135,000 

205,000 

129,000 

152,000 

104,000 

152,000 


Catania 

Leghorn (Livorno) 

Ferrara 

Padua 

Lucca 

Alessandria.. 

Bari 

Verona 

Brescia 


1881. 

Egor. 

96,000 

150,000 

79,000 

98,500 

28,800 

87,700 

47,300 

82,300 

20,400 

74,700 

30,700 

71,300 

58,200 

79,700 

60,700 

74,200 

43,300 

70,600 


Imports 

Exports 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

I87I-75- 1881-85. 

52,600,000 59,400,000 

48,200,000 49,800,000 


1890-94. 

52,000,000 

42,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

H. Nissen. “ Italische Landerkunde,” Bd. I. Berlin, 1883. Bd. II., “ Die Stadte.” Berlin, 1902. 

Th. Fischer. “ Landerkunde von Europa herausgegeben von A. Kirchhoff,” Bd. II. 2. Halfte s, 
285-515. Prag, 1893. 

— “ La Penisola Italiana.” Turin, 1902. 

G. Marinelli. “LTtalia, La Terra,” vol. iv. Milan, 1892. 

W. Deecke. “Italien.” Berlin, 1899 — and translation, “Italy.” London, 1904, 


II.— SAN MARINO 

The Republic of San Marino . 1 — The city of San Marino, pictu- 
resquely massed on a rocky height about ten miles south-west of Rimini, 
is the centre of the most ancient and the smallest republic in the world. 

1 By the Editor. 


366 The International Geography 

This little State, with an area of only 23 square miles and a population of 
8,000, is entirely surrounded by Italian territory, but remains quite inde- 
pendent of Italian jurisdiction. The supreme authority is vested in a 
Senate of sixty members elected for life. The foreign relations of San 
Marino are necessarily with Italy alone, and a treaty of friendship with 
that Power is the only international agreement necessary. 


III.— MALTA 

By Lieut. -Col. Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 

Position and Resources. — The Maltese group consists of two 
principal islands, Malta and Gozo, separated from each other by a channel 
three miles broad, in which are the islets of Comino and Cominetto, while 
off the south-west coast is the small rock called Filfila. Malta is situated 
in lat. 36° N., and long. 14^° E. on the bank which connects Sicily with 
the African continent, and which here divides the Mediterranean into an 

eastern and a western basin. Its 
distance from Sicily is sixty miles, 
and from Cape Bon in Africa about 
two hundred. These islands are 
the insignificant remnants of land 
now submerged, which must at one 
time have been covered with an 
extensive flora, the home of gigantic 
mammals and reptiles, the remains 
of which have been preserved in 
the fissures and caves of Malta. 

Although they are mere rocks 
cropping out of the ocean (Malta 
only contains 95 square miles), 
they are happily covered with a 
thin, rich mould, which enables a 
larger number of people to live on them than on any other equal number 
of square miles on the surface of the globe. The great enemy to vegeta- 
tion is the violence of the wind, which necessitates the gardens being made 
small and surrounded with high walls, so that from a distance the place 
looks like huge stone quarries. Yet enormous crops are raised, and fruit of 
all kinds and of excellent quality is grown in abundance. The flora greatly 
resembles that of Sicily. The flowers have long been celebrated, and in 
springtime give an appearance of great beauty to some of the valleys ; 
others, however, are bare and rocky, and yield little beyond a few carob- 
trees and prickly pears. The indigenous mammalia belong to well-known 
European species ; migratory birds visit the island on their passage across 
the Mediterranean, but only seven species remain there throughout the year. 



Malta 


3 6 7 

Amongst the reptiles are several snakes, but all harmless ; St. Paul is said 
to have banished the venomous ones, as St. Patrick did in Ireland. 

History. — Malta, from its commanding position, midway between 
Gibraltar and Egypt, and its magnificent harbour, has always been a 
position of the greatest importance, and at present is one of the strongest 
fortified positions of the British Empire. The most interesting part of its 
history is comprised in the 268 years during which it was subject to the 
Knights of St. John, or Hospitallers, as they were called. After their 
expulsion from Rhodes, Malta and its dependencies were made over in 
perpetual sovereignty to the Order by Charles V., and the knights arrived 
here in 1530, under their Grand Master, L’lsle Adam. The Turks made 
repeated vain attempts to expel them ; their greatest and final effort being 
in 1565, when the siege lasted about four months. The final disaster which 
befell the Order was in 1798, when the island was taken by the French 
under General Bonaparte, but they soon made themselves so unpopular 
by their unsparing policy of plundering the churches and charitable insti- 
tutions, that an insurrection broke out. A British squadron was sent by 
Nelson to blockade the harbour, and the French surrendered from famine 
on September 5, 1800. In 1814 the island was finally transferred to the 
United Kingdom by the treaty of Paris. 

Government, People and Towns. — The government now con- 
sists of the Governor-General, who is also commander- 
in-chief of the forces, and an Executive Council con- 
sisting of six official and fourteen elected members — 
all natives of the island. The language of Malta is a 
corrupt form of Arabic, mixed with ancient Phoenician 
and modern Italian words. Valetia , the capital on 

the grand harbour of Malta, is full of splendid build- 
ings ; the great object of admiration is the Church FlG * * 94 . — Colonial 
of St. John, remarkable for its historical associations Bad & e °f Malia - 
and the richness of its decoration ; there are many magnificent auberges 
or palaces of the Knights, and the whole island is full of fine build- 
ings and objects of archaeological interest, probably of Phoenician 
origin. St. Paul’s Bay, the traditional scene of the apostle’s shipwreck, 

is the site of ruins supposed to have been occupied in his time. 

* 

STATISTICS. 

Area of Malta and adjacent islands in square miles . , 

Population „ „ 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Valetta 


1900. 

.. 117 

. . 183,679 
•• i,57o 

• • 65,000 (?) 



CHAPTER XXI.— THE IBERIAN PENINSULA 

I.— SPAIN 


By Dr. Theobald Fischer , 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Marburg. 

The Iberian Peninsula. — The Iberian Peninsula, the south-western 
promontory of Europe, is a world in itself, and a world of contradictions. 
Although the sea surrounds seven-eighths of its periphery, it has all 
the features of a continental mass with restricted access to the ocean ; 
forming a huge square, or rather pentagon, with an average elevation of 
2,200 feet, and terminating on its seaward faces in a high, straight and 
little indented shore. Although situated between the Atlantic and the 
Mediterranean, and between central Europe (France) and Africa, its ranges 
of east-and-west mountains serve rather to separate than to unite the 
continents. There are almost no well-marked inlets on the coast, and few 
navigable rivers, or off-lying islands ; the inland routes are made difficult 
by the many mountain passes. The Iberian Peninsula thus provides no 
traffic route between the ocean and the Mediterranean nor between the 
Mediterranean lands and north-western Europe. In the course of a long 
history the relations have been closer with the southern neighbour 
Marocco than with the northern neighbour France, so that there is some 
truth in the French proverb — “ Africa begins at the Pyrenees.” This posi- 
tion, together with certain peculiarities developed in the people by their five- 
century-long struggle with Islam, have thrown obstacles in the way of real 
development. Only one of the many clearly characterised natural regions 
of the peninsula, Portugal, has acquired importance as a maritime Power : 
and this also alone amongst the ancient kingdoms has remained an 
independent State. Its territory was marked out for the seat of separate 
national life by the gorges of the Minho in the north, the Guadiana in 
the south-east, and the deep canyons of the Douro and Tagus cutting it 
off from the rest of the plateau and forming splendid harbours in their 
estuaries. 

Configuration of the Meseta. — The broad geographical features of 
the peninsula are explained by its geological structure. Three-quarters of 
the peninsula is composed of an ancient and much altered block of the 
Earth’s crust which may be termed the Iberian Meseta ; on its margins two 
younger land masses were upheaved by tangential thrust into lofty border- 


1 Translated from the German by the Editor. 

368 


Spain 369 

ing ranges, the Pyrenean-Cantabrian on the north and the Andalusian on 
the south. The Meseta is made up, for the greater part, of a wide tableland 
of flat-lying strata, its mountainous edges on the west and east turned 
towards the ocean and the Mediterranean contrasting sharply with the 
central plateau. The Iberian Meseta is mainly composed of Archaean and 
Palaeozoic rocks, especially those of Cambrian, Silurian and Devonian 
formation ; their fractured edges looking down on the plain of Andalusia in 
the south and on that of Aragon in the north. Towards the close of the 
Palaeozoic period these strata had been upheaved into a vast mountain chain 
broken through by masses of granite, which was later reduced by marine 
action and long-continued atmospheric erosion to a uniform surface, a 
peneplain, in the south-west. This was in large part covered over with 
Mesozoic continental strata, particularly Cretaceous and Tertiary ; and in 
part by lacustrine deposits. The general uniformity of the surface of the 
wide high plains contrasts 
with the more varied 
character of the borders 
of the Meseta. As a 
whole, the Iberian table- 
land slopes gently west- 
ward to the ocean. Its 
highest part is the Iberian 
Border Range which 
separates the plateau of 
Castile from the Ebro 
basin and both from the 
narrow coastal plain of 
Valencia, a district which 
over an area of about 
15,000 square miles attains 
an average elevation of from 3,500 to 5,000 feet. A greater variety 
of scenery is only found in the Main Dividing Range which has been 
formed by successive fractures and vertical movements, giving rise 
to a series of crust-block mountains which, starting at the mouth of 
the Tagus, follow each other en echelon from the south-west towards 
the north-east. These heights separate the basin of the Douro from 
that of the Tagus, the province of Old Castile from that of New Castile. 
Although in this region there are some lofty summits such as the Plaza 
Almanzor, 8,730 feet, in the Sierra de Gredos, and the Pico de Penalara, 
7,890 feet, in the Sierra de Guadarrama , yet these summits only rise 
about 5,000 feet above the level of the plateau. The so-called Sierra 
Morena is nothing more than the steep southern edge of the Meseta border- 
ing the great valley of the Guadalquivir. The parallel Sierra de Toledo, 
which forms part of the watershed between the Tagus and the Guadiana is 
a denuded highland of small relative elevation composed of a series of 



Fig. 195 . — Physical Structure of the Iberian Peninsula . 


37° The International Geography 

steep saddles of Cambrian and Silurian quartzite closely following one 
another in a north-west and west-north-west direction, similar in character 
to the German Taunus. While the more recent formations of the plateau 
yield no minerals, except salt, and form featureless expanses of arable or 
pasture land, the older strata, especially towards the margins of the plateau, 
are rich in all mineral wealth. 

Hydrography of the Meseta. — The drainage of the Meseta is 
effected along more or less parallel river valleys towards the west : the 
Minho, Douro, Tagus, and Guadiana, and, most amply supplied of all, the 
Guadalquivir. This river, however, draws the greatest part of its supplies 
from the high mountains of Andalusia, but the fault which gave rise to the 
Andalusian plain also outlines the steep edge of the plateau. The name 
Guadalquivir means Great River, and it has a right to be so called because 
it is the only river of the peninsula navigable to any distance from the 
sea, vessels being able to ascend it as far as Seville. The other rivers are 
of less importance, flowing in the deep rocky valleys which their streams 
have cut through the plateau, poorly supplied with water, not navigable, 
difficult to cross, and so far sunk below the general level as to be useless 
even for irrigation. At the northern end, the smaller Ebro, which in many 
respects contrasts with the Guadalquivir, flows through a similar valley 
defined by the boundary fault of the Meseta forming the narrow depression 
of Aragon, which is connected with the Mediterranean only by a tortuous 
gorge. Its largest tributaries, the Aragon and Segre, bringing in a great 
supply of water from the slopes of the Cantabrian mountains and the 
Pyrenees render it particularly advantageous for irrigating the lowlands 
of Aragon ; and the Imperial Canal which has been constructed parallel 
to it would itself be a most important waterway if the situation were more 
favourable. 

Configuration of the Fold-Mountains. — The Andalusian plain 
and the Ebro basin separate the Meseta from the chains of fold-mountains 
in the north and south. Nowhere is there a greater contrast in scenery. 
The Andalusian system of crust-folds consists of a low outer zone of folded 
Mesozoic and Tertiary strata, and a lofty inner girdle in which the Archaean 
and Palaeozoic rocks are thrust up so steeply above the Mediterranean 
depression that Mulahacen, the loftiest summit of the Sierra Nevada and 
of all Europe outside the Alps, rises to a height of 11,420 feet at a distance 
of only 22 miles from the coast. This system of folds begins at the 
transverse dislocation which separates it from the Atlas mountains and in 
Pleistocene times gave rise to the Strait of Gibraltar. It extends west by 
north, and is crossed by a series of transverse valleys at Malaga, Motril 
and Guadiz, the tectonic character of which is indicated by the frequency 
of earthquake shocks and by the deep bays, now almost silted up, at the 
mouths of the rivers. It ends at the Cabo de la Nao ; but the line of 
the Balearic Islands, Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca (or Ivizo, Majorca 
and Minorca), and some smaller ones, continues in the same direction 


Spain 371 

and their structure shows that they are the continuation of the folded 
chain. 

The lofty boundary wall of the Pyrenees in the north is also a fine 
example of a young folded mountain system built up of parallel belts and 
chains, their direction being usually west-north-west. On the east they are 
broken off at Cape Creux, while on the west they are separated from the 
Cantabrian mountains by no definite geological dividing line. The 
Cretaceous and Eocene belts of the western Pyrenees continue on the 
Spanish side as the southern belt of the Cantabrian mountains with the 
same character as far as Asturias. But there is a depression in the Creta- 
ceous mountains in the Basque Province south of San Sebastian, possibly 
connected with the formation of the Ebro basin, which gives passage to 
the most important roads from France. In Asturias, the ancient formations 
of the Meseta, including some coal-bearing strata of the Carboniferous, 
have been much folded and contorted. Rocks of the newer Palaeozoic 
series, together with the Eocene and Miocene folds of the Pyrenees, unite 
in the structure of the Cantabrian mountains, which attain their greatest 
height in the Picos de Europa (Torre de Cerredo, 8,670 feet), scarcely 19 
miles from the sea. The wildness of the scenery on this mountain border, 
trenched with the deep furrows of eroded valleys, may be judged from 
the fact that it was only with difficulty that a piece of level ground could 
be found in Asturias long enough to serve as a base-line, under a mile in 
length, for a trigonometrical survey. The loftiest summits of the Pyrenees, 
formed of the central core of crystalline rock, occur in the Montes Malditos 
in Aneto, which are 11,168 feet high; but the peaks of the Tres Sorores 
(Mont Perdu), of Cretaceous formation, reach 10,997 feet. Just as the 
narrow and easily defended passes of the Andalusian fold- mountains 
enabled the Moors of Granada to hold their own for centuries against 
the Christians, so the small enclosed mountain valleys of Sobrarbe in the 
Pyrenees, and of Liebana and Valdeon in the Picos de Europa, formed the 
last refuges of Christians during the Mohammedan supremacy, and the 
centres from which they reconquered the land. The Meseta is entirely 
wanting in such natural strongholds. 

Climate and Vegetation. — In spite of the length of its coast-line 
the Iberian Peninsula has a climate which may almost be termed conti- 
nental, being characterised by large range of temperature between summer 
and winter, great and rapid variations of temperature, and remarkable dry- 
ness, resulting from the arrangement of border mountains and plateau. In 
the north and north-west, from the border of Portugal to the boundary river 
Bidassoa, there is an oceanic climate with mild winters, cool summers, and 
rain at every season. The vegetation is that of central Europe, and in 
some places cider is even the national drink. But in the interior the air is 
everywhere dry ; and in the south-east the province of Murcia is so hot 
and arid that it is the only part of Europe in which the date palm ripens 
in true oases, for example at Elche. Artificial irrigation is absolutely 
26 


372 The International Geography 

necessary for agriculture in that region and all along the whole Mediter- 
ranean border, except for the irrigated huertas, the vegetation has a 
steppe-like character, the predominant cultivation being esparto grass for 
paper-making. The coast-strip of the Mediterranean between Gibraltar 
and Almeria, sheltered by the lofty Andalusian chain, possesses the 
warmest winter climate of Europe. In the small well-watered coastal 
plains of Malaga and Motril sugar-cane is cultivated on a large scale, and 
the banana, the Peruvian cherimaja, and other tropical plants, grow 
luxuriantly. The mean temperature of January there is 55 0 F., and frost 
and snow are extremely rare ; but at Madrid, in the centre of the 
peninsula, skating can often be indulged in, although in summer the 
temperature may go up to over 107° F. in the shade. The climate of 
Madrid is the most extreme in western Europe. 

Rainfall is most abundant around the border region in winter : in 

the interior, spring is usually the season 
of maximum rain, but in some parts the 
rainiest season is autumn. As a rule the 
quantity of total precipitation diminishes 
from the north-west towards the south- 
east, but in La Mancha, and other parts 
of the plateau it is so small that the 
soil remains charged with soluble salts 
and in consequence only bears steppe- 
like vegetation. Yet tremendous and sud- 
den bursts of rain are apt to occur in 
all parts of the peninsula, giving rise to 
serious floods. With such climatic con- 
ditions it is natural that both plant and 
animal life should exhibit great contrasts in their nature and in their 
distributions. Barely half of the country has a predominant Mediter- 
ranean flora, characterised by evergreen shrubs. The cold of winter and 
the excessive dryness of summer make such vegetation impossible in the 
greater part of the highlands of New Castile. The south-western half 
of the peninsula, especially Estremadura, is rich in thickets of aromatic 
evergreen shrubs. The mountains of the northern border, and also those 
of the Main Dividing Range, bear forests of a central European type. 

People and History. — The Iberians appear to have been the oldest 
inhabitants of the peninsula, and to form the basis of the present Spanish, 
or rather Castilian, race. Their language still survives, if the dwindling 
remnant of the Basques, less than half a million of whom live in. the 
mountains of the extreme north-east, may be looked upon as their descen- 
dants. Keltic invaders early obtained a footing in the north-west. The 
Romans civilised almost the whole peninsula, by the establishment of strong 
military colonies. The immigration of Suevi, Alemanni, and West Goths 
did not suffice to change the established Roman language and affected the 



Fig. 196 . — Mean Monthly Tempera- 
ture and Rainfall of Coimbra and 
Madrid. 


Spain 373 

physical type of the Spaniards only in a few places, for example in the 
Sierra de Bejar, one of the most isolated districts of the Main Dividing 
Range. The incursion of the Arabs and Berbers (Moors) had a much 
deeper influence on the country, affecting not only the physical type of the 
people, but their customs and the geographical names, as is well seen in 
Valencia, Murcia, and Andalusia, where numerous traces of the Moham- 
medan invasion remain. The Castilian language itself has incorporated 
many Arabic words. A large fraction of the African immigrants remained 
in the country and were absorbed; the Jews alone were completely and 
permanently driven out. The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, which existed 
separately for 700 years, and others, were created through the existence of 
sharply defined natural regions ; and it was only in the fifteenth century that 
these became united, so that only two States now occupy the peninsula. 
This history explains the contrasts in physical type, customs, and organisa- 
tion between the people of the separate districts, especially between the 
Andalusians, Castilians, Aragonese, and Catalonians. The few traits which 
the whole Spanish people have in common, their military spirit and 
religious fervour and intolerance, may be traced to the eight centuries of 
struggle against Islam. For a century the possession of the rich colonies of 
America made Spain the mistress of the world, but the small esteem in which 
civil occupations were held has led to the loss of all the valuable colonies, and 
the impoverishment and depopulation of the mother country ; the unabated 
but hollow Spanish pride is now a serious drag to all progress. Besides 
the predominant Castilian dialect, Catalonian, which is nearer to the French 
Provencal, is spoken, written and even used in education throughout 
Catalonia and the adjacent provinces of Valencia and Aragon. The 
Gallegos, near the frontier of Portugal, not only resemble the Portuguese 
type in appearance, but speak several old-fashioned dialects which approach 
closely to Portuguese. The diversity of the provinces plays an important 
part in the modern history of Spain, and there is room to doubt whether 
Spain can continue to exist as a single country. 

Agriculture. — At least half, perhaps three-quarters, of the people 
depend directly on the fruits of the soil, which also supply two-thirds of 
the exports. In the Mediterranean belt of huertas, the rock has to be 
blasted and then powdered with hammers to form soil, the slopes of all the 
hill-sides are terraced, and every available fertilising agent, even the 
sweepings of the streets, is utilised, while artificial irrigation of a highly 
elaborate kind is resorted to in order to produce the utmost possible yield. 
On the other hand vast stretches of fertile land on the plateau remain entirely 
untilled, or else are cultivated in a destructive fashion, without the use of 
manure or irrigation. The apathy of the people makes all progress 
impossible ; the multiplication of large estates, the depopulation of the 
country districts, absence of roads and want of capital are other causes 
which have contributed to this result. Almost everywhere, even in the 
midst of the most flourishing huertas, the tillers of the soil live in the 


374 The International Geography 

deepest poverty, a fact which explains the frequency of socialistic and 
communistic outbreaks. About 40 per cent, of the country is under culti- 
vation, and 9 per cent is artificially irrigated ; but nearly 15 per cent, 
consists of fertile soil lying waste. In Murcia the productiveness of the 
ground is increased thirty-seven times by artificial watering. The huertas 
are mainly devoted to fruit trees such as the orange, date-palm, and pome- 
granate ; but here and there rice, ground-nuts, cotton, sugar-cane, maize, 
tomatoes, onions and vegetables of every kind are grown. Wheat yields a 
hundred fold, and lucerne may be cut ten or twelve times in the year. 
The olive and vine are largely cultivated on unwatered land, mainly on the 
low grounds. On the highlands of course the nature of the cultivation is 
more uniform ; trees lose their importance, and in many places disappear, 
the tableland being characteristically treeless ; even the mountains have 
been despoiled of their timber and rise in bald, rocky, and barren slopes. 
Wheat is an important crop everywhere, the province of Valladolid is 
called the granary of Castile ; yet grain has sometimes to be imported to 
make up the supply for home consumption. The moist northern border 
bears groves of the fruit trees common in central Europe ; maize and millet 

are cultivated, and there are green meadows on 
which cattle are reared for export to England. 
The great stretches of dry pasture on the tableland, 
on the contrary, are only useful for sheep farming, 
an occupation which was formerly much more 
prosperous than now. The flocks are driven down 
in winter to the warm and low-lying districts of 
the south, returning to the highlands in spring. 
The forests of evergreen oaks in Estremadura make 
swine-keeping profitable, while Andalusia is famous for the breeding of 
horses and of bulls for the public bull-fights, a cruel sport confined to 
Spain and Spanish-speaking countries. 

Mining. — Spain has been the classic land of mining industry since the 
time of the Phoenicians. The variety of the mineral wealth in the mar- 
ginal mountains is astonishing. They yield large quantities of lead and 
silver, particularly in the south-east from Adra to Cartagena ; almost one- 
quarter of all the copper produced in the world is mined near Huelva on 
the Rio Tinto ; the mercury mines of Almaden have been famous for 
centuries, and the splendid iron ore of the north coast supports an immense 
trade. Near Oviedo and elsewhere coal is mined. At present the mines 
are worked mainly by foreign capital, and in some years the output is 
worth as much as $30,000,000. During the nineteenth century a certain 
amount of industrial activity has been developed, chiefly in Catalonia and the 
Basque Province, where it is favoured by the proximity of mineral wealth, 
the abundant supply of water-power, and cheap sea transport. The chief 
industry is the manufacture of iron and machinery ; cork-cutting and tobacco 
manufacture are characteristic, and cotton spinning is important in Catalonia. 



375 


Spain 




: i 

L.r 

* • . . « • • 

• • * • • ♦ • 

, • • . • * t 

• • • • . f * 

* • • • • #. ♦ 

• • • 1 » « 

• • ♦ * • • . 

• * • • • . 
*.:**•*••• 


....1 1 

- • . 

• • • • . . .1 

• * . • « # . 

• • . • • . '• 

• • .*• • , * 0 


Fig. 198 . — The Merchant 
Flag of Spain. 


Trade. — In spite of its fine position for trade with all parts of the world 
Spain now takes but a small share in international commerce. The internal 
trade which is stimulated by the different character of the various natural 
regions is rendered difficult by the configuration ; roads and railways have 
to be carried across the marginal mountains by very costly engineering 
works, the general traffic centre of the country being Madrid in the centre 
of the tableland. From historical causes such 
foreign commerce as Spain retains is mainly with 
its former colonies, especially Cuba and the Philip- 
pines, but the shipping in Spanish ports is almost 
all under the British or French flags, the Spanish 
mercantile marine being very small. Commercially 
Spain depends most largely on France ; the rail- 
ways, for instance, were built by French com- 
panies, and one-third of the foreign trade is done 
with that country, more however by sea than by land. One quarter of the 
trade is with the United Kingdom. The value of the exports of home 
produce, mainly wine and minerals, exceeds that of the imports, which 
consist chiefly of cotton, coal, wood, sugar and fish. There are fisheries of 
some value on the coasts of Galicia and Andalusia ; but the frequent fasts 
of the Roman Catholic Church to which practically the whole population 
belongs, make a constant demand for salted and dried fish from abroad. 

Natural Divisions and Towns. — Judged by the number of inhabi- 
tants, the small density and slow increase of population, Spain is to be 
classed with countries of the second rank ; it could support three times 
as many inhabitants as it contains. The distribution of the people accen- 
tuates the contrasts between the natural regions. There is a comparatively 
dense population on the slopes of the bordering mountains, while on the 

plateau vast stretches of country, like the despoblados 
which occupy 2,000 square miles south-west of Toledo, 
are practically uninhabited ; and in those regions 
even the population of the provincial capitals is 
diminishing. Except Madrid, all the large towns lie 
on the margin of the tableland, which is the only part 
of Spain where progress is being made, and contains 
66 per cent, of the population of the country on 45 per 


Fig. 199. — Averagepopu- cent - of the area - There the P e0 P le live in thickly 
lation of a square sown villages, and in the Basque province and Galicia 
mile of spam. j n hamlets and isolated farms ; but on the plateau, in 

spite of the complete dependence of the peasants on agriculture, they are 
grouped entirely in towns scattered 15 or 20 miles apart, the groups of low 
houses standing on the bare plain with no sign of tree or shrub about them. 
Spain is poor in large towns, even the capitals of the 48 provinces, arbi- 
trary political divisions without geographical meaning, are small as a rule ; 
those of the historical regions — the former kingdoms — are larger. All the im- 



376 The International Geography 

portant towns of the marginal belts naturally stand on the sea coast. The 
fine natural harbours of Galicia have allowed of the establishment of the 
naval port Ferro l and the commercial towns Corunna, Vigo , and Pentevedra ; 
but the ancient capital, Santiago di Compostela, famous of old as a place of 
pilgrimage, lies in the interior. Similarly in Asturias Oviedo is an interior 
town, while its harbour Gijon grows rapidly on account of the development 

of the neighbouring mines. The same is true of 
Santander, the most northerly harbour of Castile, 
and of Bilbao and San Sebastian, the chief ports 
of the Basque province, all of which have a large 
export of iron ore to the United Kingdom. 
Pamplona and Vitoria are fortresses commanding 
the land routes between Spain and France on the 
west. In Old Castile the towns of the border 
district of the tableland include Leon and 
Astorga in the north, Salamanca, Avila, Segovia, 
and Burgos in the south, all of them extra- 
ordinarily old fashioned, rich in historical memorials, but showing signs 
of present decay. The hydrographic, and almost geometric, centre of 
the Douro basin is the larger town of Valladolid. In New Castile the 
peculiar predominant land-forms have also given the marginal towns the 
highest degree of development ; but the central position of this region in 
the heart of the whole peninsula has introduced other conditions which 
led to the importance of Toledo on the Tagus, the former capital, and still 
more to that of Madrid, the modern capital. Madrid has grown more and 
more important as a focus of railways, has increased rapidly in population, 
and grown to be the head and heart of Spain in spite of its situation in a 
region of little charm, with an un- 
pleasant climate. It has no his- 
torical associations, its people have 
come together merely because all 
the lines of communication between 
the marginal towns run through 
the capital, and it has become the 
seat of great educational institutions 
and financial and commercial estab- 
lishments. The only town of Estre- 
madura requiring mention is Badajoz 
in the Guadiana valley, a fortress on 
the Portuguese frontier. In lower Andalusia there are three notable towns 
connected with the Guadalquivir, Cordoba, now a mere shadow of its former 
greatness, but still famous for its splendid cathedral which was once a 
mosque ; Seville with many art treasures, and important on account of manu- 
factures and trade ; and Cadiz, a fortified naval harbour which may be 
looked upon as commanding the entrance to the river. In upper Andalusia 




Fig. 200 . — The Harbour of 
San Sebastian. 


377 


Spain 

Granada is made famous for ever by the natural beauty of the neighbouring 
Vega and the exquisite architecture of the Moorish Alhambra. Malaga is 
the export harbour for the wine and fruits of the fertile coast border of 
Andalusia. More to the east A Inter ia and Alicante are small seaports, 
but at the same time, like Murcia, characteristic huerta towns, they 
give their names to the districts of which they are the centres. The 
naval port Cartagena owes its importance primarily to its splendid 
harbour, but recently mining has added to its prosperity. Valencia, 
now the third Spanish city in size, has become prominent because 
it is the centre of the richest part of the coastal plain. Catalonia 
abounds in towns and in industry ; chief amongst its harbours is the 
ancient town of Barcelona, now the second in Spain and still rapidly 
growing ; it has long since cast into the shade the anciently renowned 
port of Tarragona. The natural centre of Aragon is Zaragoza on the 
Ebro, which eclipses all the other towns of the basin of that river. 

The Islands and Presidios. — In the Balearic Islands the chief 
town of the largest island is Palma. The harbour of Mahon on Menorca 
dominates the whole north-western basin of the Mediterranean. The 
Spaniards also reckon with Spain the volcanic group of the Canary 
Islands belonging geographically to Africa. The Presidios, or Spanish 
possessions on the coast of Marocco, are also viewed as part of Spain. 
Melilla and Ceuta are the most important of these. 

The colonial possessions of Spain were once enormous, but have 
gradually diminished as the old colonies became independent republics. 
The last valuable possessions in America were lost when the Philippine 
Islands, Cuba and Porto Rico were transferred to the United States in 1899. 
There remain only a strip of the Sahara coast, and the islands of Fernando 
Po, Annobon, Corisco, and Eloby in Africa, none of any importance. 

Andorra . 1 — A lofty valley on the southern slope of the Pyrenees, sur- 
rounded by high mountains, forms a separate State, “ the Valleys and 
Sovereignty of Andorra,” which has maintained its independence for a 
thousand years. Its area is only 150 square miles, and the population does 
not exceed 10,000 ; the people are more akin to the Spaniards than to the 
French and speak a Catalan dialect. The valley of Andorra is drained by 
the Valira, a tributary of the Segre, and is approached from the Spanish 
city of Urgel by a mule-path along the steep gorge of the river. It may 
also be reached from the French town of Ax on the northern slope by a 
very rough track crossing the crest of the range. The altitude of the 
valley is about 3,000 feet, and its only resources, apart from a little trade 
and a good deal of smuggling between France and Spain, consist in the 
tilling of the infertile soil and pasturage on the steep mountain-slopes. 
The isolation of the valley of Andorra has made it the resting-place of 
many curious ancient laws and customs. The little State is governed by 


1 By the Editor. 


378 The International Geography 

a Council elected by the heads of families and presided over by a Syndic 
who is appointed for one year. The French Republic and the Spanish 
bishopric of Urgel, however, exercise certain rights of suzerainty, and each 
has a representative in Andorra charged with all matters of external policy 
and justice. The organisation appears to be rather a feudal survival with 
a divided allegiance than what is usually understood as a republic. The 
people of Andorra have the reputation of being quiet and taciturn ; they 
are much attached to their old ways and ancient priveleges, and live with 
austere simplicity. The capital, Andorra la Vieja, is a plain stone-built 
little town of 2,800 inhabitants. 


STATISTICS. 






1877. 

1887. 


1897. 

Area of Spain (including Balearic Is.), square miles. . 192,004 

. . 192,004 

• • 

192,004 

Population 

yy 

yy • 



. . 17,246,688 

• • 

18,089,500 

Density of population per square mile . 


85 

.. 89 

• • 

92. 



POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 




1877 

1887. 

1897. 


1877. 

1887. 

1897. 

Madrid . . 

398,000 

472,228 

512,150 

Cartagena 

. . 75 , 9 oo 

84,000 

86,245. 

Barcelona 

277,000 

272,481 

509,589 

Cadiz 

. . 65 000 

62,500 

70,177 

Valencia.. 

144,000 

171,000 

204,769 

Jerez 

. . 64,500 

61,700 

60,004 

Seville . . 

134,000 

143.000 

146,205 

Palma . . 

. . 58,200 

60,500 

62,525 

Malaga .. 

116,000 

134.000 

125.579 

Lorca 

. . 52,900 

58,300 

59,624 

Murcia .. 

91,800 

98,500 

108,408 

Valladolid 

. . 52,200 

62,000 

68,746 

Zaragoza 

84,600 

92,400 

98,188 

Cordoba . . 

. . 47,800 

55,6oo 

57,313 

Granada.. 

76,000 

73,000 

75,054 

Bilbao . . 

. . 35,200 

50,800 

74 , 09 S 



ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling ). 







1866-70. 

1881-85. 

1890-94. 

Imports 




. 18,128,000 

31,244,400 

35,088,000 

Exports 




. 12,388,000 

27,704,000 

32,096,000 


II.— GIBRALTAR 

By Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 

Gibraltar. — The celebrated fortress of Gibraltar is situated on a rocky 
promontory which rises to the height of 1,396 feet. The town is on the 

west side, the east and south sides 
are very rugged and almost per- 
pendicular. The northern side, 
fronting the narrow isthmus or 
neutral ground connecting it with 
Spain, is precipitous and difficult 
of access. The circumference is- 
six miles, the length three miles, 
and the area 1,266 acres. In 
ancient times this was Calpe, the 
European side of the Pillars of Hercules, the African one being Abyla. 
The rock now bears the name of its Arab conqueror — Jebel Tarik, or 



Portugal 


379 


hill of Tarik — who landed here in a.d. 71 i. It was incorporated with the 
Spanish Crown in 1502, and it was taken by the British during the War of 
Succession in 1704. Since that time, notwithstanding repeated efforts by 
Spain and France, and a protracted siege which lasted four years, Great 
Britain has maintained possession of it at a lavish ex- 
penditure. The fortifications have been constantly 
improved and extended, and it may now be considered 
as impregnable as defensive works can make any place. 

The growing importance of Gibraltar as a naval station 
and as a coaling port has led the Government to lay 
out a protected harbour with an area of about 450 
acres. It was to be enclosed by solid moles, alongside 
of which the largest battleships could lie. Three large 
graving docks were to be provided, and the dockyard establishment fitted 
to undertake every kind of repair. The northern mole was to be reserved 
for merchant steamers, with facilities for coaling from the very large 
stocks of coal kept in the stores. 



FIG. 203. — Colonial 
Badge of Gibraltar. 


III.— PORTUGAL 

By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos, 

Portuguese Royal Navy. 

Position and Coasts. — The kingdom of Portugal occupies the most 
western part of the Iberian peninsula, washed on the south and west by 
the Atlantic Ocean. The country lies between the parallels 37 0 and 
4 2 0 N. and the meridians of 6° and 9 0 W. Its coast line measures 
nearly 465 miles, and is formed on the north by hills of moderate 
height rising inland to mountain ranges. It continues to run south- 
ward to a little beyond the Douro, where it begins to change in aspect, 
becoming less elevated, and is bordered by sand-hills, behind which 
several mountain ranges appear, looking from the sea like a single 
chain, of which the Serras da Gralheira, Caramulo, and Bussaco are 
part, the latter sending out spurs south-westward to near the mouth 
of the Mondego and ending in the cape of the same name. To fix the 
sand-hills and prevent the cultivated land in the interior from being in- 
vaded by them, the royal pine forests (Pinhal Real) were planted on the 
coast in the neighbourhood of Leiria, and protect the stretch of coast from 
the heights of S. Martinho to Vieira beach. Owing to the neighbouring 
Serras do Bouro, Monte Junto and Cintra, the coast becomes more elevated 
south of Pedreneira, where it bends towards the south-west. Here the 
small Peniche peninsula is formed by steep rocks, off which lie the 
Berlenga Islands. Cape da Roca, the seaward end of the Serra de Cintra, 
is the most westerly point of Portugal and of continental Europe. Near 
it the coast forms an ample bay, where the river Tagus has its outlet. 


380 The International Geography 

This bay is bounded on the south by Cape Espichel, the extremity of the 
peninsula between the Tagus and Sado. Beyond this point the coast, 
formed by the southern slopes of the Serra da Arrabida, recedes eastwards 
to Setubal bar, where it resumes its southerly trend as a flat and sandy 
stretch, till the proximity of the Serra de Grandola makes it mountainous 
once more as far as Cape Sao Vicente (Cape St. Vincent), the extreme 
south-westerly point of Europe, where it is broken by some inlets 
forming natural harbours. Here the coast turns sharply eastwards to 
the river Guadiana, which separates Portugal from Spain. Near Faro, 
the most important town of Algarve, the coast is sandy. At some distance 
from, and running parallel with, the beach, long sandbanks rise above the 

water. 

Configuration.— The general configuration of Portugal can be con- 
sidered as due to three orographic systems— in the north, the Trans- 
montano, or Mountains of Traz-os-Montes (Behind the Mountains), including 
as its name indicates the mountains situated north of the river Douro, the 
highest summit of which is Gerez (4,816 feet) ; in the centre, the Beirense , 
or Mountains of Beira, including the mountains between the rivers Tagus 
and Douro, the highest of which is Estrella (6,532 feet) ; in the south, the 
Transtagano , or Alemtejo, which includes all the mountain system south 
of the Tagus, of which S. Mamede (3,362 f ee 0 is th e highest. 

The country north of the Tagus is the most mountainous and elevated, 
whereas south of the Tagus stretch the extensive plains of Alemtejo, 
principally near Ourique and Beja, and those of Estremadura between the 
Sorraia tributary of the Tagus and the river Sado, the latter being 
generally known by the name of Baixas (Lowlands) do Sorraia, near to 
which are the Lezirias, parts of the interior delta of the Tagus, the soil of 
which is extremely fertile. Between the northern mountains there are the 
remarkable plains or Veigas of Chaves and Valen^a. 

Geology. — Almost all the geological formations are to be found in 
Portugal : granite in the north, in Minho, in a part of Traz-os-Montes, and 
in the centre of Beira and Alemtejo ; porphyry in a part of Alemtejo , 
basalt in the surroundings of Lisbon ; gneiss in the Douro district ; mica- 
schist appears irregularly in different parts ; the Palaeozoic formations occupy 
part of the north, the centre, and nearly all the southern region ; Mesozoic 
rocks occur between Aveiro and Lisbon, and Cainozoic in the centre ; 
Jurassic rocks being abundant in Estremadura, where they form several 
mountain chains and the peninsula of Peniche. Deposits of crystalline 

limestone form the greater part of Alemtejo. 

Rivers. — The principal rivers of Portugal have their origin in Spain. 
The river Minho, which coming from the Cantabrian Mountains enters 
Portugal above Melga<?o and forms the boundary between the two coun- 
tries. Its banks are very fertile, and salmon and lamprey are abundant, 
giving rise to fisheries of considerable importance. The Douro, rising in 
the Serra d’Urbion, crosses Portugal from east to west. Its bed is cut 


Portugal 


38 1 


between mountains in a narrow tortuous valley, and it receives many 
tributaries, the most important of which cross the province of Traz-os- 
Montes from north to south. On the right bank, between the tributaries 
Tua and Tamega, the Douro irrigates the well-known wine regions, the 
centre of which is Pezo da Regua, producing the famous wines which 
being exported from Oporto are known as Port. The city of Oporto lies 
near the mouth of the Douro, on the north bank, and faces Villa Nova de 
Gaia, the great wine cellar centre. 

The Tagus divides Portugal into two nearly equal parts. It rises in the 
Serra de Albarracim in Spain, and flows south-west to the sea. Between 
its tributaries, Erjes and Sever, it marks the frontier with Spain. Near 
Villa Velha de Rodam, the Tagus passes between two high cliffs, which 
form the celebrated Portas do Rodam, receives the waters of the Ocreza 
and Zezere, crosses plains of great fertility, to Lisbon, where it widens out 
to a great basin, called the Mar da Palha 
(Straw Sea), the eastern estuary by which its 
waters flow into the ocean, forming in front 
of the Portuguese capital one of the best and 
largest harbours in the world. The Guadiana 
enters Portugal near Elvas, where it is joined 
by the Caia, runs south, and receives several 
tributaries, forming the so-called Raia Mol- 
hada (wet-border). Then it curves slightly 
to the south-west, running through a deep 
and rocky bed, till it flows into the ocean, 
between Villa Real de Santo Antonio and 
Ayamonte (Spain). Near the Guadiana are 
the important copper mines of S. Domingos, 
which are connected by a railway to Pomarao, 
the most important port of the Guadiana. 

The Mondego from the west of the Serra da Estrella flows past the 
picturesque city of Coimbra, and finds its outlet through marshes and salt- 
pans at the little port of Figuera de Foz. The little river Sado, one of 
those with their course entirely in Portugal, runs from south to north 
in many curves, and when passing Alcacer do Sal widens out through flat 
banks, where there are celebrated salt-pans, which produce salt of finest 
quality, exported in large quantities from the port of Setubal at its mouth. 

Climate. — Portugal, though not extensive, has a varied climate, due, 
doubtless, to the great differences of altitude in the country. In the north 
it is cold and damp. I n the district surrounding the Mondego, temperate and 
damp (Fig. 196). South of the Tagus the hot winds from Africa are felt. 
Thus north of the Douro the mean annual temperature is 50° F. ; between 
the Tagus and Douro, the mean at Coimbra is nearly 62° F., and in the 
Guadiana valley it is over 64° F. The mean temperature in Oporto is 59 0 
F. ; in the Serra da Estrella only 45 0 ; and in Lisbon 6i°. The prevailing 



FlG. 204 . — The lower Tagus , showing 
the Mar da Palha. 


38 2 The International Geography 

winds blow from the north-north-east, and north-west. The climate on the 
south coast near the Tagus is very genial in winter. 

Resources. — The agricultural resources are great, but, unfortunately, 
agriculture is not in as high a state of development as could be desired. 
The staple cereals cultivated are wheat, rye, and maize, the two latter in 
the north and centre, the former in the south. The vine is grown over the 
whole country, producing various types of generous and lighter wines. 
Vegetables and fruit are of the first quality. The oak and chestnut trees 
are the most abundant in the north, and on the Beira mountains. Pines 
grow principally on the sea coast, and the olive in Estremadura. In 
Alemtejo the azinheira and sobreira (cork trees), are important, the cork 
taken from the bark of the latter constituting one of the riches of the 
country. In Algarve the fig trees and alfarrobeira (carob tree) are abundant. 
The fauna and the domestic animals of Portugal are similar to those of 
Spain. Sardine fishing and preserving are extensive industries on the coast ; 
and the tunny caught along the Algarve coast is also cured and preserved. 

The most important mines are those of copper in Alemtejo, and of iron 

in Moncorvo. Coal is worked in Cape Mondego, 
and is also found in the neighbourhood of Leiria. 
Portugal is very rich in mineral waters. Those of 
Vidago can be compared with the Vichy waters, 
and the sulphurous waters of Caldas da Rainha, 
Vizella, and Cucos are also of the best. 

People and History. — Owing to insufficient 
investigation, the origin of the Portuguese people 
is not as yet fully established ; however, Berber influence can be considered 
as proved, but not the existence on this part of the peninsula of Ligurians 
and Kelts. History narrates that Turdetans, Turdulos, Suevi, Arabs, etc., 
passed through at different periods, leaving, as would be natural, ethnic 
traces. The Portuguese race is of the Aryan stock, and the Latin family. 
The language is the Lusitanian, derived from the Latin, and is spoken in 
Portugal, Madeira, Azores, in the Portuguese colonies, and Brazil, and to 
some extent in Ceylon, Malacca, and other places. The Roman Catholic 
religion is established by the State, though other religions are tolerated, if 
without public forms of worship. 

The Portuguese became famous through their bold adventurous genius. 
Inhabiting the sea coast, the constant vision of the broad ocean inspired 
them to achieve the maritime discoveries of the fifteenth century which 
astounded the world. Masters of the sea route to India, they destroyed 
by a clever stroke of political economy the commercial supremacy of 
Venice. Portugal then reached the height of her glory, which later she 
lost on Alcacer-Kibir. Spain annexed Portugal in 1580, and only in 1640, 
by the energy of half a dozen men, did she regain her independence, but 
her best colonies were lost. The form of government is a constitutional 
hereditary monarchy. 


?? 



Fig. 205 . — Portuguese Flag. 


Portugal 383 

Industry and Trade. — The Portuguese manufacturing industries, 
after a long time of decline, have undergone remarkable development since 
1890. Factories for woollen, cotton, linen and silk textiles are established 
in Lisbon, Oporto and other towns, and lace is made in Peniche, Setubal and 
the Azores. Woollen and cotton goods find good markets in the Portuguese 
West African Colonies. The manufacture of paper is important, the Almasso 
paper being a speciality generally used in the country, and greatly appre- 
ciated abroad. Glass and china are also largely manufactured. Metals are 
worked principally in connection with cutlery, all kinds of iron goods, 
and articles in gold and silver. Oporto filigrees are characteristic and 
unique. Gold ornaments are greatly prized by the people, who show their 
wealth by the amount of jewelry they wear on fete days. 

Commerce consists, principally, in the export of wines, cork, fresh 
and tinned fish, copper, and fruit ; and the import of cereals, cotton, 
wool, machinery, iron, coal, and sugar. Most trade is done with the 
United Kingdom, France, Germany, Brazil, the United States, and Spain. 
Traffic is carried on principally by means of a main 
railway line, which connects Faro, the most southern 
town of Portugal, with Valenga do Minho in the 
extreme north, passing through Lisbon, the centre of 
the railway system. From this main line others 
branch off along the valleys of the Tagus and the 
Douro, and to all the principal towns of Portugal. 

Political Divisions. — Portugal comprises, be- 
sides her colonies, the “ adjacent islands” of the 
Azores and the Madeira Archipelago forming part 
of the kingdom of Portugal proper. Formerly the 
administrative division consisted of eight provinces named from north to 
south Minho, Traz-os-Montes, Douro, Beira Alta, Beira Baixa, Estremadura, 
Alemtejo, and Algarve; and this division is still generally used. The present 
administrative divisions are 17 districts, most of which are subdivisions of 
the provinces, made with regard to equality in the population and wealth 
of the locality and hence they vary much in size. The districts are divided 
on the same principle into concelhos , or municipalities, and these again 
subdivided into freguezias, or parishes. 

Lisbon , the national capital, is built on the right bank of the Tagus ; 
crowned by hills and robed with white buildings, it offers the traveller 
superb views, not only of the majestic Tagus but also of the surrounding 
country, covered with plantations and parks, spread over the sides of the 
encircling hills. In the neighbourhood of Lisbon is the picturesque 
Cintra, loved by Byron, with its castle rising on the mountain crags ; 
Mafra, the monumental town renowned for its monastery, seen from the 
ocean in front of a forest ; Cascaes and Estoril on the coast are two favourite 
bathing resorts. Estoril is also a first-class winter station, owing to its 
uniformly mild climate. Lisbon is the seat of the Government and Court, 


♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦ ♦ 


FIG. 206 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of Portugal. 


384 The Internationa] Geography 

and also the first commercial port of the country, and the only naval 
arsenal. Oporto is situated on the Douro, where the railway crosses by a 
monumental bridge. It is an active and important commercial centre, 
where the most important port wine trade is carried on. Oporto is a 
lovely city with splendid views, and fine public buildings. Setubal, at the 
mouth of the Sado, is the third port in rank. 

The Adjacent Islands. — The Azores Archipelago lies between the 
parallels 37 0 and 40° N., and the meridians of 25 0 and 31 0 W., at a distance 
of 740 miles from Lisbon. It is made up of three groups of islands : 
the eastern, comprising S. Miguel (the largest), Santa Maria and the islet 
of Formigas; the central consisting of Terceira, Graciosa, S. Jorge, Pico,, 
and Fayal ; and the western of the two islands, Flores and Corvo (the 
smallest of the Azores). The most notable mountain peaks are Pico 
(8,530 feet) and Pico de Vara in S. Miguel, with an altitude of 5,578 feet. 
In S. Miguel is the curious volcano crater, named Lagoa das Sete Cidades 
(Lake of the Seven Cities), containing four lagoons. The geological 
constitution of the Azores is volcanic. The climate is mild and temperate. 

The Azores produce pineapples,, 
oranges, cereals, and wine. Many 
cattle are kept and the chief in- 
dustries are the making of butter,, 
cheese, and alcohol. Commerce is 
carried on principally with the 
United States, the United Kingdom,, 
and the European Continent. The 
Azores are divided into three ad- 
ministrative districts : Ponta Delgada, with seven concelhos ; Angra do- 
Heroismo with five, and Horta with six. 

The Madeira Archipelago, about 33 0 N. and 71 0 W., includes, besides the 
island of the same name, the Islands of Porto Santo, Desertas, Bujio, and 
Selvagens. The capital is Funchal, which is also the seat of the district 
government and a stopping-place for passenger steamers between 
European ports and South Africa. The highest peak in Madeira is Pico 
Ruivo (6,568 feet), and in Porto Santo, Funcho (1,817 feet). The soil is 
volcanic. The climate is undoubtedly one of the best in the world,, 
enjoying a universal reputation and much recommended to sufferers 
from chest complaints. The principal products are wine, superior to> 
sherry, sugar-cane and cereals. There are many cattle. Industry is 
represented advantageously by articles of inlaid wood, cane (chairs, 
sofas, baskets), lace, embroideries, and straw hats. 

Colonies. — Portugal still stands high amongst the colonial Powers so< 
far as extent of territory is concerned. For centuries the chief European 
nation holding African territory, Portugal retains the Cape Verde Islands,, 
part of Guinea, the islands of San Thome and Principe, and the very 
important territories of Angola in West Africa and Mozambique in East 
Africa. There are also some less valuable possessions in Asia. 



Portugal 



STATISTICS. 


Area of continental Portugal, square miles 

Population 

Density of population, per square mile 
Population of Lisbon (Lisboa) 

„ Oporto (Porto) 

„ Braga 

„ Setubal 

„ Coimbra 

Area of Adjacent Islands, in square miles . . 

Population 

Density of population, per square mile 

Population oi Funchal 

„ Ponta Delgada 


1878. 


1890. 


1900. 

34,345 


34,345 


34,345 

4 ,i 6 o> 3 I 5 


4,660,095 


5,428,629 

121 


135 


158 

242,297 


301,206 


357 ,ooo 

105,838 


138,860 


172,421 

19,755 


23,089 


24,309 

14,798 


17,581 


21,819 

13,369 


16,985 


18,424 

(?)926 


(?)926 


( 7)926 

390,384 


389,634 


407,002 

(?) 42 I 


(?)420 


439 

19,752 


18,778 


(?)22,000 

17,635 


16,767 


17,675 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 


Imports • • • • • • •• •• 

Exports 

1871-75. 

6,875-000 

5,142,000 

1881-85. 
. . 8,040,000 

.. 5,100,000 

1891-95. 

8.875.000 

7.625.000 

PORTUGUESE COLONIES IN 1896. 


Cape Verde Islands 

Portuguese Guinea and Islands 

Angola 

Portuguese East Africa 

Portuguese Possessions in India 

Timor, Macao, &c. 

• 


Area in sq. miles. 

Population. 

114.000 

845.000 

4.119.000 

3.120.000 

572.000 

379.000 

Total Portuguese Possessions 



9,217,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Ibanez. “ Resena geografica y estadistica de Espana.” Madrid, 1888. 

Tb. Fischer. “ Die Iberische Halbinsel. Kirchhoff’s Landerkunde von Europa." Bd. ii. 
Leipzig, 1893. 

L. Williams. “ The Land of the Dons.” London, 1902. 


CHAPTER XXII.— THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 


By D. Aitoff. 1 

I.— GENERAL 

The Russian Empire in General. — Upon a terrestrial globe the 
Russian Empire appears in the form of a rectangle twice as long as it is 
broad (Fig. 208). Two sides are washed by the sea, the Baltic with its 
three gulfs, the Arctic Sea on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the 
east. The southern side is marked by mountains and steppes, the Turko- 
man Steppe, Alai-tagh, Tian Shan, Tarbagatai, Sailugem, Sayan, Yablonovyi 
Khrebet, Khingan, Sikhota-alin. The fourth side is open towards Europe, 
and is bounded by arbitrary lines which, for a certain distance, follow the 
slopes of the Carpathians, separating Russia from the Austro-Hungarian 
Monarchy ; but further to the north a purely artificial frontier winds across 
the northern plain of Europe. Within these limits the Russian Empire 
occupies in one continuous expanse one-twenty-second part of the 
surface of the Earth, or one-sixth of the land of the globe. 

In Russia, more than other parts 
of the globe, the geographical and 
historical evolution of the country 
has been guided by the configu- 
ration of the land. The plain which 
stretches from the western confines 
of the empire to the Pacific pre- 
sents no physical obstacle in any 

part to the expansion of Russia. In 
Fig. 208 . — The Russian Empire from a globe . . ... , , , , 

past ages it has served as the route 

for the nomadic peoples who descended from the high plateaux of Asia 
and swept onwards to conquer Europe or to dwell in its unoccupied 
territories. Later, the Slavs who settled in what is now Russia formed a 
bulwark to western Europe, and stopped the invasions of the Asiatic 
hordes which made their homes in the south of the country. The 
Mongols, having made themselves masters of all the Slavonic principalities, 
served as a sort of cement to bind together these disunited States, and 
thus helped forward the formation of a country which two centuries later 
became strong enough to drive them out. For several subsequent cen- 
turies the Russian plain was the theatre of the wars of the Muscovite 
State, by which the Asiatic hordes were conquered and the dying power 

1 Translated from the French by the Editor. 

386 



Russian Empire — General 387 

of Poland extinguished. Finally, it was in the Russian plain and not in 
Brabant that the empire of Napoleon was shattered. 

While most of the rivers of Europe take their rise in the mountains, the 
largest streams of European Russia have their source in the moderate 
elevation of the Valdai hills, the height of which scarcely exceeds 1,000 
feet. From this region the rivers flow to the Baltic, the Arctic Sea, the 
Black Sea, and the Caspian. By a singular and happy chance the rivers 
which traverse the Russian plain spread through the country like the 
arterial or venous system of an organised body. The Volga, the Dnieper, 
the Duna, and the Niemen rise close together and diverge to the furthest 
limits of the country ; and some rivers such as the Don and the Volga, 
born in distant regions, approach until they almost touch and, although no 
apparent obstacle prevents their meeting, separate again to fall into 
different seas. Again, the Dnieper, the Bug, and the Dniester, coming 
from distant sources, converge to what may be termed a single estuary. 

The Russian plain, no part of which exceeds 1,150 feet in height, 
naturally forms a single climatic region ; atmospheric disturbance can be 
propagated over the surface without encountering any obstacles from the 
border of the White Sea to that of the Black, and from the plains of 
Bessarabia to those of the Pechora. The winds which blow from the 
Arctic Sea reach unchecked the borders of the Euxine, and conversely the 
influence of the southern breezes is felt along the slopes of the Ural and 
upon the shores of the Polar waters. It is true that the mean temperature 
varies very considerably from north to south ; in some parts of the north 
it is even colder in summer than it is in winter in more favoured spots ; 
but the transition between the various climates is so gentle as to be 
imperceptible. 

The Russian Empire and the Russian People. — It was in this 
plain, and at first in the very region where its great rivers rise, that the 
Muscovite kingdom had its origin, grew, and strengthened until it became 
the Russian Empire, which originally an Asiatic power in Europe is now a 
European power in Asia. The dominant character of the region which 
has given birth to Russia is monotony : one land, one climate, one flora, 
one fauna, one race. In its growth the Russian Empire has come in 
contact with countries of an entirely different type, and has incorporated 
them so that now it possesses every variety of surface and scenery. Like 
Palestine with the Dead Sea, Holland with its polders, and the United 
States with Death Valley, Russia contains an area of depression, that of 
the Caspian, larger than all the other sunk plains in the world put together. 
While the mountain chain of the Tian Shan must cede the supremacy to the 
Himalayas and the Andes, yet the peak of Khan Tengri exceeds 24,000 feet, 
an altitude equal to that of the culminating summit of the Carpathians added 
to the giant of the Alps. Even at the doors of Europe, Elbruz, Kazbek, and 
several other summits of the Caucasus exceed 16,500 feet. In the south, 
steppes more extensive than all the savannas and prairies of America ; in 


388 The International Geography 

the north, vast tundras, on which the hold of frost never relaxes ; in the 
north-west, a lake region, smaller indeed than those of America or of 
Africa, but yet of great size ; here a region of black earth of extraordinary 
fertility, there solitudes greater and less known than those of the far west 
of America or the centre of Australia ; finally, from the Crimea to Kam- 
chatka a belt of wild and picturesque mountain chains. Such are the 
varieties of land and scenery within the Russian Empire. Striking as 
these diversities are, they are paralleled by those of the inhabitants of the 
empire. Just as the central plain is surrounded by regions of the greatest 
variety, so the people of the Great Russian branch of the Slav race are 
surrounded by a number of races incomparably greater than in any 
other country of the world. These include Slavs of the Polish branch, 
Jews, Tatars, more than thirty different races in the Caucasus alone, 
Kalmuks, Turkomans, Tunguses, Yakuts, Koryaks, Samoyeds, Ostyaks, 
Voguls, Finns, and many others. From the point of view of religion, 
beside the great body of members of the Orthodox Greek Church, there 
live believers in all creeds and in none — Freethinkers, various sectaries of 
the Greek Church, Protestants, Roman Catholics, Moslems, followers 
of the Jewish persuasion, who are not all Semites, Buddhists, Brah- 
manists, and Fetish worshippers, or simple Pagans. Russia is no less 
varied when considered from the moral and intellectual standpoint. Side 
by side with the absolutism of the Government is the independent 
spirit of the moral leaders of Russian society ; custom has an almost 
Asiatic power, yet there is an entire want of tradition ; obligatory 
membership of the all-powerful Orthodox Church is confronted with the 
utter Atheism of the intellectual and with hundreds of different sects, some 
ritualistic, some rationalistic : such is “ the Russian people.” 

Natural Divisions of the Russian Empire. — The central nucleus 
of European Russia is a slightly undulated plain rising to a moderate 
elevation somewhat to the north-west of its geometrical centre, and giving 
rise to all the great rivers of the country. It is the river system which 
distinguishes this plain from all others. In the north-west the Lake Region 
is unique in the complex mingling of land and water. In the south-west 
there is a region very distinct in its natural characteristics, but without a 
special name ; it might be termed Transdnieperia (from the Russian point 
of view), or Carpathia. In the south, separated from the Russian plain by 
lowlands or even sunk plains, comes the great chain of the Caucasus , with 
its western prolongation, the Crimea , and its eastern termination in the 
highlands of Transcaspia. In Asia two varieties of steppe are to be 
distinguished, the high and the low, the latter sometimes sinking below 
the level of the sea, the former rising to elevations of many thousand feet ; 
but both presenting the same characteristics of land surface, climate, flora, 
and fauna. The vast territory of Siberia sloping wholly towards the north, 
furrowed by its immense but useless rivers and with a rigorous climate, 
supports upon an area greater than all Europe no more inhabitants than 


Russian Empire — Configuration 389 

dwell in the single town of London. The last of the varied natural 
divisions of the Russian Empire is the mountainous land of the Transhaikal 
Province and the Pacific slope. Each of these regions is remarkable for the 
unity of its geographical features, and each will be described in the order 
given above without special reference to administrative subdivisions, the 
boundaries of which have no relations to natural features. 

II.— CONFIGURATION 

Central Russia. — The natural region of Central Russia is bounded 
on the north-west by the Lake Region ; on the west its limit is the depres- 
sion which runs from the Black Sea to the mouth of the Oder by the 
valleys of the Dnieper and the Pripet and the plains of the Vistula ; on the 
south it is bordered by the low steppes and the depressions which mark 
off the Caucasus ; and 
on the east by the 
steppes between the 
Volga and Ural, the 
Obshchii Syrt, and 
the chain of the Ural, 
while further north 
it merges without a 
break into European 
Siberia. 

A gentle elevation 
of the surface defined 
by the contour line of 
170 metres (say 600 
feet) extends from the 
bend of the Mologa 
in 58° N. in a south- 
south-easterly direction to Kharkov in 50° N. It culminates in the Valdai 
hills at an elevation of 1,150 feet. A second smaller “ island” of high 
ground extends from north to south along the right bank of the Volga 
from Kazan in 56° N. to Kamyshin in 50° N. A third and smaller 
“ island ” of the same elevation lies to the south of the Donets, a 
tributary of the Don. If we consider the central mass of Russia as 
bounded by a lower contour line (that of 425 feet), a western projection 
will be observed occupying the whole space between the Pripet on the 
south, the Duna on the north, and the meridian of Dvinsk on the west. 
The top of the entire region in which the principal rivers rise is a land of 
swamps, and appears to be an almost dead level. All the great rivers of 
Central Russia have arrived at a state of mature adjustment to the land, 
having drained their ancient lakes and established their individuality as 
river systems. They carry an enormous volume of water, although com- 



FlG. 209 . — Central Russia — Area above 600 feet in 
elevation shown in black. 


390 The International Geography 

pared with its area, Russia is traversed by a much smaller volume of 
running water than western Europe. 

The Volga. — The Volga is the first of Russian rivers ; it is the longest 
and has the largest volume of water in all Europe. Rising in a peat moss 
the little stream flows through a series of lakes, and on leaving Lake Volgo 
it is a considerable river with a volume of from no to 1,320 cubic feet per 
second, according to the season. Its first important tributary is the 
Selizharovka, which flows from the lake of Seliger, and at the confluence 
of these two rivers, which are of almost equal volume, the true course of 
the Volga may be said to commence. The tributaries on the left bank 
flow from the low watersheds which separate the Volga from the river 
systems of the Baltic and the White Seas. At Nizhnii-Novgorod it unites 
with the Oka, a river of equal size, but much greater historical importance. 
The Oka was long the frontier between the Tatars and the Slavs, and it 
flows through the very centre of the European Russia of to-day ; from its 
source in the Black Earth region it waters the most fertile part of Great 
Russia along a course of 970 miles, and where it enters the Volga it is 
almost a mile in width. About 60 miles below the point where the Volga 
turns to a southerly direction, it receives on the left bank the Kama, which 
brings in the drainage of a region larger than the United Kingdom. The 
Kama and the Volga are nearly equal in volume, but the water has a 
different colour, that of the upper Volga being grey, and of the Kama 
yellow. The united river flows on in the direction of the great tributary as 
far as Simbirsk, where the volume of the stream is as great as it is at its 
mouth. Below Simbirsk the Volga closely follows the base of a calcareous 
plateau which causes it to make a sharp bend at Samara. In its lower 
course the great river divides into several branches, the most westerly of 
which retains the name of Volga and the most easterly is called Akhtuba. 
Between Simbirsk and Samara the banks of the Volga are very picturesque, 
the hills of the right bank rising abruptly for more than 300 feet above the 
water, present indeed an almost mountainous appearance. The Belyi 
Klyuch, south-west of Syzran, rises to 1,100 feet above the average level of 
the river, and other summits reach 600 or 800 feet, forming imposing 
heights compared with the almost imperceptible swellings which ripple 
the surface of Central Russia. The uniform low level plain which lines 
the left bank presents the most striking contrast. 

The Western Rivers of Central Russia. — While the Volga is the 
greatest of Russian rivers, the u Mother Volga ” of the Great Russians, the 
Dnieper in its own region is no less honoured ; the Little Russians call it 
“ Father Dnieper.” It rises only 50 miles from the source of the Volga, 
and although shorter (1,330 miles), its drainage area is as large as France. 
The Dnieper receives few tributaries in its upper course as far as Smolensk 
and Mohilev, but below Rogachev it receives successively three great 
tributaries, the Berezina, the Pripet, which traverses a region of swamps, 
now in large measure drained and converted into meadows, and the Desna. 


Russian Empire — Configuration 391 

Below the confluence of the Desna the left bank of the Dnieper is every- 
where low, while the right bank rises in cliffs to the height of 300 and 400 
feet ; and the course of the stream is obstructed by rapids ( poroghi ), which 
were mentioned by the early Byzantine chroniclers. 

The third river which flows from the central plateau is the Duna, or 
Western Dvina, which is the great river of the White Russians and 
Lithuanians. Originating as the outflow of Lake Okhvat, only 12 miles 
from Lake Volgo, the Duna flows to the south-west as far as Vitebsk, and 
then, turning at right angles, it flows north-westwards to its mouth in the 
Gulf of Riga. It has no tributaries of any importance, and its banks are 
low and marshy. The Velikaya, the Lovat, and the Msta belong by their 
mouths to the Lake Region, and the Sukhona, the main branch of the 
Northern Dvina, will be described in the section on Siberia. 

The Vistula is essentially a Polish river. It enters Russia as a consider- 
able stream, navigable by large vessels from the confluence of the San, 
and leaves it as a majestic river carrying a volume of at least 8,000 cubic 
feet per second to the Baltic. It receives no tributaries beyond the 
frontier, its most important affluents being the united Bug and Narev. 

The Don and its upper tributaries rise in the central swelling of the 
Russian plain, which also gives origin to the Volga, the Dnieper, and the 
Duna. It is one of the largest rivers in Europe, having a breadth in some 
places of 18 miles during the spring floods, although the droughts of 
summer reduce its volume to such a degree that navigation is very difficult 
even for light-draught vessels on account of the shallowness of the channels 
and the number of sand-banks ; some of the tributaries dry up completely. 
The largest tributary is the Little Don, or Donets , which was navigable 
down to the seventeenth century, but has since been reduced in volume 
on account of the destruction of the forests which covered vast areas of 
southern Russia. Now navigation is possible only in the lower course of 
the river when it is in flood. The basin of the Donets is commercially 
important on account of its coal-mines, which are worked here and there 
over an area of 9,000 square miles. 

South-Western Russia. — This region, which we suggest might be 
named Carpathian extends on the north to the low plains of the Vistula 
and Pripet, on the east to the valley of the Dnieper, while on the west it 
is prolonged into Austria-Hungary and Rumania as far as and beyond the 
Carpathians and the Transylvanian Alps. Elisee Reclus says of it : “From 
the geological point of view the depression which joins the Black Sea and 
the Baltic through the valleys of the Dnieper and the Oder separates two 
different worlds ; on each side everything is unlike : the outline of the 
contours, relief of the land-forms, and the folding of the strata. On the west 
[the author should have said on the south] the land is the result of frequent 
and complicated geological changes ; on the east it bears the impress of 
slow and regular oscillations.” The culminating point of this district, cut 
up here and there into superb escarpments and beautifully diversified by 


392 The International Geography 

forests, is in Poland, where the St. Catherine beacon on the Bald Mountain 
(. Lysa Gora) reaches a height of 2,003 feet > and in Russian territory the 
Castle of Kremenets reaches 1,309 feet. The rivers of this region are the 
Bug, the Dniester, and the Pruth, a tributary of the Danube. The Dniester 
is the largest, rising in the forest region and crossing the land of the black 
earth and the bare steppes to the south of it ; and although it is one of the 
most tortuous rivers on the surface of the Earth its bed is very deeply cut 
into the strata across which it flows. 

The Lake Region. — The region of the northern lakes includes 
Finland and the Russian governments of Olonets, Novgorod, St. Peters- 
burg, and Pskov. The fact that the government of Novgorod alone 
contains 3,200 separate lakes and that of Olonets 2,000, is sufficient justifi- 
cation for the name. The parts not occupied by sheets of water or by 
marshes consist of isthmuses and peninsulas ; the lakes, as a rule, com- 
municate with one another. The highest part of this region is in the north, 
where some summits exceed 3,000 feet. Southern Finland and the 
Russian part of the region contain no mountainous elevations, the highest 
hills being rounded knolls worn by the action of the ancient ice-sheet. No 
other part of Europe abounds in erratic blocks to such an extent as 
Finland, and many of these are so large that the peasants build houses 
in their shelter. The ancient glaciers have left the marks of their 
passage deeply engraved on the surface of the land, and the general forms 
of the country are everywhere due to glaciation. There are few better 
marked land surface features in the world than the parallel valleys which 
descend to the Gulf of Bothnia, both on the Finnish and Swedish sides, and 
the same phenomenon occurs in the interior. In many parts of the country 
the general alignment is of almost geometrical regularity ; hills, lakes, 
marshes, and chains of boulders running parallel to one another from 
north-west to south-east ; and all public works, embankments, cuttings, 
lines of communication, even the streets of villages and of towns have 
necessarily to follow the same direction. The whole of Finland is sprinkled 
with lakes, lagoons, and marshes ; the lakes, indeed, forming such a laby- 
rinth that it is impossible, without paying the most minute attention, to 
trace the watersheds separating the drainage areas of the Gulfs of Bothnia 
and Finland and of Lake Ladoga, the zone of separation being frequently 
a tract of almost level marsh. Amongst the more important lakes of Finland 
may be mentioned the little-known Enere, Saima, which has been united by 
canal since 1856 with the Gulf of Finland, and Paijanne, which empties by 
the Kymmene Elf into the same gulf. The rivers which unite the lakes 
sometimes spread out to a wide expanse and sometimes form rapids, the 
most celebrated of which is the grand cataract of Imatra in a granite 
gorge which interrupts the course of the Vuoxen. 

The Larger Lakes. — The Russian portion of the Lake Region 
includes 15,500 square miles of water surface. Lake Ladoga vs the chief 
and still the largest lake in European Russia, and fifth in size in all the 


Russian Empire — Configuration 393 

Empire, ranking next to the Caspian, Aral, Baikal and Balkhash. In former 
times its dimensions were much greater, for it formed one basin with the Gulf 
of Finland. From the low southern shore, an almost treeless, boulder-strewn 
region of glacial origin, the lake bed descends by a gentle slope towards 
the depths whence rise the granite cliffs of its northern coast. The average 
depth is estimated at almost 300 feet (50 fathoms), which gives a total 
volume of water nineteen times as great as that of the Lake of Geneva. 
The water is, as a rule, very clear and remains cold at all seasons ; even in 
August the surface temperature scarcely exceeds 54 0 F., and in May it is 
only 36°. Lake Ladoga is frozen over for about 120 days in the year, from 
December to April. Near Valaam Island masses of ice have been 
measured piled up to a height of 75 feet, and presenting from a distance 
the appearance of hills of weathered schist. The gales which frequently 
blow over this lake raise high and confused waves followed by a heavy 
ground swell. Notwithstanding the freezing of the lake its animal life is 
very abundant, including not only fish, but a species of seal which may be 
seen in winter on the edge of the ice cracks. The river Neva, flowing 
from the lake into the Gulf of Finland, has a length of 43 miles, and carries 
a volume of water equal to that of the Rhone and Rhine united. Lake 
Onega is for the most part very deep, and near the centre soundings of 
740 feet (120 fathoms) have been obtained. The northern side of the lake 
forms numerous bays running towards the north-west, and prolonged 
towards Lapland by chains of small lakes and by rivers following the same 
direction and separated by lines of hills between 800 and 1,000 feet in 
height; these features running parallel to those already noted in Finland. 
Lake Onega communicates with the White Sea by a series of lakes and 
rivers, and with the Gulf of Finland by the river Svir, which flows into 
Lake Ladoga. Its tributary, the Vitegra, brings it into connection with 
the Volga system on one side, and with the Mezen on the other. Lake 
Ilmen is really nothing more than a permanent inundation formed by a 
number of rivers which meet at a point whence the outlet is not large 
enough to carry off the whole of the water ; its depth does not exceed 
30 feet, and the waters are almost always muddy. The Volkhov, which 
carries off the overflow of the lake, is the chief affluent of Lake Ladoga, 
and is a muddy river throughout its whole length. The streams which 
meet in Lake Ilmen are the Shelon, Lovat, and the Msta, which places it 
in communication with the Volga. Lake Peipus, the southern branch 
of which is called the Lake of Pskov, has a north-north-west and south- 
south-east direction, like Ladoga and Onega. Its average depth is 
some 30 feet and at the deepest point it only reaches 90 feet, yet it remains 
frozen for a shorter time than the other Russian lakes. It receives the 
Velikaya and the Embakh, which places it in connection with the Gulf of 
Riga, and its own outlet is by the Narova to the Gulf of Finland. 

The Crimea. — The Crimea, which we consider as a prolongation of 
the Caucasus, is placed entirely outside Russia by its geological structure. 


394 The International Geography 

The southern slope of the Yaila Tagh is for the Russians a second Italy as 
far as climate, vegetation, and the appearance of earth and sky can make it 
so. “ Like the Caucasus,” says Elisee Reclus, “ the Crimea is one of those 
districts which has contributed most to develop the love of nature in the 
modern Russians.” The mountain chain which extends along the south- 
east of the Crimea is little more than ioo miles in length, and its culmi- 
nating point has an elevation of 5,060 feet. Although a hundred feet lower, 
the best known of its summits is the Chatyr Dagh, which may be taken as 
an example of a land-form common in this district, a limestone wall cut 
into battlements, which from a distance presents the appearance of a giant 
tent. There are few rivers in the Crimea, the largest of them being the 
Salgir. 

The Caucasus. — As a mountain chain the Caucasus is remarkable for 
the unity of its geographical features and its general orientation, the chain 
running direct from south-east to north-west with only the smallest devia- 
tions. Each end of the chain forms a peninsula, that of Apsheron in the 
Caspian on the east, and that of Taman in the Black Sea on the west. The 
latter is only separated from the peninsula which forms the eastern ter- 
mination of the Crimean range by the narrow Strait of Kerch. The 
peninsula of Apsheron is continued across the Caspian by a series of 
volcanic islands and then by a submarine ridge, and beyond that sea it 
runs eastward as a chain of heights, either mountains, hills, rocks, or the 
scarped edges of plateaux, as far as the valley of the Murghab between Merv 
and Herat. The range of the Caucasus is 750 miles in length, and is 
divided almost exactly half-way between the two seas into two unequal 
parts by a depression through which the great military road passes in the 
Darial defile. At this point the range is only 60 miles wide between the 
northern and the southern plains, while the western Caucasus is twice and 
the eastern two and a half times as wide as the constricted portion which 
divides them. The western Caucasus contains the highest summits ; 
Elbruz, Koshtantau, Dikhtau, and two other peaks surpassing the altitude 
of Mont Blanc. The eastern Caucasus is lower than the western, but 
less uniform, more varied in outline, and the spurs which ramify from 
the central ridge in various directions give rise to a labyrinth of valleys. 
The general relief of the Caucasus is formed almost throughout by two, and 
in some places by three or four, ranges running parallel to one another, or 
only slightly diverging, and connected here and there by knots. The main 
chain may be considered to be that which forms the watershed, although 
in several parts of the system it is not the most elevated, Mount Elbruz, for 
instance, rises to the north of it. From the orographic point of view the 
loftiest summit of the Caucasus is Koshtantau, which rises on the water- 
shed, and is the highest granitic mountain of the range. As a rule the 
southern slope of the Caucasian ranges is much more abrupt than the 
northern. The regularity of structure is as apparent in the great geological 
features as in the general relief, at least upon the northern side. The main 


Russian Empire — Configuration 395 

chain is composed throughout of crystalline schists resting here and there 
on granite, and diminishing in extent from west to east. On both sides of 
the central chain the slopes consist mainly of calcareous and silicious strata 
of different ages, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene; to the north these 
rocks dip under the Pliocene and Recent formations of the steppe. Near 
the middle of the chain, where it is constricted, the high valley of the 
Terek forms a sort of geological gulf in which a great horizontal 
plateau of Tertiary sandstone advances like a peninsula in the midst of 
the Cretaceous strata. Elbruz, the highest summit of the Caucasus, is an 
ancient volcano, and Kazbek is also a trachytic cone. Thermal springs are 
exceedingly abundant. The peaks of the Caucasus, although higher on 
the whole than those of the Alps, are not so heavily enfolded in snow 
and ice. This is due not only to their more southern latitude and other 
climatic conditions, but also to the narrowness of the high ridges and 
the absence of corries in which the snow could accumulate in extensive 
neves. The snow line varies much in its position ; on the western flanks 
of Garibalo it comes down to 8,300 feet, while on the north-west of Great 
Ararat it reaches only to 14,300, and Alagoez, 13,500 feet in height, is 
entirely free from snow in summer. The average height of the snow- 
line is about 2,000 feet higher in the Caucasus than in the Pyrenees 
which occupy the same latitude. 

The plateau of Armenia, separated from the Caucasus by the narrow 
furrow in which the Rion and the Kura flow, is only partly in Russia, and 
may be better described in the general account of Asia. Its highest summit 
is Mount Ararat, where three empires, Russia, Turkey, and Persia, meet. 

The Kuban is the chief river of the Caucasus, with a length of 550 
miles, and next to it rank the Kuma, the Terek, and the Manych. They 
have all a very variable volume ; in spring and in autumn they are swollen 
by the melting of the snow or the fall of rain, and consequently inundate 
the low grounds, but in summer they shrink enormously after leaving the 
mountains, partly on account of evaporation and partly because of the 
quantity of water diverted from them for purposes of irrigation. The 
Kuma terminates in the midst of a reedy swamp sixty miles from the 
Caspian. On the south of the Caucasus the Ingur, Rion, and Chorokh 
flow to the Black Sea, while the Caspian receives the Kura (830 miles), 
with its scarcely less important tributary the Araxes (640 miles). 

The Aralo-Caspian Basin. — There is no general name for the 
region which lies between the Caspian on the west, the plateaux of Persia 
and Afghanistan on the south, and the Pamirs on the east, stretching to the 
Tian Shan and the Tarbagatai on the north-east, to Siberia on the north, 
and merging on the north-west into the steppes which lie between the 
Ural and the Caspian. The three provinces of Syr-daria, Samarcand, 
and Ferghana bear the name of Turkestan. The northern part of the 
region, from an administrative point of view, forms the General Govern- 
ment of the Steppes, and the country between the Amu-daria and the 
27 


39^ The International Geography 

Caspian is termed the Transcaspian district. The whole region is 
made up in almost equal parts of highlands and lowlands ; on one side 
mountains rise to heights of from 20,000 to 23,000 feet, while on the 
other side the surface sinks to the Caspian 85 feet below the level of the 
sea. Notwithstanding this diversity the region presents a remarkable unity, 
especially with regard to climate. In July the temperature ranges between 
68° and 77 0 F. on the average, the temperature of the Cape Verde Islands; 
but in January the average is from 5 0 to 23 0 F., the same as in the heart of 
Canada, in southern Greenland, or in Spitsbergen. The range of extreme 
temperature is no less than 133 0 , from hi 0 F. to — 22 0 . Another general 
characteristic is the progressive dessication of the country. The Syr-daria 
and the Amu-daria were formerly of much larger volume and probably 
united in one stream which flowed to the Caspian. The great lakes, such 
as Lake Balkhash and Lake Aral, have shrunk in their dimensions, those on 
the high plateau have been partly emptied like Issyk-kul, and others have 
completely disappeared. In consequence of this dessication a large part 
of the country, in the mountains as well as on the plains, has assumed the 
character of the steppes. On the Pamirs, in the Tian Shan and the Tar- 

bagatai, every longitudi- 
nal valley and every 
hollow is a steppe, with 
vegetation singularly re- 
stricted both as to number 
of species and the annual 
period of growth which 
is limited to three 
months in the year. 

The Tian Shan, the Alai-tagh, the Alai, and the Trans- Alai, are the 
principal mountain chains of Turkestan, the two latter being the ramparts 
of the Pamirs, which completely separate the two parts of Asia. The 
vastness of the Tian Shan is clearly shown by the accompanying figure 
adapted from the “ Geographic Universelle ” of Elisee Reclus. It includes 
steppes, deserts, half-dried lakes, and salt marshes. The Pamirs, which 
form the meeting-place of the three great empires of Asia, are described in 
the general account of that continent. 

The Steppes. — The steppes which extend through the whole of 
Turkestan and across the river Ural into the interior of Russia form a vast, 
naked land, except during a few weeks of spring and summer, when they 
are clothed as if by enchantment with verdure and flowers. Deserts, pro- 
perly so called, extend over half of the plain of Turkestan between the 
watershed of the Ob and the plateau of Iran ; the most famous is the 
Bek-Pak-Dala, or Hunger steppe. The whole country is sprinkled with 
lakes, with funnel-shaped hollows, and salt marshes side by side with 
lagoons and lakes of fresh water. Of the numerous rivers which formerly 
emptied into Lake Aral two alone now reach it. The Syr-daria (the 



Russian Empire — Configuration 397 

Jaxartes of ancient authors and the Seihun of the Arabs) rises in the heart of 
the Tian Shan. As it flows across the steppe the great river diminishes in 
volume more and more, on account of the abstraction of its water by irri- 
gation canals which change a great part of the barren plain into smiling 
gardens. Between the Syr-daria and the Kara-daria the whole country is 
cultivated, shaded by trees, and musical with running water ; it is the 
most fertile part of Turkestan. Sandy districts lacking the water necessary 
to fertilise them form little deserts here and there, and a zone of sterile 
and uninhabited country stretches along the right bank of the river. The 
most important of the streams which flow towards the Syr-daria, but dry 
up without reaching it, is the Chu. 

The Amu-daria (the Oxus of the ancients and the Jihun of the Arabs), 
more than 1,550 miles in length, is formed by two rivers, the Aksu, which 
is probably the more important, and another issuing from Lake Victoria on 
the Pamirs, which was discovered by Wood in 1838. The Surghab, fed by 
the snows of the Trans-Alai, joins the river lower down ; beyond that the 
Oxus escaping from the gorges of the outer heights of the Pamirs only 
receives tributaries of minor importance. Below the tributaries flowing from 
western Badakhshan it does not receive another drop of water from the 
south ; all those rivers, including the Zarafshan, which would naturally 
have flowed to it, are either diverted for irrigation or are drunk up by the 
insatiable sands of the desert. The Murghab, which was formerly a 
tributary of the Amu-daria, is now exhausted in forming the oasis of Merv 
long before it reaches the great river. The changes which the course of 
the Oxus have undergone during the historic period, are among the most 
extraordinary phenomena of physical geography. During the first half of 
the sixteenth century it was one of the feeders of the Caspian ; this 
was indeed only a temporary phenomenon, for since the period of the Greek 
historians it has twice been turned from the Caspian to Lake Aral. In 
Strabo's time the Oxus, “ the largest river of all Asia, with the exception of 
those of India,” fell into the Caspian Sea ; but on the map of Idrisi, the 
Seihun and the Jihun flowed together into Lake Aral. 1 

Very few rivers flow into the Caspian on the Asiatic side. The largest of 
them is the Ural, which is usually considered as the boundary between 
Europe and Asia. It is long, but narrow, and of small depth ; its only 
importance lies in the very considerable fisheries between Uralsk and the 
mouth. The largest lake of the region is usually termed the' Aral Sea ; it 
has an area of more than 23,000 square miles, and is filled with very salt 
water. The next in order of size is Lake Balkhash, which extends for 340 
miles from west to east. Both lakes are very shallow and, like all the sheets 
of water in this region, are diminishing in extent. 

Siberia. — Siberia forms a plain far more extensive than that of 
European Russia. Its special character is the regular slope of its surface 

1 See the author’s reduction of the 70 maps of Idrisi’s Geography in Schrader’s 
Historical Atlas. Paris, Hachette. 


398 The International Geography 

from south to north, as is indicated by the direction of all the Siberian 
rivers. The Tian Shan, Alatau, Tarbagatai, Altai, Sayan mountains, Apple 
Tree (Yablonovyi) chain, and the Dorsal (Stanovoi) chain separate it on the 
south and south-east from Mongolia and the Pacific slope. The nature 
of the land divides Siberia into two parts : Western Siberia, which includes 
the north of Russia in Europe from which the extremity of the Ural range 
scarcely separates it, and Eastern Siberia. West of the Yenisei the country 
is low, covered with rich soil or sheets of water, marshes, and trembling 
meadows. The watershed between the Ob and the Yenisei, for instance, is so 
imperceptible that according to the direction of the wind the water of the 
marshes which compose it flows out sometimes to one river, sometimes to the 
other. The steppe of Baraba, between Omsk and Tomsk, is as flat as the sur- 
face of a lake, and the soil is formed of sand so fine that the inhabitants have 
no idea what a stone is like. Between the Tobol and the Ob the country is 
one huge marsh, impassable in summer except along the margins of the 
rivers which drain off the superfluous moisture of the land in their 
immediate neighbourhood. The only mountain chain of any importance 
west of the Yenisei is the Ural, which runs from north to south along the 
meridian of 6o° E. for 1,500 miles, with a breadth varying from i£ to 100 
miles. It is built up throughout of crystalline rocks covered by regularly 
disposed strata and contrasting with the uniformity of the neighbouring 
plains. In the north and in the south the Ural mountains rise to 5,300 feet, 
but in the centre their elevation is so slight that one crosses the chain 
between Perm and Yekaterinburg without seeing more than some gently 
rounded and hardly recognisable eminences. In spite of its northern 
situation the Ural has no glaciers, the snow-fall being insufficient, on 
account of the dryness of the air, to produce permanent snow fields. It is 
only in some of the deep ravines with a northern exposure that any snow 
remains unmelted during summer. East of the Yenisei the land is diversified 
and stony, with outcrops of solid rock appearing here and there, and it even 
rises into groups of hills which are difficult of access. Mount Makachinga, 
the highest summit north of the Arctic circle, reaches a height of 8,500 feet. 

Pacific Slope. — The mountains which traverse Asiatic Russia from 
south-west to north-east are divided into a series of highlands, plateaux, and 
chains. From the Tian Shan to the Sayan these mountains form the boun- 
dary between the Russian and Chinese empires ; further east, where the 
Russian frontier runs furthest to the north, the highlands, of an average 
altitude of from 6,500 to 10,000 feet, constitute the border chain of the great 
inclined plain of Siberia. From the high plateau of Transbaikalia, bounded 
on the south-west by the Khamar-Daban and the Sokhondo, 9,200 feet high, 
the Apple Tree chain ( Yablonovyi Khrebet ) branches towards the north-east 
but contains no summits of an equal height. From the shores of the Sea of 
Okhotsk the whole eastern region is very diversified, and the forms of the 
land are most abrupt in the neighbourhood of the sea. The edge of the 
Siberian high plain, to which the land rises imperceptibly from the north- 


Russian Empire — Configuration 399 

west, is sharply scarped when seen from the Pacific side, and bears the name 
of the Backbone or Dorsal chain ( Stanovoi Khrebet) which Middendorff 
proposed to call Stanovoi Vodorazdel or Main Divide. This edge, which is 
improperly represented on maps in the form of a mountain chain, is 
really composed of heights, hills, mountains, or plateaux, still little known, 
and winding from the Transbaikal plateaux to Cape Dezhneff (East Cape), a 
distance of 2,500 miles. 

The island of Sakhalin, separated from the mainland by the strait known 
as the Gulf of Tartary, resembles the neighbouring coast of Russian Man- 
churia in its configuration. The mountain chain which borders the west 
coast rises here and there into real peaks of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet in height. 

Finally, the mountains of Kamchatka, although attached to the Stanovoi 
Khrebet, differ from it completely. They are the highest, after the giants of the 
Tian Shan, and are the only mountains in Russian territory which continue 
volcanically active. The highest of the many volcanoes of the peninsula is 
Mount Klyuchev, which attains to within a few feet of the height of Mont 
Blanc. Most of the volcanoes of Kamchatka, ten of which are in full 
activity, are ranged in a single row along the east coast. Although smoking 
continually and sometimes glowing with molten lava, these mountains stand 
clothed in eternal snow and covered with glaciers. 

The great Khingan and the Sikhota-Alin, running from south-west to north- 
east, are two ranges distinct from the other mountains of Asiatic Russia. 

Rivers of the Arctic and Pacific Slopes. — The rivers of Siberia 
are amongst the largest in the world. If we only suppose that half of 
the annual precipitation is carried by them to the sea, the volume of 
the Ob and of the Yenisei must in each case exceed 110,000 cubic feet 
per second, or more than four times that of the Rhone and the Rhine, 
but they vary greatly throughout the year. In winter the frozen surface 
retards the movement of the deeper w r ater, and the small streams are 
completely stopped. The largest rivers of Siberia and the north of 
European Russia are, in Europe, the Northern Dvina and the Pechora, 
and in Asia, going from west to east, the Ob with the Irtysh, the Yenisei, 
the Lena, the Amur, and a dozen other streams which would elsewhere 
be considered great rivers, but appear insignificant in comparison with 
those which have been named. 

At the junction of its two main branches, the Sukhona with the Yug 
and the Vychegda, the breadth of the Northern Dvina is more than two- 
thirds of a mile ; further down, after receiving the Vaga and the Pinega, 
it spreads over a space which varies from two to four miles in breadth 
from bank to bank, and its delta on the White Sea has an area of 440 
square miles. The Pechora and its principal tributaries rise on the slopes 
of the TJral mountains, and the river is larger in every way than the 
Dvina ; its delta on the Arctic Sea having a length of 125 miles. 

The Ob and its tributaries drain an area almost equal to that of western 
Europe (ij million square miles). Judged by length and directness of 


400 The International Geography 

course, the Irtysh and not the Ob is the main river of this system. It rises 
in Mongolia, where at first it bears the name of Urungu and later Ulyungur, 
and it is only where it leaves Lake Zaisan that it receives the name of 
Irtysh, which it bears to 6o° N. The Ob and the Irtysh are navigable 
throughout almost their whole length ; in summer all the large tributaries 
and, during the spring floods, several of the second rank admit of the 
passage of barges and light-draught steamers ; the whole navigable distance 
of the Ob and its tributaries together exceeds 9,000 miles. At its mouth, 
on the Kara Sea, the Ob is more than five miles wide and has a depth of 
from five to fifteen fathoms. 

The Yenisei, like the Ob, is shorter than its chief tributary, which rises 
in Mongolia where its principal branch is called the Selenga ; it flows into 
Lake Baikal, whence it escapes under the name of the Upper Tunguska or 
Angara. The Yenisei itself is formed by the junction of the Ulu-Kem and 
the Bei-Kem in a corry of the mountain range which continues the Sayan 
range on the east, then after escaping from its high mountain basin by a 
succession of defiles cutting across the parallel ridges of the Sayan, it 
flows straight northward to the Arctic Sea. The chief tributaries of the 
Yenisei come from the east. The most northern of these is the Lower 
Tunguska, which places the basin of the Yenisei in communication 
with that of the Lena. The tributaries on the left bank, all of which 
are comparatively short and insignificant, give access to the basin of the 
Ob. The Yenisei enters the Arctic Sea at the head of the long Gulf of 
Yenisei, which is separated from that of the Ob by a low and compara- 
tively narrow peninsula. 

The Lena rises about 30 miles from Lake Baikal ; it is the largest river 
of Eastern Siberia, and lies wholly within the Russian Empire. In its upper 
course the scenery is very picturesque. The only tributary of any 
importance which it receives on the left bank is the Vilyui ; but on 
the right from the Vitim plateau, the Olekma and the ample Aldan 
double the volume of the upper Lena. From the confluence of the latter 
stream the bed of the Lena has a breadth of from four to five miles from 
bank to bank, and in some places the river expands into lake-like reaches. 
Unlike the Ob and the Yenisei, the Lena enters the Arctic Sea by numerous 
branches which form an immense delta. 

The Amur, formed by the union of the Shilka and the Argun, flows at 
first in the same direction as the upper Lena, then from the confluence of 
the two branches to its mouth it describes a semicircle of almost 
geometrical exactness. Few rivers have to traverse a country so broken 
with mountain ranges, the most important of which are the Great and the 
Little Khingan. Being as large as any of the three great northern rivers of 
northern Siberia the eastward course of the Amur gives it a special 
importance for the expansion of Russian colonisation towards the Pacific, 
and it is by the valley of a southern tributary, the Ussuri, that Vladivostok 
is reached. 


Russian Empire — Climate 


401 


Lake Baikal is the largest accumulation of fresh water in Asia, and is of 
enormous depth, the soundings in some places exceeding 700 fathoms, the 
average depth of the southern portion being 140 fathoms. 


III. — CLIMATE AND ANTHROPOGEOGRAPHY 

Climate of the Russian Empire. — In the first part of this 
description of the Russian Empire a simple statement of facts could alone 
be made without any attempt at explanation in the present state of our 
knowledge, but in what follows it is possible to explain the various 
distributions by reference to the configuration of the country, and, indeed, 
they might be deduced a priori. The whole Russian Empire, in one 
continuous mass, lies between the parallels of 35 0 and 75 0 N., and is most 
elevated in the south. Consequently the average temperature of winter 
must be low, and indeed in almost all parts of the country it is below 
the freezing point. All the rivers are 
frozen and the ground in most parts is 
covered by snow for several months, the 
only exceptions being some districts in the 
south. Russia is essentially continental in 
character ; the ratio between the extent of 
its coast-line and its area is remarkably 
small, and the greatest stretch of coast is 
that which borders the icy Arctic Sea ; 
from west to east there is not a single ele- 
vation to break the force of the polar 
winds, on the contrary, great mountain 
masses ranged along the southern frontier 
bar the way against any warm breezes from 
the tropics. Thus the climate of every 

region, indeed, of every town in the Russian Empire is more rigorous and 
more extreme as one goes from west to east, and all are more severe than 
in the regions and towns of western Europe situated in the same latitudes. 
The diagram of the mean annual temperature for Asia (Fig. 228) shows this 
clearly by the isotherms forming a constant angle with the meridians in 
almost all places and for all temperatures. The form of the winter 
isotherms is most interesting and suggestive from this point of view. 
The diagram shows how sharply the isotherms of winter bend to the south 
as they approach the interior of the continent. Orenburg, for example, 
has the same temperature as Arkhangelsk, which is 13 0 further north. 
Although fourteen-fifteenths of the vast solitudes of Siberia are as unknown 
from the climatic point of view as from any other, yet observations which 
have been made on the shores of the Lena and the Yana point to the 
existence of the pole of cold at Verkhoyansk (see Fig. 95), which is 
not quite so near the pole as is Bodo. The isotherms of summer, on 



Fig. 2 1 i . — Rainfall and Temperature 
of Moscow and Sevastopol . 


402 The International Geography 

the contrary, run, on the whole, from west to east, inclining slightly 
towards the north, except on the Pacific coast, where they turn sharply 
southwards ; thus in summer Yakutsk has the same temperature as Moscow, 
although it is 6° further north. In a similar manner the lines of equal 
atmosphere precipitation and of equal humidity of the air incline towards 
the south as they run from west to east, the rainfall being least in the 
interior. Atmospheric disturbances propagate themselves with remarkable 
rapidity over the almost unbroken plain of the empire ; but the prevailing 
winds are different in each part of the country. In winter the cold dense 
air accumulates in eastern Siberia in the sort of hollow through which the 
Lena flows ; the sky is always clear, the weather calm and still, and in 
some parts of the region snow falls so rarely that it is impossible to use 
sledges during much of the winter. An opposite effect is produced in 
summer ; the same part of Siberia over which the barometer indicates the 
greatest pressure in winter has then the lowest pressure found in any 
continent, and thus, speaking generally, it is this part of Russia that is 
the centre from which th^ winds blow outwards in all directions in 
winter, and towards which they blow inwards from all directions in 
summer. 

Flora. — The climate explains the flora, which in turn renders visible • 
and defines the zones of climate. Along the margin of the Arctic Sea 
there are great stretches of marshy land, the bare ground of which only 
bears mosses, lichens, and little shrubs so stunted that they are no higher 
than the grass of a meadow ; this is the zone of the Tundra. To the south 
it is bordered by a region of Low Forests , in which birch, larch and silver 
fir grow vigorously enough to merit the name of trees. Still further south 
Forests of splendidly grown trees cover almost the whole country ; they 
include birch and conifers of many kinds, and here and there the clearings 
are cultivated. The region of deciduous forests, including the greater part 
of Central Russia, is that in which agriculture is most energetically carried 
on, the crops including rye, flax, and hemp, the principal commodities of 
Russia. The Black Earth Region is a broad zone which extends from the 
valley of the Dnieper to the base of the Urals, and here wheat, fruit trees, 
and rich grass bring prosperity to the country ; while south of the barren 
Steppes , the valley bottoms, the margin of the Black Sea, Bessarabia, and 
the Crimea, form a Southern Zone, where maize and the vine flourish. 
In the Trans-Caucasus, and in the south of the Crimea, where the winter 
temperature does not fall below the freezing point (Fig. 211), the olive 
ripens and even cotton may be grown. 

The boundaries of the various zones of vegetation run on the whole 
from north-west to south-east ; for instance, the northern limit of wheat is 
north of 6o° N. in Finland, while on the Pacific coast it is south of 50°. A 
glance at the map of summer temperature (Fig. 230) explains how in the 
southern zone it is possible to cultivate certain Algerian vegetables which 
only require great heat in summer, while the map of winter temperature 


Russian Empire — People 403 

(Fig. 229) explains the absence of fruit trees in the eastern division of the 
same zone. The forests of European Russia occupy 450 million acres ; 
the timber which predominates in the north is pine and fir, mixed with 
larch and cedar, in the east, and with birch, aspen, and alder in the west. 
In the centre of Russia the commonest trees are the oak, the maple, the 
ash, and the lime. The area of woodland is diminishing with alarming 
rapidity ; in some parts of the country which were densely wooded at the 
commencement of the nineteenth century, only a few trees are now pre- 
served in gardens as a rarity. The destruction of forests increases the 
dryness of the climate, and the lakes and rivers are beginning to lose more 
by evaporation than they receive from rain, and some waterways which 
were formerly navigable are so no longer. 

Fauna. — The fauna of the different parts of Russia is controlled by 
the land-forms, the climate, and the flora. The Polar bear, the Arctic fox, 
seals, and reindeer, such birds as the Polar wild goose, and fish like the 
cod, salmon, and trout, inhabit the land and waters within the Arctic 
circle. The forest region and the Urals shelter the stag, the weasel, fox, 
hare, bear, and wolf, as well as the lynx and the elk, which are disappear ^ 
ing ; the wild boar only lives in the basin of the Duna, and the beaver is 
found only in the government of Minsk. The birds include the grouse, 
partridge, and the hazel hen, while the Salmonidas and the Coregoni are 
characteristic fishes. The country bordering the steppe contains most of 
the carnivora of the forest belt, and in addition squirrels, foxes, and hares 
greatly abound, but the most characteristic animals are the suslik and the 
baibakj which ravage the corn-fields. Birds are less numerous than in the 
forests. The fish include carp, silures, and sturgeon, and the sterlet of the 
Volga is justly famed for its caviare. What has been said of the fauna of 
European Russia applies equally to the fauna of Siberia, the Ural mountains 
interposing no barrier to the movement of species. The only difference is 
that the Siberian species are larger in size than those of European Russia, 
and the fur-yielding animals are very important. In the east and south a 
tiger may occasionally be met with, and on the Pamirs the Ovis Poli, or 
great mountain sheep, is still abundant. 

Races. — The nucleus of the Russian population is formed by the 
Slavonic branch of the Aryan people, who occupy the most of Russia and 
Poland in compact masses, speaking different dialects. The north-west 
and the north are occupied by the Finns. Scattered amongst the Slavs 
in tribes and families there are many Asiatic races — the Samoyeds, 
Zyrians, and Lapps in the north, and the Kirghiz and Kalmuk hordes in the 
south. The west is occupied by another Aryan race akin to the Slavs, but 
quite distinct, that of the Letto-Lithuanians. The Tatars in the east, and 
the Jews in the south-west, complete the main racial elements of European 
Russia. The Caucasus is occupied by Georgians and other Caucasian 
peoples, Turks, Aryans like the Armenians and Kurds, and Mongol 

Kalmuk tribes. 

28 


404 The International Geography 

Asiatic Russia is the native home of numerous tribes, some scattered 
and others grouped in compact masses : Samoyeds, Tunguses, Yugaghirs, 
Ostyaks, Voguls, Koryaks, Kamchadales, Turks, Tatars, Mongols, Gilyaks, 
and a host of others. 

% 

The Russian Slavs may be distinguished into three distinct groups. 
(1) The White Russians occupy the forest-covered plains which extend 
from the left bank of the Duna to the marshes of the Pripet. (2) The 
Little Russians occupy the vast territory between the Donets, the San, and 
the sources of the Tisza. (3) The Great Russians inhabit the remainder of 
Russia, especially the centre and the north. Generally speaking the Rus- 
sian Slavs differ in appearance from their brethren of Austria and the 
Balkan States. Mixture has taken place chiefly on the borders of the 
various groups ; thus in the north Russians may be met with the flat 

features and high cheek- 
bones of the Finns, and 
in the south the Slavs 
have mixed with the 
Mongols, Turks, and 
Tatars, 

At the commencement 
of written history, about 
900 years ago, the Sla- 
vonic people were not 
numerous in the plains 
of what is now Russia ; 
they occupied scarcely a 
fifth part of the territory, 
all the rest of the country 
belonged to the Lithu- 
anians, the Finns, and 
the various wandering or 
settled tribes which had come from the steppes of Asia. At the pre- 
sent day the change is marvellous ; Russians and other Slavs inhabit 
four-fifths of the empire, and have spread to its furthest limits, in 
Siberia, in Turkestan, and in the Caucasus. Many minglings of diverse 
populations have necessarily taken place during those nine centuries 
of Slavonic expansion throughout the territory occupied by the ancient 
inhabitants. The Great Russians are model colonists ; the habit of 
migration is hereditary with them, their ancestors migrated into the 
Muscovite forests, and the descendants of these pioneers have gone on 
from clearing to clearing, from steppe to steppe, have climbed the slopes 
of the Caucasus and of the Altai, and, descending the Amur, they have 
colonised the shores of the Pacific. 

Population. — According to the first and only census of the Russian 
Empire, which took place on February 7, 1897, the population numbers 



Fig. 212 . — European Russia — density of population. 



Russian Empire — Resources 405 


Fig. 213 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of European 
Russia. 


130 million inhabitants. This figure is exceeded only by the British 
Empire and China. The distribution of population is very unequal, as 
the accompanying map of the population of European Russia clearly 
shows (Fig. 212). While some Russian governments have as many as 
360 inhabitants to the square mile (Petrokow in Poland) others have not so 
much as one inhabitant for four square miles, as in 
the coast province of Siberia. 

Agriculture. — Agriculture occupies nine-tenths 
of the population, and 900 million acres, forming about 
two-thirds of the whole territory, is cultivable land, 
of which 225 million acres consist of the celebrated 
Chernoziom , or black earth, stretching from the Ural 
to the western frontier of the empire ; but on account 
of the slight density of the population only about 240 
million acres are actually cultivated. The chief place 
amongst the products of the soil is taken by cereals, 
and then follow flax, hemp, potatoes, beetroot, and tobacco ; in the southern 
zone, especially in the Crimea, fruit trees are largely grown, and the vine 
is cultivated as far north as the 48th parallel. 

The rearing of cattle acquires considerable importance, especially 
in the grassy steppe land. Sheep are most numerous amongst the 
live stock, followed in order by horned cattle, horses, camels, buffaloes, 
goats and pigs. The fisheries are very productive, especially in the 
Volga, the Ural, and the Siberian rivers. Hunting and the collection of 
furs is the exclusive occupation of the native tribes in the Siberian 
solitudes: 

Mines. — Mining is carried on most extensively in the Urals, the Altai, 
and the Sayan mountains, and in Transbaikalia. The most important 
minerals produced are, in the order of their value, gold, silver, copper 
iron, salt, coal (in the basin of the Donets and the Oka), and petroleum at 

Baku, Kerch, and Taman. Platinum, lead, tin, and 
zinc are found in smaller quantities ; some precious 
stones occur in the Urals and Transbaikalia, and 
marble is quarried in Finland and the Crimea. 

Industries.— Not very long ago all manufactured 
goods were imported into Russia from abroad, or were 
made locally on a small scale, but during the last few 
Fig *14 —Average pop' decades Russia has been making itself more and more 
ulation of a square independent of foreign manufactures. There are now 
mile of Siberia. as man y as IO o,ooo factories and workshops of all 

kinds, most of them being situated in the great centres of population, 
especially St. Petersburg and Moscow, in Poland, and in the mining 
districts ; but six-sevenths of the industrial population work in their 
own houses ( Kusiari ). The first place amongst the industries belongs 

to the distilleries and breweries ; cotton factories and sugar refineries 



406 The International Geography 

come next, and then follow flour mills, brick works, woollen factories, 
iron works, tobacco manufactories, and textile mills for linen and hemp. 

Trade. — The internal commerce of Russia is considerably developed, 
the number of merchants being more than 80,000. Much of the trade is 
still carried on in great fairs, to which people come from far and near ; 
they are held in many of the towns in European Russia, the most cele- 
brated being that of Nizhnii-Novgorod. The navigable rivers of Russia 
are not very extensive compared with the size of the country. European 
Russia does not contain more than 22,000 miles of navigable waterway, or 
one mile for every 90 square miles of area. Since all the rivers are frozen 
during the cold of winter, and much reduced in depth by the dryness of 
summer, navigation upon them is in many cases confined to the period of 
the spring floods. The one advantage which the rivers of Russia present 
from a commercial point of view is their divergence from neighbour- 
ing sources, which facilitates transport from one to another, and the 
construction of canals. The Russian canals are of much commercial impor- 
tance ; the greatest 
of these, as regards 
the traffic carried on 
by it, is the system 
which unites the 
Caspian and the Bal- 
tic by the Volga and 
N eva, the Marie 
canal, those of Tikh- 
vin, and of Vyshnii- 
V o 1 o c h e k . The 
canals uniting the 
Black Sea with the 
Baltic by the Dnieper on the one side, and the Duna, the Nieman and 
the Vistula on the other, are less important, being only available for barges. 
Considering the area of the country, the railway system is not as yet very 
extensive, though growing steadily. The cart roads are generally very 
bad, especially in spring and autumn. Winter is the best season for 
the transport of goods, for then the whole plain of Russia, with its rivers, 
lakes, and marshes, is covered with a uniform pavement of snow, and 
sledging is universal. Foreign trade by land is carried on with western 
Europe, and with the various countries of Asia on the east and south. 
The most important trading towns near the western frontier are the 
ancient Kiyev (Kieff), on the Dnieper, Warsaw, the old capital of Poland, 
on the Vistula, and Vilna. On the Asiatic side the most important centres 
are Orenburg, Troitsk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, and Kyakhta. 

Seaboard and Shipping. — The Russian Empire has 280 square 
miles of area for every mile of coast, and this comparative isolation from 
the sea is increased practically by the fact that the Arctic coast is almost 



Fig. 215 . — The Resources of the Russian Empire. 


Russian Empire — Government 407 

always and everywhere closed by ice ; the seas of Bering, Okhotsk, and of 
Japan, although free for several months of the year, border an uninhabited 
country far removed from all the great centres of population ; near these 
centres the White Sea is only navigable during three months of the year. 
The Baltic is a dangerous sea, and for five months the greater part of the 
coast is blocked by ice ; recent attempts to keep the harbours open by the 
use of ice-breaking steamers have to some extent mitigated this disadvan- 
tage. Finally, the Caspian is enclosed by land, affording no outlet to the 
ocean. The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov alone are nearly always ice-free, 
but the former, though deep and safe for shipping, has few harbours, and the 
latter is too shallow to be useful ; moreover they are both separated from 
the ocean by a series of straits commanded by foreign countries. These 
facts explain the long struggle of Russia to gain a footing on the Baltic, 
which was accomplished under Peter the Great, and the recent tendency to 
expansion towards Constantinople and the Mediterranean on the one hand, 
and towards the Yellow Sea on the other, where Port Arthur and Dalni 
(Ta-lien-wan) were held for a time. The nature of its coasts explains why 
Russia possesses few great seaports. The most important on the Baltic are 
St. Petersburg with Cronstadt, Narva, Revel, Riga, Windau and Libau ; on 
the Black Sea, Odessa, Nikolayev, Kherson, Eupatoria, Theodosia, Kerch, 
Berdyansk, Taganrog, Mariupol, Rostov on the Don, Yeisk and Poti ; on the 
Arctic coast, Arkhangelsk and Alexandrovsk ; on the Caspian, Astrakhan, 
Derbent and Baku, and on the eastern coast the Pacific ports, Vladivostok, 
Port Arthur, and Dalni. 

Government. — The Russian Empire was an absolute autocratic 
monarchy, in which the Emperor or Tsar was the temporal chief of all his 
subjects. He made the laws, declared war and concluded peace in his own 
name, and on his own responsibility. The only dignitaries who took part 
in the legislative powers of the emperor were the eleven Ministers, the Coun- 
cil of State, the Senate, and the Holy Synod. The Council of State ought 
in principle to take cognisance of all laws and of all important measures 
before they are submitted to the sovereign, but it had no right of initiative 
for the preparation of new laws. The “ Directing Seiiate ” created by Peter 
the Great was charged with the registration and publication of the imperial 
ukases, and it also served as the supreme court of appeal in judicial matters. 
The Holy Synod , also instituted by Peter the Great, is presided over by 
the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Novgorod, and is composed of a 
certain number of prelates, while a lay procurator, nominated by the 
Emperor, represents the wishes of the sovereign. In 1905 an elective 
parliament called the Duma was convened by the Emperor, who however 
retains his personal power and legislative initiative. In 1864 the statute 
of territorial institutions had been promulgated, which recognised the elec- 
tive principle in the conduct of business for each government and for 
each district. These local institutions bear the name of Zemstov , and are 
composed of representatives drawn from all classes of society —nobles, 


40 8 The International Geography 

citizens, traders, and peasants. The President of the Zemstvo is almost 
always the marshal of the nobility, and the sittings are very short. The 
governor of the province has the right of suspending any decision of the 
Zemstvo which he considers to be contrary to the laws or to the well- 
being of the State. The municipal institutions are analogous to the 
Zemstvo. The grand-duchy of Finland has preserved some remains of its 
ancient constitution in a national parliament, consisting of four estates — the 
nobles, the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants. The Central Asiatic 
State Bokhara has still nominally its own sovereign, but from 1873 it has 
been practically a Russian dependency. The khanate of Khiva has also 
been under Russian supremacy since 1872. 

Administration of Justice. — The organisation of justice, estab- 
lished in 1864, is justly considered as one of the greatest reforms of the 
Tsar Alexander II. As yet the Russian courts, and especially the juries, 
have shown that clemency which is one of the most conspicuous traits of 
the national character, and have not aspired to the ideal of implacable 
severity which prevails in other countries. In principle the judicial 
power is independent of the administrative ; trials are public, and serious 
cases have to be submitted to assize courts with a jury. In reality, how- 
ever, several offences such as bigamy, resistance to local authorities, and 
malversation of public money, are reserved from the privilege of trial by 
jury ; political crimes, which consist in the spreading of more or less 
advanced ideas, fall under the jurisdiction of special courts, and for some 
years even this semblance of a fair trial has been set aside by a private 
process of the administrative authority which banishes the delinquents or 
the suspects to the north of Russia, or even to Siberia, for periods which 
may extend to as much as ten years. Since 1864 Justices of the Peace had 
been elected by representatives of the Zemstvos, but these were changed 
in 1889 for “ chiefs of the district” ( Uyezdnyi nachalnik) in the country, and 
“ town magistrates ” ( Gorodskoi sudia ) in the towns ; both being nominated 
by the administration. 

Books, magazines, which are very numerous in Russia, and newspapers 
when containing objectionable matter are not, as in all other countries, 
made the subject of investigation in the courts, but are judged privately 
by the Government ; a committee of Ministers has, since 1872, exercised 
a censorship -without appeal on all literary works, and interdicted or 
confiscated those which they considered it undesirable to place before 
the public. Newspapers are subject to the special disability of being 
only supplied to subscribers, the sale of single numbers being prohibited. 

Education. — There are in Russia nine universities and 42 special 
colleges. Secondary instruction is given in the Gymnasia and other 
schools under the charge of the Ministry of Education, as well as in the 
Cadets’ College, which is under the Ministry of War. These institutions 
number in all 900. Elementary education is much neglected ; in European 
Russia there are about 65,000 schools, with rather more than 3 million 


Russian Empire — Towns 


409 



pupils of both sexes, a proportion of one pupil for 34 inhabitants ; in 
the Caucasus there is one pupil for every 50 inhabitants, and in Siberia 
a smaller ratio. The expenditure upon education in 1896 was about 
£ 2 , 600 , 000 , or £1 for 50 inhabitants. In contrast, it may be noted that in 
the United Kingdom, with one-third of the population of the Russian 
Empire, the schools are attended by 5,400,000 
pupils, or one for every seven inhabitants, and the 
government expenditure on primary education is 
£ 9 , 000 , 000 , or more than £1 for every five in- 
habitants. 

Army and Navy. — Military service is uni- 
versal and compulsory ; the period of service in 
the regular army is five years for the illiterate, but FlG2l ^~ TheRussianFla ^ 
reductions are made in proportion to the degree of education of the con- 
scripts. The effective strength of the army on a peace footing is about 
42,000 officers, and more than 1,000,000 men. In case of war Russia can 
place in the field upwards of 4^ millions of men, and more than half a 
million horses. The most important fortresses in European Russia are 
Warsaw, Ivangorod, Novo-Georgievsk, and Brest-Litovsk, forming what 
has been termed the Polish Quadrilateral ; Vilna, Ust Dvinsk (which 
defends Riga), Dvinsk (formerly called Dunaburg), and Vitebsk, between 
the Polish frontier and the Duna ; Bendery and Akkerman, which defend 
south-western Russia. In the Caucasus Alexandropol, Kars, and other 

towns are strongly fortified, and in Asia Samar- 
cand, Tashkent, and Vladivostok may be men- 
tioned, but there are many smaller forts at different 
points on the frontier. 

In the navy the period of active service is 
seven years. The Russian fleet in Europe and 
Asia contains 250 vessels with 38,000 men, and its 
annual cost is about one-fifth that of the army. 
The chief fortified seaports are Sve&borg in Fin- 
land, Cronstadt and Ust Dvinsk on the Baltic, Sevastopol and Nikolayev 
on the Black Sea, Vladivostok and Port Arthur (on Manchurian territory 
leased from China) in Asia. 



Fig. 217 . — The Russian 
Naval Ensign. 


IV.— TOWNS 

The Towns of Russia. — With a few exceptions the towns of Russia 
are hardly more than villages ; the houses are usually of wood or brick, 
and the streets are ill-paved when they are paved at all. In rainy weather 
the foot passengers have to wade through the mud, and in the drought of 
summer they are half blinded with driving dust. The towns contain few 
or no buildings of any interest. In 1897 there were in the Russian Empire 
twenty towns with a population exceeding 100,000, but in addition to 



410 The International Geography 

liese several of the smaller towns ueserve to be mentioned on account of 
specially interesting circumstances. 

St. Petersburg. — St. Petersburg , the modern capital of Russia, ranks 
fifth by population amongst the great towns of Europe. It occupies six 
large and many small islands at the mouth of the Neva, but its true centre 
is now on the left bank of the Great Neva, south of the islet on which 
Peter the Great founded his new capital two centuries ago. Here stand 
the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, the Cathedrals of St. Isaac and Kazan, 
the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, based upon the heaviest mass of 
rock that has ever been transported by human agency, and the column of 
Alexander, a granite monolith 75 feet in height. The part of the town 
which was first built contains the Fortress of Peter and Paul, where so 
many prisoners of State have been confined, and the church in which the 
Emperors are buried. On Vassili Ostrov (Basil Island), the University, 



Fig. 218. — St. Petersburg and surroundings. 


the Academy of Sciences, the Exchange ; in the quarter of Viborg, the 
School of Medicine, and the Artillery College are situated. The streets- 
of St. Petersburg are wide and regular with lofty houses of five or six 
stories, but there are few public gardens and no thoroughfares planted 
with trees. The climate is unhealthy, and the mortality exceeds the 
birth rate so that the population is only maintained by the immigration 
of people from all parts of the empire, and even from abroad. Although 
St. Petersburg is essentially a town of soldiers and government offi- 
cials ( Chinovniks ) it has also considerable industrial importance : some 
large establishments, belonging to the State, manufacture tapestry, glass 
and china, but the main industrial activity is found in the factories of 
private firms. The commercial movement of St. Petersburg by sea 
amounts to a quarter or even a half of the total trade of Russia, but most 
of the traffic in the ports of the capital is carried on by foreign vessels; 
the British, German and Norwegian flags are more common amongst 


Russian Empire — Towns 41 1 

the merchant shipping than the Russian, and indeed many of the 
vessels sailing under this flag belong to Finnish owners. Education 
of every grade, from the University downwards, is more developed than in 
any other town in Russia, and in all matters concerning literature, science 
and art, St. Petersburg leads the empire. The Public Library ranks next 
to the British Museum Library in London and the National Library in 
Paris. The museums are amongst the finest on the continent. The most 
important is the Hermitage, which contains a great number of pictures by 
the most famous European painters, and a unique selection of the works of 
Russian artists, little known in western Europe ; but the glory of the 
museum is the collection of ancient Greek remains of the best period of 
Hellenic art and the Scythian antiquities from the Tauride and the south 
of Russia. A city of sumptuous palaces St. Petersburg completes the 
splendour of its state by a ring of parks, royal residences and pleasure 
resorts at Peterliof ’ Oranienbaum and Pavlovsk. The village of Pulkovo , 
about twelve miles south of the capital, is the site of the national observa- 
tory which sets the meridian for Russia. It is approximately 30° 20' east 
of that of Greenwich. Twenty miles to the west of St. Petersburg the 
powerfully fortified naval port of Cronstadt, on an island, forms the centre 
of the chain of impregnable fortifications which protects the mouth of the 
Neva. 

North-Western and Northern Towns. — Riga is situated at the head 
of the Gulf of Riga on the Baltic, at the mouth of the great navigable Duna, a 
river whose sources rise close to those of the Volga and Dnieper. The har- 
bour is the third in the Russian Empire in order of trade, but its prosperity 
is hampered by the length of the winter, during which all traffic is stopped 
by ice for several months. More than one third of the trade of Riga is 
with Great Britain, which sends salt, coal, tobacco, spirits, colonial com- 
modities and manufactured goods, and receives in exchange hemp, flax, 
grain, tallow and timber. The old Hanseatic town still presents a 
mediaeval appearance in its central parts, where some interesting buildings 
have survived, including the palace of the old Teutonic Knights and the 
Guild halls ; but all round beyond the boulevards modern suburbs extend 
with wide and* straight streets. The Polytechnic School is the principal 
educational establishment. The river is crossed by a viaduct nearly half 
a mile in length, and all approaches are protected by fortifications. 

Viln a, the ancient capital of Lithuania, on a tributary of the Niemen, 
contains an ancient cathedral founded by Yagello, and historic castles 
which have been in ruins since the Muscovite occupation. Vilna was one 
of the centres of culture in White Russia, and the first printing office in the 
empire which employed the Cyrillic character was founded here in 1525. 
The historial museum is one of the most remarkable in Russia, and there 
is also a Geographical Society. 

Arkhangelsk (Archangel) was founded at the mouth of the Northern 
Dvina on the White Sea in the twelfth century, but only became important 


412 The International Geography 

when the English navigators seeking the North-East Passage arrived there 
by chance in the sixteenth century, when it was the only Russian seaport. 
During the few months when the sea is free from ice Arkhangelsk exports 
flax, hemp, oats and other grain, timber, tar, tallow and fish oil. A colony 
of English workmen is established in the neighbourhood of the town, 
taking charge of the great saw-mills. The railway recently extended to 
Arkhangelsk from Moscow makes it the most northerly terminus in Russia. 

Yekciterininsk , newly founded on the Murman coast, at the mouth of the 
river Kola, is an ice-free port which will be of value when placed in com- 
munication with the railway system. 

Towns of Finland. — Helsingfors, the capital of the Grand Duchy of 
Finland, is a well-built European town laid out with parks and promenades, 
and possessing the most northerly botanic garden in the world. Its 
university is a centre of scientific activity, and the library contains a 
valuable collection of documents bearing on Finland and its history. It is 
an active seaport, trading particularly with England. The formidable 
defensive works of Svedborg, on the rocks of the Seven Islands, command 
the channel leading to Helsingfors and protect the town from attack on 
the seaward side. 

Abo, the most ancient city in Finland, is a centre for the maritime trade 
of the gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. It is the second town of the grand 
duchy in population, and third in trade, the staples of the port being timber 
and grain. The astronomer Argelander compiled his famous star-catalogue 
at Abo. Viborg is the most frequented harbour of Finland, and stands 
second in the value of its trade, on account of its favourable position, being 
near St. Petersburg and a terminus of railways and canals leading to the 
interior. Large vessels cannot reach the port, but discharge and load at 
Trangsund, a strongly fortified roadstead eight miles further south. The 
chief export is timber. 

Towns of Poland. — Warsaw ( Warszawa in Polish), situated on a great 
navigable river in the centre of a fertile plain, is the point of convergence 
of commercial routes from all parts of Russia and western Europe, and is 
destined one day to become one of the greatest cities in Europe. The 
ancient palace of the kings of Poland, surrounded by terraced gardens 
rising immediately on the bank of the river, is the most remarkable of the 
public buildings, and contains a library and collection of works of art. 
From it diverge the principal avenues lined with hotels and public build- 
ings. The old town with narrow streets extends towards the north, while 
the newer quarters with their wide avenues are situated towards the 
south. A railway viaduct and a seven-arched bridge across the yellow 
waters of the Vistula unite the city to the suburb of Praga. There is a 
university, founded in 1816, but closed after the insurrection of 1830-31, 
until it was re-opened in 1861. It does not enjoy all the rights which the 
other Russian universities possess, and the teaching must be given entirely 
in the Russian language. Warsaw also possesses a School of Arts and 


Russian Empire — Towns 413 

Industries and a musical Conservatoire. The capital of Poland is 
distinguished by remarkable industrial and commercial activity. 

Lodz , which was only a poor village of less than 800 inhabitants in 1821, 
is now the second city in Poland by population as well as by industry. It 
is not an ordinary town ; it consists of one street about six miles in length 
on each side of which there are hundreds of factories where seven-eighths 
of all the cotton goods manufactured in Poland are produced. Czestochowa 
with a celebrated convent is, next to Kiyev, the most frequented place of 
pilgrimage in the Slavonic world, and it is also a busy market town, doing 
a large trade in cattle and in cloth. The convent perched on the summit 
of a hill looks like a fortress, and was indeed one of the chief castles of 
Poland in former days. Lublin is the second Polish town in size, if the 
great agglomeration of population in the straggling villages of Lodz is not 
considered. It became famous by the stormy meeting of the Diet of 1568, 
which decreed the incorporation of Lithuania with Poland. 

Moscow. — The great city of Moscow is situated almost in the geome- 
trical centre of European 
Russia, and thus forms a 
focus where roads and rail- 
ways from all parts of the 
country converge. In its 
larger outlines the plan of 
Moscow resembles that of 
Paris, the same winding 
river and the same circular 
boulevards appear ; but 
while the Seine is large 
enough to make Paris the 
principal port of France, 
the Moskva which traverses the ancient capital of Russia is only navigable 
for small vessels. The centre of the town is the Kremlin or fortress situ- 
ated on the left bank of the Moskva, and constituting a picturesque pile of 
cathedrals, monasteries, palaces and barracks. There rises the tower of 
Ivan the Great, 266 feet high, and an object of veneration, almost of worship 
to the people. Some of the buildings of the royal palace are remarkable in 
their architecture, recalling in turn the palaces of Venice and those of 
India, and presenting a confused congeries of domes, turrets and colon- 
nades painted vividly in green and red and yellow. Besides the Kremlin 
there is another fortified enclosure, that of Kitaigorod , the commercial city 
containing many remarkable buildings, including the famous church of 
Basil the Blessed (Vassili-Blazhennyi) ornamented with tiles and variegated 
colours, the details of its architecture purely Byzantine, but entirely 
Muscovite in its general appearance. Since 1755 Moscow has been the 
seat of the most frequented university in Russia, which has exercised 
•considerable influence on all philosophical and literary movements in the 



414 The International Geography 

empire, especially between 1830 and 1848. Moscow is a great centre of 
publishing, and the books and prints produced there are carried to the 
most remote provinces of Russia to be sold or exchanged for the products 
of the country. It is one of the chief industrial centres, the manufactures 
of the government of Moscow amounting to one-fifth of the whole pro- 
duction of the empire. 

Tula is the chief station on the railway between Moscow and 
Kharkov, in the centre of a manufacturing district. Several thousand 
workmen are employed in the manufacture of arms in one factory which 
produces 70,000 rifles as well as swords and instruments of iron and steel. 
Tula is great in making cutlery, mathematical instruments, machinery and 
metal work of every kind ; no less than 200,000 of the samovars, of which 
every Russian family possesses one, are turned out each year. 

Towns of the Volga Basin. — Nizhnii-Novgorod, a town of 100,000 
inhabitants, is one of the most important in Russia on account of its 
great annual fair, which is not only the most frequented in the empire 
but in the world. The town stands 320 feet above the river at the con- 
fluence of the Oka. Kazan is first mentioned in the Russian Annals in 
the year 1376. The town having been removed in the fifteenth century 
more than three miles back, is no longer situated on the left bank of the 
Volga, except during floods, when the great river spreads over the plain 
and reaches the base of the little hill on which Kazan stands. All the 
houses are modern with the exception of the ancient red brick tower of 
Sumbek. Kazan contains a university and a Tatar printing establishment, 
which produces a great number of books, as well as an ecclesiastical college 
dating from 1646. It is also an important commercial town, half of its 
inhabitants being engaged in manufactures and trade. Saratov is the 
largest city of the lower Volga, possessing factories of every kind and 
forming the centre of trade for the German colonies established along the 
river. There is considerable river navigation, which has increased in amount 
since the establishment of direct railway communication with Moscow. 
The ancient town of Astrakhan occupies the site of Atel or I til, one of 
the capitals of the kingdom of the Khazars. The minarets of the mosques 
rise here and there amongst the spires and gilded bulbs of the churches, 
and with the numerous canals crowded with the shipping of the Volga and 
the Caspian give an air of variety very unusual in Russian towns. 

Perm is situated in the middle of a great mining region almost at the 
confluence of two great fluvial waterways, the Kama and Chusovaya. It 
is an important place for trade between European Russia and Siberia, 
especially since the construction of a railway across the Urals to Tyumen. 
This line passes through Yeketer inburg , the residence of the Director- 
General of the Ural mines, where there are assay offices, gold smelting 
furnaces, and establishments for cutting the precious stones found in the 
neighbourhood. 

Towns on the Dnieper. — Kiyev (Kieff), the “ Holy Town,” was 


Russian Empire — Towns 415 

destined from the first by its position to be one of the centres of gravity 
of Russian history. It is situated almost in the centre of the basin of 
the Dnieper, below the confluence of all the upper tributaries, where the 
main stream concentrates in one channel their collective waters and 
trade. Kiyev stands on a terrace from 300 to 400 feet above the 
level of the river ; the houses are ranged along the stream, but at some 
distance from the water, for a length of six miles. Some of the avenues 
are as wide as squares ; masses of poplars growing here and there 
on the slopes contrast their greenery with the glitter of the gilded 
cupolas. The Church of St. Andrew, the Cathedral of St. Sophia and 
the Monastery of Pechersk, the holiest place in all Russia, are the most 
famous of the many religious edifices in the town. The university 
ranks third amongst those of Russia ; there is also an ecclesiastical 
college which attracts students from all Slavonic countries, and a poly- 
technic institute. Two great bridges cross the Dnieper below the town. 
Kherson , near the mouth of the Dnieper, is the capital of the government 
which bears the same name and is an active business town, less important 
than Odessa or Nicolayev, but yet exporting large quantities of wood, 
cereals and hides. Nicolayev may almost be considered as a town of the 
Dnieper estuary, although situated at the junction of the Bug and Ingul. 
It is the chief naval station on the Black Sea, and is equipped with exten- 
sive dockyards, machine-shops and provisioning depots, which employ 
thousands of workmen. There are strong fortifications, and a great 
floating dock anchored in the Bug can receive the largest battleships. 
Apart from its pre-eminence as a naval port the harbour is acquiring a 
considerable amount of export trade, and the town is growing rapidly. 
Yekaterinoslav , a new town, has acquired importance during the nine- 
teenth century on account of its position at the great bend of the 
Dnieper above the rapids, where the river is crossed by a bridge more 
than three-quarters of a mile in length. 

Other South Russian Towns.— Odessa is the most important 
seaport of the Black Sea, affording safe anchorage for ships. Being a 
town of recent formation it has, next to St. Petersburg, the most European 
aspect of all the towns of Russia. It presents a beautiful appearance from 
the sea, as it is situated on the highest part of the terrace of the steppe. 
Handsome houses line a promenade on the edge of the cliff whence a 
monumental stairway leads down to the quays and the harboui. In the 
central part of the town the houses, built in the Italian style, aie laid 
out in wide and handsome streets. I he university of Odessa is one of 
the smallest in Russia. The population is extremely mixed, the principal 
merchants being Jews, Italians, Greeks, Germans and Frenchmen. Kharkov, 
which was a simple village in the middle of the seventeenth century, 
has grown, thanks to its position intermediate between the Dnieper 
and the Don, and between Kiyev and Taganrog. The fails held in 
Kharkov are amongst the most active in Russia, and the commerce and 


41 6 The International Geography 

industry of the town is well developed. It is also an intellectual centre 
of some importance, having a flourishing university, founded in 1804. 
Rostov, on the Don, is a great commercial town where nearly 3,000 
coasting vessels come each year laden with cereals, flax, wool, tallow and 
other commodities. It is the gathering place of the harvesters, haymakers 
and vine-dressers who assemble to offer their services to the proprietors of 
the surrounding country ; but the town has no other claim to consideration. 
Kishinev is a large village in Bessarabia, with wide streets thick with 
mud or smothered in dust, according to the season, and serving as a market 
for the grain and live stock of the surrounding agricultural country. 

Orenburg, formerly a fortress, is important from the strategic point of 
view, for it is situated on the right bank of the Ural river which separates 
Russia from the Kirghiz steppe, and inhabited by nomads who were tur- 
bulent and semi-independent some fifty years ago. It has lately become 
an important town, and the industrial population has steadily increased 
during recent years, while a railway is being built to Tashkent. 

Sevastopol is a fortress celebrated for its great siege by the allied armies 
in 1854, and now it mingles ruins of modern date with those of high 
antiquity extending back to the times of the Scythians and the Greeks. 
Ruined by the disasters of the Crimean war, the population of Sevastopol 
was reduced to 6,000 in 1865 ; but the construction of a railway which 
attaches it to the continental system, and its situation on a fine bay have 
restored the town to prosperity. Stores for grain have been built in the 
neighbourhood of the port, a monumental railway station takes the place 
of an old redoubt, and the famous hill of the Malakhov has been converted 
into promenades. The port has recently been reserved for Russian naval 
vessels. 

Caucasian Towns. — Tift is stands on the two banks of the Kura on a 
valley floor surrounded by grey heights, rising to 1,200 and 1,500 feet above 
its level. The town is divided into two parts, an Asiatic quarter which 
recalls Constantinople, and the new town which has sprung up since the 
Russian conquest, and contains fine shops and all the equipment of a 
European city. One-third of the inhabitants of Tiflis are Armenians ; the 
Russians only compose one-fifth of the population. There are no buildings 
of special interest, but a valuable Natural History Museum. Tiflis 
contains several scientific societies ; its Geographical Society has published 
many standard works on the geography and ethnography of the Caucasus. 
Baku, an ill-built, irregular dusty town of Asiatic appearance, is an active 
seaport on the Caspian. A railway connects it with Poti and Batum on 
the Black Sea, and another line has been opened to Derbent, which unites 
it to the railway system of European Russia. All the inhabitants of the 
neighbourhood are occupied in refining petroleum and preparing bitumen. 

Towns of the Trans-Caspian Railway. — The railway across 
the Trans-Caspian district of Turkestan is of immense strategic value, for 
it can throw a great body of troops with extreme rapidity against the 


Russian Empire — Towns 417 

Afghan or Indian frontier. The line was commenced in 1884 an d now 
extends to Tashkent on one side and to Kushk in the vicinity of Herat in 
another. The chief towns through which the railway runs are Askhabad y 
the administrative capital of the Trans-Caspian province; Mcrv, which 
disputes with Balkh the title of the “ Mother City of Asia,” once a centre 
of science; and Bokhara which, under Russian protection, only since 1873, 
shines in the history of human thought. Bokhara, formerly a town of poets,, 
doctors, and illustrious men of science, now retains only the dead shell of 
its old intellectual life. Routine Moslem instruction is still given in more 
than a hundred “ madrassees ” (schools), but the science has vanished. 
There are still, however, some interesting Industries, including the manu- 
facture of fine cotton fabrics, ornamental leather and silk. From a com- 
mercial point of view the capital of the Emirate of Bokhara has always 
been great as the meeting-place of merchants from the markets of Russia, 
India, Afghanistan, Persia, and China. Samarcand was in ancient days an 
illustrious city in the development of human knowledge, and also one of 



the largest towns of Asia. When besieged by Jenghiz Khan it was garrisoned 
by an army of 100,000 men. Subsequently it was Timur’s capital, but most 
of the palaces and mosques of that period are now in ruins. A few scattered 
relics remain, here a piece of wall, there a tower or a cupola ; the mosque 
containing Timur’s tomb in particular is surmounted by a cupola of rare 
beauty. A still finer mosque is that of Shah Zindeh, the most splendid in all 
Central Asia. The Russian quarter of Samarcand has regular streets, gardens, 
and wooded avenues, contrasting with the irregular plan and ruined archi- 
tecture of the native city. Tashkent is scattered over a space about eight 
miles long and five wide. The houses, most of which are low, are hidden 
by the verdure of poplars, willows, and other trees which border the 
irrigation canals. The Russian quarter, in spite of the recent occupation, 
is already of importance, and consists of one-storied houses built of sun- 
dried bricks, the roofs made of willow branches and reeds covered with a 
layer of clay and turf. The chief industries are the weaving of silk stuffs 
and the tanning of leather. There is an astronomical observatory and a 
geographical society in the town. Kokan, which in 1870 was the capital 
of an independent State of the same name, is a modern city for this part of 


4 i 8 The International Geography 



the world, with fairly wide and regular 
streets, large gardens, and the best 
equipped bazar in Russian Turkestan. 

Khiva. — The capital of the Khanate 
of Khiva is only an agglomeration of mud 
hovels through which wind narrow roads 
of deep mud or thick dust according to 
the season. Before the Russian expedition 
of 1873 it was one of the chief slave- 
markets in Asia, but the industry and 
trade of town and State are now of little 
importance. 

Towns on the Great Siberian 
Railway. — Although the Russian Empire 
is far behind other European States in the 
extent of its railways when compared with 
the area of the country, it actually possesses 
the greatest length of railway lines after 
the United States. From Alexandrovo, on 
the German frontier, the iron ways run 
without a break to the northern shore of 
Lake Baikal, and on from the southern 
shore to Vladivostok and Port Arthur 
on the Pacific, a distance of 5,000 miles 
as the crow flies. The great railway 
across Siberia has a very high impor- 
tance, not only for Russia but for the 
whole world, since it places western 
Europe in direct and rapid communication 
with China and Japan. The line com- 
mences at Samara on the Volga, and passes 
through Ufa on the Belaya and Zlatoust 
situated in a smiling valley of the Urals, a 
town of metallurgical works and manu- 
factories of small-arms, especially rifles 
and sporting guns. Omsk, farther on upon 
the Irtysh, is an important centre of 
Western Siberia in the midst of the steppes, 
but Tomsk, which possesses the one uni- 
versity of Siberia, is left on one side of the 
railway, and the line goes on through 
Krasnoyarsk on the Yenisei, the chief town 
of the government of Yeniseisk and the 
commercial centre of the neighbouring 
valleys rich in mines. Irkutsk, a town of 


Russian Empire — Towns 419 

wide and straight streets, was founded on the right bank of the Angara, 
near its exit from Lake Baikal, in 1669. It possesses the oldest building in 
Siberia, a fort inscribed with the date 1661. It is not only an industrial 
centre, but a focus of intellectual life as well. The Geographical Society 
publishes important works on Russian Asia and the neighbouring 
countries. Farther east, beyond Lake Baikal, the line passes Chita , the 
capital of Transbaikalia. A branch of the great railway follows the Amur 
valley to Nerchinsk , the chief trading centre of a great mining region 
where silver-lead, mercury, copper and iron are worked ; and to Sretensk. 
From Chita the great Siberian railway runs south-eastward through Man- 
churia to Kharbin, a new Russian city, and thence one branch goes to 
Vladivostok, and another to Port Arthur and Peking. 

Vladivostok is situated on the only sea freely open for almost all the 
year, which bathes the shores of the Russian Empire. With the increase 
of agricultural population and the stimulus of its approaching position as 
a railway terminus, Vladivostok promised to become the Constantinople of 
the East as its founders hoped when they established it in i860, the name 
they gave meaning Rule the East. Though the population of the town 
has grown to nearly 30,000 its future prospects were compromised by the 
rise of the leased harbours of Port Arthur and Dalni, but the loss of these 
in 1905 as a result of the war with Japan restores its earlier importance. 



Fig. 222. — Railways of European Russia. 


The International Geography 


STATISTICS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



\ 



Area 

Population 

Density of Popul*. 

Great Political Divisions. 


in sq. miles. 

in 1897. 

tion per sq. mile. 

European Russia . . 



. . 1,902,202 

94,215,415 

5i 

Poland 




49,159 

9,455,943 

193 

Finland 



144.255 

2,527,801 

17 

Caucasia 




180,843 

9,248,695 

54 

Siberia 



4,833,496 

5,727,090 

. . 1 

Steppes 



908,073 

5,451,385 

4 

Turkestan . . 



47L37I 

4’ 270, 299 

9 

Total.. 

• • 

t • 

8,489,399 

. 130,896,628 

15 





Area in sq. miles. 

Population. 

Largest administrative division, Yakutsk 

• • • • 

1,533,400 

261,531 

Most populous „ 

ff 

Kiyev. . 

• • • • 

19,690 

3,576,125 

POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS IN 1897. 


St. Petersburg and suburbs 


1,267,023 

Yaroslav 

• • • • • • 

. . 70,610 

Moscow and suburbs 



1,035,664 

Orel . . 

• • • ■ • • 

69,858 

Warsaw . . 



638,208 

Kherson 

• • t • • • 

69,219 

Odessa . . . . » 



405,041 

Vitebsk 

• • « • • « 

66,143 

Lodz 



315-209 

Yekaterinodar 

• • 65,697 

Riga 



256,197 

Zhitomir 

• • • • • t 

65,452 

Kiyev 



247,432 

Revel 

• • • • • • 

64,578 

Kharkov . . 



174,846 

Libau 

• • • • • • 

64,505 

Tiflis 



160,645 

Belostok 

• • • • • • 

63,927 

Vilna 



159,568 

Namangan 

.. 61,906 

Tashkent . . 



156,414 

Penza 

• • • • • • 

61,851 

Saratov 



137,109 

Yelisavetgrad 

.. 61,841 

Kazan 



131,508 

Cronstadt 

• • • • • • 

59,539 

Yekaterinoslav . . 



121,216 

Kremenchug 

58.648 

Rostov-on-th e-Don 



119,889 

Tsaritsyn 

• • • • • • 

55,967 

Astrakhan 



113,001 

Yekaterinburg 

55,488 

Baku 



112,253 

Samarcand 

54-900 

Tula 



111,048 

Ivanovo-Voznesensk 

53,949 

Kishinev . . 



108,796 

Berdichev 

• • • • • • 

53,728 

Nizhnii-Novgorod 



95.124 

Tver. . 

• • • • • • 

53,477 

Nikolayev 



92,060 

Poltava 

• • • • • • 

. . 53,o6o 

Samara 



91,672 

Kursk 

• • • • • • 

52,896 

Minsk 



9L494 

Tomsk 

• • • • • • 

. . 52,005 

Voronezh . . 



84,146 

Novocherkask 

52,005 

Kokan 



82,054 

Taganrog 

• • • • • • 

. • 5L965 

Kovno 



73,543 

Irkutsk 

• • • • • • 

.. 51,434 

Orenburg . . 



72,740 

Sevastopol 

50,710 

Dvinsk (Dunaburg) 



72,231 

Lublin 

• « • • t t 

50,152 


MEANS 

OF TRANSPORT IN 1896. 




European Russia. 1 

Asiatic Russia. Total 




Miles. 


Miles. 

Miles. 

Railways . . 

• • 

« • 

29,300 

• • • • 

5,300 2 

. . 34,600 

Waterways (total) 

• • 

• • 

48,000 



100750 

„ nav. for steamers . . 

17,000 

• • • • 

. . 30,000 

. . 47,000 


SHIPPING TRADE 

OF CHIEF PORTS 




(in million tons 

of merchandise). 



- 



Foreign Trade. 

Coasting Trade 

Port. 



Imports. Exports. Total. Total. 

Odessa 




2’6o . . 2.95 

.. 1*82 

St. Petersburg and Cronstadt. . 

i*93 

102 .. 2*95 

.. C17 

Riga 



0-44 

1*13 • • i*57 

. . C24 

Nikolayev.. 




1-36 . . 1*38 

. . 0‘09 

Libau 




o‘8o . . i'oo 

.. 0*12 

Batum 




0’8i . . 0-90 

. . 0 27 

Rostov 




o*74 • • 075 

. . 0‘26 

Sevastopol 




0*52 . . 0-53 

.. O-II 

Novorossiisk 




0-50 .. 0-51 

.. on 

Taganrog 




0 45 . . 0-47 

. . 004 


1 Including Finland. 

2 To this should be added i, 600 miles of the Siberian railway in Chinese territory. 


Russian Empire — Statistics 421 


ANNUAL TRADE OF RUSSIAN EMPIRE 


Exports 



(in millions of rubles). 
1885-89. 1890-94. 

1895. 

689-1 

1896. 
. . 668-7 

Imports 




. . 4362 

526-1 

. . 54°'2 

Difference 

• • 

• 9 

.. 218-9 

. , 1924 

• 

1630 

. . 128-5 


ANNUAL TRADE OF RUSSIA 
(in pounds sterling , approximate ). 1 


1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 52,000,000 . . 55,000,000 . . 46,900,000 

Exports 60,000,000 . . 58,000,000 . . 62,800,000 


PERCENTAGE 

COMPOSITION 

OF SPECIAL 

EXPORTS. 



1885-89. 

1890-94. 

1895. 

1896. 

Food Products 

, . . . 60-2 

. . 57'o 

. . 56*8 

55-6 

Raw Materials 


377 

. . 37‘8 

374 

Animals 


. . 2-2 

.. 2-3 

2'2 

Manufactures 


3* 1 

.. 3*i 

i*9 


RUSSIAN TRADE WITH OTHER COUNTRIES 


(in millions of rubles. 18961.2 


Countries. 

Exports. 

Total 

Imports. Trade. 

Countries. 

Exports. 

Imports. 

Total 

Trade. 

Germany 

. . 1840 

190*2 

374*2 

Finland 

.. 17*7 

20-5 

38-2 

United Kingdom 

. . 160*9 

Iil*3 

272*2 

Persia 

.. I4'5 

i7’5 

32-0 

France 

.. . 58-2 

23'4 

8r6 

Turkey 

.. 14*3 

6-i 

20-4 

Netherlands . . 

. . 708 

5*8 

76-6 

Egypt 

.. 3*8 

13-6 

17*4 

United States 

r6 

657 

67*3 

Sweden 

.. 64 

5*8 

12*2 

Austria-Hungary 

. . 29*9 

22-9 

52-8 

Denmark 

9*1 

23 

114 

China . . 


4i*3 

46-8 

Other Countries 

. • 52*5 

53*9 

106-4 

Italy . . 
Belgium 

. . 23-1 

io-o 

19*5 

46-4 

42-6 

Total . . 

. . 688-6 

589*8 

1,2784 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

K. E. von Baer and Gr. von Helmerson. “ Beitrage zur Kenntniss des russischen Reichs.” 
25 vols. St. Petersburg, 1852-1872. 

A. Erman. “Archiv fur wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland.” 25 vols. Berlin, 
1841-67. 

P. Semenoff. “ Geographico-Statistical Lexicon of the Russian Empire” [in Russian] 
5 vols. St. Petersburg, 1863-85. 

** Industries of Russia,” translated by J. M. Crawford. 5 vols. St. Petersburg, 1893. 
A. Kovalevsky (editor). “ La Russie a la ftn du 19c siecle.” Paris, 1900. 

Lodijensky (and others). “ Russia, its Industries and Trade.” Glasgow, 1901. 

A. Krausse. “ Russia in Asia.” 2nd edit. London, 1900. 

“ Official Guide to the Great Siberian Railway.” St. Petersburg, 1900. 

C. Aulagnon. “ La Siberie Economique.” Paris, 1901. 

“ Finland in the Nineteenth Century,” by Finnish Authors. Helsingfors, 1894. 

D. W. Freshfield and V. Sella. “ The Exploration of the Caucasus.” 2vols. London, 1896. 
P. Kropotkin. “General Geographical Sketch of Eastern Siberia” [in Russian]. St. 

Petersburg, 1875. 

H. Wild. “ Die Temperatur-Verhaltnisse des Russischen Reiches." 1881. “ Die Regen- 
Verhaltnisse des Russischen Reiches.” 1887. With Atlases. St, 
Petersburg. 

A. F. Rittich. “ Die Ethnographic Russlands.” Gotha, 1878. 

The publications of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society at St. Petersburg, and 
of its branches throughout the empire, contain most important works on the geography 
of European and Asiatic Russia in the Russian language. 


1 The value is calculated at the average rate of exchange for each period. 

3 The ruble averaged 2s. in 1896, hence moving the decimal place one to the left 
gives the value in pounds, e.g. t 184 o million rubles = 1840 million pounds. 


BOOK II.: ASIA 


CHAPTER XXIII.— THE CONTINENT OF ASIA 

By A. J. Herbertson, M.A., Ph.D., 

Reader in Geography , University of Oxford. 

Position and Dimensions. — Asia is by far the largest of the 
continents. Its area, 17^ million square miles, is more than that of the 
whole of the New World, and includes almost one-third of the land 
surface of the globe. It lies wholly within the northern hemisphere ; but 
its southern point, Cape Buru, at the tip of the Malay peninsula, comes 
within 90 miles of the equator. Cape Chelyuskin, the northern point, lies 
nearly half way between the Arctic circle and the North Pole : the direct 
distance between these extreme points is 5,350 miles. Between Cape Baba, 
the western extremity of Asia Minor, and Cape Dezhneff (East Cape) on 
Bering Strait there is a distance of 6,000 miles, and a range of 164° in longi- 
tude, corresponding to eleven hours’ difference of time. On all sides, except 
the west, Asia is bounded by the ocean : on the north by the icy Arctic 
waters, on the south by the tropical Indian Ocean, on the east by the 
Pacific, whose northern waters are frozen near the shores in winter. On 
the west Asia is extended into Europe, and it is joined to Africa by the 
narrow Isthmus of Suez. Yet between Europe and Asia the Aralo- 
Caspian depression placed the Arctic and Mediterranean seas in free com- 
munication in Quaternary times, giving to Asia a more distinct continental 
individuality than now appears. The continent, as seen on a globe, has a 
quadrilateral core from which many peninsulas jut out. Professor H. 
Wagner chooses as the angular points of this core the southern shore of 
the Yugor Strait, Cape Dezhneff, Canton, and the north-western point of the 
Persian Gulf. Thus defined the core of Asia forms 80 per cent., and the penin- 
sular part nearly 14 per cent, of the whole surface. The coast line of Asia is 
3*2 times the minimum which could circumscribe its area. By this index its 
coastal development is less than that of Europe or North America, but greater 
than that of the three southern continents. It is only on the east that the 
boundaries differ greatly from those of the continent proper. The islands 
lying in wreaths on the east of Asia outline the eastern margin of the conti- 
nental block. Those in the south-east form a great archipelago between 
Asia and Australia, and no definite geomorphological line divides them 
into an Asiatic and an Australian group. “ Wallace’s Line,” following the 

422 


Asia 


423 


depression which forms the Makassar Strait and runs between Bali and 
Lombok, is at most a faunal boundary, and is sometimes chosen as the 
division between Asia and Australasia. But the line of young volcanoes 
is continuous through Sumatra, Java, the Sunda Islands and the islands 
between Timor Laut (Tenimber) and Ceram, and can be traced 
through the Moluccas and Philippines. Thus New Guinea and the Aru 
Islands are counted Australian, the others west of a line passing east of 
Timor, Timor Laut, the Kei Islands and the Moluccas are reckoned 
Asiatic. The islands of Asia, thus delimited, have an area of over a 
million square miles ; and the insular and peninsular parts of the continent 
amount to one-fourth of the area of the core. In this respect also Asia 
ranks next to North America and Europe, and comes before the southern 
continents. These relations, however, depend on a somewhat arbitrary 
definition of what constitutes a continental core or a coast-line, and are not 
to be strongly insisted on. 

Coasts. — The northern coast lies almost entirely north of the Arctic 
circle. It is on the whole low and flat, 
running out in the Taimyr peninsula to the 
most northern point, Cape Chelyuskin. The 
great estuaries of the Ob and Yenisei open in 
the western part of this coast, which is here 
penetrated by fjords and fringed with islands, 
and according to Nansen, shows every evi- 
dence of having been glaciated. The island 
of Novaya Zemlya encloses the Kara Sea 
which has a bad reputation for ice, but has 
recently been crossed every year by ships Fig. 223 .—The Continental Core 
seeking the Yenisei during the few weeks °f Asia * 

when the ice is broken up. East of the Taimyr peninsula the rivers 
form great deltas contrasting with the estuaries on the west, and 
indicating that the land has long been stationary with regard to the sea- 
level, not subsiding as in the west. Nordenskiold alone has sailed round 
. the north coast of Asia, and his name is perpetuated in the Nordenskiold 
Sea between Taimyr and the New Siberian Islands. West of these islands 
Nansen let the Fram become fast in the ice, and his soundings proved 
that the Asiatic continental block does not extend far beyond the Siberian 
coast, and that the Arctic Sea is a depression of very great depth. 

The north-eastern peninsula of Asia reaches within 36 miles of the 
north-western peninsula of North America, from which it is separated by 
the shallow Bering Strait. The northern part of the Bering Sea, between 
Kamchatka and Alaska, is also very shallow. Thus the Arctic and Pacific 
basins are clearly separated, and in this region land communication 
between Asia and America probably existed in the past. There are two 
eastern coasts to consider, that of the continent itself, and that of the 
fringing islands on the edge of the continental block. Both are as a rule 



424 The International Geography 

irregular and steep, showing evidence of being sunken coasts except where 
the great rivers have built vast deltas, the flat shores of which have simple 
outlines. They are not sinking at the present day except perhaps in 
eastern China. The inner coast has a north-east to south-west trend, and 
projects southwards in the volcanic Kamchatkan and mountainous Korean 
peninsulas whose southern ends approach the outer fringing islands. The 
islands of Sakhalin and Formosa are other links by which the outer island 
groups approach the continental shore. Four fringing seas lie between 
these peninsulas and islands, each bounded to the east by a loop of 
the island wreath. In the north the Sea of Okhotsk is bordered by the 
Kuriles, further south the Japanese Islands mark off the Sea of Japan, 
next the East China Sea is defined by the Luchu Islands, and in the 
south the South China Sea is bounded by the Philippines and Borneo. The 
northern part of the shallow East China Sea between Korea and the main- 
land is called the Yellow Sea. Its western shores are formed by the low 
deltaic plain of the Yellow River (H wang-ho), which carries down the yellow 
earth that gives the name both to the river and to the sea. The rocky 
Shantung peninsula rises like an island above the level alluvial land, and 
projects eastwards forming rocky coasts with good harbours, and cutting 
off the Gulf of Pechili from the Yellow Sea. A similar inner gulf is cut 
off from the East China Sea by the mountainous island of Hainan. The 
south-eastern margin of the continental block towards the Pacific follows 
the Philippines and the Moluccas, and within it lie the fringing seas of 
Sulu and Celebes. The bold convex arc of the Sunda Islands and their 
northern prolongation in the Nicobars and Andamans towards the Indian 
Ocean enclose the fringing seas of Banda, Java and Andaman. Borneo 
and Celebes are the largest islands lying between the two sets of fringing 
seas ; and the south of the South China Sea might be regarded as a 
midland or mediterranean sea. The south-eastern, or Indo-Chinese, penin- 
sula of Asia ends in the long narrow Malay peninsula, which is only 45 
miles wide at the Isthmus of Kra, where a ship canal would greatly 
shorten the voyages from western to eastern Asia. The gulfs of Siam in 
the east and of Martaban in the west, are alike in having the rapidly growing 
deltas of great rivers at their head. 

Asia projects into the Indian Ocean in two massive peninsulas, the 
Dekkan and Arabia, which are not fringed by islands, but rise with ter- 
raced sides from the coastal plain, which is usually narrow. The triangular 
Dekkan with its severed southern portion, the island of Ceylon, still 
nearly united by Adam’s Bridge, lies between two wide round-headed 
gulfs, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. The rectangular Arabian 
peninsula, on the other hand, is defined by the narrow rifts of the Persian 
Gulf and the Red Sea, the former silted up by the sediments of great 
rivers, the latter of great depth and terminated in one arm by the narrow 
sandy Isthmus of Suez across which a ship canal has been cut to the 
Mediterranean. The other arm runs, as the Gulf of Akabah, in the line of 


Asia 


425 

the great Dead Sea rift ; and between the two the rocky Sinai peninsula 
rises. The entrance to the Persian Gulf is through the shallow and narrow 
Strait of Ormuz, that to the Red Sea through the narrower if less shallow 
Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. 

The plateau of Asia Minor projects westwards and sinks abruptly to 
the Mediterranean and Black Seas. In the west the indented ria-coast is 
fringed by many picturesque islands which unite with those of the Balkan 
peninsula to form the Greek Archipelago. The Sea of Marmora, joined to 
the ^gean by the Dardanelles and to the Black Sea by the Bosporus, 
serves as the historic dividing line between Europe and Asia. 

Surface and Chief Divisions. — Asia is divided into four great 
natural divisions, each of which has marked physical characteristics. 

(1) The Northern Lowlands , a vast plain rising gradually to the south 
and to the east. One quarter of the continent is less than 600 feet above 
the sea-level, and by far the greatest part of this is in the north. These 
northern lowlands are continuous and homologous with the northern plains 
of Europe, and together they form the Old World Lowland Area. 

(2) The Central Mountains, a band of lofty folded mountains and 
plateaux widening to the east and running from west to east across Asia. 
More than one-twelfth of the continent lies above 10,000 feet, and most 
of the elevated land is in this mountainous region, which is continuous and 
homologous with the folded mountains of Europe, and together they form 
the Old or Mid-World Mountain Area. 

(3) The Southern Tablelands of the Dekkan and Arabia are table- 
lands and not folded mountain regions, with little land over 6,000 feet. 
They form the north-eastern outliers of the great Indo-African or Old 
World Tableland Area. They are separated from the rest of Asia by the 
low Indo-Gangetic and Mesopotamian flood plains, and from the African 
portion of the Old World Tableland by the rift valley ot the Red Sea. 

(4) The Eastern Volcanic Mountains, a belt of mountains bordering the 
eastern and south-eastern edges of the continental block, and rising as 
fringing islands above the waters that cover the continental shelf. This 
region has no exposed plateaux, and is largely volcanic ; it forms part of 
the Pacific Volcanic Area that girdles that ocean. They are separated from 
the rest of Asia by the eastern fringing seas. 

Asiatic Portion of Old World Lowland Area. — The simplest 
subdivisions of this area in Asia are the river basins, which give five 
distinct regions, one of inland and four of oceanic drainage. 

(1) Turan , or the region of inland drainage, mainly to Lake Aral. 
These plains are covered with wind-blown desert sand, except near the 
mountains along the river courses and round the lakes, where water-borne 
deposits of recent origin are found, and in the Ust Urt upland of 
Teritary rocks between Lake Aral and the Caspian Sea. The surface of 
the land round the Caspian is below sea-level. In the east the surface 
rises to the bordering mountains whence the rivers flow. The most 


426 The International Geography 

important are the Amu-daria (Oxus) and Syr-daria (Jaxartes) flowing to 
Lake Aral, and the Ili to Lake Balkhash. 

The region of oceanic drainage belongs to the Arctic drainage area and 
is known as the Siberian Plain. Here, as in the European Lowlands, the 
main valley-lines ( Thalwegs ) strike from south to north, and are joined by 
others running mainly from east to west. A generalised section of Siberia 

from west to east shows a series 
" of very gradual ascents broken 
by shorter and steeper falls, with 
the great rivers flowing in the 
hollows (Fig. 225). 

(2) The Ob-Irtysh Region lies east 
of the Urals, from whose steep 
eastern slopes several rivers flow 
•• to the Tobol, which lies in the 
south to north valley-line. The 
• great tributaries all enter from the 
east. Most of the basin is overlaid 
with recent deposits, but Mesozoic 
rocks appear in the lower course of the river south of its great estuary. 

(3) The Yenisei and its three tributaries — the Lower Tunguska, the 
Middle or Stony Tunguska, and the Upper Tunguska or Angara — form 
another great river system. The Angara drains Lake Baikal, a deep 
and long trough in the crystalline mountains. Most of this basin is a low 
tableland of Palaeozoic rocks, with Mesozoic deposits south of the mouth 
of the Angara and round its course after it leaves Lake Baikal. Some 
recent eruptive rocks are found on the Lower Tunguska. 

(4) The Lena Basin is composed of a similar succession of rocks. 
Unlike the two western rivers the Lena has no estuary, but forms a great 
delta where it enters the Arctic Sea. Some of the secondary valley-lines 
run from west to east. The main river rises west of Lake Baikal and 
does not turn north until near its junction with the Aldan in 130 5 * * * 9 E. 

Miles 

5000 
0 


(5) The extreme North-East of Asia forms a distinct region bordered by 

the Verkhoyansk-Stanovoi heights, composed probably mainly of Palaeozoic 

rocks, which run from the Lena delta to St. Lawrence Island. The Yana, 

Indigirka and Kolyma are the chief rivers draining this little-known region 
to the Arctic Sea. During the summer months the great Siberian rivers 

are navigable, but they possess the great disadvantage of flowing from 


0 1000 

Ural Ob 

./ Irtish • Yenesei 
/ . * 

2000 3000 

Verkhoyansk 

1 Indigirka Anadyr 

Lena '+ u . , 

J Kolyma ! 

. • 1 : ; ' ' 

L _ -1 ■« j 



FlG. 225 . — Section across Siberian plain from W.S.W. to 
E.N.E. about lat. 6o° N. 



Fig. 224 . — Old World region of Internal 
Drainage {stippled.) 


Asia 


427 


warmer to colder climes where the ice covers the sea most of the year. 
In spring the upper portions of the rivers thaw long before the lower 
reaches, and great and dangerous floods are consequently frequent. 

Asiatic Portion of the Old World Mountain Area. — At first 
sight the Asiatic mountains seem a complicated and unrelated series of 
ranges ; but a closer examination shows a certain symmetry that has 
attracted many students, whose views of their relationship are not always 
concordant. Professor Suess sees in the region between the Yenisei, near 
Krasnoyarsk and Chita, east of Lake Baikal, a centre round which the various 
Asiatic mountain ranges can be grouped from Sakhalin to Java, from the 
Himalaya to the Persian Gulf, without asserting that this was the centre 
of action whence these ranges were folded. From the pre-Cambrian to the 
latest times the same forces have been at work folding the strata along 
the same lines ; the youngest folds being those at the periphery. 
Richthofen, Naumann 
and others have also 
drawn maps showing 
the fundamental axes 
of folding and their 
relationship to each 
other. For most pur- 
poses it is more con- 
venient to consider the 
mountains from the 
centre of the Pamirs, 
a region separating the 
lower western ranges 
and plateaux from the 
loftier mountains and 
plateaux of the east. 

The Pamir region is 
called by the dwellers there the “roof of the world,” and, as the name Pamir 
really indicates, consists of a series of valleys and ridges. The ridges 
rise several thousand feet above the valleys, whose floors are at the great 
average elevation of 11,000 feet above sea-level. From the Pamirs the 
mountains spread out both west and east. The eastern ranges separate as 
they pass eastward. The western ranges are drawn together in the 
Armenian plateau to another node, which is neither so compact, so exten- 
sive, nor so lofty. Two very different regions spread longitudinally 
throughout this vast mountain area ; a northern one of relative depression, 
a southern one of relative elevation. The Yalta (Crimea), Caucasus, Tian 
Shan, Altai and Yablonovyi mountains rise steeply from the Old World Low- 
lands and form the northern ranges of the Mountain Area. South of these lie 
the hollows of the Black and Caspian Seas with the Kura depression between, 
and the Kara-kum and Shamo basins, with the Kizil-su valley between. 

29 



Fig. 226 . — Mountain Systems of Asia. 


428 The International Geography 


Mifc*o 


feet. 


The central ranges, Pontus, Elburz, Hindu Kush and Kwen-lun, rise steeply 
from these depressions, but have much shorter slopes on the south to the 
plateaux of Asia Minor, Iran, and Tibet. These plateaux are bounded on the 
south by the Taurus, South Persian, Sulaiman, and Himalaya ranges, which 
have short slopes to the plateaux on the north, but very steep slopes to 
the flood plains which separate the Old World Mountain Area from the 
Tableland. Most of these mountains have an axis of Archaean rock with 
sedimentary strata of different ages, down to the early Tertiary, which were 
formed before the last upheaval, on either flank. Great glaciers descend 
from the snow gathered in their loftiest hollows, whence many large 
rivers flow to southern and eastern seas. The Euphrates and Tigris rise in 
the Armenian plateau, collecting tributaries from the southern ranges that 
meet there, and flow to the Persian Gulf, forming the Mesopotamian 
flood plain. The Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra carry water from 
the southern ranges to the Indian Ocean. They make great flood 
plains which separate the mountain area from the Dekkan. The Salwin 
and Mekong rise in the east of Tibet, and flow in deep valleys between 

the three great mountain 
ranges of the south-eastern 
peninsula to the sea. The 
western or Burma-Sunda 
range passes through Ara- 
kan, the Andaman and 
Nikobar islands, Sumatra, 
Java, and the smaller 

Fig 227 — Section across Asia from south to north, along Sunda Islands. A minor 

the meridian of oo° £„ , 

J v range separates the river 

Irawadi from the Salwin, east of which the great Malay range passes 
from the north along the Malay peninsula. East of this another minor 
range separates the Menam from the Mekong valley, which is bounded 
by the Annam range. These mountains are composed of old crystal- 
line and Palaeozoic rocks, but the Burma-Sunda range contains abun- 
dant recent volcanic rocks and many active volcanoes. South and north of 
the Kwen-lun, known as the Tsing-ling in China, two great rivers flow 
from Tibet to the east — the Yangtse-kiang and the Hwang-ho, or Yellow 
river. South of the Yangtse-kiang is a region consisting of older moun- 
tains formed by a succession of faults, and not by folding of the strata, 
which consist of Palaeozoic marine layers and Mesozoic deposits not of 
marine origin. In the south the land is drained by the Si-kiang or West 
river and by the Song-ka or Red River of Tongking. The Hwang-ho has 
cut its channel deep into the loess of northern China, and formed a vast 
fertile flood plain above the level of which it flows for the last few hundred 
miles. 

Asiatic Tablelands. — Ceylon, the Dekkan and Arabia, differ from the 
rest of Asia in their geological as w r ell as in their tectonic condition. Old 


-3 

I 

co : 

| c Siberia 

5 § . 5. <5 

>\ -3 -Z k *>-JC oj 

is , 0 tj 

n c , c ‘ *5 4) 

.1 S*! S -g | g 

i a 1- j h- < >- 



A ' ; i 




1 




I.J . 1 . : ' A 














429 


Asia 

crystalline rocks predominate ; but in the north-west of the Dekkan and in 
Arabia great flows of recent eruptive materials are found. The Dekkan 
trap forms a rich hygroscopic soil, especially favourable for cotton cultiva- 
tion. There are also old sedimentary rocks in this area, which differ from 
those of the rest of Eurasia by containing a flora, characterised by the 
fossil Glossopteris, which is related to that found in similar rocks in 
Australia, South Africa, and parts of South America, thus pointing to 
geographical changes of vast dimensions since the time when Gondwana- 
land stretched across what is now the Indian Ocean. 

The Eastern Volcanic Mountains are characterised by their 
young volcanic rocks and the number of still active volcanoes ; which 
stretch from Kamchatka through the Kurile Islands and Japan, through the 
Philippines, the Moluccas, and the Sunda Islands. Old crystalline and 
Palaeozoic rocks are not wanting ; Tertiary and Quaternary deposits are 
much commoner than 
those of Mesozoic age. 

These mountains rise 
from profound oceanic 
depths, and over the 
actic area earthquakes 
and other seismic dis- 
turbances are frequent 
and often severe. 

Climates of Asia. 

— The vastness of Asia 
makes the climate of 
large areas severely 
continental, with great 
extremes of cold in the 
north and of heat in 
the south. Only the south and south-east coastal lands have fairly 
uniform temperatures throughout the year. The mean annual temperature 
(Fig. 228) corrected for altitude is nearly the same across the whole breadth 
of the continent in the same latitude ; but is somewhat lower on the east 
coast than in the west. In winter (Fig. 229) this condition remains unaltered 
in the south ; but in the north the air temperature falls from all sides 
towards a pole of cold in north-eastern Siberia, where at Verkhoyansk, 400 
feet above the sea, the mean January temperature is — 6o° F., a degree of 
cold unknown in the Polar regions. In summer (Fig. 230) the north of the 
continent shows a uniform temperature from west to east in the same lati- 
tude, but in the south there is a heat centre in north-west India, Baluchistan 
and Arabia, in which the mean temperature for July exceeds 95 0 F., and 
round which less heated air is found on every side. The vast height of the 
Mountain and Plateau region brings about great local differences of tem- 
perature, the temperature of Tibet being always low. The seasonal tempera- 



FlG. 2 28 . — Mean annual isotherms for Asia. ( After Buchan.) 




rrTTc, 60 ° Circle 


St. Pstcrsburg 


• Moscow 


Irkutsk 




430 The International Geography 


ture changes determine two well-marked pressure conditions — a winter 
high-pressure system which is most powerfully developed over Mongolia, 
and a summer low-pressure system which is most intense between the middle 

Indus and the Gulf of 


Oman. The winter 
winds of the continent 
are consequently out- 
flowing, the summer 
winds are inflowing. 
The cold outflowing 
winds of winter are 
dry, and over the whole 
of Asia hardly any rain 
falls at this season, ex- 
cept in regions where 
the winds are deflected 
upwards by mountains, 

especially after passing 

FlG. 22Q. — January isotherms for Asia. ( After Buchan.) ,, 'T'u^ 

v J over the sea. I he 

Malay Archipelago and Peninsula and Ceylon, as well as the extreme south 

of the Dekkan, are near enough the equator to have the double rainy 

seasons characteristic of sub-equatorial regions. The rest of the continent 

receives rain from the inflowing winds of summer, and these fall most 

heavily where the course of the surface wind is normal to that of the great 

mountain ranges, e.g., the western mountains of the Dekkan and Burma, 

and the eastern ranges of the east coasts. Local topographical variations 

deflect the rain-bearing 

wind ; and thus the 

southern slopes of the 

Himalaya and of the 

Khasia Hills receive 

abundant rains. Only 

the interior regions, 

shut off from oceanic 

influences by very high 

mountains, have little 

or no rain in summer, 

and are in consequence 

deserts. 

Climatic Areas. 

— Asia may be divided 
into five great climatic 
areas — (i) The Arctic Cold Dry Area, with a mean temperature not exceeding 
50° F. in the warmest summer month, and a mean rainfall never over i inch 
in the wettest month. This is a small region almost entirely within the Arctic 


FlG. 230 . — July isotherms for Asia. ( After Buchan.) 


Asia 


431 


circle. (2) The Siberian or Temperate Continental Area has great severity of 
winter cold, but the summer temperatures range from 50° to 70° or 75 0 F. The 
temperature extremes are greater in the east than in the west. Hardly any 
rain falls here in winter, but in the short summer a mean monthly fall of 
from 1 to 2 inches is observed. (3) The Central or Arid Area, including 
Arabia, Iran, Turan, Taklamakan and Gobi, is one of varied elevation 
and of varied temperature conditions. Most of it is very dry, but slight 
winter rains characterise the west, whereas what precipitation occurs in 
the east falls mainly in summer. The extreme south of Arabia is also 
a region of summer rains. This area exhibits in a high degree the 
desiccation characteristic of the central plateaux of great mountain ranges. 
The arid basin of Taklamakan, for example, abounds in ruined cities of a 
time when rain must have been abundant, land fertile, and population dense. 
(4) The Monsoon Area includes India, Indo-China, and the eastern coastal 
lands, where rain falls when the inflowing summer winds blow. The south 
of this area is much warmer and more equable in temperature than the 
north, where cold winters are the rule. The regions within this area which 
have winter rains are the south-east of India, and of Indo-China, and the west 
of Japan. The monsoon winds set in and cease at different times in different 
parts of the area. During their prevalence the atmospheric conditions 
remain relatively steady, but at the periods of change they are very 
unstable, giving rise to the dreaded cyclones of the Indian Ocean, and the 
typhoons of eastern waters, which often do great damage both on land and 
to ships at sea. (5) The Sub- equatorial Area, characterised by two rainy 
seasons, is always warm and always wet, so that we should speak of its 
possessing two less wet rather than two dry seasons in the year. 

Minerals and Soils. — The mineral wealth of Asia is very great. 
The precious stones and metals have long been famous : the diamonds 
anciently cut and sold at Golconda, the Ceylon sapphires, the Burma 
rubies, the jade of Turkestan, and the gold of the Caucasus and of 
Japan. Gold is found in the Ural, Altai, and the mountains of the north- 
east, and this gold zone probably extends across the Pacific to the Yukon 
region. These mountains are also all rich in many other minerals, and so 
are the mountainous provinces of China. The tin of the Malay peninsula, the 
copper and mercury of Japan, the silver, copper and graphite of Siberia, 
the rock salt of India and the salt in the dried up lakes of the deserts may 
be mentioned as useful minerals already largely utilised. Iron is found in 
many regions, but is little worked by modern methods. Rich petroleum 
wells occur in the Caucasus, Burma, and Sumatra ; and the immense 
coal-fields of China, and some of the eastern islands, including Sakhalin, 
Japan, and Hainan, which are hardly yet used, lock up vast stores of wealth. 

Large areas of northern Asia are enriched with loam. Much of 
the dry centre is covered with wandering sand dunes, beyond which 
the fine loess is blown over vast tracts of land which are highly fertile 
where water also exists. The Indian and Indo-Chinese peninsulas have a 


432 The International Geography 

surface of laterite, a clay rich in iron formed in warm, wet, tropical regions. 
The flood plains of the great rivers are covered with a fertile alluvium 
whereon rich crops are grown. 

Northern Vegetation Zones. — The soils determine three great floral 
areas. The glacial or fluviatile soils of the north and east support forests, 
the ceoliatt soils of the centre and south-west are steppe lands or deserts, 
and the laterite regions of the south and south-east are wooded. But the 
climate is the chief factor determining the distribution of the different plant 
associations ; and the three great typical soil areas, which are themselves 
largely conditioned by climatic factors, can be subdivided into smaller 
districts with different types of vegetation. In the Arctic climate area 
only the surface of the soil is thawed during the brief summer, and it is a 
frozen desert most of the year. Here no trees can grow, and the plant 
association is termed Tundra ; the vegetation includes low shrubs of birch, 
willow, larch, spruce, and other plants that are trees in better conditions, 
and berry-bearing bushes such as the cranberry ; but the most characteristic 
plants are lichens and mosses. During the brief summer poppies, saxi- 
frages, and many of the plants found on European mountains burst into a 
brief season of bloom, when the land is gay with many coloured flowers. 
The Siberian climate area where loam exists is a land of Forests. The typical 
plants associated together are coniferous, the larch (Larix Sib erica) and 
firs (Abies Siberica) predominating; but birches, poplars, and other trees 
familiar in temperate Europe abound. The forests can be traced farthest 
north along the river valleys. In the south the deciduous trees become 
more abundant, and alter the aspect of the forest ; and still farther south a 
belt of birch woods forms the transition from forest to steppe land. The 
forests are thick and in many places impenetrable. Brehm has given a 
vigorous description of the forest primeval, with its contrasting glades of 
living trees and thick underwood of clematis, rhododendron and honey- 
suckles, climbing over dead, fallen and rotting trunks. Meadow lands 
with bright summer flowers exist in the Siberian area, and predominate in 
the rich grass steppes further south. Towards the east the proportion of 
European species in the forests diminishes, and in the Amur basin comes 
to a minimum, while Chinese and Japanese species increase in number. 

Steppes and Deserts. — The dry conditions which permit the 
transference and accumulation of wind-blown soil militate against the 
development of large trees. The loose porous soil and the extremes of 
heat and cold serve to promote a rapid growth of grasses and other annuals 
during the short moist season, but these perish even more quickly than 
they rose, and are preserved until the next moist season by their hardy 
seeds or roots. The Steppe lands are of two kinds, grass steppes bordering 
the forests, and poor steppes passing into sterile deserts. The grass 
steppes of south-western Siberia lie between 50° and 55 0 N., and reach as 
far east as the Ob. Similar steppes exist east of the Altai and south of the 
Sayan and Yablonovyi mountains, in the upper valleys of the great rivers 


Asia 


433 


rising in eastern Tibet, at the base of the mountains enclosing the Tarim 
basin, rising from Turan and in the south-west of Iran. The snows of the 
high mountains are a source of water for these steppes ; and where peren- 
nial streams flow, rich oases are formed along their courses. The irrigated 
regions yield fine fruits, vegetables and cereals. Poor steppes are found 
round the true desert regions, and all steppes may be divided by their rela- 
tion to the three low and the three lofty areas of inland drainage — (i) The 
Turanian or Caspian- Aral- Balkhash region passes from salt desert through 
poor steppe with saxaul ( Borsczowia aralo-caspica) to the mountains, round 
which are fertile regions watered by the rivers. (2) The Taklamakan or 
Tarim region has much the same characteristics, the saxaul being the 
typical plant. (3) The Gobi or Mongolian region where grasses live, but 
hardly a bush is to be found. (4) The Arabian region is a continuation of 
the Sahara, with date-palm oases. (5) The Anatolian and Iranian desert 
regions have few plants, some, such as the Astragalus Tragacantha, yielding 
gum tragacanth ; and (6) the Tibetan region has a desolate tundra-like appear- 
ance, with coarse grasses and a few stunted trees in the less elevated parts. 
The moister sides of the mountains rising out of the steppe land may be 
wooded, but the vegetation in most places passes from rich grassy steppe 
to poor steppe, and gradually into tundra just under the snow line. 

Warm Zone. — In the north of the Warm Zone we find the Sub- 
tropical Forest Area , the western region of which has winter, and the 
eastern region summer rains. The Western or Mediterranean region, 
yields olives, figs, pomegranates, Aleppo pines, cedars, myrtles, evergreen 
oaks, and other trees on the lower mountain slopes, and Oriental 
planes higher up. The Eastern or Sino-Japanese region has tea trees, 
camellias, and rich flowers, many of which, grown in European gardens, 
may be recognised by their specific names sinensis or japonica. The 
upper slopes of the mountains of Japan and Korea are covered with 
beeches and conifers such as Fagus Sieboldi or Abies Firma. The 
Savanna area of Asia is found in the south of Arabia, in India, Indo- 
China, and the higher parts of Ceylon and the Malay Archipelago. 
Southern Arabia forms part of the African savanna area. The other 
regions may be grouped as the south Asiatic savanna area, and they are 
characterised by great grasses such as the alang-alang ( Imperata cylindrica ). 
The moister lower regions of southern and south-eastern Asia contain dense 
wet jungles , with a rich vegetation consisting of giant banyans, screw-pines, 
lofty palms, and other great trees, up which innumerable creepers climb 
to the light above, while saprophytic and other orchids, lycopods and 
mosses live in their branches. The mountain slopes above the plains are 
also covered with great forests, with sal and deodar in the Himalayas, and 
teak in the Dekkan and Burma, and areca palms in the Western Ghats, 
and the Malay peninsula and islands south of io° N., while liquid amber 
grows on the middle slopes of the mountainous Sunda Islands. The 
tropical growths flourish to nearly 3,000 feet above sea-level and then give 


434 The International Geography 

place to sub-tropical and temperate plants, the last disappearing above 
about 12,000 feet. 

Economic Plants. — The rich flood plains and deltas of the great rivers 
of southern and eastern Asia are among the most fertile regions of the world. 
They yield rich crops of rice, sugar-cane, cotton and indigo ; while in the 
drier regions wheat may be grown in irrigated districts. Coco-nut and 
sago palm, tamarind and bread-fruit are grown in the south-eastern islands, 
where spices, such as pepper, nutmeg, olove and vanilla are found. Most 
of the common cereals, wheat, barley, rye and oats, have long been cultivated 
in western Asia, where date-palms grow in the oases of the deserts, and 
olives, vines, figs, pomegranates, oranges, and other fruits flourish round 
the Mediterranean. In Arabia coffee is cultivated, and also in southern 
India, where cacao has recently been introduced. Cinchona is grown in the 
south and south-east, yielding the anti-febrile quinine. In the far east tea, 
rice, cotton, sugar, lac, are among the chief economic plants, and in recent 
years the cultivation of tea has spread from China to India and Ceylon. 

Fauna. — Tundra, temperate forest, steppe, desert, savanna, and wet 
jungle, each contains its own association of animals whose habits are adapted 
to their surroundings. The lack of barriers in northern Asia gives a certain 
unity to the fauna over this vast area, but the lofty mountains and wide 
deserts form impassable barriers to most forms, so that different faunal 
realms exist in the north and in the south. The extreme south-west shut 
off by desert, and the south-east with its isolating seas have each animals of 
different type from those of the north and south. North of the southern 
mountains the animals belong to the Palaearctic realm ; in India, Indo- 
China, and the adjacent islands to the Oriental realm. The south of Arabia 
is African in faunal as well as in physical characteristics, and the islands 
east of Wallace’s line are Australian rather than Asian in type. The tiger 
ranges over the greater part of the south and east of Asia, and, with the 
elephant and rhinoceros, may be looked upon as typical of the southern 
part of the continent. The wild horse and camel feed on the steppes of 
central Asia, and huge mountain sheep ( Ovis argali and poll) are well known 
as game on the Pamirs. Most of the domestic animals of the world are of 
Asian origin. The reindeer is the draught and milk-giving animal of the 
Tundra. In the Tibetan cold and desert regions the yak is as important as the 
reindeer is in the north. The camel serves man in the great desert regions, 
round whose outskirts horses are the most important animals belonging to 
the nomad, and with his herds of cattle, sheep and goats, constitute his 
wealth. In many western regions the donkey of a fine breed is invaluable, 
and mules are common. The Indian buffalo is a draught animal, but in 
India, as in China and Japan, where the land is fertile, it is too valuable for 
grazing, and few animals are kept, save pigs and fowls, for which there is 
plenty of food, and which yield the fat and nitrogen so often lacking in a 
vegetable diet. In India and Indo-China the elephant has been tamed, and 
performs many transport services. The great aquatic mammals are hunted 


Asia 435 

in Polar seas for skin and oil and bone, and the pearl oyster is brought up 
by divers from the bottom of tropical waters. 

People. — The more important groups of the White race represented in 
Asia are the Semitic type of Syria and Arabia, the numerous tribes of the 
Caucasus, the Slavonic people pressing eastwards across Siberia and in T uran, 
and the Aryan people of Iran and northern India. The Yellow or Mongo- 
lian type is the most numerously represented in Asia, and includes two- 
thirds of the inhabitants. The northern Mongoloids speaking polysyllabic 
languages may be distinguished from the southern Mongoloids using so-called 
monosyllabic tongues. Among the former are the various Finno-Tatar and 
Turki-Tatar races of the northern and of central Asia, the true Mongolians, 
and the Manchus, all of whom may be grouped as Ural -Altai Mongols, and 
are to be distinguished from the Koreans as well as from the Japanese. The 
southern Mongoloids include Chinese, Tibetans, various Himalayan hill 
tribes, Burmans, Siamese and Annamese. The relationships of the north- 
eastern tribes, sometimes called hyperboreans or Bering tribes, are not 
well known. The Black type is represented in the south by the negroid 
Dravidians of the Dekkan and Ceylon, who are quite distinct from the 
Negritos of the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. These have been 
pushed into the interior by the Malay races who occupy the coasts and 
favourable places ; and have probably a large proportion of Mongoloid 
blood. 

Occupations. — By far the greatest part of Asia is occupied by many 
nomadic tribes, relatively few in individuals when compared with the mass 
of settled inhabitants of the Indian and eastern plains. The northern and 
north-eastern tribes are hunters and fishers, and in so far as they rear 
reindeer, are also pastoral. Pastoral nomads occupy the rest of the con- 
tinent that is not cultivated. Agriculture is carried on in Asia Minor and 
Mesopotamia, along the river courses and on the oases of central Asia, in 
southern Siberia, and down the Amur, including the region north of 
Vladivostok, in Korea, southern Manchuria, northern China, the Dekkan, 
and the Upper Ganges and Indus flood plains. The soil is so carefully 
cultivated in Japan, and most of China-proper, that we may call these 
regions gardens. There also manufactures of all kinds flourish, but as yet 
the modern factory system of Europe has been introduced into few places 
in Asia. Tropical plantations exist in south-western Arabia, the Dekkan, 
Ceylon, Bengal, Assam, Burma, on the flood plains of Indo-China, and the 
Malay Archipelago. Much of the Malay peninsula and of the islands of the 
v Malay Archipelago is so very fertile that the inhabitants have to do little 
more than clear the surface of the ground and plant cuttings to obtain good 
crops. It is natural to find that the south and east are the most densely 
peopled regions of Asia, and it is estimated that over 830 million people live 
in India, Indo-China, China, Korea, Japan, and the south-eastern islands, i.e. t 
half the population of the world on one-tenth of its surface. The rest of 
Asia has onlv 70 million people, and of it an area half as large as Europe 
30 


436 The International Geography 

is practically uninhabited. The total population of the continent is estimated 
at 840 millions, 55 per cent, of the human race. 

History. — The Iphysical configuration of Asia has largely determined 
its history. On the northern plains the conditions have been unfavourable 
to the growth or agglomeration of population, and hence to the development 
of any important civilisation or religion. South of the central barrier of 
mountains and deserts, three distinct natural areas of favourable conditions 
have developed characteristic civilisations. Of these the oldest is probably 
that of Mesopotamia, the rich alluvial flood plain of the Euphrates and 
Tigris, which has been the seat of a series of important empires, the most 
ancient, that of Chaldea, reaching back to the dawn of history. Through 
the narrow strip of Mediterranean coast-line Mesopotamian civilisation in- 
fluenced the development of Europe, and was influenced by it. An equally 
opulent and magnificent civilisation grew up on the flood plains of the 
Himalayan rivers, but the mountain and desert barriers on the north, and 
the sea on the other side, confined their influence to a more limited area. 
The third great Asiatic civilisation arose on the flood plains of the 
Yangtse-kiang and the Hwang-ho, and its records reach back to a remote 
antiquity. The wealth of all these regions has naturally always exposed 
them to invasion by attracting the cupidity of the nomads of the steppes, 
but the progress of barbarian aggression became irresistible, as the gradual 
dessication of central Asia made it absolutely necessary for the nomads to 
quit their withering pasture grounds. This drying-up of central Asia is 
probably the ultimate explanation of such great events in the world’s history 
as the successive Mongol conquests of China, the Mongolian settlement of 
the Russian plains and Hungary, and the downfall of the Roman Empire. 
Even India, with its almost impenetrable barriers of mountain and desert, 
was attacked. The last great pastoral invasion of the west, which made 
the fairest part of western Asia and the eastern capital of the Roman world 
the prey of the Ottoman Turks, took place less than 500 years ago, and even 
as late as the seventeenth century the expansion of the Turkish Empire 
was a menace to Europe. 

While Asia has thus expanded into Europe, influences have been at 
work in the opposite direction. What was first prompted by the ambition 
of individual conquerors, from Alexander onw T ards, is now the outcome of 
the economic conditions of Europe, and has become the settled policy of 
its Great Powers. Greek and Roman civilisations succeeded each other in 
Asia Minor, but until modern times no western Powers penetrated much 
further. The ancient Armenian nation subjugated by the Turks, has main- 
tained its religious faith and its national character, though its territory is 
parted between three empires. The development of sea power afforded a 
new means of aggression, and helped to shorten distance. Portugal, Spain, 
Holland, France and the United Kingdom all founded empires in eastern 
Asia. Little remains of Portuguese and nothing of Spanish possessions in 
the east, but the Dutch still hold most of the Malay Archipelago. India w r as 


Asia 


437 


subjected from the sea by the French, and then by the British, who have 
welded the isolated States into an empire, and control the key positions on 
the routes both to east and west. France has conquered a new empire in 
the south-east and has interests in China, where Germany and Russia have 
also obtained a footing. The British colonies of Straits Settlements and 
Hongkong are bases from which a vast commercial interest in China has 
been developed. These conquests, however, are mainly military, or at best 
commercial, i.e,, of the least permanent types. Very different is the steady 
advance of Russia across the Turanian and Siberian plains, and more recently 
through Manchuria towards northern China. Here the advance is the 
pushing onwards of settlers into lands which are as yet sparsely peopled, 
and in which new routes have opened many regions well suited to the de- 
velopment of the great Slavonic race. Persia, Afghanistan, Siam, and Korea 
retain a precarious independence through the rivalries of the Powers whose 
territories border their lands. Japan has attempted to forestall European 
conquest by copying European civilisation, and has itself adopted a policy 
of expansion. The application of European capital and supervision, and 
the introduction of telegraphs and modern means of rapid communication 
are working an economic transformation in Asia, the outcome of which 
cannot at present be foreseen. So far it has relieved the pressure of 
western needs by opening new markets, but as the industrial development 
of Asia proceeds, the competition must be severely felt in Europe. 

As Europe is typically the continent of limited monarchies, Australia 
that of colonies, and South America that of republics, so Asia may be 
looked upon as the continent of absolute monarchies, the principle of abso- 
lutism is even carried out in the European possessions on the mainland, 
and in Japan alone is the government limited by a popular constitution. 

Religion. — Asia has been the cradle of all the great world religions. 
In each culture area a great religious type developed. Brahmanism, the 
dominant religion of India, professed by 208 million people, gave birth to 
Buddhism, which is the religion of 425 million human beings in Tibet, 
Mongolia, China and Japan. China, however, produced a religious or 
moral teacher of its own in the person of Confucius, whose precepts codify 
the ethics of a patriarchal agricultural people. These religions, like the 
civilisations with which they are associated, have exercised but little influence 
on Europe. The centre of influence in both cases lay further west. Judaism, 
the purest of the Semitic cults, has produced two religions which have 
radiated respectively west and north and east and south. The older, 
Christianity, has become the religion of Europeans and their descendants, 
but has made little progress in Asia, where its adherents do not number 
20 millions. The younger, Islam or Mohammedanism, has spread over 
south-western Asia, and extended eastwards to India, and even to China. 
It was the motive power which led to the Arab conquests in Asia, in 
Africa, and even in Europe ; to the mediaeval Persian empire ; and to 
the Turkish invasions. It was ever a religion of the sword ; and its pro 


438 The International Geography 

gress is attested by the fact that 160 million Asiatics now profess it. The 
religions of the northern Asiatic peoples and of the Negroids in the 
south-east are fetishistic, and have played little part in world history. 

Asia, with its vast masses of population remaining passively in the place 
of their birth, is the one stronghold of the spirit of the past ; the great bulk 
of the people live to-day as they lived when Marco Polo sojourned amongst 
them, or as they lived a thousand years before ; and while the hordes of 
wandering Asiatics have convulsed the world, and again and again turned 
the course of history, the stationary mass may still long resist the penetration 
of European commerce, as it has for many centuries withstood European 
civilisation and religion. 


STATISTICS. 


THE CHIEF COUNTRIES OF ASIA. 


Asiatic Russia 
Chinese Empire 
Indian Empire 
Asiatic Turkey 
Persia 

Dutch East Indies 
Afghanistan 
French Indo-China . . 
Siam . 

Japan 

British Colonies 
Korea 


Area square miles 

Population. 

6,394,000 

24,700,000 

4,278,000 

4©o,ooo,ooo( ?) 

. 1,800,000 

294,000,000 

654,000 

17,000,000 

. 650,000 

8,000,000 

. 584,000 

34,000,000 

. 250,000 

4,000,000 

. 256,000 

18,200,000 

. 200,000 

9,000,000 

. 160,000 

42,000,000 

. 150,000 

5,000,000 

. 82,000 

17,000,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. H ; Keane. “Asia.” 2 vols. Stanford’s Compendium. London, 1896. 

W. Sievers. “Asien.” 2nd ed. Leipzig, 1904. 

F. H. H. Guillemard. “ The cruise of the Marchesa to Kamschatka and New Guinea.” 
2 vols. London, 1886. 

Baron A. E. Nordenskiold. “ The voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe.” 2 vols. 
London, 1881. 

E. Suess. “ Das Antlitz der Erde.” Bd. III., Th. i. [Deals almost entirely with Asia.] 
Sven Hedin. “ Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902.” 6 vols. and 
2 vols. Atlas. Stockholm and London, 1904. 

A. Little. “The Far East.” Oxford, 1905. 


CHAPTER XXIV.— ASIATIC TURKEY AND ARABIA 

I.— ANATOLIA 


By General Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

* 

Boundaries and Coast. — Anatolia occupies the westward extension 
of the Iranian plateau that stretches out like an arm towards Europe. On 
the north it is bounded by the Black Sea ; on the west by the Bosporus, 
the Sea of Marmora, the Dardanelles, and the ^gean ; on the south by the 
Mediterranean, Syria, and Mesopotamia ; and on the east by Russia and 
Persia. The north coast is rocky, has no good harbours, and only one safe 
roadstead — Sinope, between the Bosporus and the Russian frontier. There 
are, however, several open roadsteads and small ports at which steamers 
ship the produce of the interior. The west coast is deeply penetrated by 
the waters of the Marmora and JEge an, and some of its inlets, such as the 
Gulf of Smyrna, form excellent harbours. For several miles it is only 
separated from Europe by the narrow channels, Bosporus and Dardanelles, 
that connect the Marmora with the Black Sea and the ^Egean. South of the 
Dardanelles the coast is fringed with islands. The south coast is deeply 
indented by the broad bay of Adalia, and towards the east its cliffs give 
way to the low shore of the Cilician plain. East of Cape Alupo are the 
land-locked harbours of Marmarice and Makri, and further east are small 
ports at which steamers call. South of Cape Anamur lies Cyprus. 

Configuration. — The Anatolian plateau rises from west to east, and 
attains its greatest altitude, above 6,000 feet, near Erzerum. On the north 
it is buttressed by the Pontic coast range, which varies greatly in height, 
and rises abruptly from the sea. The only coast plains are the deltas 
formed by the Kizil and Yeshil Irmaks. On the south the plateau is simi- 
larly buttressed by the Taurus range, which in places has an altitude of 
from 7,000 to 10,000 feet. Except where the Pamphylian and Cilician plains 
intervene, the range approaches the sea. Farther east it is separated from 
Syria by the gorge of the Jihun, and breaks down to the lowlands of 
Mesopotamia in a series of rock-terraces seamed by deep ravines. The 
western face of the plateau is broken by broad valleys, and only in the case 
of Olympus (7,600 feet) rises much higher than 2,500 feet. On the east the 
Anatolian passes into the Iranian plateau. 

The Anti-Taurus range, which rises east of Sivas and runs south-west to 
Mount Taurus, divides the plateau into Western and Eastern Anatolia. In 
the first the most striking features are the great central plain with its salt 
lake ; the absence of navigable rivers ; Mount Argaeus (13,100 feet), and the 

43Q 


44° The International Geography 

volcanic district to the south with its rock-hewn houses and underground 
villages ; the subterranean flow of streams beneath the Taurus ; the pic- 
turesque lake district east of Dineir, and the number of hot medicinal 
springs. In Eastern Anatolia, elevated plains are separated by mountain 
ranges that run from east-north-east to west-south-west. The principal 
features are the fertile volcanic district of Van, with its salt lake (area 2,000 
square miles, altitude 5,300 feet), and the old craters Sipan Dagh (12,000 feet) 
and Nimrud Dagh ; the lofty Bingeul Dagh ; snow-capped Ararat (17,160 
feet), and the wild gorges through which the waters of the Euphrates 
and Tigris find their way to lower levels. The Pontic coast range, the 
plateau, and the Taurus are here roughly distinguished as Lazistan, 
Ermenistan, and Kurdistan — the countries respectively of the Lazis, the 
Armenians, and the Kurds. Kurdistan includes also the mountainous 
district, east of Mosul, through which the two Zabs run to the Tigris. 

Some of the Anatolian rivers are of considerable size. From the high 
plateau of Eastern Anatolia the Choruk Su ( Acampsis ) and the Yeshil 
Irmak (Iris) run to the Black Sea, and the Euphrates and Tigris, after 
reaching the lowlands of Mesopotamia, flow through them to the Persian 
Gulf. From the plateau of Western Anatolia the Kizil Irmak (Halys) and 
the Sakaria (Sangarius) flow to the Black Sea, and the Gediz Chai (Hermus) 
and Mendere Chai (Mceander) to the Mediterranean. The Geuk Su (Co-Zy- 
cadnus ), which rises in the Taurus range, and the Sihun (Sarus) and Jihun 
( Pyramus ), which rise in the recesses of Anti-Taurus, also discharge their 
waters into the Mediterranean. 

The great plain of Western Anatolia is composed of lacustrine deposits 
of the Tertiary period. Mount Taurus consists chiefly of Cretaceous lime- 
stone, the Pontic range of schists and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks 
of the Tertiary and later periods occur in many districts, and some of the 
minor ranges are of granite. The mineral wealth is great, but neglected ; 
it includes gold, silver, lead, iron, coal, boracite, chrome, fuller's earth, 
rock-salt, alum, kaolin, antimony, emery, and meerschaum. Serpentine 
and fine marbles are found in several localities. Anatolia is subject to 
earthquakes of great severity. 

Climate, Flora, and Fauna. — On the north coast summers of 
damp, enervating heat are followed by cold winters with much rain and 
heavy falls of snow. On the plateau the summer is hot and the winter 
very cold, in Eastern Anatolia often reaching — 15 0 or — 20* F. On the 
south and west coasts the winter is mild and the summer heat is tempered 
by sea breezes. Malaria is prevalent in some localities. 

The Pontic range is clothed with magnificent forests of oak, fir, and 
beech, and on the higher slopes rhododendrons and azaleas flourish. On the 
ranges to the south, including the Taurus, there is less variety of foliage 
in the forests. There is excellent wheat land on the plateau, and various 
districts, according to climate, favour the growth of the vine, olive, fig, 
orange, lemon, apple, pear, maize, rice, opium, cotton and liquorice. The 


44-1 


Asiatic Turkey — Anatolia 

central districts are almost treeless, and, as a rule, dreary and uninviting ; 
but where the rivers break through the coast ranges the scenery is some- 
times grand, often picturesque, and occasionally of rare beauty. 

Bear, panther, lynx, wolf, hyaena, wild boar, chamois, ibex, moufflon, 
deer, gazelle, bustard, francolin, pheasant, swan, pelican, and stork are 
found. Trout abound in the mountain streams, and a species of herring 
is caught in Lake Van. Wiry horses and excellent mule camels 1 are bred 
on the plateau, which is also the home of the Angora (mohair) goat. 

History. — Geographical position, close proximity to Europe, the 
absence of navigable rivers, and the few approaches to the plateau from 
the coast, have had an important influence on the history of Anatolia. The 
earliest routes to the East passed through it, and it has ever been the scene 
of an unending struggle between the influences of the East and West. 
Although kingdoms (Phrygia, Lydia, Pergamum, Pontus, Armenia and 
Seljukian Rum) have from time to time risen within its borders, it has 
never been the seat of permanent empire. At two periods — when Greek 
colonists, and later when Genoese and Venetians occupied the islands and 
ports of the coast, and grew rich as “ middlemen ” between the East and 
West — the history of the maritime districts had little in common with that 
of the plateau. 

In the dawn of history Anatolia was occupied by non- Aryan races. 
Such were the “ Hittites,” whose capital was at Boghaz Keui, and the 
people of Biainas who dwelt at Van. When the Aryan immigration com- 
menced is unknown, but in the western districts there must have been 
a great fusion of blood several centuries before the Persian conquest 
(b.c. 546). In the east the Armenians displaced the people of Biainas in 
the seventh century b.c. Alexander destroyed the Persian Empire 
(b.c. 334-331), and under his successors Greek culture and the Greek 
language prevailed amongst natives of the higher class. But western 
civilisation made little progress in the interior until the Roman period, and 
the most efficient agent in diffusing it was Christianity. Under the Roman 
emperors western Anatolia was Europeanised, whilst, after years of strife, 
all east of the Euphrates became a Persian province. The Arabs made 
predatory incursions (a.d. 661-867), but, except in Armenia, obtained no 
real hold of the country. The advent of the Seljuk Turks (a.d. 1071) initi- 
ated a long period of decay. For four centuries wave after wave of nomads 
— Turks, Mongols (1235), Timur and Tatars (1386-1402) — swept over the 
country and destroyed its prosperity and wealth. Constantly on the move 
in search of fresh pasture for their flocks, despising agriculture, caring 
nothing for town life, and heedless of the morrow, they rendered cultiva- 
tion impossible, and forced the peasantry to become nomad or seek refuge 
in the mountains. From these disasters Anatolia has never recovered, and 
recolonisation from Europe can alone restore its pristine prosperity. 


x Bactrian sire, Arab dam. 


442 The International Geography 

People. — The present population is partly sedentary, partly nomad ; 
partly Moslem, partly Christian. The sedentary inhabitants represent on 
he whole the races that occupied the country when the Seljuks first 
appeared on its borders. The Moslems are the descendants of those who 
changed their faith, the Christians of those who retained it. Turks whose 
ancestors settled in the towns and villages are met with throughout the 
country, and in some localities there are Turkish villages. Kurds, sedentary 
and nomadic, are widely spread. Their principal home is in the mountain 
tract called Kurdistan, which they have occupied from a remote period. 
They are of Median origin, and speak Kermanji and Zaza, two Persian 
dialects intermixed with Syriac and Armenian words. Lazis , who belong 
to the Caucaso-Tibetan race, and speak a language allied to Georgian, live 
in the coast range east of Trebizond. In western Anatolia there are large 
Circassian, Tatar, and Bulgarian colonies. Greeks are in a majority in the 
islands and on the west coast ; and in Cappadocia and the Pontic coast 
range there are large Greek-speaking communities. In the isolated villages 
on the plateau the Greeks only speak Turkish. Armenians are found in 

all Anatolian towns, but there are few Armenian 
villages west of the Sivas and Adana vilayets. In 
certain districts of eastern Anatolia they form a 
majority of the people, and occupy the towns and 
high-lying valleys. The language is Armenian, but in 
isolated villages the peasants only speak Turkish or 
Kermanji. Nestorians live in the valleys of the Great 
Zab and Bohtan, near the Persian frontier. Thev 
speak a dialect of Syriac, containing Persian, Arabic, 
and Kurdish words, and are the descendants of Syrian 
Christians driven to the mountains from Mesopotamia 
by the encroachments of the nomads. The Turkomans, Tatars, Avshars, 
and Yuruks, who are widely distributed, are nomads of Turk or Mongol 
origin. 

The Moslems are either Sunnis or Shias, the former being in a large 
majority. The Christians belong either to the Greek Orthodox, the 
Armenian Gregorian, the Nestorian, the Protestant, or the Roman 
Catholic Church. All non-Moslems must belong to one of the recognised 
religious communities (millets), each of which has two representatives on 
the Council of State at Constantinople. Education is backward amongst 
Moslems ; but the Christians have latterly made great progress with 
the assistance of colleges and schools established by the American 
Missions. 

Trade and Communications. — Most of the people make their 
living by agriculture, which is in a backward state. Large numbers are, 
however, employed in the various mines and industries in the interior, and 
as sailors, and in the sponge and other fisheries on the coast and in the 
islands. Silks, cotton stuffs, mohair cloth, carpets, sweetmeats, wine, soap* 


♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 

♦ 


L 

FIG. 231 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Anatolia. 


Asiatic Turkey — Anatolia 443 

liquorice paste, and copper utensils are largely manufactured. The prin- 
cipal imports are textile fabrics, iron, coal, petroleum, and sugar. The 
exports are raisins, figs, wine, liquorice, wheat, olive oil, opium, drugs, gum 
tragacanth, raw silk, cocoons, mohair, wool, carpets, beeswax, tobacco, 
sponges, hides, valonea, yellow berries, boxwood, timber, meerschaum, 
metals and ores. Austrian, French, Greek, and Russian steamers call at 
the various ports, but most of the foreign trade is done with the United 
Kingdom. 

During the Roman period Anatolia was intersected by well-kept roads ; 

but with the advent of the nomads wheeled transport disappeared and 

camels and mules became the common means of transport. The roads 

were neglected, and it is only during the last thirty years that any attempt 

has been made to improve them, introduce carts, and make railways. One 

line of railway, which it is proposed to continue to Mesopotamia, runs 

from the Bosporus to Ismid (Nicomedia) and Eskishehr (Dorylceum), 

whence one branch goes to Angora (. Ancyra ), and another to Konia 

( Iconium ). Other lines run from 

Mudania to Brusa ; from Smyrna 

to Manisa ( Magnesia ) and Alashehr 

( Philadelphia ), with a branch to 

Ak-Hissar ( Thyateira ) and Soma ; 

from Smyrna to Ephesus, Aidin 

{Tralles), and Dineir {Apamea), 

with short branches to Denizli 

and Chivril ; and from Mersina 

to Tarsus and Adana. Most of the 

railways are in the hands of 
_ , Fig. 232. — Anatolian Railways. 

German capitalists. 

Divisions and Towns. — Turkey in Asia is divided into provinces 
{vilayet) governed by valis who are appointed by the Sultan. Each vali 
has a staff of civil servants, and is assisted by an administrative council 
on which the spiritual heads of the non-Moslem communities have seats. 
For administrative purposes each vilayet is divided into districts {sanjak), 
sub-districts {kaza), communal circles {nahieh), and communes (< karieh ), 
governed respectively by mutessarifs, kaimakams, mudirs, and mukhtars. 
Justice is administered in accordance with the common law {nizam), by 
civil, criminal and commercial provincial courts, from which there is a 
right of appeal to the High Court at Constantinople. In Anatolia there 
are fifteen vilayets, two separate sanjaks, and one principality (Samos). 
Amongst the towns Trebizond {Trapezus) on the Black Sea, the capital of 
the old empire of Trebizond, is the natural trade outlet of Erzerum and 
northern Persia, but Russian railways are rapidly diverting the traffic. 
Samsun {Amisus), on the Black Sea, exports the produce of the Sivas 
vilayet. Skutari {Chrysopolis), on the Bosporus, is a suburb of Constanti- 
nople. Smyrna , the most important town in Anatolia, and one of the 



444 The International Geography 

principal ports of the Ottoman Empire, lies at the head of a deep gulf, and 
is the natural trade outlet for the western districts. It has direct steam 
communication with England. Adalia (Attalia) and Mersina, on the south 
coast, are the ports of the Konia and Adana vilayets. Brusa (Prusa), at the 
foot of Mount Olympus, is noted for the beauty of its situation, its hot 
iron and sulphur springs, its silk manufactories, and the mosques and tombs 
of the early Sultans who made it their capital. Angora ( Ancyra ), the 
ancient capital of the Gauls, is celebrated for its fruit, honey, and mohair 
cloth. It gives its name to the Angora (mohair) goat and Angora cat. 
Konia ( Iconium), connected with the missionary labours of St. Paul, and 
later the capital of the Seljuks, lies near the southern edge of the great 
plain of western Anatolia. Kaisariyeh ( Ccesarea ), at the foot of Mount 
Argaeus, whence roads lead by easy passes across the Anti-Taurus, has 
been a trade-centre from the dawn of history. It is still the most impor- 
tant commercial town on the plateau, and is remarkable for the enterprise 
of its merchants. Sivas (Sebastea), in the valley of the Kizil Irmak, is the 
centre of a rich wheat-growing district. Erzerum , the principal town of 
eastern Anatolia, is a military station protected by a circle of detached 
forts. Van ( Dhuspas ), near Lake Van, is situated at the foot of an isolated 
rock on which are inscriptions in cuneiform Van, Bitlis, and Mush are 
centres of Armenian districts. 

Islands of Anatolia. — Some of the islands are very fertile, others 
are little more than lofty masses of rock that rise abruptly from the sea. 
Most of them have steam communication with Smyrna. They produce 
fruit, wine, raisins, olive oil, and mastic. Sponge fishing is the principal 
industry. The population is Greek, and Greek dialects are spoken. 
Excepting Samos, they form* the Archipelago Vilayet. Tenedos is near 
the mouth of the Dardanelles. Lemnos, midway between Mount Athos 
and the Dardanelles, has an almost land-locked harbour suitable for large 
ships. Lesbos, or Mitylene, between the Dardanelles and the Gulf of 
Smyrna, was the home of the Aeolian school of lyric poetry, and the 
birthplace of Alcaeus and Sappho. It has two deep gulfs, which form 
land-locked harbours, and hot mineral springs. Chios, the most fertile of 
the islands, is noted for its wine and mastic, and is the reputed birthplace 
of Homer. Samos rose to great power under Polycrates (b.c. 532), and 
became the centre of Ionian luxury, art and science. It was the home 
of Pythagoras, and for a time the residence of Antony and Cleopatra. 
Samos has a good harbour, and is very fertile. Since 1832 it has been a 
principality paying tribute to Turkey, but otherwise independent. Moun- 
tainous Icaria is connected with the legend of Icarus ; and on rugged 
Paimos, twenty miles south of Samos, St. John wrote the Apocalypse. 
Further south are Leros, Kalymna, Kos, with its memories of Hippocrates, 
Nisyros with its hot sulphur springs, and Syme, a broken, rugged island 
with two good harbours and a large trade in sponges. Rhodes, the most 
eastern island of the Aegean, has played a conspicuous part in history. It 


445 


Cyprus 

had powerful fleets, and its maritime laws were embodied in the Roman 
civil law. Its capital, Rhodes, at the north end of the island, was one of 
the most magnificent cities of antiquity, and had, at the entrance to its 
harbour, the bronze “ Colossus of Rhodes." For two centuries it was the 
stronghold of the Knights of St. John, who, after successfully resisting the 
Turks in 1480, surrendered to Suleiman I. after a famous siege in 1522. 
The island is only partially cultivated. Between Rhodes and Crete are 
Karpathos and Kasos . 

II. — CYPRUS 

By the late Lieut.-Col. Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 

Position and Surface.— Cyprus is the most eastern island in the 
Mediterranean. Seen at a distance from the west it has the appearance 
of two islands parallel to each other, owing to the two mountain ranges 
which run along its northern and southern shores. These are separated 
by an extensive plain of Tertiary formation called the Mesorea. The 
northern range, that of Kyrenia, extends 
from Cape Kormakiti on the west to Cape 
.St. Andreas, at the extremity of the narrow 
strip of land, called Karpas, which stretches 
»out to the north-east for a distance of 47 
miles, with an average breadth of not more 
tthan six miles. This range has its crest 
finely serrated and its sides rather steep, and 
where it falls to the sea it is bordered by only a narrow plain. The 
ihighest summit is the castle-crowned peak of Buffavente, 3,135 feet high, 
and the most remarkable as to shape is Pendactylon, named from its 
resemblance to a hand with the fingers outstretched. The southern 
range is that of Troodos, or Olympus. Its highest point is 6,406 feet, 
covered with noble forests, and now used as a summer station for the 
.British troops. 

The extreme length of Cyprus is 140 miles, and its greatest breadth 60 
miles. It does not contain a single river, properly so called ; what figure 
;as such on the map are winter torrents, dry in summer, or with only a few 
pools here and there. There are a few lakes, the largest being the salines 
<(alykce) of Larnaka and Limasol, both of which, when dry in summer, 
yield a large supply of salt. 

History, People and Resources. — Cyprus is the Chittim of 
Scripture, represented as the resort of Tyrian fleets. The Phoenicians 
established settlements there about b.c. 1045. After the decay of Tyre 
the island was occupied by colonies from Greece ; it passed successively 
under the dominion of the Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, Saracens 
and Byzantines. In 1191 Richard Coeur de Lion took it and assumed the 
fitle of king. Two years later he made it over to Guy de Lusignan, whose 



446 The International Geography 


successors became tributaries to the Sultans of Egypt. In 1373 it was 
taken by the Republic of Genoa, which held it for ninety years, when the 
Venetians took it, and in 1571 it was conquered by the Turks. By the 
Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1878 the administration was handed over to 
Great Britain. The people, mainly of Greek race and language, belong 
mostly to the Orthodox Greek Church, but about one-quarter of the popu- 
lation are Mohammedans. In early times the hills of Cyprus were densely 
wooded, but the great demands made on its forests for smelting ore and 
for shipbuilding were the main causes of their destruction. The principal 
drawbacks to agriculture are the uncertainty of the seasons and the visita- 
tion of locusts. The chief products are cereals, cotton, wine, olive oil, 
carobs, silk, salt, sponges and leather. An important source of wealth in 
~ \ ' [ anc i en t times was copper (Ass Cyprium=. Cuprum = 

Copper), and mining has recently been recommenced. 

Towns. — Nicosia (Greek, Levkosia ), the capital, on 

* * the central plain, was the residence of the Lusignan 

kings ; its monasteries were numerous, and there were 

about 300 Greek and Latin churches. Famagusta, on 

the east coast, has fortifications which were the work 

Fig. 234. — Average popu~ of the Lusignans, Genoese and Venetians ; they are 
lation of a square in good preservation, but the town itself is ruinous 
mtie of Cyprus. an d filthy. The harbour is the only one in the island 

that could be made available for large vessels, but it is silted up w T ith sand, 
and the unhealthiness of the site renders it unfit for a military station. 
Larnaka, on the south coast, the ancient Kitium, the rival of Tyre, and the 
birthplace of Zeno, founder of the Stoics, is the principal commercial 
emporium of the island, and the residence of the foreign consuls. It has 
no harbour, and the roadstead is exposed to the south and east. The old 
town is about a mile and a half from the sea ; the newer portion, along 
the shore, is called La Scala, or Marina. The antiquities of Cyprus are as 
varied as they are numerous, and there is hardly a museum in the world that 
has not a collection of objects found in Cypriote tombs. The local museum 
at Nicosia contains a good collection of the treasures unearthed since the 
British occupation. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Cyprus 

Population of Cyprus 

Density of population, per square mile 

Population of Nicosia 


1891. 1901. 

3,584 . . 3,584 

209,286 . . 237,022 

58 66 

12,515 . . 14.752 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

L. P. Di Cesnola. “ Cyprus, its Cities, Tombs, &c.” London, 1877. 
C. D. Cobham. " A Bibliography of Cyprus,” 3rd ed. Nicosia 1894. 


Asiatic Turkey — Mesopotamia 447 


III— MESOPOTAMIA 

By General Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

Position and Surface. — Mesopotamia includes all Turkish territory 
south of Diarbekr, which lies between the eastern edge of the Syrian 
desert and the foot of the mountains that buttress the Persian plateau. 
Mesopotamia proper, the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris, 
has a gradual fall of 950 feet from the spurs of the Taurus range to an old 
coast-line south of Hit. Thence an almost unbroken plain extends to the 
Persian Gulf. The great plain of Upper Mesopotamia is broken by low 
ranges of hills between which the Khabur and its tributaries flow to the 
Euphrates. Between the Khabur and the Euphrates lies the Biblical 
Aram-Naharaim, a fertile district watered by the Belik, once cultivated 
and thickly peopled, but now waste. On the plain east of Mosul, between 
the Tigris and the Khazr, was the heart of the Assyrian Empire. The 
mountain district that borders the plain and extends to the Persian 
frontier forms part of Kurdistan. The lower plain (ancient Babylonia), 
south of Hit, was formerly a vast expanse of fertile land intersected and 
irrigated by canals. It is now almost uncultivated and partially covered 
with fever-breeding swamps. At Kurna the Euphrates and Tigris unite, 
and their combined stream forms the Shatt el-Arab. The delta of the 
great river is advancing at the rate of about 72 feet per annum, but the 
land is liable to .'requent inundation. The hills of Upper Mesopotamia 
are limestone. The plain south of Jebel Sinjar is a dreary flat, with a 
subsoil of gypsum and marl, intersected by nullahs. At Hit, Hammam 
Ali, and other places are petroleum, bitumen, sulphur, and salt springs. 
The climate is good in winter, but so hot in summer that people usually 
pass the day in underground chambers ( serdab ). The lion, leopard, wild 
ass, wild boar, and gazelle are found in certain localities. 

History and People. — The early history of Mesopotamia is one of 
constant struggles for supremacy between contending nations. But the 
country remained rich and prosperous until the battle of Kadisia (a.d. 635) 
placed it at the mercy of the Arabs. As the nomads pressed forward the 
peasants were driven from their lands, the great irrigation works were 
neglected, and the Euphrates, no longer controlled, spread out into wide 
marshes. What the Arabs commenced Turks, Mongols and Tatars com- 
pleted, and one of the most fertile regions of the Earth was abandoned to 
nomads. The majority of the population is now Arab, sedentary and 
nomad ; but the original inhabitants are still represented by Kurds, Yezidis 
or “Devil Worshippers,” Nestorians, Chaldaeans or Roman Catholic Ara- 
maeans, and Jacobites in the north ; and by Sabaeans in the south. 

Trade, Communications and Towns. — The only manufactures 
are for home consumption. The chief exports are cereals, dates, wool, 
gum, rice and hides ; and the imports sugar, cloth, coffee, indigo, iron and 


44 8 The International Geography 

copper. The foreign trade is chiefly with the United Kingdom, India and 
Persia. 

On the Tigris passengers and merchandise are carried from Diarbekr 
to Baghdad on rafts of inflated sheepskins. Below Samara sailing boats 
are used. From Baghdad river steamers run to Basra, whence there is 
steam communication with India and England. In flood time a steamer 
ascends the Euphrates as far as Meskineh, but there is no trade. All land 
transport is by mule or camel. 

There are four vilayets and one separate sanjak in Mesopotamia. 
Amongst the towns are Diarbekr (Amida), at the head of raft navigation 
on the Tigris ; Urfa (Edessa) ; Harran , “ the City of Nahor” ; and Mosul y 
on the Tigris, opposite the mounds Kuyunjik {Nineveh). Baghdad , the- 
city of Harun er-Rashid, has a large transit trade. It occupies an un- 
rivalled position as a centre of trade, but has lost much of its former 
wealth. Basra , on the Shatt el-Arab, is the port of transhipment from 
river craft to ocean steamers, and has a large trade in dates. Nejef and 
Kcrbela, the burial places of Ali and Hussein, lie west of the Euphrates,, 
some miles from the mounds of Babylon. They are the “ Holy Places” 
of the Shia Moslems, and every year large pilgrim-caravans arrive from 
Persia bearing corpses to be buried within the sacred precincts. 

IV.— SYRIA 

By General Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

Position and Surface. — Syria, which includes Palestine, stretches- 
southward from Anatolia, and is separated from it by the deep gorges of 
the Jihun and its tributaries. Its western limit is the Mediterranean : its 
eastern the valley of the Euphrates. On the south Wadi el-’Arish separates 
it from Egypt, but no natural feature parts it from Arabia. The coast 
towards the north is rocky ; towards the south low, and in places sandy. 
There are no good harbours, but several open roadsteads and small ports,, 
at which steamers call — Iskanderun, Latakia, Tripoli, Beirut, Haifa, and 
Jaffa. 

Syria and Palestine comprise a coastal plain of varying width, two- 
parallel ranges of mountains between which lies a remarkable depression,, 
and a plateau falling eastward to the Euphrates. On the north the 
mountains approach the sea, and here the coastal plains are small and 
narrow. But south of Mount Carmel the hills recede from the shore and 
leave room for the broad fertile plains of Sharon and Philistia. The coast 
range is known under different names. The Giaour Dagh ( Mons Amanus } 
extends from the gorge of the Jihun to the valley of the Orontes, and, 
though rarely more than 6,000 feet high, is crossed by only two good 
passes — the Amanian and Syrian “ gates.” Between the Orontes and the 
valley of the Nahr el-Kebir (EIeutherus) } “the entrance of Hamath,” are 


449 


Turkish Empire — Syria 

the rugged Ansariyeh mountains, over which there is no good pass. South 
of the Eleutherus is Mount Lebanon, which has its culminating point in 
Dhahr el-Kosdib (10,050 feet), and is crossed by only one good pass. The 
gorge of the Litany {Leontes) separates Lebanon from the hills of Galilee, 
which gradually break down to the plain of Esdraelon and valley of the 
Kishon. Southward of Esdraelon stretches the hill country of Samaria and 
Judaea, which falls away, south of Hebron, to the desert plateau of et-Tih. 
East of the coast range is the great rift-valley, or depression, in part below 
the level of the sea, that extends from the base of the Giaour Dagh to the 
Red Sea, and probably far into the heart of Africa. In this valley flow the 
Orontes and its tributary, the Kara Su ; the Leontes and the Jordan. The 
Orontes and Leontes rise near each other between Lebanon and Anti- 
Lebanon, and one flows north, the other south until both cut their way 
westward to the sea. The Jordan rises west of Mount Hermon, and after 
spreading out into Lake Huleh and the Sea of Galilee discharges its waters 
into the Dead Sea, 1,292 feet below the level of the sea. From Lake Huleh 
to the Dead Sea, which is salt and has no outlet, the course of the Jordan 
is below the sea-level. Between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akabah the 
depression is known as the Arabah. The range east of the depression is 



Fig. 235 . — Section from the Mediterranean across the Dead Sea. ( Heights exaggerated 8 times.) 

not always well defined. In the north it is a long unbroken ridge of lime- 
stone, called the Kurt Dagh. Farther south it is continued by Anti- 
Lebanon, which ends abruptly in Mount Hermon (9,200 feet) ; and it 
is then represented by the hills of Bashan, Gilead, Moab and Edom. 
Eastward of this range the ground falls gradually to the Euphrates. 
North of Aleppo, where the distance between the Mediterranean and 
the river is only from no to 140 miles, the plateau presents the character 
of rolling downs broken by rich well-watered valleys. South of Aleppo 
the plateau gradually broadens out into an extensive pastoral district, with 
a scant supply of water, which east of the Dead Sea is between 500 and 
600 miles wide. This district, known as the Syrian desert, stretches 
southward into Arabia. With the exception of the sandstone and granite 
hills of Edom, limestones prevail throughout the country. Igneous rocks 
appear in a few localities west of Jordan, and east of the river there are 
large areas of basalt — the Leja, Hauran, &c., which correspond to the 
Harras of Arabia. The most important geological feature is the great 
rift or valley hollowed out along a line of fracture and displacement of the 
Earth’s crust before the Cretaceous period. Bitumen and bromine are 
obtained from the Dead Sea, and petroleum would probably be found 


45° The International Geography 

by boring. Near Tiberias and near Umm Keis ( Gadara ) there are hot 
sulphur springs. 

Climate and Resources. — The climate of the coast and hill country 
is not unlike that of southern Italy, but in the Jordan valley, near the Dead 
Sea, it is almost tropical. Snow falls heavily on the mountains of northern 
Syria, and occasionally as far south as Jerusalem. The summers on the 
eastern plateau are intensely hot. 

The cedars of Lebanon are now represented by small groves, and there 
are no large forests such as exist in Anatolia. In certain localities, how- 
ever, the hills are well-wooded, and in the Jordan valley the vegetation is 
sub-tropical. Wheat is grown on the coast and upland plains, the olive, 
fig, and vine are cultivated in the hills, and the downs of the eastern 
plateau afford pasturage for countless flocks of sheep. But the ground is 
still for the most part waste, and though the ancient terrace-culture is in 
places being restored, it will be long before the country can recover from 
the ruin and desolation of centuries. Bear and panther are found in the 
northern districts, deer and gazelle occasionally in the south. There is a 
close affinity between the fauna of the Jordan and the rivers of tropical 
Africa. The crocodile still lives in the Nahr ez-Zerka, south of Carmel. 

History and People. — At the earliest period of which there is any 
record northern Syria was in the hands of a strong power — the Khita, or 
“ Hittites,” whose capital was at Kadesh, on the Orontes. Palestine was, 
at the same time, occupied by a number of petty States sometimes free, 
sometimes subject to Egypt. Later the Phoenician cities, including Tyre 
and Sidon, rose to great power and splendour ; and the Jews entered 
Palestine, where they created a kingdom that attained its widest extent in 
the reign of Solomon. Hittites and Jews were alike conquered by Assyria, 
and the whole country afterwards passed first to Persia, then to rival 
Seleucids and Ptolemies, and next to Rome. Syria and Palestine fell an 
easy and early prey to the Arabs, and, like Anatolia, they were either 
wholly or in part overrun by nomad Seljuks, Mongols and Tatars. 
Agriculture was destroyed, towns were deserted, and the rich lands 
turned into a wilderness. In the eleventh century the ill-treatment of the 
Christians by the Moslems at Jerusalem and in the Holy Land led to the 
Crusades. Jerusalem was taken in 1099, an d a Latin kingdom established 
in Palestine, which lasted for eighty-eight years. At the same time 
Antioch, Tripoli, and other places were erected into principalities or 
countships. In the sixteenth century Syria was conquered by the Osmanli 
Turks, in whose possession it still remains. The most momentous events 
in the history of the country are those connected with the birth and 
ministry of Christ and the spread of Christianity after His crucifixion. 

In the Giaour Dagh and the country eastward to the Euphrates the 
people, excepting in a few Armenian villages, are of Turk or Mongol 
origin, and speak Turkish. To the south Arabic is spoken, but the popu- 
lation is of varied origin. The Ansariyeh are partly descendants of the 


Arabia 


451 


original inhabitants of the mountains, and partly of Persian origin. They 
worship the Sun and Moon. The Maronites of Lebanon are Christians belong- 
ing to an indigenous race akin to the Ansariyeh. The Druses, who dwell 
in Lebanon and the Hauran, are partly indigenous and partly of Persian 
origin. South of the Litany the peasantry ( fellahin ), whether Christian or 
Moslem, are for the most part of Canaanite origin, but there has been a 
great fusion of blood. In most of the inland towns the Moslems are of 
Arab and the Christians of Aramaean origin. Jacobites are thinly scattered 
over the country. The Syrian desert is occupied by nomad Arabs, who 
at times advance to the vicinity of Aleppo, Homs, Damascus, and the 
Jordan. Colonies of Germans, Jews, and Circassians have been estab- 
lished during the last thirty years, and Palestine is dotted with monasteries 
occupied by Greek, Latin, Russian, and other monks. 

Trade, Communications and Towns. — Silk, half -silk stuffs, 
soap, and articles for sale to pilgrims are manufactured, but the principal 
occupation of the sedentary population is agriculture. The chief exports 
are wheat, fruit, wool and hides; the imports mainly textile fabrics and 
iron goods. There is an excellent carriage-road from Beirut to Damascus, 
and inferior roads run from Iskanderun to Aleppo, Haifa to Nazareth, and 
Jaffa to Jerusalem. Lines of railway connect Beirut with Damascus and 
Jaffa with Jerusalem, and a steam tramway runs from Damascus to the 
Hauran. Other inland transport is by mule or camel. 

In Syria there are two vilayets, one separate sanjak, and one district 
(Lebanon), with a special constitution guaranteed by the European Powers. 
Amongst the towns are : Iskanderun ( Alexandretta ), the port of Antioch, 
Aleppo, and parts of Mesopotamia, near the Beilan pass. Beirut, the 
port of Damascus, and the largest maritime town in Syria. Aintab, east 
of the Kurt Dagh, with a large Armenian community and an American 
college. Aleppo, a place of military and commercial importance from the 
earliest times. Antioch, on the Orontes, the ancient capital of Syria. 
Damascus, the largest town in Syria, built amidst extensive gardens, 
on the edge of the desert, beneath Anti-Lebanon. Jerusalem, in the 
heart of the hill country of Judaea, is sacred alike to Christian, Jew and 
Moslem. The city, which contains the sepulchre of Christ and the rock 
from which Mohammed is said to have ascended to heaven, is annually 
visited by numbers of Christian and Moslem pilgrims. Hebron, in the hills 
south of Jerusalem, is the burial-place of the patriarchs. 

V.— ARABIA 

By General Sir Charles W. Wilson, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

Position and Coasts. — The Arabian Peninsula stretches southward 
from Edom and the Syrian desert, of which it is a direct continuation. Its 
size is about one-third that of Europe, and its form is strikingly regular. 


452 The International Geography 

On the north, where there is no natural frontier, a line joining the head of 
the Gulf of Akabah with that of the Persian Gulf (very nearly the parallel 
of 30° N.) is generally adopted as the boundary. On the west, south and 
east its shores are bathed, respectively, by the waters of the Gulf of 
Akabah and the Red Sea, of the Indian Ocean and of the Persian Gulf. 
Isolated thus in a measure, and traversed by no important trade route, 
Arabia had little in common with the great empires of the ancient world. 
But her position was favourable to maritime enterprise, and the keen com- 
mercial instinct of her people soon led them to push their fortunes beyond 
their own shores. At a remote period the south coast became the seat of 
a sea-borne trade with south-eastern Africa on the one hand, and India 
and the further East on the other. 

The west coast is almost a straight line. It has open roadsteads, 
difficult of approach on account of shoals and coral reefs, but no true 
harbours. Towards the south there are small islands, of which the most 
important is Perim, at the entrance to the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. The 
south coast, from the strait to Ras el-Hadd, is slightly convex towards 
the Indian Ocean, and has some good harbours — Aden, Dafur, and Keshum. 
The east coast, from Ras el-Hadd to Cape Masandam, is nearly parallel to 
the west coast, and has the almost land-locked harbour of Muscat. At 
Masandam the oceanic coast line ends. Beyond it lies the shallow Persian 
Gulf, with its low, sandy shore stretching eastward and northward to the 
harbour of Koweit, or Grane, near its head. Close to the narrow entrance 
to the gulf are several islands (Jishm, &c.) ; and the coast of Katar, beyond 
Masandam, is bordered by islands (Bahrein, &c.), celebrated for their 
productive pearl fisheries. 

Configuration. — The relief of Arabia is also regular. The table-land, 
which extends southward from the Syrian Desert, is buttressed by coast- 
ranges that attain their greatest altitude in the south, and are often rugged, 
and precipitous in outline. The centre of this mass is occupied by a 
plateau with long, undulating slopes, covered with pasture, and deep, 
narrow valleys in which lie irrigated gardens and plantations. This is 
Nejd, the true home of the Arabs. In the latitude of Mecca a ridge joins 
Nejd to the western coast-range. Elsewhere it is bordered by arid desert, 
or wastes of shifting sand, the Nefuds. Between the coast-ranges and the 
sea there is a low-lying strip of sand and coral debris , with a hot climate, 
and forbidding aspect. This is the Tehama, a name specially applied to 
the Red Sea littoral south of Mecca. As the valleys of Arabia originate in 
no well-defined ridge, the line of water-parting is irregular. Many of the 
districts are well supplied with water, but no stream of any size reaches 
the sea. The central plateau, the desert, and the coast range (including 
the Tehama), each occupy about one-third of Arabia. 

Geologically, the peninsula apparently consists of granites, traps, and 
old basalts, on which lie Cretaceous sandstones continuous with those of 
Petra. Limestones, sometimes with flints, overlie the sandstones, and in 


Arabia 


453 


the north ( Arabia Petrcea) the surface is covered with flint gravels. At 
intervals, on a line, approximately parallel to the Red Sea depression, are 
vast lava beds (harm) with their craters, which may be compared with 
those in Syria and Palestine. The largest are Harrat el-’Aue, near Medain 
Salih, and Harrat Khaibar, north of Medina. 

Climate and Products. — The climate varies greatly. The coast 
districts are hot and unhealthy. The mountain districts of Oman are 
healthy and cool. On the central plateau, where heavy rains fall in spring 
and autumn, the days are hot, and the nights cold. In Yemen the winter 
temperature often falls below freezing, whilst in summer it is rarely over 
8o° F. in the shade ; rain falls in March and again in July, August and 
September. As far north as et-Taif, east of Mecca, rain lasts about five 
weeks in autumn. In the north rain is rare and falls in winter. 

The most fertile district of Arabia is Yemen, where coffee, fruit and 
vegetables are extensively cultivated. Senna grows in southern Hejaz and 
the Tehama, balsam in Safra, near Mecca, henna on the west coast, incense 
in Hadramut, indigo on the shore of the Persian Gulf, and the date palm 
in many places. Coco-nut, betel, banana, &c., have been introduced from 
India, and thrive well. The only important routes in Arabia are those 
along which pilgrims travel to Mecca from Syria, Egypt and Persia. 

The horses of Arabia have always been celebrated. The best, for 
which high prices are demanded, are bred in Nejd, where the pedigrees 
are carefully kept. Riding camels (dromedaries), with good pedigrees, 
come from Nejd and Oman. Common camels are often reared and kept 
for their milk, wool, and flesh. The large white donkeys of Hassa and 
eastern Nejd are much prized in Egypt and Turkey. Broad-tailed sheep 
are bred in Yemen and Nejd, goats in Hejaz, cattle with a hump in Yemen, 
Oman and Nejd, and cattle without a hump in the north. Ostriches are 
found on the central plateau, small tigers in Oman and Nejran, and the 
panther, lynx, hyaena and gazelle in several localities. The pearl-fisheries 
on the east coast are said to yield nearly £300,000 per annum. 

People. — The population is very sparse. The inhabitants, excepting 
Turkish officials and soldiers, belong to two great septs — the Joktanites 
and the Ishmaelites, both having Arabic as their language, and Islam as 
their religion. The Joktanite tribes occupy the southern districts, and are 
the more ancient. They are descendants of Shem, through Joktan 
(Kahtan), the father of Hazarmaveth (Hadramut), Sheba (Saba), Ophir, and 
others. The sept is divided into three stems descended from Saba (Abd 
esh-Shems, “servant of the Sun"), through his son Himyar, and his grand- 
sons, Malik and Arib. Hence they were called Sabasans. The Ishmaelite 
tribes, also called Nizarites, are descended from Ishmael, through el-Yas, 
and Keis Alan the grandsons, and Rabiah, the son of Nizar. The tribe of 
Koreish, to which Mohammed belonged, was a branch of el-Yas. The 
most important historical events are the foundation of a new religion, 
Islam, by Mohammed, and the rapid rise of the Arabs to power. The 


454 The International Geography 

flight ( Hejra ) of Mohammed from Mecca to Medina (Friday, July 16, 
622 a.d.) is the date from which Moslems commence their era. The 
Prophet died in 632, and ten years later the Arabs had conquered Palestine, 
Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, and North Africa. At present the 
tribes in Hejaz, Yemen and Hassa are subject to Turkey ; those in Nejd 
are practically independent, and those between Aden and Muscat pay no 
tribute to, and have no communication with, Turkey. 

Hejaz and Yemen. — The western coast-range of Arabia, which 
continues the mountains of Moab and Edom, has no defined crest line. 
Here and there it is broken by broad valleys, and one of these, Wadi Hams, 
separates Madian (Midian) from Hejaz. The Turkish province of Hejaz 
extends from Madian to Yemen, and is from 60 to 150 miles wide. The 
pilgrim routes from Syria and Egypt pass through it, and the southern 
end in which Mecca lies is known as the Haram, “ sacred territory.” The 
water is brackish, and, in some of the wells, tepid. Mecca , the birth- 
place of Mohammed, is about fifty miles from Jedda , its port on the Red 
Sea. A pilgrimage to Mecca is incumbent, once in his life, on every 
Moslem, and every year the holy city is crowded with pilgrims, most of 
whom travel by sea, and disembark at Jedda, the seat of government. 
Medina also lies inland from its port Yambo. The trade, except during 
the time of pilgrimage, is small. 

The Turkish province of Yemen occupies the south-west corner of 
the peninsula. Beyond the Tehama the mountains rise rapidly to a height 
of from 6,000 to 10,500 feet. They are cut up by deep ravines, and their 
slopes are terraced for the cultivation of coffee, wheat, fruits and vege- 
tables. The highlands of Yemen consist of a succession of gently sloping 
valleys, which are terraced and cultivated, and form the plateaux of 
Nejran on the north, Sanaa on the south, and Mareb on the east. The 
roads in Yemen are zigzag paths, with massive, perhaps ancient, paving. 
The soil, disintegrated trap rock, is rich, and generally bears two crops a 
year. The capital, Sanaa (7,600 feet), has a population of about 35,000, 
including 5,000 Jews. Its port is Hodeida , where the coffee and hides of 
Yemen are shipped. Yemen was the seat of the oldest and most important 
of the Arab monarchies, and its merchants traded with India at an early 
date. 

Aden . 1 — The British settlement of Aden is almost the most southerly 
point on the Arabian coast, being situated in 12J 0 N. latitude and 45 0 E. 
longitude. It is a peninsula of an irregular oval form, of about 15 miles in 
circumference, connected with the mainland by a narrow, sandy isthmus. 
The town and part of the military cantonments lie in a large crater 
enclosed by precipitous hills, the highest peak of which is 1,775 feet above 
the sea. The whole place appears utterly sterile, but it is not without a 
flora of a very interesting character, containing at least 100 species of plants. 


1 By the late Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 


Arabia 


455 


The climate during the north-east monsoon, from October to April, is 
cool and agreeable, but during the rest of the year the heat in the crater is 
very great, although at Steamer Point, on the western side, the sea breezes 
are refreshing. 

Aden became a British possession in 1839, when the town was a 
complete ruin, with not more than 600 inhabitants. Now it is large and 
flourishing, with about 30,000 inhabitants, Arabs, Somalis, Jews and 
Indians, without including the garrison and European officials. A large 
part of its supplies comes from the British Somaliland protectorate on the 
African coast. The harbour is about three miles wide at the entrance, and 
affords shelter in all weathers for vessels drawing less than 20 feet. It 
is unsurpassed by any on the Arabian or adjacent African coasts, and is 
one of the most important coaling stations in the world. Recent defensive 
works have made it practically impregnable. Being a free port, like 
Gibraltar, it has become the principal entrepot for the trade of all the 
neighbouring countries. The natural water supply is very limited, but 
condensers have been erected at the 
harbour, and the magnificent ancient 
reservoirs, capable of containing twenty 
million gallons of water, have been 
thoroughly restored to catch the rare 
rainfall. 

Perim . 1 — An important dependency 
of Aden is the island of Perim, at the 
mouth of the Red Sea, which "was an- 
nexed during the war between Great 
Britain and France in 1799, when it 
was feared that Napoleon contemplated a junction with Tipu Sultan in 
India. Subsequently, owing to the increase of steam communication 
through the Suez Canal, it became necessary to facilitate the dangerous 
navigation of the Red Sea, and Perim was again occupied, a lighthouse 
being built upon it. It is not fortified, and its fine harbour is leased by a 
private company as a coaling station. 

For administrative purposes Aden and Perim are placed under the 
government of Bombay. 

Hadramtit (Hazarmaveth), the centre of the ancient trade in myrrh 
and frankincense, is a broad valley in the sandstone district which, for one 
hundred miles, runs nearly parallel to the south coast, and discharges its 
waters into the sea east of Saihut. The capital, Shibam, is in the valley ; 
the port is Makalla. East of Hadramut are Dhofar, the old frankincense 
country, and Mahra, with fertile coast plains, and mountains clothed with 
tropical vegetation. 

Oman, a mountainous district, lies between Ras el-Hadd and Cape 
Masandam. The principal range, Jebel Akhdar (10,000 feet), is partially 

1 By the late Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 



45 6 The International Geography 


covered with vegetation, and its coast plain is fertile and cultivated. 
There is a small trade at Muscat, the capital. The kingdom of Oman 
attained its greatest splendour early in this century, when it included the 
islands of Sokotra and Zanzibar. Its proximity to India has often involved 
it in relations with that country. West of Masandam, and north along 
Hassa, a district of the Turkish province of Basra, there is little cultiva- 
tion except near Katif and Grane. 

Central Arabia. — The northern portion of Central Arabia (1,000 to 
2,500 feet in elevation), which has a hard gravel surface with stunted bush, 
and sparse grass, is intersected by two wadis that terminate in the oases 
of Jowf and Teima ( Tema ). South of Jowf lies a desert of sand, drifted 
by the wind into high ridges called Nefud, and sometimes difficult to 
cross on account of want of water, and the simum — a circular storm 
of heated, sand-laden air — that moves slowly across the desert like 
a cyclone. Further south are Harrat Khaibar (5,400 feet), with broad, 
well-cultivated valleys ; the fertile depression of Kasim (2,000 feet), and 
the Towik plateau, or Nejd. The plateau, over 5,000 feet, is about 
one hundred miles wide, and is separated from the coast districts of 
Hassa and Katif, on the east, by a desert of reddish sand from fifty to 
sixty miles wide. On the west it is connected with the coast-range by 
a ridge about 4,000 feet high. Politically the plateau is divided into 
the districts of Sedeir, Woshin, Ared, and Aflaj. South of the plateau are 
the hot, fertile district of Yemama, the peaks of Haruk (2,000 feet), and 
the Dahna desert of burning, reddish sand, which extends from Yemen to 
Oman, and is estimated to cover 50,000 square miles. 


STATISTICS OF ASIATIC TURKEY. 


Division. 

(Estimates.) 
Area in 
Square Miles. 

Population. 

Anatolia 


• • 

12,005,500 

Mesopotamia 

. . 100,200 

• • 

1,350,300 

Syria 

109,500 

• • 

2,711,900 

Arabian Provinces 

173,700 

• • 

1,050,000 

Total Asiatic Turkey 

653,600 

• • 

17,117,700 

Independent Arabia 

. . 1,230,000 

• • 

8,500,000 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 


Smyrna 
Damascus 
Aleppo 
Beirut 
Brusa. . 



.. 210,800 

Baghdad 

. . 65,000 

Erzerum 


. . 180,000 

Jerusalem 

58,000 

Mosul. . 


115,000 

Kaisariyeh . . 

. . 48,800 

Basra . . 


.. 110,000 

Trebizond . . 

. . 45,000 



. . 70,000 

Sivas . . 

43,ioo 



Density of 
Population. 
44 

.. 13 

.. 25 

6 

.. 26 

7 


« * « • 4^*5oo 

. . . , 40,000 

• • • • 40*000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Vital Cuinet. " La Turquie d'Asie.” 4 vols. Paris, 1890-95. 

“ Syrie, Liban et Palestine/’ Paris, 1901. 

W. M. Ramsay. •* Historical Geography of Asia -Minor.” London, 1890. 

G. A. Smith. *• Historical Geography of the Holy Land.” London, 1897. 

Sir R. L. Playfair. “ History of Arabia Felix, including an account of Aden.” Bombay, 1859. 
James Bryce. “Transcaucasia and Ararat.’ 4th edit London, 1896. 

Sir C. W. Wilson. “ Handbook (Murray's) for Asia-Minor, Transcaucasia, &c.” London, 1895. 
K. Kannenberg. “ Kleinasiens Naturschatze.” Berlin, 1S97. 

H. F. B. Lynch. “Armenia.” 2 vols. London, 1901. 

D. G. Hogarth. “The Nearer East. London, 1902. 


CHAPTER XXV.— THE COUNTRIES OF IRAN 

I.— PERSIA 

By Major-General Sir Frederic Goldsmid, K.C.S.I. 

Position and Boundaries. — Persia is the Pars or Fars of Ezekiel, 
a name now given to a southern province of the Shah’s kingdom only. 
The native name Iran applies to the whole upland country from Kurdistan 
to Afghanistan, of which the older inhabitants were “ Aryans.” Ancient 
Persia, as existing some centuries before the Christian era, was an immense 
range of territory extending west and east from the Mediterranean to the 
Indus, and north and south from the Jaxartes to the Arabian Sea. Modern 
Persia is said to comprehend an area of some 650,000 square miles, on the 
western and larger portion of the great Iranian plateau. Yet its extreme 
breadth measured along the parallel of 34° N. from the Turkish to the 
Afghan frontier, is scarcely 1,000 miles, while the length from the Daman- 
i-kuh, the mountain range on the Trans-Caspian Russian frontier, to the 
sea coast about the meridian of 57 0 E., may be reckoned at 900. The 
northern frontier is formed by the Aras river, the southern shore of the 
Caspian and the Atrek ; the southern is the sea coast, and on the west the 
mountains of Kurdistan divide Persia from Turkey. On the east an 
irregular, but in parts well-defined, frontier commences somewhat west of 
Herat on the Hari-rud, runs southward bordering Afghanistan, turns 
abruptly to the Helmand follows the foot of the Baluchistan hill-range, 
and making a curve to the west crosses Mekran southerly to the sea in 
longitude 6i° 53' E. 

Configuration. — Persia is an elevated tableland dropping to the 
Caspian Sea along nearly one-third of its northern frontier, and to the 
Persian Gulf along its southern limit. In the central highlands there are 
few rivers, and the country is either composed of parallel mountain ranges 
and broad intervening plains, or of irregular mountain masses with fertile 
valleys, basins and ravines. About one-third of the area is occupied by 
deserts and saline wastes, quite irreclaimable and useless. For irrigation 
the plains and valleys depend on the mountains which collect rain and 
snow. The valleys are more fertile than the plains, often affording bright, 
picturesque, and grateful prospects, while the latter are usually barren and 
sandy wastes, scored, or streaked, as it were, rather than ornamented, with 
patches of green oases. With the exception of those dividing the coasts 
of the Caspian from the inland plateau, and those bordering the Arabian 
Sea and Persian Gulf, the parallel mountain ranges generally stretch from 

457 


45 8 The International Geography 

north-west to south-east. They are considered to present the same 
geological features as the Zagros chain which consists of Cretaceous 
nummulitic rocks. The Zagros is the whole mountain range from Ararat 
to Shiraz, forming the gigantic frontier wall between Persia and Turkey. 
The occurrence of metamorphic rocks has also been noticed, as well as an 
extensive area of volcanic formations, some of very recent origin. Both 
the northern and southern slopes of the lofty Elburz range are rich in coal 
and iron. The highest peak of this range, which overlooks the southern 
shore of the Caspian, is Demavend, a beautiful mountain not less than 
19,000 feet in height. Of the southern border-land of the Persian plateau, 
Blanford remarks that the part traversed by him appeared to consist of 
low ranges running east and west, which, except near the sea, were almost 
entirely composed of unfossiliferous sandstones and shales associated with 
a few beds of nummulitic limestone, apparently belonging to the older 
Tertiary epoch. 

Rivers. — Among the few rivers which merit special mention are the 
Safid-rud and Karun. The former 1 flows into the Caspian near Enzeli, the 
ordinary port of embarkation for passenger traffic with Russia ; the latter, 
from its position and proximity to the Persian Gulf, offers immense 
advantages to Indian traffic and is, practically, and that only with 
reference to small steamers, the one navigable river in the kingdom. 
Many of the rivers of the interior have an inland drainage, flowing into 
lakes or losing themselves in the sand, for instance the Helmand, of which 
the upper part is wholly in Afghanistan. This lack of rivers is a great bar 
to agricultural development ; and the uncertainty of rainfall compels the 
cultivator to trust too largely to the primitive kandts or underground 
galleries, which conduct water, so long as procurable, from the mountains 
to the centres of cultivation. Famine and drought are unfortunately no 
uncommon visitations in the “land of the Lion and Sun,” and if snow fail 
as well as rain, and springs cease to issue, the result is truly deplorable. 
When there is irrigation, the productiveness of the soil is remarkable. 

Climate. — The climate of Persia varies much according to locality. 
In the high tablelands, that is over Persia generally, it is intensely cold in 
winter, and though hot in summer, the dry clear heat is temperate 
compared to that of Sindh and the Panjab. In the north the lowlands of 
the Caspian are covered with forest, and the atmosphere is damp, feverish 
and relaxing. The maritime tracts on the south are so dry and barren 
that even the hot and violent winds which blow over them afford a certain 
amount of relief to the inhabitants during the prevalence of a scorching 
summer. Spring and autumn are the best seasons ; October is perhaps, in 
its invigorating freshness, the most enjoyable month in Tehran and the 
southern lower slopes of the Elburz ; while February, owing to its bitterly 
cold winds, is to be avoided by the traveller, posting or otherwise making 
his way to the capital from Tabriz. 

From the absence of statistics of the rainfall the estimate of experienced 


Persia 


459 

residents must be employed to supplement the returns. Rain is fairly 
abundant in the north-western mountains, and on the shores of the Cas- 
pian the amount probably varies from about 20 to over 40 inches. At 
Tehran the annual fall is about 12 inches; and on the plateau generally 
considerably under 10 inches. While more than 14 inches fall at Bushire 
on the Persian Gulf, there are less than 6 inches at Yask. Summer is the 
driest season. Remains of water-channels, used for irrigation, show how 
carefully the scanty supply was husbanded in former days. 

Flora and Fauna. — Forests are rare and not dense. No part of the 
country is so thickly wooded as the low tract south of the Caspian. 
Among the trees are the oak, beech, birch, elm, walnut, plane, sycamore, 
ash, yew, box and juniper. Amongst the flowers the roses are particularly 
celebrated. Numerous gardens and some beautiful trees are commonly 
found in the neighbourhood of large towns, not cared for as in Europe, 
yet pleasant in their wildness. 

Among the wild animals are the lion, tiger, leopard, lynx, wolf, jackal, 
wild ass, wild sheep, gazelle, and deer. The tiger is peculiar to the 
Caspian provinces, but is not a man-destroyer. 

Among game birds, three kinds of partridge are well 
known, the sand grouse, and Hubara or common 
native bustard. Of domestic animals the horse, mule 
and camel occupy an important position ; oxen also 
are used for tilling purposes. The “ Persian cats/' 
so celebrated in Europe, are confined to a few 
localities. 

People and History. — Persia of to-day, despite Fig. 237.— Averagepopu- 
its diminished area, may be said to comprise quite %crsia square 

as much settled and consolidated territory as at 

any period of its authentic history. The several invasions by neigh- 
bouring nations on its land frontiers, have naturally affected the 
character of its population. On the north, Mongol, Tatar and Arab 
settlers have mixed with the older inhabitants of Khorasan, and the 
Iranian element has lost much of its original purity. Again, on the west 
and south-west, the Turkish Kashkai , the Arab Kamisa , and many like 
tribes are foreigners amid the descendants of the old Persian stock ; and 
the same may be said of the Afghans, Baluchis and peoples who hail from 
east of Kerman and Mekran, and even from the Indian peninsula. The 
physique of the Persians is intrinsically fine, but seldom fairly developed. 
As a rule, the rich and middle classes, in spite of high abilities and 
reasoning power, ruin their constitutions by sensuality and dissipation ; 
while the poorer and working classes, with less power of reasoning, but 
healthier tastes and habits, have barely sufficient sustenance to give nature 
fair play. There are two distinct classes of inhabitants, dwellers in towns 
or villages and dwellers in tents. The former class remains stationary 
during the greater part of the year, only the richer people leaving the 
31 


♦ • ♦ » ♦ 


♦ + ♦ • « 


♦ * • • 



460 The International Geography 


towns during the summer heats. The nomads move from place to place 
according to the season. They include Arabs, Kurds, Lurs, Gipsies and 
Turks ; but are generally classed as Iliyats, and serve their own particular 
leaders, all acknowledging a hereditary chief called the Ilkhani. The close 
adherence to ceremony and etiquette, ready adaptation to foreign habits, 
together with the capacity for using and love of receiving the finest forms 
of flattery, which in the days of Herodotus were found the notable 
features of the national character, are still to be observed in the capital. 
For an Oriental, the Persian is a bright companion, more active in mind 
and body, and more intelligent than the Turk, and not so much a slave 
to custom. He is obstinate and enduring, but without perseverance; 
though often a spiritual dreamer, he refuses to think steadily on common 



FlG. 238 . — Persian Royal 
Standard. 


things. 

Ninety per cent, of the people are Mohammedans of the Shihite 
division, who maintain that the legitimate Khalifa or successor of the 
Prophet was Ali his son-in-law ; in opposition to the views of the Sunnis 
to which sect most of the rest of the population belong. This distinction 

is the cause of constant internal conflict, and is 
fatal to that political unity for which a common 
faith offers the surest guarantee. 

Government. — The Shah is regarded as 
Vicegerent of the Prophet ; consequently his 
acts are those of an absolute monarch, and his 
will is the acknowledged law of the State. 

Oriental despots, especially those professing 
the faith of Islam, have usually the same 

besetting proclivities, and are educated on 
one pattern, so that the regeneration of a kingdom like Persia can 
only be looked for by the exercise of healthy influence from without. 
If truth or honesty exists in Persia, it must be looked for in the 

poorer and humbler classes, rather than among those who adopt the 
veneer of European civilisation. Provinces and districts are sold to 
the most lavish bidder, who if not wealthy enough to pay the heavy 
price himself must do so by practical robbery in the name of taxation. 
It is not uncommon, however, to make the Hakim, or ruler of one of the 
larger provinces, perhaps a Shahzada or one of royal birth, only a 
nominal head, and to associate with him a really competent and 

intelligent Wazir or Minister, who does the whole work of administration, 
and, in his way, does it well. In such cases there is a kind of real justice 
dispensed. With Turkey on one flank, Afghanistan and Baluchistan on the 
other, and the Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf on the south, Persia finds her 
northern frontier wholly occupied by Russia, and Russian influence in 
trade and in the development of the country is predominant all over 
the north. The profession of a common Mohammedanism does not 
necessarily draw the Turk or Afghan towards his Persian brother, and 


Persia 


461 

there is comparatively little intercourse with west and east. On the sea 
side, or southern line of boundary, the United Kingdom has more direct 
relations than any other State and dominates the commerce of the south. 
Not only is Indo-Persian traffic facilitated by ready communication with 
Bombay and Karachi ; but the existence of a British Protectorate for the 
waters west of Ormuz and the presence of a British Consul-General at 
Bushire, enable the Shah’s Government to maintain its authority on the 
northern littoral of the Persian Gulf. 

Trade and Communications. — The natural products of Persia are 
tobacco, silk, wool, cotton, grain (mainly wheat and barley), wine and 
opium. In a more restricted sense* may be added rice, jute and sugar ; 
but the cane has been indifferently cared for, and beetroot has not been 
made freely available to supply its place. There are also many medicinal 
and dye yielding plants ; gums such as assafoetida, rhubarb and liquorice 
for the most parts wild and abundant. Fruit of many kinds esteemed in 
Europe and Asia is good as well as cheap and plentiful. 

The carpets are justly celebrated among Persian manufactures. Those 
made in Kurdistan- Khorasan, Ferahan(a-district said to possess 5,000 looms), 
Kain and Kerman have, more or less, distinctive 
features of their own ; the first named being the 
more generally appreciated. Turkman carpets, 
with which the bazars of Mashad abound, are in 
repute from their texture and velvety pile. Ispahan 
and Yezd are famed for their namads, or woollen 
felts. Another branch of interesting native in- 
dustry is the manufacture of shawls, for which 
Kerman is considered almost equal to Kashmir. 

They are woven by hand out of kurk, the under wool of the goats. Many 
native Persian industries, such as the fashioning of sword-blades, brass and 
copper vessels of all sorts, carved and inlaid metal and wood, together 
with exquisite ornamental tiles, are yet in full vigour, but some of them are 
only faint representatives of former days. 

The few carriage-roads in Persia are limited to short distances of a 
hundred miles or so from the capital, the chief being to Kazvin and Resht, 
but it is probable that they will be extended and improved at an early date. 
There are many tracks and rough lines of traffic which could easily be 
rendered practicable not only for chapar (or posting), caravans and mule- 
drawn-litters, but for wheeled traffic. The physical difficulties in the way 
of a complete system of roads are great, but the results of such innovation, 
if once admitted, could not fail to bring profit both to the rulers and 
people. The most important lines of communication for Persia are those 
which connect the capital with Tabriz, Resht, Astrabad, Mashad, Ispahan, 
Yezd, Kerman, Shiraz, Bushire, and the Turkish frontier at Khamkin. 
The only railway in the country which was ever completed is in the close 
vicinity of Tehran, and is only six miles long. 



462 The International Geography 

The Indo-European Telegraph Company works and controls the Julfa- 
Tehran telegraph line (437 miles), and the Indian Government controls the 
Tehran-Bushire line (675 miles), and assists in maintaining the Tehran- 
Mashad line (568 miles) and the overland line from Kashan by Kerman 

and Baluchistan to India. A line along 
the Mekran coast from Karachi to Jashk 
(601 miles), and the Persian Gulf cable 
from Karachi to Fao, are also worked and 
maintained by the Government of India as 
part of the connection with Europe. 

Towns. — No street in all the cities 
of Persia can be called respectable as 
Europeans rate structural respectability. 
Blank mud walls and narrow ill-paved 
thoroughfares are the rule ; the windowed 
or terraced front of a Persian house is for 
the inner court or inner precincts of the 
abode, and not for the world without. Some 
mosques are handsome, some caravanserais solid, some bazars highly 
creditable to the designers and builders ; but everything is irregular, nothing 
is permanent, and architectural ruin blends with architectural revival in 
the midst of dirt, discomfort, and a total disregard of municipal method. 

Tehran , made the capital of Persia in 1788, is situated on a riverless 
plain at the southern foot of the Elburz range. In 1797, Olivier writes 
of it as little more than two miles in circuit, with a population of 15,000, 
of which one third belonged to the court or army of the Shah. That it 
has increased to thirteen times this amount in a century gives evidence 
that its site was judiciously chosen. But 
the work of renovation and reconstruction 
did not begin till 1870, since which year it 
has been rapidly transformed from a mean 
six-gated polygon with a frail enclosing wall, 
to a city of eleven miles circumference with 
European fortifications and twelve gates. 

Whatever the estimate of its architectural 
merits or deficiences in the eyes of European 
critics, its claim to recently achieved pro- 
gress cannot be disallowed. The European 
Legations are situated in summer at and 
near Galhak, 700 feet higher than Tehran, 
and 4,50© feet above the sea-level, a 
locality providing luxurious retreats with grassy and well watered 
gardens. Tabriz (or Tauris), the commercial capital of Persia, situated 
close to the Turko-Persian frontier, was sacked bv Timur in 1392, 
and twice before that period levelled to the ground by earthquakes. 




Persia 


+ 6 3 

a calamity five times repeated within the last two centuries. Large and 
important as the place is, there is little to note in it at the present day save 
the Blue Mosque with its handsome tiles and inscriptions, still visible 
amid its ruins, the bazars, and the citadel. Ispahan , near the centre 
of the country, was the ancient capital, and with its suburb Julfa 
where the Europeans live, stands in a fertile plain. Though only a 
wreck of its former splendour it is still the second city in Persia judged 
by its commerce. Mashad, in the north-east on a tributary of the Hari-rud, 
is the capital of the province of Khorasan and enjoys a high reputation as 
a holy city and place of pilgrimage amongst the Shias. Yezd, almost in 
the geometrical centre of Persia, is practically the only residence of the 
religious sect known as Gabrs, who still follow the teachings of Zoroaster 
like the Parsis of Bombay. Kerman, situated far in the interior at an 
elevation of 5,000 feet, is an important meeting place of trade routes 
between the Persian Gulf and Central Asia. Urumiya (locally Urmi) is 
situated 4,400 feet above the sea, in the fertile plain of that name, twelve 
miles west of the great Shahi (or Urumiya) Lake, of which the length is 
estimated by Lord Curzon at 84, the breadth at 20 to 30, and the circum- 
ference at nearly 300 miles. It is interesting at the present day as the 
headquarters of the (Canterbury) Archbishop’s Mission to the Assyrian or 
Nestorian Christians. Shiraz in the south-west, reached by a steep and 
rugged road from the ports on the Persian Gulf, is the cradle of Persian 
nationality and the capital of the province Fars which gave its name to the 
country. Famed for its roses, wine and nightingales, Shiraz is celebrated 
in the song of the great Persian poets. The chief seaport is Bushire on the 
Persian Gulf ; Linga and Bandar Abbas also do a considerable trade with 
India and Europe, mainly in British ships, but none has a good harbour. 


STATISTICS 

(All statistics are estimates, some very uncertain). 


Area of Persia in square miles 650,000 

Population 8,000,000 

Density of Population 12 

POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 

Tehran 200,000 | Yezd 40,000 

Tabriz 170,000 J Kerman 40,000 

Ispahan . . . . . . 60,000 Urumiya . . . . . . . . 40,000 

Mashad .. .. .. .. 50,000 Shiraz .. .. .. 30,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

(Return of the Ports on the Persian Gulf only, for 1896). 

Imports 1,720,000 

Exports 1,186,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Lord Curzon of Kedleston. “Persia.” 2 vols. London, 1892. 
E. G. Browne. “A Year among the Persians.” London, 1893. 
C. J. Wills. “ The Land of the Lion and Sun.” London, 1883. 
P. M. Sykes. “Ten Thousand Miles in Persia.” London, 1902. 


464 The International Geography 


II.— AFGHANISTAN 

By Sir George Scott Robertson, K.C.S.I. , M.P., 

Formerly British Agent at Gilgit. 

Position and Characteristics. — Afghanistan, literally the land of 
the Afghan, but actually the territory ruled over by Habibula Khan, the 
Amir of Kabul, is the most eastern part of the great Iran plateau which 
spreads south-westward from the Pamirs. It may be described generally as 
a drab-coloured land, one of the waste places of the world. Sand, bare 
rocks, sterile hills and vast snow-topped mountain ranges are the main 
features of the stern inhospitable country ; tender green places, fertile 
irrigated fields, vineyards and orchards being circumscribed and infre- 
quent. In summer it is hot everywhere. The temperature depends upon 
elevation, not upon latitude. Stony, treeless slopes, parched soil and 
whirling sand increase the heat and dryness of the harsh, scorching air. 
Burnt grey-brown, the naked landscape quivers in the fierce beams of the 
sun. Winter brings frost, snow and blustering storms, and in many 
places dangerous snow hurricanes occur ; Ghazni is said to have been 
depopulated twice by blizzards. The winter is full of surprises. One 
moment a traveller may, in the Sun’s glare, be miserably overheated, the 
next, in shadow, he is pierced to the heart by the chill of an icy wind. 

Roads are mostly rough and hilly or ankle-deep in yielding sand ; they 
are often incredibly tiring. Food is scarce, for the whole country is 
poor ; it yields grudgingly bread for man and herbage for animals. 

People and Government. — The people, products of this unkindly 
soil, are hardy (the weaklings die), stubborn, brave, and so treacherous that 
the word gains an intensive meaning when applied to them. Towards 
strangers they are servile or hectoring, the probable result in personal 
financial profit being the sole rule of conduct. Luxury, even comfort, to 
them is often what we call vice. Ingenious in sensuality, they are intriguers 
by instinct, while running through their whole character there is a 
wonderful arrogance, vindictiveness and cruelty. Born and bred amidst 
an unceasing struggle with nature for the means of life, they live hard and 
they die hard. In spite of the rigid, stern and narrow ceremonialism of 
their Mohammedan religion, Afghans are not fanatical ; most creeds are 
tolerated, the chief exception being Christianity. Hatred of Christians 
springs less from questions of dogma and faith than because the blood of 
ancestors and tribesmen cries for vengeance ; and because of the supposed 
determination of the British Christians to enslave the Afghan people and 
force them to “ carry loads.” Unlike the grasp of an Amir, which now 
and again seizes upon an individual while the crowd escapes, British rule 
is feared as a wrought-iron system regulated by an inexorable screw called 
“law,” which squeezes free hill-men into the pulp of which slaves are 
made. The government of the country is an extreme Eastern Absolutism 


Afghanistan 465 

wherever or whenever the different tribes are cowed. Regular authority 
is based upon the dumb terror inspired by hideous and dramatic punish- 
ments. Tribute is oftentimes collected by armed forces after much blood- 
shed. An Amir of Afghanistan must be merciless, and his people must 
believe him to be the implacable enemy, secret or declared, of the govern- 
ment of India. 

Boundaries. — The peculiar position of Afghanistan, a buffer State 
lying between the Russian and Indian empires, gives special importance to 
its boundaries, which have been settled by treaty and delimited on the 
ground in a highly technical manner. All along its northern border from 
Zulfikar on the Hari-rud to Wakhi-jui, where the Sirikol, the Hindu Kush 
and the Karakoram mountains meet together, the Amir of Kabul’s territory 
marches with that dominated by Russia ; while on the west the Persian 
province of Khorasan is profoundly influenced by the officers of the Tsar. 
Herat, one of the most blood-drenched places in the East (Jenghiz Khan 
left but forty alive out of a population of a million in 1232), whose history 
is the history of Central Asia, has been brought within 95 miles of the 
Russian terminus by the completion of the Kushk river railway. On the 
projected East Persian railway from Ashabad on the Russian Trans-Caspian 
line to the Persian Gulf two stations will be at most four days’ journey from 
Herat. As the nearest British outpost, at New Chaman, is hundreds of 
miles away, this “Key of India,” if Herat ever deserved that title, is lost. 
But in any case it is an ancient and corroded key, useless for the modern 
steel wards placed in the door-lock at Quetta. 

The territory east of Badakhshan and north of the Hindu Kush was 
formerly the cause of bitter controversy, but since the Russo-Afghan 
frontier line was laid down in 1894, it has returned to its natural state of 
drowsy remoteness. The northern border of Afghanistan from Persia in 
6i° 20' E. to Chinese Turkestan in 74 0 50', runs jaggedly side by side with 
Russian territory for 1,000 miles. Zulfikar is in 35 0 35' N., and from that 
point the line in irregular loops gains the Oxus at Kamiab, which is more 
than 300 miles from Herat. The frontier then runs up the historic river 
and its main feeder, the Ab-i-Panja, to Lake Victoria. Its farthest north 
point is at the top of the Oxus curve (38° 35' N.) caused by the northward 
thrust of the great spurs of the Hindu Kush ; its most southerly is opposite 
Chitral where barely ten miles of mountain land divides Russian from 
British authority. Some 60 miles eastward of Lake Victoria this long- 
stretched northern boundary ends at a peak in the Sirikol range, which 
divided the Chinese from the Little Pamir and not far from Wakhi-jui, the 
joining place of mountains. 

The south of Afghanistan is bordered by tracts controlled actually or 
nominally by the government of India. The boundary should be drawn 
in crimson, for blood has been lavishly shed to mark it out. From the 
Sirikol mountains the wavy line keeps a south-westerly course for 900 
miles, until at a spot south-west of Quetta (29 0 50' N.) it alters to nearly due 


466 The International Geography 


west, being carried across the great arid desert common to southern 
Afghanistan and western Baluchistan. At first this boundary follows the 
crest of the Hindu Kush as far as the lofty Dorah and Mandal Passes 
leading to Chitral and Kafiristan respectively. It then runs along the 
eastern watershed of the Bashgul valley of Kafiristan which separates that 
country from Chitral. Passing over the Chitral river, just below the village 
of Arnawi, and, still upon a mountain range, the line borders the Kunar 
valley on the east, and crosses the main road between India and Kabul 
west of the Khaiber Pass nearly 40 miles from Peshawar. Next, by the aid 
of the Safed Koh mountains, it forms a western triangular out-thrust bringing 
the Kuram valley into British territory. Thence the frontier marks 
traverse the territory of wild tribesmen more than 100 miles west of the 
Indus, and at the latitude of the British frontier outpost of New Chaman, 

which is half-way between Quetta 
and Kandahar, that distance is 
doubled. From the Quetta district 
the remainder of the southern 
boundary towards Baluchistan is 
over desolate wastes of sand, for 
some distance parallel to the Hel- 
mand, the only considerable river 
of its latitude between the Tigris 
and the Indus. The western or 
Persian frontier, about 450 miles 
long, starts in 6o° 50' E., and after 
running through the great Seistan 
swamps, where the Helmand river 
ignominiously terminates, it turns 
northward again, and with little 
further variation limits Persian 
Khorasan and passes with the 
Hari-rud river to Zulfikar. 



•* 600 ft CD Under 1500ft. 
iI36000to 12000 ft. ■ 


I500to 6000ft 
Over 12000ft 


Fig. 242 . — Configuration of Afghanistan 
and the Pamirs. 


Surface and Communications. — The lowest elevations to be shown 
in an orographical map of Afghanistan as under 4,000 feet would be the 
Kabul valley at and below Jelalabad, and all the country south and west 
of a line drawn between New Chaman and Herat ; the highest parts (over 
7,000 feet) of the Afghan plateau are great tracts just west of Kabul and 
south of Ghazni. Far from the sea, Afghanistan is difficult to enter ; 
where huge mountain chains and toilsome passes do not hinder the 
traveller, there appears heartbreaking sand which, in the south-west of 
the country, is swept during summer by a deadly hot wind. Two of the 
chief trade roads are those from Mashad and from Bokhara to Herat, the 
centre of a well irrigated and richly cultivated district, w T hich is connected 
with fanatical, unruly Kandahar by a main highway of commerce touching 
at Farra and crossing the Helmand river at Girishk. There is traffic 





Afghanistan 467 

between Bokhara and Kabul by way of Balkh (Bactria, the mother of 
cities) and by Khulm. Chief of all the caravan routes is the grim Khaiber 
Pass, naked and savage, two marches west of Peshawar, the terminus of 
the Indian railway system, and a famous bazar for Central Asian fabrics. 
This historic pass has resounded to the clangour of every great invasion of 
India, except that of Alexander, who passed it to the north, until the West 
sent its stubborn warriors up from the sea. It is held by sections of the 
Afridis who have blackmailed every Indian dynasty for centuries. They 
periodically exact a tribute of slaughter from the Indian government in 
addition to the customary tale of isolated murders ; but the passionless 
grasp of British authority is closing upon them inexorably. Kabul , a 
sorrowful name to the British, 190 miles west of Peshawar, stands on the 
Kabul river nearly 6,000 feet above the sea. There lives the despotic 
Amir ; its narrow 7 winding streets are blocked with the picturesque kafilas 
of Oriental merchants. It has modern arsenals and a gun factory ; but all 
Afghanistan is of political rather than of commercial interest. The Gomal 
Pass, the main traffic road between the Panjab and Ghazni, is held on both 
sides by ruffianly Waziris. To it the merchant adventurers from near 
Ghazni fight their way annually, then lay down their arms and trade 
peaceably in India, to return and resume their weapons and fight their way 
home again before the end of the year. Still further south is the Bolan 
Pass, through which the railway runs to Quetta and New 7 Chaman. New 
Chaman, the furthest British military post, is about the same distance from 
Kandahar (80 miles) as the Russians are at present from Herat. A 
trader’s road leads down the Helmand valley to Persia from Kandahar , 
a square w r alled city with a history remarkable, even in Afghanistan, for 
hatred and strife. Thither all western roads lead, making it hardly less 
important as a guardian of commerce than it is as a strategic fortress. 

Tribes. — The Afghan State comprises tribes great and small, mixed 
with odd fragments of peoples, the whole loosely held together as a 
cementless Afghan field-wall is held together, wonderfully but precariously. 
First comes the great dominant tribe of the Duranis. Next, the ferocious 
Gliilzais, a Turki people with traditions of past ascendancy, who exter- 
minated the British force retreating from Kabul in 1842. Then follow 
Aimaks and Hazaras of Tatar blood, Iranian Tajiks , Hindkis, Jats and the 
mixed folk of the towns. The Usbeks of Afghan Turkestan were not one 
people, but a confederation of numerous Turk and Tatar tribes. Less 
numerous are Persians, transplanted from their native land in the eighteenth 
century, Arabs, Jews and derelicts. Finally come the Kafirs, the interest- 
ing non-Moslem people of the Hindu Kush who, after centuries of savage 
freedom, were subjugated by the Amir of Kabul in 1895. They are 
probably the descendants of tribal fugitives from eastern Afghanistan, 
hurled forth, like sparks from the anvil, by the fervid sw r ordsmen of Islam 
eight hundred years ago. Descending, no doubt calamitously, upon the 

feeble folk inhabiting the trackless slopes and perilous valleys of modern 
32 


468 The International Geography 

Kafiristan — themselves possibly prehistoric refugees before a stronger 
people — these fugitive pagans, aided by the terrible difficulties of their 
country, maintained themselves in a state of chaotic independence against 
all the fanatical crusades of the surrounding Mohammedans, until Abdur 
Rahman, the great king of the Afghans, brought them under his stern 
discipline. 

The statistics of Afghanistan are mere guesses, as no accurate survey 
has been made, nor any attempt at a census. 


STATISTICS. 

( Approximate Estimates.') 


Area of Afghanistan (in square miles) 250,000 

Population .. .. .. .. .. .. .. •• •• •• 4,000,000 

Density of population per square mile 16 

Population of Kabul 140,000 

„ Kandahar 15,000 to 100,000 

„ Herat 12000 

„ Ghazni 3, 000 to 10,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

H. W. Bellew. "Afghanistan and the Afghans.” London, 1879. 

A. H. MacMahon. " The Southern Borderlands of Afghanistan.” London, 1897* 
Sir G. S. Robertson. "The Kafirs of the Hindu-Kush.” London, 1896, 

C. E. Yate. " Northern Afghanistan.” London, 1888. 

»■ ■ ■ " Khurasan and Sistan.” London, 1901. 

Sir T. H. Holdich. “ The Indian Borderland.” London, 1901. 


CHAPTER XXVI.— INDIA AND CEYLON 


I.— THE EMPIRE OF INDIA 

By Sir Athelstan Baines, C.S.I. 

Name. — The earliest people of whose migration into the country 
we are now in the habit of calling India we have any historical 
knowledge entered by the north-west, and gave the name of Sindhu, the 
“ flood ” or “ ocean,” to the first great river which obstructed their south- 
ward progress. In the mouth of the Iran, or Persians, their kinsmen and 
rivals, the initial S was softened into H, and the Greeks, who became 
acquainted with the country through the Persians, dropped, in their turn, 
the aspirate, calling the frontier river the Indus, and the country beyond 
it, India. Their example was followed by the early geographers and 
travellers of the West, and from them the name has descended to our day. 
It has never been recognised, however, by the inhabitants of the country 
itself, who continue to make use of their various racial and topical terms, 
restricting the modern Persian Hindustan to a comparatively small tract 
in the north-west of what Europeans know as India. The later and more 
comprehensive title, accordingly, may be taken as connecting the sphere 
of British rule, by which a mere geographical expression has been 
converted into a definite political unit. 

Position and Extent. — India extends from Mekran, in the west, to 
the Mekong in the east; from Cape Comorin, in the south, to Kashmir 
and the foot of the Pamirs in the north. By latitude it would stretch from 
Algiers to the Gold Coast, or from Venezuela to North Carolina, whilst 
from west to east it extends over nearly forty degrees of longitude. It 
may be roughly described as a triangular peninsula, lying almost wholly 
within the tropic of Cancer, surmounted by a larger continental region, 
with considerable extensions east and west, beyond the base of the 
peninsula. The coast-line of the latter, in spite of its length, is singularly 
devoid of indentations, except at the mouths of the larger rivers and 
towards the northern portion of the west coast. The only harbours 
accordingly, except for light-draft vessels, are found a little way up the 
deltas of the chief rivers, or where, as at Bombay, a group of islands 
affords adequate shelter from the open sea. The eastern coast, in par- 
ticular, is provided with little more than a few imperfectly protected 
roadsteads. The southern portion of the west coast is distinguished by a 
series of backwaters, or lagoons, parallel with the coast, and affording a 
safe and convenient waterway for small vessels, when the season of high 
winds makes the ocean unnavigable. 

469 


47° The International Geography 

The Himalaya. — Although India is so sparingly provided with 
natural facilities for maritime commerce, it is remarkable that from the 
earliest times of which we have records, all peaceful intercourse between 
that country and the rest of the civilised world has been by sea, whilst, 
with the single exception of the British occupation, which was due to 
naval supremacy, all hostile invasions have been by land ; and this, in 
spite of the immense mountain barrier on the north, which constitutes 
the principal feature in the configuration of India. This mountain system 
cannot accurately be termed a chain, consisting as it does of several 
parallel and converging ranges, intersected by enormous valleys and 
extensive tablelands. The nucleus of the system is situated just beyond 
the Indian frontier, in the region known as the Pamirs, or locally, as the 

u roof of the world.” From 
this centre to the high 
land round the sources 
of the Irawadi, in the 
east, an unbroken wall of 
mountains extends along 
the north of India, pierced 
only bypasses from 17,000 
to 19,000 feet above the 
sea, overtowered by peaks 
reaching an elevation of 
from 23,000 to 29,000 feet. 
The latter is the culmi- 
nating point of the Earth’s 
surface at present ascer- 
tained by scientific means. 
The Himalaya thus con- 
stitutes a continuous wall, 
which, if transported to 
Europe, would link Cader 
Idris with the Caucasus. Flanking ranges are thrown out from the main 
mass into Burma on the east, and Afghanistan on the west (Fig. 242). They 
are of comparatively small elevation, however, and are traversed by many 
passes, presenting no insuperable obstacles to traffic. It is through these 
cracks in her armour that India has been from time immemorial subject to 
invasion from the north-west, and Burma from the north. This rampart 
is also of physical importance to India, for it exercises a powerful influence 
on the climate and rainfall. 

The Plains. — Immediately below the Himalaya lie the plains of the 
great rivers of India, the course of which determined, in prehistoric times, 
the direction of the earliest civilisation from west-central Asia, as to which 
we have still only the shadowy and mythological traditions of Brahmanic 
writings to inform us. Of these rivers, two main streams and two affluents 



Fig. 243 . — Configuration of India. 


India 


47 1 


take their rise to the north of the Himalaya, and all four, strangely enough, 
from within a comparatively small lacustrine district between the main 
range of the Himalaya and the tableland of Tibet. The Indus , after a 
north-western course, bursts through the mountains at an acute angle, 
collects in a deep and rapid stream the tributaries which give their name 
to the Panjab, or “ land of the five rivers,” and ends by performing for the 
great province of Sindh, so called from its chief feature, the office which 
Egypt owes to the Nile. The Satlaj, rising south of the Indus, joins the 
latter, after a very short course to the north of the Himalaya, and a long 
one through the Panjab. Starting due east from its source, the Sanpu 
enters Assam, at the extreme north-east of India proper, bends sharply 
south and west until free from the mountains, and finally, under the name 
of the Brahmaputra, mingles its turbid waters with those of the Ganges 
in the innumerable channels of the great Bengal delta. The third great 
river alone rises soutn of the Himalaya, and though popular tradition and 
practice must be accepted, and the stream of the combined Jamna and 
Ganges be held to be the main contributary to the sacred river known by 
the latter name, it appears that the volume of the tributary which rises on 
the north of the range, known as the Gliogra, entitles it to that honour. 
The richness of the two great rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, in 
fertilising silt, is the making of lower Bengal, and the amount deposited 
every year is estimated at not less than 40,000 million cubic feet, enabling 
the cultivator to dispense with manure of any sort over the inundated area. 
Similarly, Sindh and the north-west of India are the gift of the Indus, for, 
though the inundation fertilises only the lower part of its course, the canals 
which take off from the upper, render cultivation possible where rain is 
too sparse to be of material aid to it. 

The Vindhyas and the Dekkan. — The great plains are separated 
from the rest of India by a belt of hilly, rather than mountainous, country, 
running, at different elevations, from coast to coast. The country rises 
slowly from the Gangetic valley to the plateaux of Central India, edged 
by the Vindhya range, below which, on the south, the Narbada river seeks 
the Gulf of Cambay. Parallel to that range runs the Satpura range, similarly 
bounded by the valley of the Tapti. Eastwards the country is more 
broken, the plateaux smaller, and the wide but irregular belt of hills ends 
in the neighbourhood of the Bay of Bengal, after giving birth to only one 
river of considerable size, the Mahanadi. On the west, the large plain 
of almost rainless country called the Indian desert, divides the tablelands 
of Central India from the valley of the Indus and the small peninsulas of 
Kachh and Kathiawar. 

The core of the peninsula proper is the Dekkan Plateau. This may 
be said to begin from the southern edge of the Tapti valley. Its limits 
are well defined on the west by the range called the Sahyadri, or Ghats 
(steps), from their abrupt rise out of the strip of coastal plain, which 
extends, with varying breadth, to the extreme south of Malabar. In like 


472 -The International Geography 

manner, the plateau ends abruptly in the south in the mass of the Nilgiii, 
or Blue Mountains. The surface slopes gradually from the top of the 
Ghats to the eastward, and finally subsides into the flat coast of the Bay of 
Bengal. A broken line of hilly country runs parallel with the coast from 
the Central Belt southwards, to which the name of the Eastern Ghats is 
sometimes given, though it possesses none of the special features of the 
western system bearing that title. The Dekkan is traversed by two 
principal rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna , rising in the Ghats and 
falling into the Bay of Bengal. To the southward the Kavari seeks the sea 
after a short passage through the southern portion of Mysore and south of 
Madras. No stream of importance enters the Indian Ocean south of the 
Tapti, and the almost unbroken chain of the Ghats makes the uplands of 
the Dekkan difficult of access from the coast, except by a few passes 
through which roads have been made by the British. The south- 
east of the peninsula, on the other hand, is a comparatively level 
plain, of great fertility everywhere within range of the waters of the river 
deltas 

Burma.— Finally, the province of Burma consists, first, of the coast line 
from Arakan to Tenasserim, broken only by the delta of the Irawadi and the 
bay formed by the mouth of the Salwin river. North and east of the 
Irawadi the country is ‘hilly and thickly covered with forest as far as the 
borders of Assam and Bengal on the west, and the frontier of China and 
Siam on the north and east. The Irawadi attracts the population and 
commerce of central and upper Burma, leaving a fringe of semi-civilised 
tribes on each side. 

Geology. — The geologyof India determines the general characteristics 
of the main divisions specified above. So far as the Himalaya have been 
explored, they appear to contain three systems, chiefly of gneiss mixed 
with mica-schist in the more northern portion, and with syenite and 
granite in two bands in the central range. In the lower ranges to the 
south, the beds are often found inverted, with old gneiss overlying sedi- 
mentary rock. The sub- Himalayan system of later Tertiary, includes the 
Siwalik formations, well known for their remarkable deposits of fossil 
mammals. In the^Salt range of the western Panjab, which is in some 
respects a continuation of this region, a uniform succession of formations 
from Silurian downwards is found. The two great river-systems of the 
Indus and the Ganges are separated by no marked ranges, and the rise 
from the sea-level to the watershed is very gradual, a slight change in 
elevation would suffice to turn the upper waters of one into the other. 
Such changes have probably occurred in times past. The Plain , as a 
whole, belongs apparently to the Eocene period, antecedent, therefore, to 
the formation of the Himalaya, which was upheaved in later Tertiary 
times. The close resemblance, however, in the outline of these two 
geographical features, seems to indicate that the depression of the 
plain is related to the upheaval of the mountains. The Central Belt of 


India 


473 


hilly country shows three systems of gneiss, overlaid- with transitional 
rock succeeded by the Palaeozoic, possibly pre-Silurian, formation of 
the upper and lower Vindhya, from which the older rock is sharply 
demarcated towards the east, but less well defined westwards. The 
sandstone and shale of this formation is remarkable for its entire freedom 
from fossils. On the other hand, the Gondwana series eastward and 
southward of the Vindhya, contains vegetable remains of considerable 
interest and value, while the portion towards Bengal ends in the coal- 
bearing strata known as the Damodar series. The series is interesting, 
too, from its containing marks of glacial action, which one would not 
expect to find at comparatively low elevations within the tropics. The 
greater part of the Dekkan is occupied by the basaltic formation of the 
Cretaceous period, known as the Dekkan Trap, some of which is more 
than 6,000 feet thick. The denuded edges of the flows form some of the 
most prominent hill ranges, and the scarped tops have been, from time 
immemorial, utilised, with the aid of a few wings and flanking walls, as 
forts of vast extent, and, in the days of short-range artillery, of no incon- 
siderable strength. The disintegrated basalt, weathered out, forms the 
fertile black soil to which the Dekkan owes its repute, in parts, as a cotton 
and wheat-growing tract. From the point where the Ghats approach the 
sea, on the west, the basalt is fringed, and in some places overlaid, by 
laterite, and the same feature is found also along the greater part of the 
east coast, south of the Mahanadi delta. 

In Burma , the early Tertiary prevails in Arakan, or along the northern 
coast. Between the Irawadi and the Sittang rivers the formation changes 
to Miocene, with fossil vegetation of probably the Pliocene or newer 
Tertiary, in the western portion of that tract. Tenasserim differs from the 
rest of Burma in its formations. In the north is the lower Carboniferous ; 
in the centre, Silurian; and in the south, probably Tertiary, and also coal- 
bearing. 

Minerals. — The mineral resources of India, although of little im- 
portance in comparison with those above ground, are not scanty. Coal 
exists in large fields in the Damodar valley of western Bengal, where 
it is in good demand for the railway ; in the Narbada valley it is 
being worked for local use ; there are fields too in the hilly country 
of Chutia Nagpur, south of the Ganges valley, which have not yet 
been fully explored, and finally, attention has been directed to a supply 
in the South Godavari valley. Beyond this, the peninsula is coalless. 
Small fields of excellent quality, however, have been lately discovered and 
worked in the far north-east of Assam. Iron is found in considerable 
purity in the coal-bearing tracts of Bengal, and near Salem in the Madras 
Presidency, but it is little worked because of the want of limestone within 
easy range for smelting. Gold exists in small quantities in the valleys 
of the Himalaya and the Central Belt, where it is washed by a few of the 
lowest classes. In Mysore it is more plentiful.' Tin is confined to the 


474 The International Geography 

south of Burma, and copper and lead chiefly to the Himalaya. The plains 
of North Bihar yield a good deal of saltpetre. Salt is both dug from the 

rock in the western Panjab, and obtained 
by evaporation along the coasts and from 
the brine lakes in Rajputana. Rubies are 
still found in a small tract in Upper Burma, 
but the diamond of India, though known to 
legend, is now scarcely extant. Petroleum, 
the use of which for lighting and lubricating 
has largely increased in India during the 
last twenty years, is found chiefly in Burma, 
upper Assam, and parts of the Panjab, but 
does not yet compete successfully with the 
imported supply. 

Climate. — The peninsula lies wholly 
south of the tropic, whilst the continental 
portion of India stretches nearly 14 0 to the 
north of it. The range of temperature is 
accordingly very wide. (See isotherms of 
Asia, Figs. 228, 229, 230.) Along the coasts 
it is high but equable throughout the year, 
and the air is charged with moisture. Inland, 
the plateaux show a wider annual range, 
and are dry and hot during one part of the 
year, dry and cold during another, with a 
comparatively short interval of warm wet 
weather. Except along the coasts, therefore, 

Fig. 244 .—Temperature and Rain - the mean annual temperature is a meteoro- 
fall of Cochin and Trichinopoli. logical figure of little significance in the life 

of the people, and the extreme range between the mean of the warmest 
and of the coolest month is a factor of 
importance. This range, in upper Sindh, is 
as great as 30° F. in the year ; in the Panjab, 

27 0 , and in the Dekkan, 25 0 ; whilst in Cal- 
cutta it is but 16 0 , falling along the west 
coast to 12 0 . The variations in the annual 
rainfall are still more remarkable. Through- 
out India the fall is periodic, and the 
prevailing influence is the air-current, or 
monsoon, which sets in from the Indian 
Ocean about May, lasting until the middle 
or end of September. The direction of this 

air -current, determined by the updraught Fig. 245. — TemperatureandRain- 

r r fall of Multan and Calcutta. 

caused by the heated surface of the con- J J 

tinent, is from the south-w 7 est. Its strength appears to depend to a 



Fig. 245. — Temperature and Rain- 
fall of Multan and Calcutta. 



India 


475 


considerable extent upon the snowfall upon the immense mountain system 
of the north, the cooling influence of the heavy fall tending to weaken 
the force of the moisture-bearing 
wind as it approaches the wall of 
the Himalaya, which bars its further 
progress. Before reaching this, 
however, it has to encounter the 
serious resistance of the Ghats, 
directly across its main direction, 
depriving it of a considerable pro- 
portion of its moisture in favour of 
the coast strip, to the detriment of 
the highland of the Dekkan imme- 
diately to the east of the impedi- 
ment. Access to the plains of the 
southern part of the Gangetic sys- 
tem is afforded by the wide valleys 
of the Tapti and Narbada, and the 
main air-current, which does not 
reach the plains of north-western India direct, is deflected and condensed 
in its attempt to surmount the almost vertical expanse of from 5,000 to 
14,000 feet of perennial snow presented by the Himalaya. A second 
branch of the same air-current, however, finds its way up the Bay of 
Bengal, and, after bestowing a plentiful watering to the low-lying fields 
of the great Delta, and on the plains of Lower Burma, meets the Assam 
range of mountains in full force, resulting in an annual fall of little less 

than 500 inches, and establishing 
on one occasion the “record” fall 
of 805 inches. Later in the year, 
a sort of reaction sets in, and this 
part of India receives the downfall 
of a north-eastern air-current, which 
extends along the east coast nearly 
to Cape Comorin, supplying the 
deficiency left by the exhaustion of 
the south-western monsoon in its 
course over the Dekkan plateau. In 
the north-western corner, again, the 
same result follows in the winter 
months over the Panjab and the 
upper Jamna and Ganges valleys, 
but the air -current is slight and 
local. Thus the central plains of 
both continental and peninsular India lie on the edge of the air-currents, 
and are liable, accordingly to receive too little rain whenever any of the 




Fig. 246 . — Rainfall of India during South- 
West Monsoon. 



4.76 The International Geography 

winds is of less than the average strength. To these tracts the name 
of Zones of Uncertain Rainfall is given, and it is here that the liability 
to famine is most marked. In contrast to the meteorological conditions 
prevailing in north-eastern India, the western portion of the continental 
division of the country is all but rainless, and cultivation has to depend 
•entirely upon artificial irrigation beyond the reach of the annual inundation 
of the Indus, due to the melting of the snow on the Himalayan sources of 
the main stream and its large tributaries. Thus, the annual range of 
temperature varies inversely as the rainfall, and the two together exercise 
an important influence on the general social and economical development 
of the population. 

Flora. — The exceptional power of this climatic influence in India 
depends on the fact that the natural resources are principally on the 
surface of the soil, and to a comparatively small degree in its depths. 
From the earliest ages, agriculture has been the hereditary and traditional 
occupation of the great bulk of the population, and at the present day 
about three-fourths of the inhabitants of India are directly dependent upon 
it. To provide for the subsistence of nearly three hundred millions, all the 
more fertile plains and much of the less favoured tracts have been gradually 
pressed into the service of man. The forest wealth, accordingly, which is 
considerable, has been gradually restricted to the broken and hilly ground 
in Central India, along the chief mountain ranges, and in the river valleys 
of Burma. There the more valuable timber-producing tracts have been 
taken under the protection of the State and administered as profit-yielding 
estates. Elsewhere, with due regard to the demands of the population for 
coarse timber and firewood, as well as to the climatic influence attributed 
to forests, areas under vegetation are protected against the reckless 
destruction habitually wrought by the Indian peasantry. Of the timber of 
India the most widely used is the teak ( Tectona grandis), the best of which 
is found in the forests of Lower Burma and along the Ghats, from Kanara 
to Travancore. It flourishes, too, though on a smaller scale, throughout 
the western portion of the Central Belt of hills. Along with the teak may 
be mentioned the sandal and blackwood ( Sissu Dalbergia), more useful in 
•ornamental work than as timber, but in their way, of equal value. The 
place of the teak is taken in the east of the Central Belt and along the 
northern parts of the Gangetic valley, by the sal (Shorea robusta) ; in the 
Himalaya, by the deodar and other cedars ; and in the western ranges, by 
conifers of larger growth. Various kinds of oak also flourish at elevations 
over 5,000 feet from the Panjab to Bhutan. In the dry tracts of the west, 
little but a few varieties of hardy acacia and tamarisk can withstand the 
long periods of drought. The marshy region of the Gangetic delta, on the 
other hand, has developed its own growth in sufficient luxuriance to 
supply the markets of all the adjacent country, as well as the metropolis. 
Midway between the extremes, the forests of Assam and Malabar present 
typical pictures of the rich and varied vegetation generally associated with 


India 


477 


the tropics. There are three kinds of tree which, though useless as timber, 
are more widely distributed than any of the above, and of incalculable 
popular utility. First, the bamboo, which attains its largest growth in the 
damp forests of Assam, Burma, and the Ghats, but which is seen to some 
extent even in the upland regions. Secondly, the mango, the most popular 
fruit tree of the country, and finally, the large and varied class of 
palms, including the coco-nut, which fringes the western coast from 
Bombay to the southern point of Ceylon, the palmyra of the more 
northerly tracts of fairly heavy rainfall, and the various date and other 
palms of the dry tablelands and the upper Ganges valley. In some tracts 
the house and nearly every domestic utensil is made of bamboo. In 
others several of the lower labouring classes trust largely to the fruit 
of the mango for food between the harvests. The palm tribe supplies 
matting from its crown of branches, fruit from the coco-nut, fibre for 
mats and ropes from the husk. The palmyra provides an effective thatch 
against the heavy rain, whilst nearly every palm supplies a plentiful out- 
pouring of juice, used fresh, as a morning stimulant, or fermented, as an 
evening consolation. 

Animals. — Of the animals of India, the first place must be given to 
horned cattle. Except in the desert and Sindh, where the camel pre- 
dominates, and in the damp climate of the deltas and parts of the coast, 
where the buffalo thrives, all field operations requiring draught labour, 
and the whole of the transport by road are done by the various breeds of 
humped cattle ; and milk being one of the most important articles in the 
diet of an otherwise almost vegetarian peasantry, the cow is seldom absent 
from even the poorest household, and is well entitled to rank as the sacred 
animal of the Brahmanic religion. The horse is found in general use, though 
for riding only, in the west of the continental part of India, in the Dekkan, 
and in Burma and its neighbourhood. A very fine breed of the wild ass is still 
extant on the salt plains of western India, though in very small numbers, 
and the domesticated variety, though numerous enough, is relegated to the 
humblest duties, and shows no sign of rising in either breed or estimation. 
The sheep is kept chiefly for its wool, and the most prevalent variety is 
probably of foreign origin. In the Himalaya alone wild species of 
great size and remarkable spread of horn are found, affording much labour 
and interest to adventurous sportsmen. The elephant is found wild in the 
hills of the north-east, and in parts of the forest land of the south-western 
Ghats. It can now only be caught under the license of the State, and, 
except for purposes of pageant at the courts of native chiefs, its use is 
principally confined to draught and transport in military operations. In 
the forest tracts of Burma, however, and in Assam, it is almost a domestic 
animal. 

Of the purely wild animals of India, the tiger is the best known, and 
is found in most w T ooded tracts, though in greatest abundance in the 
sub-Himilayan forests, the marshes of the Gangetic delta, and the hill 


47 8 The International Geography 

country of Central India. With its smaller but more plentiful relative, 
the panther, it is responsible for the death of about 1,200 human beings 
and over 60,000 cattle per annum, in the British provinces alone. The 
various kinds of snakes, viperine and colubrine, kill about 20,000 persons 
and 4,000 cattle every year. The lion is now extinct except for the 
almost maneless variety found in small numbers in the southern hills of 
the peninsula of Kathiawar. The only small wild animals that need be 
mentioned are the jackals, because by them, along with their feathered 
compeers, the kites and vultures, and their subterranean allies, the termites, 
erroneously called white ants, the work of the scavenger, which would 
otherwise be left mainly to atmospheric chance, is rapidly and efficiently 
performed. 

Races of People. — In no equal area is there found a population of 
nearly 300 millions divided to such an extent into distinct and inde- 
pendent communities, owning no brotherhood of religion, language, 
race, or social intercourse. A false impression of homogeneity is some- 
times received by assuming that race in India is co-extensive with creed, 
and that the titles of Hindu and Musalman, accordingly, denote distinct 
races. Thus, the three-fourths of the population called “ Hindus,” are 
held to be a solid mass, indigenous to India, while all others are 
foreign. The term Hindu, however, is not, any more than the word 
India, recognised by the people themselves ; it is simply a comprehen- 
sive way of grouping the almost innumerable sects and communities 
which do not profess a more definite creed, but which have adopted a 
certain system of social organisation based upon the supremacy of a 
priestly caste, the Brahmans, and it includes many different races within 
the fold. 

The race basis of Indian society is to-day, as it was in the dawn of 
history, a short, swarthy, and stalwart population, the origin of which is 
unknown. Its direct and probably pure-bred descendants live in the hills 
and forests of Central India, the north-east coast, and among the moun- 
tains of southern India, under numerous tribal designations, but similar in 
life, customs, and types of language. Traces of their blood run through all 
the population of the open country, though disguised by the lapse of many 
generations of different physical and economical conditions. The first 
dispossession of these dark races of which we have any record, was by 
some fair-skinned tribe calling themselves by the generic title of Ary a, 
from the west of Central Asia. They occupied the great plains, enslaving 
the dark races or driving them to the hills. The northern peninsulas of 
Kachh and Kathiawar, on the west coast, Berar and parts of the Dekkan, as 
well as Orissa, on the east, were also colonised by this race, but it does not 
appear that they established themselves in force further to the south or east, 
and in the present day it is only in the upper Ganges valley, in Rajputana 
and the north-western coast of the peninsula, that a comparatively pure 
Aryan stock is to be found. Following upon the immigration of the Arya, 


India 


479 


and within historic times, other races of Central Asia, known to the Greeks 
as Scythians, sweeping down from the north, have left their mark on the 
population of the Panjab and its vicinity. Similarly, the valleys of the 
Brahmaputra and Ira wadi have respectively been the guiding lines of im- 
migration from eastern Asia, but the Mongoloid tribes of the north-east 
did not penetrate as settlers far beyond the outer fringe of the great 
plains, and found a congenial resting-place in Burma and Siam. The yellow 
type, with the obliquely-set eye and high cheekbone, dominates the whole 
of the southern slopes of the Himalaya, as well as the interior of the great 
mountain system, and has left traces in the population of eastern Bengal. 
In Burma, as in India proper, a squat, dark race has been displaced and 
driven from the plains to the hills and forests by a northern invader of 
superior civilisation. All these races profess religions which, whether 
Brahmanic, Buddhistic, or of more primitive type, are indigenous to 
India. Of the imported forms of faith only the smaller, such as the 
Israelite and the Parsi, are co-extensive with a race distinction, the rest, 
such as the Christian and the Musalman, having been chiefly recruited 
within India itself. The Parsi community, though spread in small numbers 
nearly all over the country, is mainly domiciled in and to the north of 
Bombay, and numbers but 90,000 souls in the whole empire. Of Jews 
there are three small communities, two of which have, in course of time, 
assimilated much native stock. All of these, again, are denizens of the 
west coast. The 2\ millions of Christians comprise over two millions of 
Indian converts, of whom ij million are the descendants of those baptized 
by the Portuguese of the 16th century ; about 160,000 are Europeans, and 
the rest of mixed breed. The invasions of Upper India from the north- 
west have left behind them a fair sprinkling of Afghan and Moghal blood, 
especially on the frontier and round the former capital cities of Delhi, 
Lahore and Lucknow. But the bulk of the 60 million Musalmans consists 
of local converts from the system loosely known as Hinduism, and the 
titles assumed by many, implying an Arabic or Moghal origin, bear no 
relation to actual descent. 

Languages. — The influences which merged race in race and largely 
reduced religious systems to the semblance of a few uniform creeds have 
not availed to break down the barrier of diversity of language, which, with 
the system of caste, keeps apart the chief communities of India. Here, 
again, comprehensive classification tends to leave a false impression of 
uniformity. For instance, the group of languages which from their 
structure and vocabulary are included under the general title of the 
“ inflectional ” or Indo-Aryan type, comprises more than three-fourths of 
the population, but the sixteen or seventeen main items into which the 
group is subdivided, such as Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Panjabi, 
&c., represent tongues so different that the communities which use them 
are unintelligible to each other. It is the same, in a less degree, with 
the fifth of the population speaking Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, and other 


480 The International Geography 

languages of the Southern, or Dravidian, “ agglutinative ” type, and in 
a still greater measure with the comparatively small group of the more 
markedly agglutinative tongues known as the Tibeto-Burman. Speaking 
generally, the last family is restricted to the north-eastern Himalaya 
and Burma. The Indo-Aryan family holds the north-west, the great 
plains, the deltas, and the west. The whole of the south is Dravidian, 
whilst between this group and the Aryan comes the small agglutinative 
class of tribal tongues conveniently known as Mundari. Hindi with its 
dialects is the mother tongue of some 100 millions, Bengali of 45, Telugu 
of 20, Marathi of about the same number. Then comes Tamil with 16, 
Panjabi with 18, Gujarati 9, Kanarese 10, Uriya 9, and Burmese with 7 
millions. The Mundari family is dying out in favour of Hindi, and now 
prevails amongst about 3 millions only. 

Political History. — Up to the establishment of British rule the 
history of the country is mainly that of the successive domination of the 
different races or sections of the people over each other, tempered with 
the sometimes short and sharp experiences of foreign invasion from the 
north-west, entailing a reconstruction of the political map with almost 
kaleidoscopic rapidity and completeness. The introduction of the Aryan 
element at an early period was the result not of invasion, but of gradual 
occupation and expansion, covering many generations, and its social .and 
religious system is the product of India itself. The historic acquisition of 
the Panjab, about 500 B.c., by Darius I. of Persia, and the subsequent 
overrunning of the same tract by Alexander the Great, in 323 b.c., left no 
trace behind them. Shortly after the departure of the Macedonians, a 
strong man arose, by name Chandragupta, who laid the foundations, after- 
wards largely extended by Ashoka, his grandson, of an Indian Empire. 
The personal element, as in all Asiatic monarchies, was the keystone of 
the edifice, and in a short time the outskirts of the kingdom fell away. The 
more important of the foreign invaders who succeeded were evicted after 
a few generations of power by Indo-Aryan chiefs from the Gangetic 
plain, or were gradually absorbed into the Brahmanic system. The south 
of the peninsula never fell to either Aryan or Scythian domination, but the 
dark races assimilated the teaching and religion of the higher race, which 
approached them as missionaries and advisers. The next period of political 
importance is that of the invasions of the Musalmans of Afghanistan from 
the tenth century after Christ. At first little attention was paid to per- 
manent occupation. Then, Jenghiz Khan passed, ravaged, and retired. 
Timur did little more, but left a claim which his descendant, Babar, made 
good, establishing on it the Moghal Empire, which, at its height, extended 
to the southern limits of the Dekkan. The great administrative ability of 
Akbar, the contemporary of Queen Elizabeth, made the Moghal control 
effective throughout his domain, but, as in all Oriental rule, the limbs were 
loosely knit to the trunk ; the central power decreased with distance from 
the Court at Delhi, and the Emperor’s deputies one by one asserted inde- 


India 


48 1 

pendence. Continual religious persecution welded the Sikhs, originally no> 
more than a dissenting sect of Hindus, into a military and political com- 
munity of the best fighting material in the country, and when a suitable 
leader was found in Ranjit Singh, the Panjab beyond the Satlaj was detached 
altogether from the throne of Delhi. Long before this, however, the rule 
of the Moghal had been almost destroyed by the upheaval of the Maratha 
race in the western Dekkan. The warlike and predatory instincts of this 
people were directed towards a common object by the strong man of the 
moment, Shiwaji, to whose standard the men of the Ghats and plains 
alike rallied to overrun India from Tanjore to Delhi, and to establish States 
under their own chieftains from Kathiawar in the west to Orissa in the 
east. There then set in the old tendency to disintegration. Chief intrigued 
against chief, and shifting alliances were formed and broken, reducing the 
land to chaos. Early in the eighteenth century, the rival local chiefs 
began to depend less on combinations amongst themselves than upon 
the co-operation of the English or French settlements on the coasts. The 
departure of the Europeans from a policy of purely commercial develop- 
ment to the participation in Indian dynastic struggles was initiated by 
the French ; but whilst the hold of that nation on southern India waned, 
that of the British was gradually extended from the coast into the interior, 
as the Maratha and Moghal authority fell to pieces. From an ally to 
be made use of in local disputes, the British grew to be the arbiters of 
the differences in which those disputes originated, and proceeded to the 
position of pacificator general, and, finally, of paramount ruler throughout 
the whole of the peninsula and the greater part of the Ganges valley. It 
is a remarkable fact, worth noting in connection with this aspect of the 
geography of the country, that with the exception of the chiefs of Rajputana,. 
Kathiawar, and the Malabar coast, not one of the principal States of India 
is ruled by a dynasty native to it. It must also be borne in mind that, with 
the same exceptions, most of these States are only the mushroom growth of 
the closing years of the eighteenth century, when the whole of India was 
in confusion almost amounting to anarchy. Thus, throughout the greater 
part of India, the political history of the last century and a half has been 
practically that of the replacement of a precarious and recent domination 
of foreign Asiatics by a stronger and more enduring control by foreign 
Europeans. Setting aside accretions of territory within the confines of India 
proper, the British Indian Empire comprises important acquisitions by con- 
quest during the latter part of the nineteenth century, such as the Panjab, 
Sindh, and the two sections of Burma, while the political, as distinguished 
from the administrative, frontier of India has been extended by negotia- 
tion, or assertion of a " sphere of influence ” over parts of the wild country 
on the confines of Burma and China, over the frontier of semi-independent 
territory between India and Afghanistan, and over Baluchistan and the 
adjoining Mekran coast. The mutiny of 1857 led to the transfer of the 
administration of India from the Honourable East India Company to 


482 The International Geography 


the British Crown in 1858, and in 1877 India was declared an Empire. 

Government. — The link between the authority exercised in the 
Indian Empire and that vested in the Sovereign and the Government of 
the United Kingdom is the Secretary of State for India, a member of the 
British Ministry, aided by the Council of India, consisting of civil and military 
officers, lawyers and merchants, all having long experience of India in 
their different capacities. Whilst exercising a general supervision and 
control over the administration, the Secretary of State is the sole respon- 
sible adviser of the Government of the day on all questions concerning 
India with which that Government is called upon to deal. The actual 
government of the Dependency is conducted by a Governor-General, 
conventionally, though not legally, entitled the Viceroy, who is aided by a 
Council of civil and military officials, in Calcutta or Simla. A survival of 
the time when British power was confined to the peninsular coasts, and 
when communication between distant parts was difficult, is found in 
Madras and Bombay, the heads of which, with their Councils, are still 

appointed, like the Governor-General, directly by the 
British Government. The more recent acquisitions, 
such as the Panjab, the upper Gangetic valley, known 
till 1901 as the North-West Provinces — a survival of 
the early days of British rule— recently changed to the 
more appropriate title of the United Provinces (Agra 
and Oudh), the newer province of Upper and Lower 
Fig. 248 .—The star of Burma, together with the older province of Lower 

India, the Badge of Bengal, are under Lieutenant-Governors. The smaller 
the Indian Empire, j- • • r . •, » ^ 

divisions of British territory, Assam, the Central Pro- 

vinces, Coorg, Ajmer and Berar, and the North-West Frontier Province, 
separated from the Panjab in 1901, are administered by a Chief Commis- 
sioner immediately subordinate to the Central Government. The supreme 
legislative authority is vested in the Governor-General, who, for the pur- 
pose of framing laws, appoints, under various systems of nomination and 
election, a number of local advisers from the provinces, as additional 
members of his Council. For administrative purposes each province is 
subdivided into districts of unequal area under a single officer. In 
all there are 250, with a mean area of just under 4,000 square miles, 
and an average population of nearly 900,000. The extremes, however, 
range from Simla, with only 100 square miles, to a frontier district in 
Upper Burma, with 19,000, and from a population of 19,000 on the 
coast of Burma, to one of nearly 4 millions in Maimansingh, near the 
apex of the great Bengal delta. The main feature in the administration 
is the insignificant proportion borne by the European element to the 
native throughout the far-reaching and elaborate system under which a 
vast and illiterate population is developing its own civilisation, protected, 
but not directed, by foreign authority. Taking into account the 75,000 



India 


4«3 

British troops and all the professional and mercantile population of that 
race, the proportion is one Briton to 3,000 Indians. In the service of the 
State, irrespective of the 800 British officials occupying the more respon- 
sible posts, and the whole of the subordinate staff, which is Indian, no less 
than 97 per cent, are natives of the country. Nearly two-fifths of the 
territory and just below a quarter of the population is not under direct 
British administration, but is ruled by native chiefs, over whom the 
Government exercises the authority of a paramount Bower only. Speaking 
generally, the same protection against usurpation or encroachment, and 
the same obligation of loyalty and good government are extended to the 
lord of a dozen villages, who happened to be in lawful possession when 
his engagement with the British Government was concluded, as to the 
ruler of the twelve millions of the State of Haidrabad. 

Occupations of the People. — The conditions that make this 
unprecedented system of government both possible and suitable to the 
country are to be found first in the divergent interests and aspirations of 
sectional rivals, religious and racial, which are repressed by strong and 
impartial administration, and then in the economic 
distribution of the population. Not merely is the 
overwhelming majority of the masses of India 
purely agricultural, but by the character of the 
tenure of land and of the social system prevailing 
over most of the country, it is also attached in a 
remarkable degree to its birthplace. The bulk of 
the population lives in villages, a term which in- 
cludes both a collection of dwellings and the land FiG.249 — Average popu- 
tilled by the inhabitants, each forming an inde- lation of a square mile 
pendent community, complete in itself, even to 

the administration of its own affairs, and providing subsistence for 
both its cultivators and artisans. Throughout nearly the whole country 
the land is held, either nominally or in practice, by peasant proprietors, 
in small holdings with security of tenure, so far as it is possible for the 
State to secure it. The system of caste restricts in most cases social and 
industrial ambition within very narrow limits, and this, together with the 
diversity of language and climate, tends to make migration to more favoured 
localities a matter of inconvenience and hardship, rather than of advan- 
tage. Every circumstance in the village life is discouraging to mobility, 
co-operation, or to common interests of a public character. Stationary 
pursuits accordingly are the rule, and the mass of the people is engaged 
in cultivation, cattle or sheep breeding, fishing, or the like rural occupations, 
and no more than 5 per cent, is attracted into aggregates large enough 
to be considered as towns. Home industries are largely practised, though 
the custom of the craftsman does not usually extend beyond the village to 
which he is affiliated, or its immediate neighbourhood. The tradition of the 
delicate work to which Indian art owes its reputation, still survives, but these 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
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484 The International Geography 

fine products never entered into the economic life of the masses, and throve 
only upon the fitful and precarious patronage of native courts. The congre- 
gation of the workmen into factories is a feature of the present generation, 
and has taken strong root in the cotton industry of the west coast and in that 
of jute in Calcutta and its neighbourhood. Cawnpore, too, in the upper 
Ganges valley, is a centre of both cotton and leather work. Among other 
modern industries which have attracted a fair number of the lower classes 
are the tea gardens .of Assam, the Nilgiri hills and the sub- Himalayan 
region, the indigo works of Behar and Oudh, and the iron-smelting and 
coal mines of Bengal. Agriculture, however, remains the mainstay of 
the country, and the trading classes, spread all over India, rural and 
urban, are chiefly engaged in the collection and distribution of field pro- 
duce, accompanied, in nearly every case, by money-lending, the traditional 
function of their class in the east. 

Trade. — The development of the great seaports has afforded an oppor- 
tunity to the upper class of traders of which they have been quick in 
availing themselves. Before the British were in power, the foreign export 
trade of India consisted chiefly of art fabrics or luxuries, valued at not 
more than a million sterling per annum. It has since expanded amongst 
the masses in place of the comparatively few, and the peasant profits, not 
the handicraftsman. Its annual value, excluding treasure, is now about 
1,200 millions of rupees, or over 80 millions sterling. The items vary in 
proportion, but the average order is as follows : Grain, 180 million rupees 
(including rice, chiefly from Burma, 130 millions ; and wheat, from 
northern India, about 40 millions) ; then, raw Cotton, from western 
India, 140 millions, and Oil Seeds about 170 millions; raw Jute, from 
Bengal, no millions; Tea, Opium, hides and skins, some 85 millions 
each. Indigo has fallen from 53 millions in 1895 to 18 millions in 1901, 
owing to the successful competition of artificial products. Lac and raw 
wool follow at an interval which varies considerably from year to year. 
The result of the new departure in manufacturing industry is seen in an 
increasing export of jute goods now valued at about 80 million rupees, and 
of cotton yarn, principally to China, valued at about 50 millions, with half 
that value in coarse fabrics, popular in East Africa. The import trade has 
relatively outstripped the export, although, owing mainly to the employ- 
ment of British capital in industrial and commercial enterprise and the 
necessary liquidation in England of part of the cost of British officials 
and troops, the actual value of the imports is considerably below that of 
the exports. Taking the sixty years ending with 1896, in 1836, the imports 
of merchandise were 30 per cent, of the total and 39 per cent, at the end of 
the period, the rate of increase having been 930 per cent, in the exports, and 
no less than 1419 in the imports. The latter consist largely of cotton and 
woollen piece goods, metal and hardware, machinery, railway plant, and 
luxuries such as silk and sugar, with a rapidly increasing demand for 
mineral oil, European clothing, and a fairly constant market for British coal. 


India 


485 

Communications. — In former days, owing to the want of protection 
and the heavy and frequent transit duties levied by each State on goods 
merely passing through it, but little use was made of the seaports by the 
inland countries. The improved roads are now freely used, and the great 
waterways of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Ira wadi, and, to a less 
extent, the lower Indus, are crowded at certain seasons with small craft 
plying between the coast and the interior. Trunk roads connect all the 
principal towns, and in theGangetic valley, Orissa, and further south on the 
east coast, canals have been opened to aid local traffic. Thus, for short dis- 
tances of two or even three hundred miles, the traditional modes of transport, 
by boat, cart, or pack animal, still hold their own. The most important 
change in trade, however, has been wrought by the development of 
railways, introduced in 1854. At first trunk lines were constructed, partly 
to connect the four or five chief 
cities, partly, also, for strategic 
purposes. Branch and chord 
lines followed, first for trade 
purposes, and then, again, to 
bring grain within reach of the 
tracts liable to failure of harvest 
when the rainfall was unpro- 
pitious. The general scheme 
has now been nearly com- 
pleted, except in Burma, 

Assam and Sindh, where links 
of considerable length are 
still under construction. The 
mileage open for traffic in 
March, 1901, was 25,035. 

The number of men em- 
ployed in 1897 was 283,000, 
of whom 4,660 were British. 

It was once held that for 
light traffic in thinly peopled 
districts, or where the ex- 
ports of produce are not Fig 2 - 0 — -phe Railways of India and Ceylon. 
likely to be heavy, or con- 
centrated into a few months of the year, a narrow gauge, lighter and 
cheaper than the standard, would be sufficient ; certain spheres or tracts 
were accordingly assigned to be served by the narrow gauge, whilst the 
main arteries of foreign commerce, ending at the principal seaports, are 
on the broader gauge. The development of through traffic, however, has 
led to the linking up of several of the narrow-gauge systems, and in spite of 
the inconvenience and expense of transferring goods, at the junctions with 
the other lines, the use made of the lighter system is growing with the rest. 



486 The International Geography 

Finally, whilst the course of the Ganges and Indus is closely followed by 
various lines of rail, the same rivalry does not yet exist in the case of the 
Brahmaputra and Irawadi, on each of which, accordingly, passenger and 
goods steam-vessels ply throughout the year for many hundred miles. Simi- 
larly, the rugged coast between Bombay and Goa precludes access other- 
wise than by coasting steamer. Orissa, till recently in the same inconvenient 
position, has now a railway approaching completion which crosses the 
swamps which formerly interrupted its land communication with Calcutta. 

Political Divisions. — To understand the political subdivisions of 
India, one must remember that the Empire has been built up by successive 
accretions, and that in all territorial demarcation the independent exist- 
ence of numerous protected States scattered over the country had to be 
regarded. The boundaries, therefore, are not necessarily in accordance 
with physical or linguistic distinctions, nor are they always such as 
would be the most convenient in the present day. Of late years, how- 
ever, changes have been made for administrative purposes, bringing the 
various charges more into harmony with modern conditions. The special 
features of urban development in the Indian Empire must also be taken 
into account. The natural resources of the country not being such as to 
attract people into large aggregates fof industrial purposes, and, until 
within the last century or so, no tendency having existed towards foreign 
trade, the towns of India had almost all a political origin and development. 
The chief gathered together his forces in the situation most convenient 
for defence, and walled them in with the same object, including all 
the civil population necessary for their subsistence and comfort. The 
position was, therefore, usually on a hill or river. Occasionally, at 
the arbitrary command of the chief, the site was changed, and the 
whole nucleus of the town transported to a distance. Under the 
Moghal rule, the main conditions were the same, though the establish- 
ment was somewhat more enduring. The life of the place waxed 
and waned with the fortunes of the chief, and we thus find in different 
parts of the country vast areas covered with ruins, and large cities in a 
state of decay, due to the supersession or fall of their patron. But where 
the chief is still in power, the old conditions are maintained, improved by 
participation in the modern advantages introduced under British auspices. 
Irrespective of these last, the most progressive cities of India are, first, the 
seaports established under British rule, then the smaller towns which have 
profited by their position as railway centres, and, again, those which have 
been selected for military stations. The present tendency seems to be for 
a town to decay in proportion to its detachment from the modern or com- 
mercial element in its life, and to rise where it shows a spirit of adaptation. 

Bengal, with a population of 74,745,000 under British administration, 
and 3,700,000 under petty chiefs, contains four well-defined • regions. 
(1) Bengal proper consisting of the Delta and the low-lying land east and 
north of it, separated by hill ranges from Burma and Assam. (2) the 


India — Bengal 487 

densely peopled plain of Bihar to the north-west, between the sub- 
Himalayan forests of Nipal and the Central Belt of hills which divide it 
from the valley of the Mahanadi. (3) The northern section of that belt, 
known as Chutia Nagpur , a region of forest and tableland, held chiefly by 

descendants of the dark races. (4) Orissa , a coun- 
try of low coast backed by forest-clad hills. Politi- 
cally the old presidency was divided in 1905 into 
Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam . 

Nearly the whole of Bengal may be said to be 
very fertile ; and, though parts of Bihar lie within 
the zone of uncertain rainfall, the density of 
population throughout the province averages nearly 
500 per square mile. Except in the dryer tract 
of northern Bihar, rice is by far the predominant 
crop. The poppy is grown for the preparation 
of opium in the same tracts as wheat and indigo, and jute is a favourite 
staple in the north and east. The economic position of the province of 
Bengal differs from that of most of the rest of India in the existence of 
a large class of landlords, the creation of the early British administration, 
intervening between the cultivator and the State, who hold their estates 
at a quit-rent fixed at the end of the eighteenth century, when the land 
lacked both labour and security of possession. The linguistic distinc- 
tions of Bengali, Uriya, and Hindi, together with the large Musalman 
element in Bihar and eastern Bengal, and the centralisation of business and 
professional employment in Calcutta, 
render the province peculiarly void of 
cohesion. 

Towns of Bengal. — Calcutta, the 
creation of an early generation of 
British “ adventurers," is situated some 
thirty miles up the Hugh mouth of 
the Gangetic system. With its suburbs, 
it contains a population approaching a 
million. The city is emphatically mer- 
cantile, but of late years jute and paper 
manufactures have been established in 
the neighbourhood, whilst the residence 
of the Governor-General and the large 
body of officials surrounding him 
materially adds to the population 
during a part of the year. The other 
great cities of Bengal originated in the 
Musalman occupation, when the Deputy 
Governors of the Moghal became practi- 
cally independent chiefs. Patna rose on the site of the former capital of 



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Fig. 251 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of Lower Bengal. 


488 The International Geography 

an ancient Buddhist monarchy, and as the centre of a large and Xvealthy 
agricultural tract it still enjoys a certain local reputation. In this it 
resembles its compeer in eastern Bengal, Dacca , the centre of a 
Musalman population almost entirely recruited by conversion from the 
dark and semi-Brahmanised tribes of the Delta. Its repute for the 
weaving of fine muslins has died out, but it is a centre of collection 
and distribution for Calcutta and the nearer port of Chittagong , and 
thus just holds its own against decay. The next large town is Gaya, 
in South Bihar, a centre of religion for the Brahmans in the present day, 
as it was for the Buddhists in times of yore. Its population is rising 
with the improved railway communication with the trunk lines. Murshi - 
dabad , the later Musalman capital of the province, has waned to a small local 
centre, and its compeers, Bhagalpur and Monghyr, are practically stationary. 
Cuttack , capital of the Orissa division, maintains the rate of growth pre- 
vailing in the rural neighbourhood, but with the completion of the new 
trunk line of rail from the east coast is likely to take a higher commercial 
position. 

The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh include the upper 
valley of the Ganges and a small portion of the hill region of the Central 
Belt, to the south, and of the Himalaya, on the north. The population of 
48^ millions, including 800,000 under petty chiefs, is mostly settled on 
the fertile plains, with a density of 536 per square mile in Oudh, and an 
average of 432 for the whole province. While the physical conformation 
and ethnographic distribution are less varied than those of Bengal, there 
is far more diversity in the produce of the soil. Rice gives place to millets 
in the south and centre, and to wheat in the north and west, varied with 
pulse and cotton. Towards the east the poppy is cultivated to a con- 
siderable extent, as in Bihar, for the preparation of opium ; indigo, too, 
reappears, and rice regains a part of its importance. The western and 
southern tracts of the province, however, are within the zone of uncertain 
rainfall, and during the last thirty years have suffered from famine severely 
on four occasions. 

Towns of the North-West Provinces. — The number of small 
towns is above the average of India, owing mainly to the number of 
petty chiefs formerly, and in later years to the assignment of large 
estates for colonisation by private enterprise. There are no less than 
six large cities. Three of these owe their situation to convenience 
of access to the sacred river, Mother Ganges, where it combines 
navigability with religious merit. Benares heads the list, and main- 
tains its rank as the chief religious centre of the Brahmans. Cawn- 
pore , though in the midst of Hindu traditions, stands now in the van 
of the manufacturing enterprise of upper India. The Musalman name 
of Allahabad has been adopted for the Prayag, or Confluence, of the 
Hindus. The town is placed at the junction of the Ganges and her 
sacred sister, the Jamna, and in modern times has been popularised as 


India — Panjab 489 

a pilgrimage centre by the junction of the trunk railway lines from 
northern, eastern and western India. In the same way, Agra, one of the 
Moghal capitals, has been saved from decay by its recent connection with 
the western railway system on the one hand, and that of the central 
Gangetic valley on the other. A second town originating with the tem- 
porary dominion of a local Musalman chief, is Bareli, in the sub- Himalaya 
plain, and now, like Meerut , both a railway and a manufacturing centre of 
rising importance, not unaided by the addition of large British military 
settlements in the suburbs. Mirzapur, on the other hand, which once 
enjoyed, from its position on the Ganges, a large through trade in cotton 
and a considerable local weaving industry, is decreasing in population. 
In Oudh the caprice of a local chief is well shown in the establishment of 
Lucknow , a city with, even in its decadence, over a quarter of a million 
inhabitants, in supersession of its neighbour, Faizabad, itself an adjunct 
of the Brahmanic centre of Ajudhia, on the Ghogra, which does not now 
contain 100,000 people. The industrial arts fostered by an Oriental court 
still flourish in Lucknow, owing to the custom of the surrounding land- 
lords, and, to some extent, of the British station, which, since the Mutiny, 
has been a large one. In the north of the province, Moradabad and 
Shahjehanpur have developed a considerable industry in sugar. 

The Panjab, in its modern extension, comprises not merely the 
valley of the Indus and its great tributaries, but a portion of the Jamna 
system. The new Frontier Province lies to the west of the Indus, and 
contains an area of 16,500 square miles, and a population of about 
millions, chiefly Musalmans, of Pathan or Afghan descent. The State 
of Kashmir, too, has been confirmed in its suzerainty over the frontier 
chieftainships of the Hindu Kush range and the upper Indus valley. 
Thus the 20 millions directly administered by the British Govern- 
ment is increased by the population of the States under Sikh, Musalman 
and small Hindu chiefs to nearly 25 millions. The density of population 
is greatest in the plain of the five rivers. The Himalayan valleys and the 
vast plains of the sparsely watered south-west show but a low density, and 
Kashmir is thickly peopled only in the valley of that name. The remarkable 
mixture of races to which history testifies, has been to all practical purposes 
eliminated over almost the whole province by the more dominant distinc- 
tion of religion. The orthodox Brahmanic creed flourishes along the 
Jamna and in the sub- Himalaya. In the centre of the plains the Sikh 
community is pre-eminent, whilst the tendency of Islam to prevail grows 
stronger towards the west. The northern origin of the mass of the 
peasantry is apparent in their superior physique to the men of other pro- 
vinces, like whom they are mainly cultivators, with a special system of 
village organisation. Towards the south-west the absence of irrigation 
and the expanse of open land covered with coarse grass have given 
importance to pasture and cattle-breeding ; but elsewhere the autumn 
crop supplies the millets and fodder for the year, whilst the spring harvest 


490 The International Geography 

is chiefly composed of pulse and, above all, of wheat and barley, of which 
the frontier province is one of the principal exporters. 

Towns of the Panjab and Frontier. — Setting on one side the 
numerous middle-class towns due to the wheat trade and to the extension 
of railways which has raised it to importance, the larger centres of the 
Panjab are of peculiarly modern and definite origin. Delhi , no doubt, 
stands on the ruins of ten cities, one over the other, and for miles round 
the country tells the tale of past grandeur and decay ; but the existing 
city, the only one associated in India w r ith the imperial idea, owes its 
position and fame to the Moghal dynasties. At the time of the highest 
prosperity of that line, the city was known as the camp of the Emperor, 
and, when he moved northwards during the hot season, three-fourths of 
the population migrated with him. Delhi has now begun an industrial 
career on European lines, which, with a large wheat and produce market, 
and direct communication with all parts of upper India by rail, ensures 
its prosperity. Multan stands exactly where a city always has stood since 
history began, near the junction of the five rivers with the Indus, on the 
edge of the desert, and touching the border land between upper India and 
Sindh. Peshawar , at the mouth of the Khaibar Pass, has in like manner 
been selected by uncounted generations as an outpost against invasion. 
The existing town, however, now the capital of the Frontier Province, is 
to a great extent the creation of the great Sikh chief, Ranjit Singh, and, 
under British control, contains a population nearly as much Central Asiatic 
as Indian in its appearance and composition. Lahore is still what Ranjit 
Singh made it, the political capital of the Panjab, and it is also a con- 
siderable railway centre. Amritsar remains the head-quarters of the Sikh 
religion, and is a place of industrial' note, especially in textile trades. Its 
situation, in the middle of a fertile plain, as well as its sacred reputation, 
probably induced the Sikh leaders, when they had established a military 
authority, to substitute, as their centre, a more defensible position on the 
banks of the Ravi. The modern military station of Ambala, however, 
and the fortified position of Rawalpindi , stand on the dry plain. The Sikh 
States lie mostly in the east and centre of the province, and the Musalman 
chief of Bhawalpur rules along the frontier between the Panjab, Raj- 
putana and Sindh. 

Sindh was placed, on its acquisition in 1844, under the Government 
of Bombay, from which, however, it is separated geographically by a band 
of desert, and communication, accordingly, has to be maintained by sea. 
It is bordered on the west by a line of barren mountains, and on the east 
by sand-hills and desert. The small area of arable land in the latter 
tract is the only part of the province where cultivation is dependent 
upon the rainfall, which, though scanty, suffices for the light crop of 
millet and pulse entrusted to it. The delta receives a heavier fall 
and absorbs a considerable amount of moisture from the sea-vapour, 
but the rest of the Indus valley and its neighbourhood is cultivated 


India — Bombay 491 

either after the annual inundation or by means of artificial irrigation from 
the great river. Rice and millets are the main crops, but wheat is now 
grown to an increasing extent on the borders of the Panjab. In this 
part of Sindh the climate is almost rainless. It is also the hottest and one 
of the coldest in the country. 

Towns of Sindh. — The opening of Karachi harbour has attracted 
the greater part of the produce trade of north-western India with foreign 
countries, the result being to raise the population more than 58 per cent, in 
the 20 years ending with 1901. Tatta, the old capital of the Indus delta, 
has fallen into decay. Haidrabad, at the apex, hus considerable trade and 
local industries are active, especially since road and rail communication 
has been extended. In upper Sindh, the old commercial capital, SJiikarpur, 
enjoys a reputation far beyond what its size would imply, since it contains 
a relatively large population of merchants who for generations have done 
business as far as the Caspian, Samarcand, and even Moscow. It is one 
of the comparatively few instances in India of a town being established and 
flourishing upon almost entirely commercial considerations. It stands in 
the open plain, bordering on the desert which has to be crossed before 
reaching the highways leading to Kabul and Herat respectively, through 
Afghan territory, and thus constitutes the trade complement of Kandahar. 
The situation of Sakkar, on the Indus at a point where the rocky banks 
admit of its being bridged, has raised the town to a new position ; its 
business, both by rail and river, is considerable, and its strategic import- 
ance in excess of its size. The population of Sindh, over 3,200,000, is 
otherwise but thinly scattered over the rural tracts, with an average of 
no more than 68 to the square mile. 

Bombay. — The Province of Bombay is irregular in shape and distribu- 
tion, and a large number of comparatively small protected States are 
scattered throughout British districts, especially in the north and south. 
In the north is the fertile low-lying tract of Gujarat, rising to the hill 
lands of the central plateaux. Stretching eastwards from this lies the 
productive Tapti valley, as far as the coniines of Berar and the Central 
Provinces. The Konkan forms a long narrow strip, mostly of shallow soil, 
along the coast, as far as the nearest approach of the Ghats to the sea, in 
Kanara. Above this lies the great tableland of the Dekkan, of which the 
portion within this province is about 200 miles in breadth, with a soil 
fertile in the lower, or depressed situations, light and shallow in the 
higher, and the greater part exposed to an unusual extent to the chance of 
failure of rain. As the rivers derive their supply entirely from the south- 
western air-current, the same cause which renders irrigation necessary in a 
bad season also shortens the supply of water in the reservoirs formed at 
the heads of the Ghat valleys to feed the channels. Hence the compara- 
tively frequent occurrence of agricultural distress. The linguistic divisions 
of the province, though strongly marked, do not coincide with the 
geographical, except as regards Gujarat. Marathi, which prevails exclu- 
83 


492 The International Geography 

sively over the Tapti valley and the Konkan, and also, of course, in its 
home, the northern Dekkan, fades imperceptibly into Kanarese towards the 
south and south-east. The population, especially in Gujarat, is remarkable 
for its relatively high proportion of the trading element, and merchants 
of this tract are found plying their trade all over the west and south of 
India, and even venturing to Zanzibar, Mauritius and Madagascar. The 
mean density in which the population of 15 millions is distributed, is 
just over 201 per square mile. The people subsist on the cultivation not 
only of millets, rice, wheat, pulses, and other food crops, as in most Indian, 
provinces, but also of cotton, of which the west coast and Tapti valley have 
almost a monopoly for the foreign market. The commercial character of 

the upper classes is reflected 
in the unusually high pro- . 
portion of the urban popu- 
lation, which reaches 20 per 
cent., or more than double 
that of India as a whole. 

Towns of Bombay. — 
Bombay, the business capital 
of the province, is entirely a 
British creation. Its acqui- 
sition in the dowry of Cathe- 
rine of Braganza was at first 
hardly appreciated by its 
new owners, Pepys noting 
in his Diary that “The Portu- 
gal, it appears, have choused 
us in the island of Bombaim.” 

It has a population of 776,000,. 
the plague having killed or 
scared away over 40,000 since 

Fig. 253. — Site of Bombay. l8 9i- Its trade goes mostly 

by the Suez Canal to the 
West, or by Singapore to the East, with a rising share in the commerce of 
southern Arabia and east Africa. In Gujarat is the old Musalman capital, 
Ahmedabad, now a military station, a railway centre and a manufacturing 
town, with much through trade in cotton and wheat. Surat, the first 
trading centre of the British in India, has ceased to be a seaport, owing 
to the silting up of the mouth of the Tapti. Poona, the capital of the 
Maratha power under the Peshwa, and still the headquarters during 
the rainy season of the Provincial Government, retains much of its former 
character in the absence of modern trade-bustle and the predominance of 
the Brahman element. Sholapur, on the other hand, in the north-east of 
the Dekkan, and Hnbli in the south-west, have thrown themselves into the 
stream of modern progress, and set up large cotton factories and railway 



India — Central Provinces 493 

works respectively. The same tendency is visible in several of the smaller 
towns, some of which are highly progressive. 

Berar. — The small province of Berar lies between the Satpura and the 
Dekkan, and, with the exception of a hilly tract to the south and a smaller one 
to the north, consists of a level and very fertile plain. The inhabitants, 
reduced by famine from nearly 3 millions to 2,754,000, are almost all 
Maratha by race, with a sprinkling in the north of the dark hill tribes. 
The agriculture is noteworthy, because, of all the provinces, Berar alone 
produces relatively more for export than for home consumption. It has a 
fair staple of cotton, and excellent oil seeds and wheat. This advantage 
has conduced to the conversion of local markets into the resort of foreign 
traders, Indian and European, and thus, although the chief towns, Ellich- 
pur and Amraoti, are small, they are busy at the harvest season out of 
proportion to their permanent population. 

Central Provinces. — The irregular tract known as the Central 
Provinces comprises, first, the nucleus of the hills and plains round Nagpur ; 
then, the Narbada valley with the broken country to the north, forming 
part of the Central Belt of hills, and, thirdly, the plain of Chattisgarh to the 
Mahanadi, with the wild forest tract separating it from Orissa on the east, 
and the Telugu country of Madras and Haidrabad on the south. In the 
Nagpur division and high up the Narbada valley, the Maratha element 
predominates, whilst throughout the hill tracts, and over a great part of the 
eastern plains, the dark tribes, either in their primitive purity of race or 
largely mixed with settlers from the Gangetic plain, are in possession. 
The valleys and the Chattisgarh plain are fertile. The north and west 
produces most wheat, millets, and pulses ; the east more rice, blending 
towards the west with the dryer crops. The hills and forest tracts pro- 
duce little but light crops of the smaller millets. The population of 10 
millions in the area under British administration shows a density of 114 
per square mile, against 125 before the last famine, and the corresponding 
figure for the 2 millions in the petty native States is only 67 against 73. 

Towns of the Central Provinces. — Nagpur , the centre of the 
Maratha power of the Bhonsle family, has the beginnings of a con- 
siderable trade in produce and of the cotton industry. Jabalpur , com- 
manding the upper Narbada valley, and on the trunk line between the 
coast and upper India, is a local centre of the wheat trade. Saugor, 
a military station in the heart of the central hill belt adjoining the 
Gangetic valley, has merely local importance. The old Musalman 
capital, Burhanpur, on the Tapti, stands still, and much of its industrial 
and commercial repute has passed to modern places. On the other 
hand, Raipur, the chief town of the fertile Chattisgarh plain, has reaped 
the benefit of its recent connection with the railway system joining 
Nagpur with Bengal, not in permanent residents so much as in traffic in 
wheat and rice, attracting a well-to-do floating population during the 
season. In other parts of the province the pacification of the country 
generally has tended to the expansion of the native tendency to trade at 


\ 


P 


494- The International Geography 

movable weekly markets supplied from the larger centres, rather than to 
the establishment of new towns. 

Madras. — The Province of Madras comes next to the Gangetic 
provinces in population, containing 38 millions of people, with a mean 
density of 269 per square mile. In addition, there are States politically con- 
nected with it, with a population of over 4 millions and the high density of 
420. The distribution, however, is very uneven. The fertile strips along the 
north-east and the south-west coasts differ in physical character from the 
rest. The hilly country which hems in the former is of the same descrip- 
tion as that to the south-east of the adjacent Central Provinces. The 
Malabar coast is separated from the tableland by more rugged country, 
especially where the Ghats widen out into the Nilgiri on one side and 
the Anamalai range on the other. The more or less flat region along the 
east coast is far wider, and the edge of the tableland in that direction is 
but faintly defined until it approaches the Nilgiri in the south. Thus, 

the physical divisions of the province 
correspond fairly closely with the cli- 
matic. First, the tract dependent upon 
the north-east air-current, from Orissa to 
Cape Comorin ; then, the sphere of the 
full force of the south-west air-current, 
and finally the tableland between the 
two, subject, like the rest of the Dekkan, 
to light rain and occasional drought. 
The dense population along the coast is 
supported mainly by rice, which the un- 
failing rainfall on the west and the great 
irrigation works from the three chief 
rivers on the east, render amply sufficient. 
The former of these tracts is rich in 
spices, coco-nut, and, since British occu- 
pation, in coffee and tea. Millets and oil seeds, with a little cotton, are the 
staple crops of the uplands. These differences, with those of language, and 
the wide development of the caste spirit, keep the people apart to an 
unusual extent. 

Towns of Madras. — Large towns, with the exception of the sea- 
ports, are little more than local trading centres, or, like Tanjore, the 
former residence of a chief and his court. Madras , with a population 
of over half a million, is, like Calcutta and Bombay, the result of 
British occupation, and was, in fact, the first permanent territorial 
possession of the Company. It has, however, few manufactures, and, 
owing to its open roadstead, far less trade than its fellows, and the develop- 
ment of the smaller ports such as Negapatam, Coconada, Calicut, Manga- 
lore and Tuticorin, diverts much of the exports which would otherwise 
have been obliged to seek an outlet through the capital Madras, accord- 



Fig. 254 . — Site of Madras. 


India — Assam 


495 

ingly, is relatively more of a literary and professional centre than either 
Calcutta or Bombay. The same feature is to be found in Madura and 
Combaconam ; Trichinopoly has considerable local business to keep it 
up. Tanjore, with about the same population as its neighbour Com- 
baconam, is both the centre of the most densely peopled tract in 
southern India, along the lower Kavari, and has the tradition of a 
native Court, which only ceased to exist in the middle of the nineteenth 
century, so that the classes attracted by its favour have not yet died 
out. Bellary , like Trichinopoly, is the centre of a large agricultural 
tract, though by no means to be compared with the south in fertility 
and population. It has, however, railway communication with east 
and west, and a large military suburb. Calicut , the principal port of 

Malabar, is a town of ancient fame as the capital of the Zamorin, and 
has revived of late years its long-standing trade with the West. On 
the east coast, Negapatam , has opened considerable trade with Ceylon, 
Burma, and Singapore. The same enterprise is found in the smaller 
ports to the northwards on that coast, Coco 7 iada and Masulipatam . 
Salem is an important local centre, and used to have a good reputation 
for its steel and iron, now declining, partly owing to foreign competi- 
tion, partly to the want of cheap fuel for the wasteful method of smelting in 
practice. 

Assam. — The frontier province of Assam, in its correct limitation to 
the Brahmaputra valley and the adjacent hills and mountains, is not con- 
sidered by its people to form part of India, and some discontent was caused 
in 1905 when it was united with parts of Bengal to form the new province of 
Eastern Be?igal and Assam . Before this political regrouping the adminis- 
tration of Assam, including the outlying hills and the State of Manipur, con- 
tained a population of over 6 millions, about half of which belonged to the 
southern portion. The mean density of population in the province 
is 1 12 per square mile, but this is a figure of no practical value, since 
in the Surma valley the density is 319, in the Assam valley 117, and 
in the hill country only 25. There are no towns of more than 14,000 
inhabitants. Sylhet , the chief market of the Surma valley, reaches that 
number, and Gauhati, a central landing-stage on the Brahmaputra, has 
rattier less. The political headquarter station is Shillong, high up in the 
Khasia hills. In 1897 it was almost levelled to the ground by an earth- 
quake. About two-thirds of the crops raised consist of rice. A small area 
is under jute and oil seeds, and in the hills small patches are cleared for 
coarse grains. The great feature in the agriculture of the province is the 
recent development of the tea-planting industry, originally entirely con- 
ducted by British capital under British superintendence, but now shared 
by natives of the country. The average annual tea export of India 
between 1897 and 1902 exceeded 170,000,000 lbs., to which Assam is the 
largest contributory. 

Burma. — The province of Burma is still divided for administrative 
purposes into Upper and Lower, and these titles very fairly connote the 


496 The International Geography 

climatic difference between the two. The further subdivision geographically 
suggested is that into plains and hill tracts. Lower Burma, whether the 
Arakan strip, partly colonised from Bengal, the Tenasserim strip, bordering 
upon Malay characteristics, or the intervening delta of Pegu, is emphati- 
cally a damp or rice-producing region. The riverain tracts of Upper 
Burma, on the other hand, lie high and dry, unswept by any strong vapour- 
laden winds, liable, accordingly, to drought, and producing millet, oil seeds, 
cotton, and a little wheat, with rice wherever, as near hills, there is sufficient 
moisture. The population, again, is well demarcated, not according to the 
two great territorial divisions, but into those of the Irawadi valley, whether 
in the Lower or the Upper division, and the darker and uncivilised tribes 
of the hills. Throughout the rice tracts communication is difficult and 
trade confined to local centres on rivers or creeks. The railway now 
intersects Burma from north to south, with branches to the principal out- 
lying markets. Next to rice, of which the exports amount to not far 
below half the estimated produce, the chief material sent abroad is teak 
timber and cutch, or catechu. 

Towns of Burma. — The population of 10J millions, scattered over 
about 237,000 square miles, shows a very low density, and, with the 
exception of Mandalay, the capital of the late King of Upper Burma, 
and the comparatively new seaports, the towns are chiefly little more 
than local markets. Mandalay, well situated on the Irawadi, attracted 
most of the trade from the north and east. The great outlet, however, of 
the produce of the province, is Rangoon, in the delta, rapidly increasing 
in population. The former local capital, grouped round a celebrated 
Buddhist temple, has become a busy seaport, with a considerable number 
of commercial establishments attracted from India and even China, in 
addition to the strong British element now settled there. Maulmain, the 
next port in importance, has about one-tenth the trade of Rangoon, 
and exports chiefly timber and other forest produce. The centre of the 
trade of the Arakan coast is at Akyab, but it has little beyond local 
influence. In the north of Upper Burma the town of Bhamo, on the 
Irawadi, though very small as yet, is likely to increase considerably, both 
as the only town on the Chinese frontier, and, also, owing to its connec- 
tion with Mandalay and the rest of Burma by rail as well as steamer. 

Protected States of Rajputana, &c. — States not directly adminis- 
tered by the British but remaining under their own chiefs are scattered all 
over India. The greater number are congregated in the tract known as 
Rajputana, with its extension to the peninsula of Kathiawar on the west and 
to the plateau of Central India in the south-east. This vast region is parcelled 
out into States varying in area from the 37,000 square miles of Marwar to the 
four or five miles under a petty chief on the coast or embedded among more 
powerful neighbours in Central India. The subjects of Sindhia in Gwalior 
number two millions, of Jaipur, over 2\ millions, and several other chiefs 
rule more than a million. Whilst the south and east of Rajputana are fertile, 


India — Protected States 


497 


the west is principally desert, with from 7 to 60 people to the square mile. 
Central India comprises the Malwa plateau, the Chambal valley, and the 
hill country of Rewah and Bundelkhand, all more or less favoured by nature, 
and far more densely peopled now than eighty years ago, when they were 
the cockpit of Indian rivalries. Acting upon the principle of confirming 
the possession of the actual chief at the time of the assumption of 
suzerainty, the British Government sterotyped the conditions of the first 
quarter of the nineteenth century, so we find in power not only the ancient 
lines of Rajputs, at U depur, Jodhpur, Rewah and Jaipur , with their offshoots 
in Kathiawar, but the Maratha military dynasties of Sindhia and Holkar, and 
the Pindari freebooters who had carved out little States for their families 
in those troublous times. These tracts have been included in the general 
system of Indian railways, and several of the chiefs have constructed 
feeder lines in their own territories, to the great advantage of the outlying 
parts of the country. Unfortunately, the eastern portion of both Rajpu- 
tana and Central India falls within the zone of liability to famine, and 
within the last half-century has been severely visited by that calamity on 
three or four occasions. The rest of the country, however, where not 
actually in the desert, is fertile and well watered, either naturally or by 
wells or channels. In every State the chief’s headquarters constitute the 
principal town, and in addition to Jaipur with 160,000 and Gwalior with 

89.000 inhabitants, there are five towns of more than 50,000, each much 
resembling the other in general features. Much of the territory of the 
Gaik war of Baroda, with a population of just under 2 millions, is scattered 
in detached morsels in the midst of British districts and Kathiawar chief- 
tainships. Like the rest of Gujarat, the soil is remarkably fertile, and 
supports the heavy density of nearly three hundred people to the square 
mile. The central and most valuable portion of the State lies round 
Baroda, the capital. The city has considerable trade and a large pro- 
fessional element. There is no other town of importance in the State. 

Haidrabad. — The principal State in the Dekkan is that of Haidra- 
bad, founded by a Moghal viceroy, who asserted his independence on the 
wane of the empire of his sovereign. It is very compact, contains over 

82.000 square miles, and a population of over n millions. As it lies 
entirely on the Dekkan plateau, its subdivisions are mainly linguistic. 
Marathi prevails in the north and west ; Kanarese in the south-west, 
and Telugu, to the east. All but a portion of the north and east 
lies w r ithin the famine zone. The soil is of much the same character as 
that of the Bombay Dekkan, but improves slightly towards the north- 
east. Recently there has been a successful attempt made to utilise 
the large coal deposits in the eastern portion of the State, and the 
supply from Singareni is now in demand on railways for a considerable 
radius from the mines. As in the other States, the capital town, Haidrabad, 
absorbs most of the, urban population of the Nizam’s territory. Its situa- 
tion seems to have been selected of vore with a view to defence, before the 


49 8 The International Geography 

days of long range artillery, as it lies in a plain, watered by a small river, 
but with low hill forts at a short distance. The next town in size is an 
older Musalman foundation, Aurangabad , with a small population, also 
designed for strategic purposes in the early days of Dekkan expeditions. 

Mysore completes the list of Dekkan States. It lies, like Haidrabad, 
entirely on the tableland, bordering on the Ghats to the west, the Nilgiri 
on the south, and the edge of the plateau on the south-east. The area 
is about 28,000 square miles, and the population nearly five millions. 
The soil is more fertile on the whole than in the northern Dekkan, but most 
of the State lies under liability to drought. For fifty years, ending in 
1880, the State was under British rule, and the system then in force was 
continued after the rendition to a scion of the former reigning family. It 
is thus a fair example of foreign initiative under Indian administration. 
The general agricultural character of the State has been to a small extent 
relieved by the opening of gold mines in the south-eastern tract. The 
enterprise has not proved remunerative, from a financial standpoint, except 
to a few of the companies engaged, though the metal is certainly found 
in fair quantities. The long period of British administration, together 
with the still longer term of Musalman usurpation which preceded it, have 
obviated the usual concentration of the urban population round the palace 
of the chief. Thus Seringapatam, the Musalman capital, is now a small 
town, the descendants of Tippoo Sultan having been deported beyond the 
frontier of their late father’s dominion. Bangalore , the chief seat of the 
British in Mysore, is much larger. Mysore , the chief’s capital, doubtless 
suffers at present from the superior commercial advantages of its modern 
neighbour. Both, however, are now connected with the trunk lines of 
Madras and the northern Dekkan, a precaution taken after the great famine 
of 1877. The forests of Mysore, which lie along the Ghats and round the 
Nilgiri are, with Burma and the Assam lower ranges, the only haunt of the 
wild elephant left in India. They also furnish the greater part of the sandal 
wood used for carving and for the sacrificial ceremonies of the Brahmans, 
and in parts have been cleared for the growth of coffee by British planters. 

Travancore and Cochin. — South of Mysore, isolated amidst the 
mountains and lagoons of the extreme south-west of the peninsula, are 
the two little States of Travancore and Cochin, politically connected 
with the Government of Madras. Physically, these States resemble the 
neighbouring Malabar tract, and the people are of much the same races 
and habits as to industry and occupations. The barrier set by caste 
between classes, however, is maintained inviolate, and society is altogether 
on a basis which, though prescribed by Brahmanic theory, the more 
accessible part of India has long abandoned. 

Kashmir. — In Kashmir, on the other hand, a State almost equally 
isolated from India by the Himalayan ranges, the masses have long been 
converted to Islam, under the influence of the Moghal emperors who 
made the valley their summer quarters. The State itself, however, has 


India — Protected States 


499 


been extended far beyond the valley, and includes a portion of the Upper 
Indus as well as the sub- Himalayan State of Jammu, from which the 
chief originally came. The inhabitants of the bleak plateau of Ladakh 
and of the gorges of Baltistan, are of the Tibetan type and language, 
and Buddhistic in faith. The people of the southern hills, again, differ 
in race and language from those of the valley. The civilisation of Kashmir 
is practically centred in Srinagar , the capital, and Jammu, where the court 
spends the winter. The weaving and silver-working industries still survive 
in the capital, but the rest of the country is as purely agricultural as the 
plains of India. The outlying States of Hunza, Nagar and Chitral, which 
own the suzerainty of Kashmir, have only been brought within the sphere 
of British-Indian influence of late years. Their country is barren, except 
along the streams running through the deep valleys, which provide food 
for the sparse population. 

Baluchistan. — The territory known as Baluchistan lies altogether 
beyond the geographical frontier of India, though included in its 
political area, the whole being a Protectorate under the British Govern- 
ment. It is bounded on the east by Sindh and the south-western 
Panjab ; on the west comes Persia ; on the north, Afghanistan, whilst 
the south touches the Indian Ocean. The coast, however, possesses 
no harbour, though there are two fairly convenient roadsteads at 
Gwadar and Sonmiani. This portion of Baluchistan boasts of the bad 
pre-eminence of being the hottest place in Asia, but its title is disputed 
by Aden and upper Sindh. A considerable part of the country is entirely 
desert, and none but a comparatively small tract along the Sindh border 
and a few valleys in the north-east is sufficiently well watered to pro- 
duce more than a scanty crop of grain or a little fruit. The area is about 
132,000 square miles, with a population of about 812,000. The prevailing 
races are the Brahui and the Baluch. The former predominate in the 
east, the latter towards the mountains and the Pan jab. They are divided 
into eight States, one large and seven small ; the former, Khalat, exercis- 
ing a sort of suzerainty over the rest. There is no town of any importance. 
Khalat , the largest, contains only about 15,000 inhabitants. In the north 
of Baluchistan lies the portion ceded to the British on lease, with the 
addition of the valleys annexed from Afghanistan at the conclusion of the 
war in 1880, and those to the east, through the Sulaiman range, occupied 
in 1887 and 1889. The population of this tract is about 308,000. The 
chief town is the military station of Quetta, with a population of about 
twenty-four thousand, including troops. The Sindh-Pishin railway and a 
line through the Bolan Pass connect Quetta and British Baluchistan with 
the Indus valley. 

The Andaman Islands. — The group of the Andaman Islands lies 
about 600 miles south of the mouth of the Hugh river, and some 160 
miles from the coast of Burma. The main portion consists of three 

narrow islands, mountainous and thickly clad with bamboo and valuable 
34 


500 The International Geography 

timber. The highest peak reaches 2,400 feet above sea level. The rain- 
fall is heavy, as the islands lie in the direct course of the monsoon currents. 
The inhabitants, about 1,900 in number, appear to be of Negrito or Malay 
descent. They are very timid of strangers, and though attempts have 
been made to civilise those on the larger islands, only a few have settled 
down. Since 1789 the only use made of the Andamans by the Indian 
Government has been as a convict settlement. The present station at 
Port Blair , one of the finest harbours in the East, was established in 
1858, and contained, in 1901, 16,000 convicts, warders, and officers. The 
islands constitute a Chief Commissionership under the Government of 
India. The heavy and malarious climate in the interior of the islands has 
prevented European exploration, but of late the natural resources of the 
country immediately round the settlement have been utilised and new 
products introduced. 

The Nikobar Islands. — This group is less than a third of the size 
of the Andamans, and forms a similar line stretching southward towards 
Sumatra, separated from the Andamans by the Ten Degree Channel in 
io° N. They were occupied by the British in 1869, after a formal cession 
by the Dutch. The inhabitants, numbering about 6,300, are of two dis- 
tinct races, one of a Malay type, superior to the Andamanese, the other a 
Mongoloid, of lower civilisation, driven from the coast to the interior. 
The coco-nut palm, which is not found wild in the Andamans, flourishes 
and affords a plentiful supply of copra and fibre, to procure which some 
fifty or sixty vessels regularly visit the group. Unlike the Andamans, the 
Nikobar group contains no good harbour, and but a fair anchorage, at 
Nancowrie. Owing to the rough sea and strong currents, there has never, 
apparently, been any intercourse between the two groups, an isolation 
which, perhaps, considering the nature of the tribes, has conduced to 
their survival. 

The Lakadiv and Maldiv. — The island group of the Lakadiv 
consists of very numerous coral atolls, about 200 miles from the coast 
of Malabar. The Maldiv Islands form a long chain also of coral forma- 
tion, stretching to the south. Div, or Dvipa , means island in the languages 
derived from Sanskrit, and Laka probably means a hundred thousand, 
and Mala , a Dravidian equivalent of one thousand. The inhabitants of 
both are Muslim, probably of Arab origin, with a little of the fishing 
blood of the opposite mainland added, in the Lakadiv. They live sparsely 
upon fish and, in the Maldiv, on the produce of their coco-nut palms, 
which they sell in the Malabar or Ceylon markets. For administrative 
purposes, the Lakadiv, with a population of just over 10,000, form part of 
the two districts under the Madras Government which lie nearest them, 
and the Maldiv are under the colonial government of Ceylon. The two 
groups speak different languages, that to the south being allied to the 
Singalese, that of the Lakadiv to Malayalam, an offshoot of Tamil. 


India — Statistics 


501 


STATISTICS. 


Percentage 


Province or State. 

Area in square 

Population. 

Density of urban 
per square population 

miles. 

1891. 

1901. 

mile. 

1901. 

) Provinces — 

Madras 

141,726 

35,630,440 

38,209,436 

270 

11*19 

Bombay 

75 , 9 i 8 

15 . 959,135 

15,304,677 

202 

20 ‘22 

Sindh 


2,875,100 

3,210,910 

68 

12*37 

Bengal 


71,346,961 

74,744,866 

494 

518 

United Provinces i 

83,198 

34,253,960 

34,858,705 

419 

1243 


23,966 

12,650,831 

12,833.077 

535 

732 

Panjab 


19,009,343 

20,330,339 

209 

11*44 

N.W Frontier Provinces 

* 16,466 

1,857,504 

2,125,480 

129 

1270 

Central Provinces 

86,459 

10,784,294 

9,876,646 

114 

8*31 

Berar 


2,897,491 

2,754,016 

155 

1523 

Assam 1 

56,243 

5 , 477,302 

6,126,3431 

109 

2'95 

Burma 1 


7,722,053 

10,490.6241 

44 

943 

Smaller Provinces (5) . . 

53,365 

775 ,ioi 

1,034,3881 

19 

2171 

Total, Provinces 

. . 1,087,249 

221,239,515 

231,899,507 

213 

9*54 

) States — 

Haidrabad 


11,537,040 

11,141,142 

135 

10* 1 1 

Baroda 


2,415,396 

1,952,692 

241 

2401 

Mysore 

29,444 

4,943,604 

5 , 539,399 

188 

1303 

Kashmir 

. . 80,900 

2 , 543,952 

2 , 905.578 

36 

5‘46 

Rajputana 


11,990,504 

9,723,301 

76 

1450 

Central India 

78,772 

10,318,812 

8,628,781 

109 

n *37 

Other Groups (7) 

271,939 

22,325,848 

22,570,6561 

83 

989 

Total, States 

. . 679,393 

66,075,156 

62,461,549 

92 

11*37 

Indian Empire . . 

.. 1,766,642 

287,314,671 

294.361,056 

167 

993 



ANNUAL 

TRADE. 



Mean of 1871-76. 2 

Mean of 1881-86.3 

Mean of 1891-96.4 


Rupees .3 

Rupees^ 

Rupees. 3 

A. Imports. 




Merchandise 

. . 345,791,500 

535,694,700 

718,369,700 

Treasure . . 

.. 70,729,400 

134, 0 39,8oo 

146,285,800 

Total 

. . 416,520,900 

669 , 734,500 

864,655,500 

B. Exports. 




Merchandise 

575 , 8 i 3 . 6 oo 

841,520,400 

1,089,041,900 

Treasure 

. . 17,027.600 

12,462,000 

53,663,400 

Total 

• . 592,841,200 

853,982,400 

1,142,705,300 

C. Total Trade. 




Merchandise 

.. 921,605,100 

i,377,2i5,ioo 

1,807,411,600 

Treasure 

.. 87,757,000 

146,501,800 

199,949,200 

Total 

.. 1,009,362,100 

1,523,716,900 

2,007,360,800 


1 Including areas not enumerated in 1891. 

8 Excluding tracts not enumerated at the Imperial Census. 

3 From April 1st to March 31st. 

4 The approximate mean sterling value of the rupee in the three periods respectively 
■was 22*41 8d., I9*303d., and i4*6od. If these equivalents were used the total trade as 
regards India would be seriously misrepresented, and the great and steady growth of the 
exports and imports completely hidden, thus : — 


In pounds sterling at average exchange. 

1871-76. 1881-86. 1891-96. 

38.907.000 53,866,000 52,600,000 

55.377.000 68,685,000 69,514,000 


Imports, Total 
Exports, Total 


• • 


• • 


• • 


5°2 


The International Geography 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 




1891. 

1901. 



1891. 

1901. 

Calcutta 

• • • • 

682,305 

847,796 

Jaipur .. 


158,787 

160,167 

Bombay 

• • • • 

821,764 

776,006 

Bangalore 


180,366 

159,046 

Madras . . 

• • • • 

452,518 

509,346 

Poona . . 


161,390 

153.320 

Haidrabad (Dekkan).. 

415,039 

448,466 

Patna . . 


165,192 

134,785 

Lucknow 

• • • • 

273,028 

264,049 

Nagpur. . 


117,014 

127,734 

Rangoon 

• • • • 

180,324 

234,881 

Srinagar 


118,960 

122,618 

Benares 

• • • • 

219,467 

209,331 

Surat . . 


109,229 

119,306 

Delhi . . 


192,579 

208,575 

Karachi 


105,199 

116,663 

Lahore . . 


176,854 

202,964 

Trichinopoly . . 


90,609 

104,721 

Cawnpore 

• • • • 

188,712 

197,170 

Baroda . . 


116,420 

103,790 

Agra 


168,662 

188,022 

Dacca . . 


82,321 

90,542 

Ahmedabad 

• • • • 

148,412 

185,889 

Gwalior 


104,083 

89,154 

Mandalay 

• • • • 

188,815 

183,816 

Multan.. .. 


74.562 

87.394 

Allahabad 

• • • • 

175.246 

172,032 

Indore .. .. 

• • 

82,984 

86,686 

Amritsar 

• • • • 

136,766 

162,429 

Ajmer .. .* 

• • 

68,843 

73,839 


STANDARD BOOKS 

Sir W. W. Hunter. “ Imperial Gazetteer of India,” 2nd ed. 14 vols. London, 1885-87. 

“ The Indian Empire ; its History, People, and Products.” Oxford, 1907. 

Sir C. R. Markham. “Memoir on the Indian Surveys,” 2nd ed. London, 1878. 

C. E. D. Black. “ Memoir on the Indian Surveys,” 1875-1890. London, 1891. 

R. Wallace. “ India in 1887.” Edinburgh, 1888. [On the agricultural resources.] 

G. Watt. “ Dictionary of the Economic Products of India.” Calcutta, 1885-92. 

H. F. Blanford. “Climates and Weather of India.” London, 1889. 

H. B. Medlicott (and others). “ A Manual of the Geology of India.” Calcutta, 1893. 

Sir J. Eliot. “ Climatological Atlas of India.” Edinburgh, 1906. 

The very numerous official reports of the Indian Government and of the various provincial 

governments contain a vast amount of geographical information of the most authoritative kind. 

II.— NON-BRITISH STATES IN INDIA 

Portuguese India 1 ( Estado da India ). — The Portuguese possessions 
in India are under a provincial Governor-General, residing in Goa, and are 
divided into three districts : Goa, Damao, and Diu. Goa is a territory of 
1,400 square miles on the strip of low ground on the Malabar coast and 
fringed by islands. It is bounded by the river Tiracol on the north, the 
western Ghats on the east, and Canara on the south. It is watered by 
many rivers navigable by small craft, and is consequently adapted for 
commerce and agriculture. The principal port is Mormugao, and the 
capital Nova Goa, or Panjim, is the seat of an old Roman Catholic Arch- 
bishopric. The climate is dominated by the monsoons, which give a dry 
season from October to March, and a rainy season during the greatest heat 
between April and September. The population of Goa is almost half a 
million ; many of the people are the descendants of the Portuguese settlers 
of the sixteenth century. Salt making is an important industry. Damao. 
or Daman, consists of a small territory between the rivers Coileque and 
Calem near the coast about ioo miles north of Bombay, and of two enclaves 
in the British territory. It is irrigated by the river Damonganga which 
has its outlet near Damao, forming its port. Diu is simply a fortress 
(. Pra;a de guerra) situated on the island of the same name at the extreme 
south of Kathiawar on the Gujarat coast. The Gogola territory facing Diu 
and the Panikotta fort in the Simbor inlet both form part of the Diu 


1 By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos. 



503 


Governorship. In Portuguese India, inhabited by representatives of the 
different castes of the Hindu race, as well as by the descendants of the 
early Portuguese colonists, rice is largely grown and is the staple native 
food. Salt making constitutes one of the riches of all the divisions of 
Portuguese India. There are plantations of coco-nut and other palm trees. 
The forests are valuable for their timber trees, principally teak in Nagar- 
Avely, one of the enclaves attached to Damao. 

French Possessions in India . 1 — By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 
France lost the Indian Empire which had been founded by the genius of 
Francois Dupleix. There only remained five factories scattered along the 
Malabar coast and the Ganges delta ; these are Make , Karikal and the 
capital Pondicherry, all on the Malabar coast, Yanaon and the station of 
Masulipatam at the mouth of the Godavery, and Chandernagore 
on the Hugh, not far from Calcutta. The whole area amounts to 200 
square miles and the population scarcely exceeds a quarter of a million. 
The imports are insignificant and the exports consist mainly of oil seeds 
and blue cotton cloth, the weaving of which is the chief industry of 
Pondicherry. 

Himalayan States . 2 — On the northern frontier of India the wild 
country of the southern slopes of the Himalaya has enabled two small 
native kingdoms, Nipal and Bhutan, to remain independent. They keep 
up relations with Tibet and China, but, although the territories are closed 
by treaty to Europeans, a British resident appointed by the Indian Govern- 
ment is maintained at each native court. This officer does not in any way 
interfere with the internal affairs. Nipal, the western State, is inhabited 
by the Gurkhas, a race of Rajput origin who dominate the remnants of 
earlier Mongolian peoples. The Gurkhas volunteer in considerable 
numbers for the Indian army, and under British officers they have proved 
to be admirable soldiers, never failing in courage and cheerfulness. The 
countries are very little known, their chief resources are cattle and forest- 
produce. The population of Nipal is estimated at from two to five 
millions, and that of Bhutan at about 50,000. 


Position and Extent. — The “ pearl-drop on the brow of Ind,” as 
Ceylon is poetically called from its outline and position, is believed by 
many to have been part of the Hebrew Ophir or Tarshish. It was called 
Taprobane by the Greeks and Romans, Serendib by the Arab voyagers, and 
Lanka “the resplendent” by the Hindus and eastern peoples. It lies to 


III.— CEYLON 


By the Hon. John Ferguson, C.M.G. 


Colombo . 


1 By M. Zimmermann. 


2 


By the Editor, 


504 The International Geography 

11 

the south of India between 6° and io° N., and between 79^° and 82° E., the 
greatest length of the island being 267 miles, and its greatest breadth 140. 
It is separated from India on the north-west by the Gulf of Manar, but 
nearly connected with it by the Manar and Rameswaram Islands and the 
coral reef known as Adam’s Bridge. There is no channel across the reef 
deep enough for large steamers to pass, and surveys have been made for a 
projected railway to connect India with Ceylon, 35 miles of which would 
be on the island, 22 miles on the reef, and only 1 mile across the shallow 
channels. 

Surface. — The maritime districts form a low, level strip round the 
island, widening to an extensive jungle-covered plain in the north and 
north-east, while in the centre of the southern part one-sixth of the surface 
is mountainous. The highest summit is Pedrotalagalla (8,296 feet), the 
next and more famous is Adam’s Peak (7,353 feet). Many of the moun- 
tains are wooded to the summit, 
and their slopes occupied by tea, 
coffee, or cinchona plantations ; 
but there are also great expanses 
of patina, or open grass land, and 
the scenery throughout the moun- 
tain region is very fine. The 
longest river, the Mahavillaganga 
(“ Ganges” of Ptolemy), flows from 
an elevation of 7,000 feet in the 
Horton Plains, for 150 miles, to 
the sea at Trincomali ; the other 
rivers are numerous but short. 
There are no true lakes, but large 
artificial sheets of water brighten 
and beautify the principal towns, 
and there are many ancient tanks, 
some of great size, a few of which 
have been restored. On the flat coasts there are several backwaters, 
expanding into large lagoons at Batticalao and other places. The tides are 
nearly imperceptible, but powerful ocean currents sweep along the coasts. 

Climate and Resources. — The climate is of course tropical, but 
the heat is moderated by the surrounding sea, and by the fact that the 
island lies in the path of the two monsoons, that from the south-west 
prevailing from June to September and the north-east from October to 
January. The hottest season is during the interval between the monsoons 
from February to May. The highest temperature at Colombo is 95 0 F., 
and the average 8o°, while there is a rainfall of 88 inches, well distributed 
throughout the year. At the sanatorium of Newara Eliya, situated at an 
elevation of over 6,000 feet, the mean temperature is only 58°, and the 
rainfall 95 inches. The whole of the hill country has a charming climate 
from December to May. 



505 


With its fertile soil Ceylon is one vast garden full of fascination for 
the botanist and naturalist. It is the home of a large variety of palms 
and flowering trees, innumerable orchids, and other tropical plants. The 
fauna includes the elephant, bear, panther, monkeys, peacocks, parrots, and 
other birds of fine plumage, as well as numerous snakes. 

The gems of Ceylon have long been famous, the rubies and sapphires 
from the mines, and pearls from the fisheries in the north. The only other 
mineral of value is plumbago (graphite), of which about 18,000 tons are 
annually exported. 

People and History. — In b.c. 543 a prince from northern India 
conquered Ceylon, and a succession of 160 Sinhalese rulers followed, the 
last of whom was deposed in 1815. There are still a few hundred 
aborigines (Veddas) in the island, and there are many Tamils from 
southern India, who long ago conquered the north and east of Ceylon. 
The Sinhalese continue to form 70 per cent, of the population. The 
Portuguese reached Ceylon in 1505, and occupied the maritime parts 
for nearly a century and a half, until they were driven out by the Dutch 
in 1640, who in turn yielded to the British in 1796, 
by whom at the request of the native population the 
last Kandyan king was dethroned in 1815, and the 
island brought under one government. The island 
abounds in magnificent ruins of the great cities and 
temples of the ancient Sinhalese kings, the ruins 
being second in extent and interest only to those of 
Egypt. The beauty of the island has made it the 
theme of many legends, the Arabs looking on it as 
the home of Adam and Eve after their expulsion 
from the Garden of Eden, hence the name of Adam’s 
Peak and Adam’s Bridge. More than half the people are Buddhists in 
religion, and about one-fifth are Hindus. Education is spreading rapidly 
amongst all classes of natives, who are quick to see the advantages of 
learning 1 the English language and Western ways. Missionary effort has 
been very successful amongst them. 

Industries and Trade. — Most of the inhabitants are engaged in 
agriculture, growing rice, fruit, palms, or cultivating vegetable gardens. 
Since 1840 British capital has created a great planting industry, Ceylon 
being the most prosperous of tropical plantation colonies. Nearly half a 
million Tamils, immigrants from southern India, are employed on planta- 
tions of coffee, tea, cacao, cinchona, spices and palms, and more than a 
million people are directly dependent on the work of these plantations. 
Tea is now the chief staple, Ceylon ranking third amongst the tea- 
producing countries of the world. There are 1,600 tea-plantations, cover- 
ing 425,000 acres, and yielding 130,000,000 lbs. of tea annually for export. 
Twice as much ground is under coco-nut palms, a great part of the 
produce of which is used as food for the people and for the distillation of 


♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 


Fig. 256. — Average papu- 
lation of a square mile 
of Ceylon. 


506 The International Geography 

the spirit known as arrack. A certain quantity of the nuts, oil, and fibre 
is exported, and the export of cinnamon is also characteristic. Sufficient 
rice is not grown for home consumption and there is a large import. The 
limits of the productive capacity of the island are still far from being 
reached. There is a customs tariff, which, as regards food products, is 
“ protective/’ generally 6} per cent ad valorem , but rising to io per cent 
on rice from India. 

The trade of the island is mainly with the United Kingdom and India 
but there is direct trade also with the continents of Europe and Australia. 
Colombo, the chief port, is 6,500 miles from London by the Suez Canal, 
4,800 miles from Cape Town, 3,300 miles from Albany, Western Australia, 
1,600 miles from Singapore, and 1,400 from Calcutta. 

Government. — Ceylon is now the first of the British Crown Colonies. 
It is ruled by a Governor appointed by the Colonial Office in London 

advised by a Council of five leading officials, and 
assisted by a Legislative Council, consisting of nine 
official and eight unofficial nominated members. The 
island is divided into nine provinces, each administered 
by a government agent and assistants, besides judges, 
magistrates and police. The laws are based on the 
Roman-Dutch system, modified by a century of British 
legislation. 

Railways and Towns. — There are 300 miles of 
State railways on the 5^ feet gauge, connecting the 
principal towns and planting districts, and about half as much narrow- 
gauge mountain railway. Colombo , the political and commercial capital in 
the south-west, concentrates almost the whole external trade of the island, 
and is the most central port of the Indian Ocean — “ the Clapham Junction 
of the Eastern Seas,” where passengers change for India, China, and 
Australia. The magnificent artificial harbour is safe of approach and easy 
of entrance at all times. When the harbour improvements are completed 
it is expected that the headquarters of the East Indian squadron of the 
British Navy will be removed there from its present station at Trincomali 
on the north-east coast, a fine natural harbour but without trade or popu- 
lation. Galle y though still a considerable town, has lost its trade since the 
rise of Colombo as a steamer port. The old capital of Kandy is a beauti- 
fully situated highland town, with the extensive and attractive botanic 
gardens of Peradeniya in the neighbourhood. Jaffna , in the north, is a 
purely native town inhabited by Tamils. 



Fig. 257. — The Co- 
lonial Badge of 
Ceylon. 



Ceylon 


Area of Ceylon in square miles 
Population of Ceylon 
Density of population per square 
Population of Colombo . . 

„ Jaffna 

ii Giille • • • • 

„ Kandy 


STATISTICS. 


1881. 

1891. 

25.365 

25,365 

2,763,984 

3,008,239 

109 

119 

110,502 

135,0001 

31.743 

33.505 

22,026 

.. 20,2522 


1901. 

25.365 

3.567.990 

141 

158.093 

33.860 

37.326 

26,522 


APPROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF POPULATION. 
Race. Religion. 


Sinhalese 2,250,000 Buddhists 1,985,000 

Tamil 750,000 Hindu 680,000 

Moormen (Arabs, &c.) 210,000 Mohammedans . . . . 222,000 

Eurasians . . . . 25.000 Christians 350,000 

Europeans . . . . 5,000 

Veddas 1,300 

Others 10,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in Rupees). 


1871-75. 1881-85.3 1891-95. 

Imports 52,480,000 53,664,000 74,466,000 

Exports 43,970,000 39,960,000 70,497,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in Pounds Sterling). 


1871-75. 1881-85.3 1891-95. 

Imports 5,248,000 4,472,000 6,770,000 

Exports 4,397,000 3,330,000 6,174,000 


STANDARD WORKS. 

Sir J. Emerson Tennant. “Ceylon.” 2 vols. London, i860. 

J. Ferguson. "Ceylon in 1893.” London, 1893. 

“ Ceylon Handbook and Directory.” Colombo, 1898. 

H. W. Cave. "The Ruined Cities of Ceylon.” London, 1897. 

Ernst Haeckel. "A visit to Ceylon” (translated). London, 1883. 


* Census gave 127,978, but known to be defective as regards floating population. Aq 
estimate in 1898 gave close on 150,000. 

2 Limits of municipality altered. 

3 Failure of coffee greatly affected trade. 


CHAPTER XXVII.— INDO-CHINA 


I.— SIAM 

By H. Warington Smyth, LL.B., F.G.S., 

Late Director of the Department of Mining, Siam. 

Siam, or Muang-Tai, a native kingdom between the British and French 
Asiatic dominions, may be divided into two parts, Upper and Lower. 

Upper Siam constitutes the heart of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. It 
extends north and east to the Me Kong or Cambodia river, which since 
1893 has formed the boundary towards the French possessions of 
Tongking and Annam. On the south-east it is bounded by the French 
Protectorate of Cambodia, on the north-west by the British Shan States, 
and on the west by Burma. The largest and richest part of the country 
drains into the Gulf of Siam. On the west the Me Klawng flows briskly 
down from high jungle-covered mountain ranges, the home of the elephant, 
the rhinoceros, and the sambur. Farther eastward the great river of Siam, 
the Me Nam Chao Praya, and its branch the Tachin river, wind their 
tortuous courses through “ attap ” and mangrove swamps to salt water ; and 
the Bang Pa Kong flows into the north-eastern corner of the gulf from the 
south-eastern ramparts of the Korat plateau, through the gold districts of 
Kabin and Watana, and the rich rice plains of Petriu. 

The Me Nam Basin. — It is to the central river and its network of 
creeks that Siam owes her wealth. Rising in the Lao, or Siamese Shan^ 
State of Nan in about 19 0 N. and ioi° E., it is known for the first 150 
miles of its course as the Nam Nan, and flows through a comparatively 
elevated valley, flanked and often diverted by forested ranges. About 
17 0 N. the river emerges from the Lao district into the great plain of 
Siam. Three important tributaries come in from the west, and form 
with the main river the principal thoroughfares of the country for the 
essentially aquatic population which clusters along their banks. The 
upper waters of these rivers are diversified by high forest-covered 
ranges which raise their massive granite shoulders or fantastic limestone 
peaks to 6,000 or 7,000 feet above sea-level. 

On these hills the teak tree ( Tectona grandis), commercially the most 
important of the woods of Siam, and several varieties of Dipterocarpus and 
other huge forest trees abound. The villages can generally be seen afar 
by the bamboos, and the areca and coco-nut palms, which give them 
shade ; rice, tobacco and cotton are the chief crops. 

The climate of the mountain valleys is practically that of the Shan States 

508 


Siam 


509 


generally. After the rainy season comes the cool dry north-east monsoon, 
with the thermometer at night from 30° to 40° F., followed by the heat 
haze which lasts, with the thermometer at 90° to 105° by day, from 
February to the rains. The heat of the great alluvial plain is tempered 
by its proximity to the gulf, and while the rainfall is usually not great (60 to 
80 inches), the thermometer seldom reaches ioo° at the hottest season. The 
amount of moisture in the atmosphere, however, makes the climate of the 
lowlands peculiarly trying. The malarial fever of the plains is less acute 
than the forest fever of the northern valleys, but cholera and dysentery are 
more frequent. 

The Me Kong Basin. — Only five streams of any importance flow from 
Siamese territory eastward to the Me Kong ; the Nam Kok and Nam Ing 
in the extreme north, the Nam Loe and Nam Mun from the Korat plateau, 
and the Sangke or Battambong river, draining the Cambodian provinces into 
the great lake. Though navigable for some distance for the native dug-out 
canoe, all these rivers during the dry season are much impeded by 
shallows, tree trunks and the like, and in the rains they are turbid torrents 
of great depth and swiftness. The Korat plateau lying between the great 
eastern bend of the Me Kong on the 18th parallel, and the Dawng Phraya 
Yen and Dawng Rek ranges, which form its ramparts on the south and west, 
has a mean elevation of 600 feet above the sea. Large portions of it con- 
sist of unreclaimed swamps and salt wastes, or of open shadeless jungles 
of small hard-wood trees subject to inundation in the rains. The un- 
suitability of the Me Kong for navigation, and the pestilential tracts of 
forest surrounding its other sides have effectually cut off the plateau from 
the outside world, and excluded all incentives to trade. 

Lower Siam. — Lower Siam occupies part of the Malay Peninsula. 
As far south as Kra in about io° N. the main axial range of the peninsula 
forms the frontier towards British Tenasserim. The Siamese territory 
is but a narrow strip, and the granites of the axial range have so con- 
torted and upheaved the sandstones and shales along their flanks that the 
country is very rough, and, being unsuitable for cultivation, is densely 
forested. Outlying masses of tilted limestones are very conspicuous, 
jagged fragments of the great limestone formation which has left its traces 
from Perak to Tongking, in the Mergui archipelago, and on the upper 
Me Kong. From the Pakchan estuary southward Siam rules from coast to 
coast, till the British Malay territories of Province Wellesley and Pahang 
are reached in about 5 0 N. 

People and Government. — The influence exercised over the States 
of Kedah, Kelantan, and Tring Kanu in the south, is rather of the nature of 
a protectorate. In race, speech, flora and fauna they are essentially 
Malay. But north of the old State of Patani, from Singora in 7 0 N., the 
Siamese are the most numerous, and their language is used by the Malay 
as well as by the Chinese settlers. 

In Upper Siam, besides the Siamese proper, the plain-dwellers include 


510 The Internationa] Geography 

the Mons (remains of the Peguan or Talaing invasions of the eighteenth 
century), Chinese, who largely intermarry with the Siamese, and smaller 
numbers of Annamites, Cambodians and Laos or Siamese Shans, repre- 
sentatives of the old Tai race from which the Siamese are descended and 
whose language they speak. These races (except the Chinese) for the most 

part profess Buddhism, but generally with consider- 
able admixture of the old Indo-Chinese nature 
worship, and many traces of Brahmanism. 

The races inhabiting the hills, whither they have 
been thrust by the incursion of the Shans, include 
some very primitive and interesting types ; notably 
the Sakai and Samang, the aboriginal people of the 
Malay Peninsula, the Karens inhabiting the Burma 
frontier range north of lat. 13 0 , the Kas of the northern 
highlands and the Chongs of the Krat hills on the 
south-east. Tribes of semi-Chinese mountaineers occupy the Me Kong 
region, all hardy nomads living in small communities and possessed often 
of no small taste in dress. All these races show that gentleness of 
disposition, and the childish simplicity and cheeriness which are the chief 
characteristics of the unspoiled Indo-Chinese. The population of Siam, 
which is distributed mainly along the canal and river banks, may be 
roughly estimated at 9,000,000, of whom one-third are of Chinese origin. 

Towns and Trade. — Bangkok , the capital, on the muddy Me 
Nam, contains a population which has been estimated variously from a 
quarter to half a million. Many of the people live on the water in floating 
dwellings, and on shore in narrow and ill-kept streets, but European 
influence begins to be apparent in both streets and buildings. The port 
is accessible to vessels of 12 feet draft. Of the other towns of Siam, 
perhaps fifteen attain, with their suburbs and neighbouring villages, a 
population of 10,000. Most of the other Muangs in the country fall 
short of 5,000 inhabitants. 

The Government is carried on by the King, advised by a Council of 
twelve Ministers and heads of the various govern- 
ment departments, and assisted by a Legislative 
Council composed of the chief nobles. The princi- 
pal Lao and Malay States are still ruled by their 
hereditary chiefs appointed or confirmed from 
Bangkok, under the supervision of Royal Com- 
missioners appointed from the capital. Many of 

the public departments are under the charge of FlG * 2 59 - The Siamese Flag. 
European officials ; but Siam is independent of European political control. 

The chief export is rice, amounting to over 450,000 tons per annum. On 
the quality of the rice-crops depends the prosperity of the people and the 
whole import trade of the year. Teak comes next in value with about 
50,000 tons annually. Tin mined by Chinese labour from the granites 




Fig. 258. — Averagepopu- 
lation of a square 
mile of Siam. 



Straits Settlements 


5 1 1 

of the Malay Peninsula is ' 9 next in importance, and its export exceeds 
3,000 tons annually. Salt and dried fish, bullocks, hides and horns, pepper, 
teal-seed, cardamoms, edible birds’ nests, sapan, rosewood and ironwood, 
agilla and gum benjamin are the other principal exports. The chief trade 
of the country is done between Bangkok and Singapore or Hongkong, 
thence indirectly with Europe and China. 


STATISTICS. 

(Estimates.) 

Area of Siam (square miles) 

Population of Siam 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Bangkok 

ANNUAL TRADE OF SIAM (in dollars). 


Imports 

Exports 


200,000 

9,000,000 

45 

300,000 


1896. 

10.500.000 

15.100.000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir John Bowring. “ The Kingdom and People of Siam.” 2 vols. London, 1857. 
Mrs. Grindrod. “ Siam, a Geographical Summary.” London, 1895. 

H. Warington Smyth. “ Five Years in Siam.” 2 vols. London, 1898. 


II. — STRAITS SETTLEMENTS AND THE PROTECTED MALAY 

STATES 

By the Editor . 1 

The End of the Malay Peninsula.— The Straits Settlements 
with the Protected Native States mainly occupy the portion of the Malay 
Peninsula south of Siam, between i° and 6° N. This part of the 

peninsula is separated from Sumatra by the Strait of Malacca. In the 
extreme south, Singapore Strait separates it from the smaller Dutch 
islands belonging to Sumatra, and serves as the channel of communi- 
cation with the China Sea. The peninsula is mountainous, the main 
range rising 8,000 feet or more, but decreasing southward, trends on the 
whole from north-west to south-east, and a second series of ranges, more 
to the west, follows a direction generally parallel to it. From the central 
watershed rivers, which are necessarily short, flow to the coasts, east, 
south, and west. Much of the surface is undulating and covered 
with dense forests, varied with open grassy plains, and, in the lower 
parts, swamps and marshes. The geological structure is still very imper- 
fectly known, but in the central chain the older formations associated 
with plutonic rocks appear to predominate. Tin is by far the most im- 
portant mineral ; rich deposits occur in various parts of the main range 
and its vicinity, constituting the richest and most extensive tin-field 
known, and yielding about one-half of the world’s supply of this metal. 


1 Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 


512 The International Geography 


m 

Iron is widely distributed, and there is some gold. The forests and 
jungles yield valuable timber, guttapercha, gums, bamboos and rattans ; 
the coco-nut, areca and other palms flourish ; rice is extensively cultivated 
in the swamps ; gambier, pepper and tapioca are important plantation 
products ; spices of various kinds grow freely ; and coffee has been success- 
fully introduced. The large wild animals include the elephant, rhinoceros, 
tiger, leopard, tapir, bison, several kinds of deer, and monkeys. The 
cobra, hamadryad, python, and other venomous snakes occur, while 
crocodiles haunt the rivers. Peacocks, birds of paradise, parrots, and 
pheasants are characteristic of the avifauna, and the edible birds’ nest is 
collected in the cliffs and islands. 

The climate is hot and humid, but owing to the free exposure of the 
country to the sea-breezes, the heat is less intense than in other countries so 
near the equator. The temperature varies little throughout the year. The 
rainfall is abundant, but there are no marked wet and dry seasons, both 
the north-east and the south-west monsoons bringing rain. The climate 
is, in general, not particularly unhealthy, though in some of the low parts 
malaria prevails. 

People and History. — The inhabitants comprise Malays, Chinese, 

natives of India, here known as Klings ; Sakeis and 
Samangs, remnants of the aboriginal inhabitants in the 
interior ; Eurasians and Europeans. The Malays are 
mainly engaged in agriculture and fishing, while the 
Chinese, who now probably outnumber them, supply 
almost all the mining labour. Europeans (chiefly 
British) form a small minority of the population, and 
are generally engaged in the Government service 
or in mercantile concerns. The history of European 
influence in the Malay Peninsula dates from the capture of Malacca in 1511 
by Albuquerque, who made it the centre of Portuguese dominion in the 
peninsula. Towards the end of that century the Dutch arrived and, after a 
long contest, culminating in the capture of Malacca in 1642, acquired the 
supremacy. It was not till near the close of the eighteenth century 
that a British settlement was effected. The East India Company 
occupied Penang in 1786 and Province Wellesley in 1800. In 1825, after 
the final loss of Malacca, the Dutch withdrew from the peninsula. In 
1819 Sir Stamford Raffles, with wise foresight, founded Singapore on 
land granted by the Sultan of Johor, and five years later possession was 
obtained of the whole island. In 1826, Singapore, Malacca, and Penang 
were constituted the Straits Settlements, and in 1867 the administration 
was transferred from the East India Company to the Home Government, 
and the Straits Settlements became a Crown Colony. The Dindings 
were annexed in 1874 ; and as remote dependencies the Cocos or 
Keeling Islands were added in 1886, and Christmas Island in 1889. 
In 1887 the Sultan of Johor agreed to place his foreign relations in 



Fig. 260 . — Badge of 
Straits Settlements. 


Straits Settlements 


5 X 3 


the hands of the British and to receive a Resident Agent, and in 1896 
the native States of Perak, Selangor, Sungei Ujong, Pahang, and Negri 
Sembilan, which had previously been under British control, were united 
into a Federation under the administration of a British Resident-General. 

Resources. — Agriculture and mining are the chief industries. Tin is 
the principal export (forming more than one-sixth of the total), next in 
importance are spices, gambier, and gum. Rice is the chief import ; 
others are cotton goods, opium, fish and coal. The bulk of the import 
trade goes to the United Kingdom, India, Hongkong, and the Dutch East 
Indies, while the United Kingdom and Dutch East Indies take the first 
place for exports. Means of communication are still deficient, but several 
railways have been constructed in the native States, others are in pro- 
gress, and good roads have replaced many of the old bridle paths. 

The British Settlements. — Singapore Island lies south of the 
peninsula, separated from it only by the Old Strait, a narrow channel in parts 
less than a mile wide. The surface is undulating, and the scenery very 
picturesque ; dense, and almost impenetrable, jungles cover a large area, 
but in the clearings, pineapples, gambier, 
and pepper are cultivated. Singapore , the 
capital, has advanced by rapid strides to a 
commercial port of the first rank. Singa- 
pore Roads afford good anchorage and 
shelter for vessels, and New Harbour, fur- 
ther west, has excellent wharfage. The 
port is protected by batteries and sub- 
marine mines. Singapore, like Hongkong, 
is an absolutely free harbour, without a 
Custom House, and carries on an enormous trade as the meeting-place 
of about fifty regular steamer lines from west, east and south. 

Malacca, at the time of the Portuguese conquest, was a large and 
important town, and a great centre of trade. Under the monopolising 
policy of the Portuguese and their successors, the Dutch, its prosperity 
decreased, and still more after the establishment of Penang. The opening 
up of the district has, however, given a fresh impetus to its growth. The 
district of Malacca is the largest of the settlements. 

Penang (i.e., “ betel-nut ”), formerly called Prince of Wales’ Island, 
lies about 360 miles north-west of Singapore, and with Province Wellesley 
on the adjacent mainland is the most northerly of the Straits Settlements. 
The channel separating the island from the mainland is about two miles 
wide and forms a very good harbour. Penang, which succeeded Malacca 
as the chief centre of trade in the Straits, declined with the growth of 
Singapore. Its local trade is, however, large and increasing. Province 
Wellesley consists chiefly of an alluvial plain with wooded hills in the 
interior. Besides the betel-nut, spices of various kinds and rice are 
cultivated. 



514 The International Geography 

The Dindings, about 70 miles south of Penang, comprise the 
Pangkar or Dinding Islands, and a part of mainland opposite, lying north 
and south of the Dinding river. 

The Keeling or Cocos Islands, a group of about twenty small 
forest-clothed coral islands, discovered in 1609 by Captain Keeling, lie 
about 500 miles south-south-west of Java. Coco-nut palms abound and 
yield the principal export. 

Christmas Island, 200 miles south of Java, is an upraised coral atoll 
the coast of which is formed by the hard rocks on which the coral grew 
while they were beneath the surface of the water. A valuable product is 
the phosphate of lime of which a considerable part of the rocks is com- 
posed. The island is covered with exceedingly dense forest and under- 
growth. Large tree-climbing land crabs and great red-brown rats are 
characteristic elements in the restricted fauna. 

The Protected Native States. — These are all small States under 
native rulers who are advised or controlled by British Residents. 

Perak, the most northerly, is about one-fourth larger than Wales. The 
coasts are low and bordered with mangroves. In the interior are moun- 
tain ranges and isolated groups rising in the main range on the eastern 
border to 6,000 and 8,000 feet. The principal river is the Perak, which with 
its tributaries drains the greater part of the country, and is navigable by 
boats for 165 miles. Tin is the most important mineral and the chief 
source of wealth ; gold, galena, and iron also occur, besides excellent 
china clay. Tea cultivation has been experimentally introduced. Kwala 
Kangsa, on the Perak, is the capital and seat of the British Resident. It is 
connected by road with Port Weld , whence a short railway runs inland to 
the mining centres of the rich Larut tin-fields via Taiping, and a branch 
joins it to the Selangor lines. The Southern port of Teluk Anson on the 
Perak is connected with Ipoh in Kinta, also a rich tin district. 

Selangor, south of Perak, has inland stretches of undulating and very 
fertile country traversed by rivers, navigable to a greater or less distance, 
the most important being the Bernam on the Perak frontier. Tin-mining 
is the principal industry, but agriculture is advancing. Kwala Lampur, the 
large and flourishing capital and residence of the British Agent, is situated 
on the Klang, twenty-seven miles from its mouth, at the point of convergence 
of several roads leading from the tin-fields. A railway connects it with the 
river port of Klang, and still lower with the seaport of Kwala Klang, 
and other lines are being extended north and south from the capital. 

Sungei Ujong (with which is included Jelebu) and Negri Sembilan 
(i.e., the Nine States), lie south-east of Selangor and north of Malacca. The 
east is mountainous, traversed by the terminal section of the main range, 
and the west, hilly in parts. Tin-mining is the principal industry, but agri- 
culture, for which the country seems well adapted, is advancing. Cattle 
are reared in the west. Seremban, on the Linggi, has the British Residency 
for Sungei Ujong ; it is connected by railway with the sheltered harbour of 


French Indo-China 


5*5 

Port Dickson. Kwala Pilah is the capital of Negri Sembilan, and residence 
of the British Agent. 

Pahang, on the eastern side of the peninsula, is about the same size 
as Perak ; the low and swampy coasts are succeeded inland in the central 
part by more elevated land, with numerous conical hills. The main range 
on the western border is believed to contain in Gunong Tahan (probably 
over 10,000 feet), the highest summit in the peninsula. The Pahang river, 
which, with its tributaries, drains the whole central region, has a length of 
350 miles, but is shallow, and in its lower course spreads out into lake-like 
expansions. Tin, gold and galena are the chief minerals. Pekan, at the 
mouth of the Pahang, is the capital. 

Johor occupies the southern portion of the peninsula. A great part of 
the interior is covered with dense forest and uninhabited. Iron is widely 
distributed, but not worked, and some tin is found. Gambier, sago and 
pepper are the principal cultivated exports, besides timber and other 
forest products. Johor Bharu (New Johor), in the south, opposite Singa- 
pore Island, is the capital. There is daily communication by steam ferry 
and coach with Singapore. Bandar Maharani , a small town at the mouth 
of the Muar, is connected by a short railway with Parit Jawa to the south- 
east. 

STATISTICS. 



1881. 

1891. 


1901. 

Area of Straits Settlements (Colony), square miles 1,472 

1,472 


1,472 

Population of Straits Settlements (Colony) 

423,384 

512,342 


572,249 

Density of population per square mile 

. . 287 

348 


392 

Area of Federated Native States 

, , — 

26,500 


26,500 

Population of Federated States 


418.527 


676,138 

Area of Johor 

. . — 

. . 9,000 * 


9,000 1 

Population of Johor 

• • 

. . 200,000 * 

• • 

200,000 * 

Number of Asiatics in Straits Settlement (including 




Chinese, 227,889 ; Malays, 213,073 ; natives of 




India, 53,927 in 1891) 


. . 498,696 

• • 

554 T 4 I 

Population of Singapore (town) 


. . 186,300 

• • 

228,555 

ANNUAL TRADE OF STRAITS SETTLEMENTS THROUGH SINGAPORE 


(in pounds sterling). 




Imports 

I 87 I- 75 - 

1881-85. 

1891-95. 

11,493,000 

17,443,000 

20,960,000 

Exports 

10,890,000 

15,690,000 

18,782,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

C. P. Lucas. “ Historical Geography of the British Colonies," vol. i. Oxford, 1894. 

N. R. Dennys. “A Descriptive Dictionary of British Malaya." London, 1894. 

H. Clifford. “In Court and Kampong. Native Life in Malaya.” London, 1897. 

R. Martin. “Die Inlandstamme der Malayischen Halbinsel.” Jena, 1905. 

III.— FRENCH INDO-CHINA 

^ By M. Zimmermann, * 

Of the “ Annales de Geographic Paris. 

History and Exploration. — France obtained a footing in Indo- 
China in the year 1862, when a part of Cochin-China with Saigon and the 
Pulo Condor Islands were acquired from the Emperor of Annam, a vassal 

Translated from the French by the Editor. 


1 Estimates. 


2 


5 1 6 The International Geography 

of the Emperor of China. The colony of French Cochin-China, to which 
the Protectorate of Cambodia had been added in 1863, was constituted in 
1870. After a war from 1883 to 1885, the French protectorate over Tongking 
and Annam was recognised by China. Towards Siam, France obtained in 
1893 the left bank of the Me Kong (the Lao country) together with rights 
over a zone 15 miles wide on the right bank. By a treaty in 1902 France 
gave up the right bank rights in return for territory west of the Me Kong 
and south of Pnom Dong Rek. The far eastern possessions as a whole 
have been known since 1888 as the General Government of French Indo- 
China (Gouvernement General de l Indo-Chine Franfaise). 

The era of scientific geography in French Indo-China opened in 1866 
by the fine explorations of Doudart de Lagree and Francois Gamier on the 
Me Kong. The necessity of entering into direct relations with China and 
the States of the upper Me Kong, which were reported to be very rich, was 
the motive of the labours of Gamier and of Jean Dupuis for Tongking, of 
Dr. Harmand, Neis, and particularly the Pavie expedition (1887-91) through 
the Lao country and the north of Indo-China. The Me Kong has been the 
special object of energetic exploration on account of the great importance 
of the question of its navigability. Since 1888 the hydrographic survey of 
the great river has been carried out with precision by a succession of naval 
officers, and its volume and the fluctuations of its level have been studied. 
Small gun-boats have been able to pass all the rapids with the exception of 
those of Khone immediately above Luang Prabang. 

Extent, Configuration and Climate. — French Indo-China extends 
for 14 0 along the left bank of the Me Kong (9 0 to 23 0 N.), and its total area 
is half as large again as that of France, so that its different parts present 
many varieties in every respect. 

The interior of Tongking (French, Tonkin ) is a highland region vary- 
ing in elevation from 2,000 to 4,000 feet ; the surface modelled in gentle 
curves where the Devonian schists prevail, but often presenting a wild and 
broken appearance where the hard Palaeozoic sandstones, beneath which 
lie deposits of coal, form the surface. The deep bays and gorges of the 
limestone region are now, as they have always been, haunts of pirates. 
These ancient rocks, forming a continuation of Yunnan, encircle the huge 
delta of the Red River and the Thai Binh, which has an area of 5,800 
square miles. It contains almost the whole population of the country ; 
and its uniform clayey surface, hardly broken by a few limestone crags, is 
covered with crops mainly of rice. The climate is tropical, deluges of rain 
falling after the month of May, flooding the Red River and raising its level 
20 feet ; but with a clearly marked winter, when temperatures from 43 0 to 
45° F- occur at Hanoi, and frost is known in the higher land. 

The skeleton of Annam consists of a granitic mountain-chain in the 
form of an arc stretching from Tongking to Cochin-China and running close 
to the coast of the China Sea. This barrier cuts off the interior from access 
to the coast ; it rises to heights of from 4,000 to 9,000 feet and is notched 


French Indo-China 


5 1 7 


by few passes, the most important being that of Ailao between Kwang-tri 
and the Sebang-hien, 1,000 feet above the sea. The range is covered 
with forest and occasional marshes, which make it still more difficult to 
communicate from the coast with the Me Kong, the interior plateau of the 
Lao country, and the stretches of denuded sandstones and open forests of 
the plateau of Boloven and Attopeu. The seaward slope of the chain is 
trenched by short coast rivers forming small valleys in which most of the 
population is concentrated. The coast, bordered by dunes and lagoons, 
offers scarcely any anchorage unless it be in the Bay of Turan. The 
climate is intermediate between that of Tongking and of Cochin-China ; 
the rainy season corresponds to the north-east monsoon occurring not in 
summer but from September to December. 

Cochin-China and Cambodia consist mainly of low alluvial land 
formed by the floods of the Me Kong and 
the Donnai, above which only a few masses 
of granite project. The climate is quite tropi- 
cal, with a uniform high temperature and a 
rainy season in summer. The ancient centre 
of the Cambodian kingdom was the great 
Lake Tonle Sap, a sort of natural regulator 
of the summer floods of the Me Kong. At a 
very remote period human settlements had 
been formed in the marshy ground subject 
to periodical floods around this lake. The 
discovery of prehistoric remains of a re- 
markable character in the same region 
shows that it was also the seat of the early 
Khmer civilisation. In the same way as 
Egypt is a gift from the Nile the whole of 
Lower Cochin-China is a present from the 
enormous Me Kong, which flows down 
loaded with the silt that has been worn Fig 26 2.— The Divisions of French 

from the mountains of Tibet. In its upper Indo CInna ’ 

course it struggles through the fissured limestones of southern China, 
spreads out on the sandstone plateau of the Lao country, and at the end 
of its course of nearly 2,500 miles it forms one of the largest deltas of Asia. 
The transition between each of the great geological divisions which it 
waters is marked by the formation of rapids or waterfalls, and thus it 
happens that the Me Kong does not play the important part as a channel of 
communication which its great length and vast volume seem to mark out 
for it. 

People. — The principal ethnic group in French Indo-China, both from 
the political and social point of view and from its number, is that of the 
Annamites. They principally occupy the low lands of the east of the penin- 
sula, including the deltas of Tongking and Cochin-China and the coast 



5 1 8 The International Geography 

plain of Annam. They are a race of tillers of the soil, of small stature and 
feeble appearance, but are hard-working and peaceable. From the earliest 
centuries of our era they have been under the influence of the Chinese, 
whom they resemble in their religious beliefs (ancestor-worship, 
Confucianism and a modified Buddhism), and in their written language. 
The spoken language, on the contrary, is entirely different, although, as in 
Chinese, the musical value of the tones is of great importance. Annamite 
society is characterised by absolute equality ; the family is strongly 
organised and paternal authority has preserved all its strength. The 
Cambodians or Khmers were a powerful nation in the eighth century ; 
their ancient greatness is attested by many magnificent ruins, including 
in particular those of Angkor-wat, situated not far from the great lake 
Tonle Sap. Much taller and stronger than the people of Annam, the 
Khmers are yet an apathetic people, and were probably destined before 
the French occupation to be subject to the yoke of their more energetic 
neighbours the Annamites or the Siamese. The influence of India 
appears very clearly in their social organisation, which is based on the 

system of caste ; in their religion, a mixture of 
Brahmanism, Buddhism and old animistic beliefs ; 
and in their ancient monuments. Finally the Lao 
people and the inhabitants of the Shan States form 
a branch of the Thais, the same race as the Siamese 
and the Burmese. A puzzling group of this race, 
taller and less yellow than the Annamites and of a 
much less marked Mongolian character, also in* 
habits the high valleys of Tongking under the name 
of Thos. They are a gentle and an idle people, and 
appear to be of very mixed descent. Besides the 
three great groups, some very primitive tribes, 
who seem to be descended from the ancient inhabitants of Indo- 
China driven out by conquering races, are found scattered through the 
forests and on the barren mountains. These tribes are called Peunong 
amongst the Cambodians, Moi by the Annamites, and Khas by the Laos, 
each of these names meaning simply savages. Some of them resemble the 
Indonesians of the Sunda Islands, and especially the Dyaks of Borneo. 
There is also a Malay tribe known as the Tsiam and the Meos in the high 
regions of the north, who seem to have come recently from southern China 
where they were known as Man. The remnants of ancient peoples who 
have been driven to take refuge in the wooded and unhealthy mountains 
have best preserved their original character, those living in the more 
open ground have been absorbed by Chinese civilisation. The Chinese 
dominate the native trade of the whole of French Indo-China. 

Productions. — Cochin-China is at present the most prosperous part 
of the French Asiatic possessions, as it has been colonised for the longest 
time. It produces scarcely anything but rice, more than three-quarters of 


Fig. 263 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of French Indo- 
China. 


French Indo-China 


5 r 9 


the cleared land being devoted to that crop, which is favoured by the 
periodical inundation of the country and the remarkable uniformity of the 
seasons. During the twenty years preceding 1895 the production has 
increased six-fold, and since 1899 the annual export has exceeded 600,000 
tons, forming 90 per cent, in value of the total exports of the country. It 
is sent mainly to Hongkong, Singapore and to France. The other parts of 
French Indo-China are still only to be viewed as lands of promise. In 
Annam there are untouched forests of teak, ironwood and lacquer trees, 
covering the great mountain range and the plateaux ; the valleys on the 
coast only produce a little rice on account of the want of suitable low 
ground, but they already yield a certain amount of cinnamon, pepper, 
cotton (at Than Hoa), sugar-cane, coffee in the plantations near Turan, 
and tea ; the last two products appear to have some future before them. 
Tongking produces rice principally, but on account of the density of 
population, notwithstanding a very large production, the quantity available 
for export is much less than from Cochin-China. Silk, cotton, oils and 
lacquer are also produced, and much is hoped from the cultivation of 
coffee, tobacco and jute. The elevated northern districts of Luang Pra- 
bang, Tranh-Ninh and Sib-Song-Panna are on the border of the tropical 
and temperate regions, and produce some of the products of each. 
They promise ultimately good returns from the forests of teak and 
other valuable woods, from gum-benjamin, cardamoms, cinnamon and 
tea plantations ; while there are great undeveloped mineral deposits 
including gold, iron, antimony, copper and lead. 

The thinly peopled Lao country, poorly provided with means of 
communication, without any great demand for trade on the part of its 
inhabitants, and still tributary to Siam commercially, is in the very 
infancy of colonial enterprise. It is known, however, that cotton grows 
there without being cultivated. 

All along the coast of the China Sea the fisheries are actively pro- 
secuted, whole fleets of junks, usually manned by Chinamen, carrying 
on the trade. Coal mining has already made some progress in Tongking, 
the coal of Hongay being exported to the extent of 276,000 tons in 
1899, and going to Hongkong, Canton, Singapore, and even San Fran- 
cisco. The Coal Measures of the Bay of Along appear again on the Red 
River at Lao Kay, near the frontier. 

Trade and Towns. — As in many of the French Colonies, the trade 
of Indo-China is mainly carried on with foreign countries. The imports 
of cotton yarn, textiles, manufactured articles, machinery and petroleum 
are of Australian, British, American and even Japanese origin. Energetic 
efforts have recently been made to open up internal trade in two directions. 
First new transverse routes are being opened across Annam in order 
to reach the Lao country and the Shan States (Luang Prabang), starting 
from Vinh, Turan and Saigon. A railway between Saigon and Mytho 
is being extended to Tantinh. Navigation on the Me Kong has been 


520 


The International Geography 

facilitated by works in the Island of Rhone and by laying down buoys. The 
second object is to develop trade between Tongking and Yunnan by the Red 
River, and so stimulate commerce with southern China. For this purpose 
a steamer service has been established on the Red River, various treaties 
have been made with China, French consulates established at Mong-tse 
and Long-cheou and a port has been acquired in the peninsula of Lei-chu 
opposite Hainan. A railway runs from Haiphong to Hanoi and by Phulang- 
thuong and Lang Son, to the frontier of the Chinese province of Kwang-si. 
Another line joins Hanoi to Ninbinh, and will be prolonged to Vinh. 

In Tongking the life of the country is mainly concentrated in the 
capital Hanoi , and in Haiphong, the port which monopolises the whole 
external trade in spite of its natural disadvantages. In Annam the port 
of Turan (Tourane) is one of the few really good harbours on the coast, 
and is near coal-fields which assure its future. Saigon in Cochin-China, 
where there is a French population of 2,000, not only concentrates 
the trade of Cambodia and southern Indo-China, but is one of the 
smartest and most attractive towns in the Far East. 


STATISTICS. 


[Estimates about 1900.) 


Area, sq. miles. 


Tongking . . . . . . . . 46,400 

Cochin-China 22,000 

Cambodia 37,400 

Annam 52,100 

Laos Country 98,000 


Total of French Indo-China . . 255,900 


Population. 

7.500.000 

2.300.000 

1.500.000 

6.400.000 
500,000 

18,200,000 


Density of Population 
per sq. mile. 

. . . . 162 


145 

40 

121 

5 

7i 


ANNUAL TRADE OF FRENCH INDO-CHINA (in pounds sterling). 


1893. 1900. 

Imports 3,060,000 . . 7,440,000 

Exports .. 4,124,000 .. 6,240,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Doudart de Lagree and F. Garnier. “ Vovage d’exploration en Indo-Chine, 1866-1868, w 
2 vols. text and atlas. Paris, 1872. 

C. B. Norman. “Tonkin or France in the Far East.” London, 1895. 

A. Bouinais and H. Paulus. “ La France en Indo-Chine.” Paris, 1890. 

Prince Henri d’Orleans. “Autour du Tonkin.” Paris, 1894. 

J. de Lanessan. “ La colonisation fran^aise en Indo-Chine.” Paris, 1895. 

Cupet, Friquegnon and Malglaive (Members of the Pavie expedition). “ Carte de l’lndo 
Chine, 1 : 2,000,000.” Paris, 2nd edit., 1899. 

P. Pelet. " Atlas des Colonies Fran^aises.” Paris. 

L. Aymonier. “ Le Cambodge.” 2 vols. Paris, 1900-01. 

L. de Reinach. “ Le Laos.” 2 vols. Paris, 1901. 


CHAPTER XXVIII.— THE CHINESE EMPIRE 


By George G. Chisholm, M.A., B.Sc. 

I.— CHINA PROPER 

Position and Extent. — The Chinese Empire is made up of China 
Proper and the bordering provinces of Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern 
Turkestan, and Tibet. The total area is above 4,000,000 square miles, and 
the empire occupies the greater part of central and eastern Asia ; but the 
importance of China Proper much exceeds that of the vast thinly-peopled 
provinces which lie to the west and north. 

China Proper is a country which, in spite of its vast extent (above 
1,500,000 square miles) and great diversity of physical features, is on the 
whole well marked off by natural boundaries (bounding tracts, however, 
rather than boundary lines) from surrounding countries. And although 
including foreign ethnical elements in considerable numbers, it is yet 
inhabited by a people remarkably homogeneous in race, language, customs 
and ideas. On the north, the boundary runs along mountains or through 
sparsely peopled steppes, separating it from Mongolia and Manchuria. 
There are extensive remains of a great wall built about 212 B.c., which 
long formed the frontier on the north, and still does so exactly or 
approximately in the west, though now China Proper extends far beyond 
it east of the middle portion of the Hwang-ho. On the west, China is 
bordered by the lofty tableland of Tibet. On the south-west it is divided 
from the Indian peninsula and Burma by a succession of lofty mountain 
ranges and profound valleys. On the south, the boundary runs in part 
right across these mountains and valleys, and partly along the water- 
parting between the basins of the Si-kiang (West River) and the Song-koi 
(Red River). 

General Configuration. — Broadly speaking China is composed of 
two extensive low plains in the north-east, and of mountainous and hilly 
country in the west and south, together with an isolated mountainous 
peninsula between the Gulf of Pechili and the Yellow Sea. The two 
plains differ very greatly in extent. The larger extends from the Gulf of 
Hangchou to the mountains north of Peking, a total length of about 700 
miles ; the greatest width, near the parallel of 32 0 N., being about 400 
miles. A large part of this plain is so low and level as to be very liable to 
inundation, the rivers being only with difficulty restrained within their 
banks. The most destructive of such inundations have been caused by the 

521 


522 The International Geography 

changes in the bed of the Hwang-ho, “ China’s sorrow/’ which has altered 
its course, or had its course altered, at least eleven times within the last 
twenty-five centuries, flowing now north, now south of the mountainous 
peninsula of Shantung. The minor plain is that of the middle Yangtse and 

the lower Han, comprising all the 
lake district of the region of the 
great zigzag of the Yangtse be- 
tween I chang and Kiukiang. It is 
cut off from the larger plain by 
the comparatively low hills con- 
taining the water-parting between 
the Yangtse and the Hwai-ho. 
Both in length and breadth it 
measures about 140 miles. 

The mountainous country in 
the west and south is partly com- 
posed of an intricate system of 
mountain chains and spurs, with 
narrow intervening valleys, and 
partly of more undulating country with broader valleys, the latter type 
predominating in the south-east. The highland regions of the north and 
south present another contrast. The valleys of northern China are all to 
a large extent filled with loess. This is an earthy deposit generally of a 
yellow colour, differing from clay in being highly calcareous and from 
marl in being remarkably porous, and that in a peculiar manner. The 
pores are vertical, and are believed to be due to the former presence of 
the stems of plants rich in lime. This characteristic brings about a 
tendency to weather into vertical precipices. Equally characteristic of 
the loess are horizontal terraces, a structure not so easy to explain. The 
loess of China is believed to be due to the gradual accumulation of dust 
blown from the interior tablelands of Asia. In some places this fertile 
soil is cultivated even at the height of 8,000 feet. In southern, or at 
least south-eastern China, on the other hand, the higher slopes are 
generally too steep for cultivation, and, notwithstanding the warmer 
climate, cultivation is in most parts confined to the zone below 2,000 
feet ; but in the upper part of the basin of the Yangtse-kiang, in 
the region where numerous tributaries converge from north and south 
before the great bow-like bend to the north, the presence of a 
rich red soil, filling what is hence known as the Red Basin, has caused 
most of the hill and mountain sides to be terraced for cultivation to 
their tops. 

From an orographical point of view a marked dividing line between 
the mountains of northern and southern China is formed by the easterly 
continuation of the Kwen-lun range. In China Proper this runs for the 
most part nearly due east and west, but finally turns round to the south-east. 



523 


The Chinese .Empire 

In the west these mountains are known as the Tsinling-shan, and in the 
east as the Funiu-shan. Their importance arises chiefly from the fact that 
they form a serious barrier to communication between north and south, 
especially in their middle portion, where they cut off a fertile populous 
plain, the valley of the Wei, on the north, from the whole of southern 
China. In this section there are only two frequented passes separated by 
an interval of about two hundred miles, and crossed merely by difficult 
bridle paths. The eastern pass, whose summit is upwards of 4,000 feet 
/above sea-level, is reached by a route running south-east from Singan, the 
chief town in the valley of the Wei, which is thus brought into connection 
with the plain of the middle Yangtse by way of the valley of its chief 
northern tributary, the Han. It forms the division between the Tsinling- 
shan and the Funiu-shan. The western pass connects the valley of the 
Wei with the Red Basin, but the road across it, after descending into a 
parallel valley (the upper part of the Han), has to cross another difficult 
bridle path before that basin is reached. The passes further west, also 
crossed by mere bridle paths, are less important, as they connect less 
populous regions. 

Configuration of Northern China. — North of the line of 
separation formed by the series of ranges, the mountainous areas of China 
are naturally divided into two great sections, respectively west and east 
of the deep and narrow gorge in which the middle Hwang-ho plunges and 
rushes from north to south till it Turns sharply eastwards on receiving the 
Wei. The western section is a much diversified loess-covered region, 
through which there runs only one important highway leading north-west- 
wards from the Wei valley, and finally running along the northern or north- 
eastern base of the Nanshan range to Mongolia and Eastern Turkestan. 
The last portion of this route is through a narrow neck, where the lofty 
range just mentioned, rising to about 20,000 feet in height, forms the 
boundary between China Proper and Tibet and the Great Wall forms 
that between China and Mongolia. This neck, at all times the great 
avenue from central and western Asia to the north-west of China, is 
known to the Chinese as the Yu-men or Jade Gate, from the fact that 
it is by this route that that much prized mineral has been introduced 
into the country for ages. 

The eastern section of the northern highlands of China is as 
diversified as the western. It is composed, first, of a tract between 
the gorge of the Hwang-ho and the great plain, in which the moun- 
tains have a more or less southerly trend, and are divided into two 
minor sections by the important valley of the Fen-ho, the mouth of 
which communicates with that of the Wei, and, second, of a more 
northerly tract in which the ranges have a north-easterly trend 
gradually becoming more easterly towards the east, where they form a 
series of terraces, shutting off Mongolia on the north from the great 
plain on the south. 

35 


524 The International Geography 

Configuration of Southern China. — The mountainous part of 
China south of the Tsinling-snan and Funiu-shan may be conveniently 
divided first into two regions, respectively north and south of the 
Yangtse. The portion on the west adjoining Tibet and extending as 
far east as the bridle path leading into the Red Basin, is a wild and 
intricate region with a scanty population. East of this bridle path there 
is first a range called the Tapa-shan running eastwards and sending 
off numerous spurs northwards to meet those running south from the 
parallel range of the Tsinling-shan, so that the intervening valley of the 
upper Han is in most parts extremely narrow, and the course of the river 
itself is interrupted by a continuous series of rapids. Southwards from 

this a series of more 
or less parallel ranges 
runs to the Yangtse 
partly through and 
partly to the east 
of the Red Basin, 
forming a great hind- 
rance to communica- 
tion between that 
rich region and the 
eastern plains. 

South of the 
Yangtse there is in 
the w r est an elevated 
region with an ex- 
tremely diversified 
surface, which may 
be called the plateau 
of Yunnan. Almost 
everywhere even the 
valley bottoms, all of 
small extent, are above 5,000, some even above 7,000 feet in elevation, 
and on all sides there is a sharp descent to the surrounding regions. 
To the east the mountains are so arranged as to form fairly well- 
marked isolated river basins belonging in the north, mostly to the 
great basin of the Yangtse (they include the Kwei, the Tungting lake, 
and the Poyang lake), in the south to that of the Si-kiang, and in the 
south-east to minor independent streams. In the south-east the most 
important independent basin is that of the Min. The general name 
of Nan-shan (“ Southern Mountains ”) is given to the highlands separating 
the northern from the southern and south-eastern basins. Just east of the 
Red Basin the spurs of these mountains advance in many places close up 
to the banks of the Yangtse, thus impeding communication eastwards on 
this side also, while a further hindrance is presented by the series of gorges 



The Chinese Empire 525 

obstructed by more or less difficult rapids through which the river flows 
between Chungking and Ichang. 

Geology and Minerals— The geology of China is, as a rule, very 
imperfectly known, especially in the south. The Tsinling-shan and Funiu- 
shan systems are nearly 'as marked a dividing line from the geological as 
from the orographical point of view. They are almost entirely composed of 
ancient granites, gneisses, and other crystalline rocks, along with various 
eruptive rocks. To the north, underneath the loess, the prevailing rocks 
belong to the Carboniferous system, while to the south there extends a 
vast area of Jurassic strata embracing all the Red Basin. At various 
places on both flanks of the dividing ranges, especially in the east, there 
are extensive deposits of what have been designated the Sinic (Chinese) 
formations, which lie at the bottom of all the fossiliferous strata of 
China, and are held to correspond with the Cambrian and Huronian 
deposits of Europe and America. These reappear largely along with 
ancient non-fossiliferous crystalline rocks in other mountainous regions 
of the country. 

China is remarkably rich in minerals, above all in coal. In the 
Carboniferous area of the north the Coal Measures crop out in many 
places, and the largest known coal-field in the world is found among the 
highlands in the south-east of the province of Shansi, where thick seams 
of excellent anthracite extend for a length of about 200 miles, with a 
varying breadth. This region also abounds in fine iron ores, in limestone, 
and in potter’s clays. The only drawback is the difficulty of access. The 
west of Shansi is almost equally rich in bituminous coal, and many detached 
coal-fields are known to exist further west beyond the Hwang-ho. Other 
small, but important coal-fields lie among the mountains both east and 
west of Peking, and in the west of Shantung. In the south of Hunan, on 
the rivers Siang and Lei, the deposits are much more important, for 
although the coal is not generally of very good quality, it is more largely 
worked than anywhere else in China, owing to the ease with which it can 
be conveyed by water to the towns on the Yangtse. At various places on 
or near the Yangtse there are other small coal-fields, and the province of 
Sechwan is very rich in coal of post-Carboniferous age, which is largely 
mined and carried by river to different parts of the Red Basin. Among 
other important minerals may be noticed copper, which is scattered all 
over Yunnan, a province which also contains silver, lead, tin and gold 
— the tin in an isolated high valley, not far from the frontier of Tong- 
king in the south-east, the gold in the south of the province. Salt 
occurs in the south-west of Shansi, near the abrupt angle of the 
Hwang-ho, in the middle of the Red Basin, and in the south-west of 
Yunnan. 

Climate. — The main characteristics of the climate of China depend, 
first, upon its situation on the east side of the greatest land-mass in the tem- 
perate zone of the northern hemisphere, and second, upon its situation within 


526 The International Geography 


the region subject to monsoon winds. The first of these circumstances 
explains the character of its climate as regards temperature. Throughout 
it is a country of extremes, or at least of a high range of temperature, hot 
summers alternating with cold winters, though, of course, the extremes are 
much greater in the north than in the south, where part of the surface lies 
within the torrid zone. The temperature in January averages 55 0 at Canton 
in the south, and only23° at Peking in the north, while in July the average 
for Canton is 82°, and for Peking 79 0 ; the average for the whole year is 
17 0 lower at the northern than at the southern station. Throughout China 

there is that predominance of summer rains 
which is one of the distinguishing features 
of monsoon areas, but the contrast be- 
tween winter and summer rain is much 
more marked in the north and south than 
it is in middle China. This alternation 
of rainy and dry seasons necessarily 
brings about a corresponding alternation 
of high and low water in the rivers, and 
where the physical configuration leads a 
multitude of streams into one channel the 
differences between the summer and winter 
level in the main river are enormous. At 
Ichang, just below the rapids of the 
Yangtse, a difference of nearly 48 feet 
has been observed in the level of 
the river, and the ordinary annual 
difference is not less than 40 feet. The 

Fig. .66 -Temperature and Rain- P eriod of hi § h water lasts fr0m the 
fall Curves for Peking and Hong - beginning of July to the early part of 

kon & October. 

Flora and Fauna.— Among the native vegetable products the first 
place may be assigned to the bamboo, not, of course, as being peculiar to 
this country, but on account of its universal practical importance, espe- 
cially in the south. More peculiarly Chinese are the wax tree, the tallow 
tree, the paper mulberry, the camphor and varnish trees, cassia, and the 
sweet orange, which was introduced from China into Europe only after 



direct trade had been established by the Portuguese. One of the most note- 
worthy circumstances regarding cultivated products is that the coincidence 
of the rains with summer temperatures enables some crops that are in 
most parts of the world confined to tropical and sub-tropical latitudes to 
be grown with success in northern China. Hence cotton is as character- 
istic of this part of the country as wheat and the ordinary European 
cereals, together with beans and other pulses. Opium also is now largely cul- 
tivated in the extreme north. In southern China the characteristic products 
are rice (grown even in the high valleys of Yunnan at 6,000 feet and 


The Chinese Empire 527 

upwards), tea, silk, sugar, and opium. Besides the silk obtained from 
“ worms ” fed on the leaves of mulberries cultivated for the purpose, large 
and rapidly increasing quantities of silk are obtained from wild cater- 
pillars which feed on the leaves of forest trees ; chiefly in the north where 
extensive forests are still found. 

In the greater part of China the larger wild animals have been 
exterminated by the progress of civilisation, but in the wilder moun- 
tainous tracts there are elephants, rhinoceroses, and tapirs, a peculiar 
species of tiger, several kinds of leopards, bears, and badgers, and 
wolves in some parts, e.g., Yunnan, are still numerous, bold and 
destructive. 

The Chinese fisheries both in the sea and inland waters are very pro- 
ductive ; a characteristic mode of fishing is with the aid of cormorants, 
which are prevented from swallowing the large fish that they catch by 
rings or pieces of string round their necks. In the inland waters the 
breeding of fish for food is largely practised. 

People, History and Language. — The people, of Mongolian 
stock, who have spread their language, institutions, 
and ideas, with remarkable success over so large 
and diversified a country, are known to have been 
originally immigrants. They entered the country 
at a very remote period, thousands of years before 
the Christian era, by the north, and almost certainly 
by the avenue known as the Yu-men (p. 523). The 
place of their original seats is still a matter of dis- 
pute, but it is generally admitted that they were in 
western Asia, that the oases of Eastern Turkestan 
formed prolonged halting-places on their progress 
eastwards, and that accordingly they were skilled in 
irrigation work before they entered China. The first areas settled by 
them in which they had room for expansion, and the first seats of empire 
were the freely intercommunicating valleys of the Wei and the Fen 
(Shensi and Shansi). The empire was frequently divided, but whether under 
one or several rulers the Chinese language and institutions gradually 
spread eastwards and southwards. Not till after the building of the Great 
Wall (212 b.c.) did it permanently extend beyond the Yangtse-kiang. In 
later times the extension has been less by conquest than by the gradual 
process of ousting by superior assiduity the non-Chinese races who were 
not assimilated and absorbed. Among the mountains in the south-west and 
south there are still some considerable tracts occupied by unabsorbed and 
unsubdued descendants of older inhabitants, generally known by terms of 
contempt applied by the Chinese as Miautse or M anise. 

The unity of the Chinese language is apparent rather in its written than 
in its spoken form. The writing is not alphabetic but ideographic — that is 
there is a different character for every root idea. Hence the knowledge 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 
♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


Fig. 267 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square 
mile of China Proper. 


/ 


528 The International Geography 


of about ten thousand different signs is required for the complete know- 
ledge of the Chinese language. These signs have the same meaning in all 
parts of the country, and even in Korea and Japan, but the equivalent 
sounds differ greatly in different dialects, just as the Arabic numerals have 
the same meaning though different names in all European languages. 
The confusion of the spoken language is, however, to some extent 
reduced by the fact that the educated classes generally speak an official 
dialect. 

Government. — The government combines a high degree of centrali- 
sation with the universal and long-established practice of popular govern- 
ment as regards local affairs. The central government is imperial, and the 
dignity of Emperor is hereditary in the reigning family, though not by any 
fixed rule of descent. The reigning emperor has the right to nominate his 
successor. The present dynasty, dating from 1644, is of Manchu origin. 
It was by this dynasty that the Manchu custom now universal in China, of 
wearing the hair hanging down behind plaited into a long queue, or “ pig- 
tail,” was introduced. All government officials, known to Europeans as 
Mandarins (a term of Portuguese origin), are appointed in the emperor’s 

name, but must be selected from those who have 
passed the necessary public examinations, which 
are open to all, and are more or less severe ac- 
cording to the rank for which they qualify. All 
Chinese institutions concur in impressing on the 
people respect for authority and the established 
order. None is more influential in this respect 
Fig. 26S.^hmcse imperial than the system of examination, for all of the 

examinations test merely the knowledge of the 
ancient Chinese classics first systematised by Confucius, and give no 
encouragement to the spirit of scientific inquiry. 

What may be called the universal religion of China is a form of ancestor 
worship inculcated in these classics, and no religion incompatible with this 
idea has obtained a wide hold on the Chinese. The Buddhism of India 
and the native Taoism have both proved thus adaptable, and have many 
adherents. But this is not so with Mohammedanism, which is professed by 
some millions in the north-west and south-west, and Christianity, which 
counts a few hundred thousand adherents, chiefly in the west ; hence 
Christians and Moslems are looked upon as foreign elements by the great 
body of the Chinese. 

Industries and Trade. — The prevailing and most esteemed occu- 
pation in China is agriculture. In token of the honour in which this in- 
dustry is held, every year at the vernal equinox, the emperor at the capital, 
and his representatives in other parts of the empire with their own hands 
hold the plough and sow the seeds of the chief cereals. In every way the 
climate encourages farm work. The regular winters maintain the energy 
of the people. The coincidence of warmth and moisture in summer invites 



The Chinese Empire 


529 


and rewards the labour of the husbandman. Nowhere else in the world, 
perhaps, are such scenes of quiet but varied and charming rural industry 
presented as in some of the more favoured valleys of China. Pleasant farm- 
houses roofed with red or blue tiles are scattered about the valley bottom, 
or amidst the carefully cut terraces on the hill slopes. From the river, 
on which there is a ceaseless coming and going of large and small boats, 
water is raised by waterwheels, driven by the labour of men or buffaloes, to a 
canal above, from that to a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, until it reaches 
the tops of the hills, and it is made to impart life and freshness to every 
rood of soil in its descent. Seen from above, these canals seem like bands 
of silver encircling an infinite variety of green. In the most abundantly 
irrigated tracts there is the vivid and tender green of the rice-fields, or 
the darker verdure of the sugar-cane. Elsewhere are tea-plantations, 
fields of cotton decorated with their large yellow blossoms, rows of orange 
trees, clumps of palms yielding fibres and other useful products, oil trees 
and tallow trees, and many a thicket of bamboos with panicles waving in 
the wind at the height of twenty to thirty feet above the ground. 

Chinese manufactures are for the most part domestic, and the few that 
have long been localised and carried on on a large 
scale are mainly those dependent on supplies of 
mineral products such as potter’s clay (including 
china-clay) and iron ore. The principal textiles 
of the country — silk, cotton, and rhea fibre or 
China grass, the last being largely used for summer 
clothing — are mainly worked up by the women at 
home or in small establishments. Quite recently 
European influence has led to the introduction of 
steam machinery ; silk filatures worked by steam have been set up in the 
silk-producing provinces, and cotton mills have been erected round 
Shanghai and elsewhere with such success as to give great promise of 
rapid progress. 

The only important articles of export from China are such as have a 
high value in proportion to their bulk, or such as can be produced in con- 
siderable quantity within no great distance of the seaboard or the great 
waterway of the Yangtse. For thousands of years silk and silk fabrics 
have held the first place of importance. Almost equally long, porcelain, a 
Chinese invention, has been an important export to the west, though now 
that the industry has been introduced elsewhere it takes a subordinate 
place. During the nineteenth century the second (occasionally the first) 
place has belonged to tea, which still holds that rank among the exports, 
though latterly the amount exported has diminished in consequence of the 
severe competition of India and Ceylon. Much of the tea is exported by 
land, large quantities of it being compressed into “ bricks ” or “ tablets.” 
Brick-tea is usually of inferior quality, and is chiefly consumed in Tibet 
and Mongolia ; but tablet-tea is of high quality and finds its chief market 



Fig. 269 . — Chinese Mer- 
chant Service Flag. 


530 The International Geogra phy 

in Russia. Among other noteworthy exports are raw cotton (chiefly sent 
to Japan), beans and bean cake, straw braid, mats and matting, skins, hides 
and furs. The chief imports are cotton yarn and tissues, opium, rice, 
metals, and a variety of manufactured articles, including in recent years 
rapidly increasing quantities of machinery. Foreigners are allowed to 
settle for trade and introduce goods directly only at certain ports, mostly 
fixed by successive treaties since 1842, and hence known as treaty-ports ; 
these are now thirty-four in number. The collection of the customs at 
these ports is entrusted to a foreign board, called the Imperial Maritime 
Customs, the head of which is an Englishman. 

Means of Communication. — The cause of the limitation of the 
exports of China is the remarkable defectiveness of the means of internal 
communication, except where there are convenient waterways. In northern 
China such waterways are the exception, though during the summer several 
rivers, ultimately uniting in the Pei-ho above Tientsin, are available for 
transport. The great northern river, the Hwang-ho, is too rapid and too 
shallow to be a convenient waterway, and is navigated only by small boats 
in sections of its course. An important artificial waterway, the Grand or 
Imperial Canal, runs from Hangchou in the south to Tientsin in the north. 
It was constructed early in the seventh century, chiefly for the conveyance 
of rice from the southern provinces as an imperial tribute, and it still forms 
a fine waterway navigable by boats of at least five feet draught in its 
southern section as far as the old bed of the Hwang-ho. In southern 
China, including all the basin of the Yangtse, the rivers are the principal 
means of communication, but many of them have their courses so impeded 
by rapids that the cost of transport is greatly raised, and navigation is 
rendered so difficult that hardly anywhere out of China would it continue 
to be practised at all. The one great inland waterway is the Yangtse, which 
is without a parallel in the world in respect of the length of navigation it 
offers for ocean steamers through a densely peopled country. Vessels of 
over 1,000 tons burden can reach Hankow, 680 miles, or three days’ steam 
from the sea. Steamers of about 600 tons can ascend to Ichang, just below 
the rapids, while 150-ton boats are the largest that can pass the rapids. 
The ascent of the last stretch, about 400 miles, takes nearly three weeks. 
A further difficulty is created by the fact that the stretch between Hankow 
and Ichang is easiest at high water, while the rapids can scarcely be 
ascended at all during that period. The Han, a great left bank tributary 
of the Yangtse, is comparatively easy of navigation in its lower course, 
where it flows in a southerly or south-easterly direction, but not higher up. 
Of the southern tributaries the best waterway is the Siang-kiang, the chief 
feeder of the Tungting Lake. It is said to offer a course ten feet in depth 
as high as Hengchou, about 140 miles due south of the lake, but above 
that rapids are numerous, as they are also in the Kan-kiang, the corre- 
sponding southerly feeder of the Poyang Lake. The navigation of the 
Si-kiang is much impeded by rapids above Wuchou. 


53i 


The Chinese Empire 

Roads fit for cart traffic are very rare in the south, the principal wheeled 
vehicles being wheelbarrows. In northern China roads for cart traffic are 
more common, except among the mountains, where the few roads of this 
kind run in many places through long defiles so narrow that two carts 
cannot pass. In all parts of China accordingly the chief means of trans- 
port, where boats cannot be used, are pack animals (including camels in 
the north) and human porters. Hence, in spite of the extremely low cost of 
living, and the very small wages of labour, the cost of transport, where 
there is not good water carriage, is high, generally at least two or three 
times as high as in countries provided with railways. 

The introduction of railways was long opposed by the official classes 
and regarded with dislike by the people. The first railway laid in China, 
that from Wusung to Shanghai, opened in 1876, was bought up and 
destroyed by the authorities in the year following. But this opposition has 
at last given way. Railways now run from Taku at the mouth of the Pei-ho 
to the Kaiping collieries, which have for many years been worked under 
European management, and thence through Shanhaikwan to Sinmin-tung 
and Niuchwang, and from Taku to Tientsin and Peking. The railway from 
Wusung to Shanghai has been relaid and was reopened in 1898. Great 
railway schemes have received official sanction. Among these are a line 
from Peking to Hankow, already partly completed, from which there is to 
be a connection by rail with the great anthracite field of Shansi, another 
from Peking southwards to Shanghai and Ningpo, one from Hankow to 
Canton, and one from Kaulun (opposite the island of Hongkong) to the 
same port. Telegraphs have for some years extended to the remotest 
parts of the empire. 

THE PROVINCES OF CHINA PROPER 

Pechili or Chili is the north-eastern province of China. It is naturally 
divided into two parts, that within and that beyond the Great Wall. The 
former portion is made up of the northern part of the great plain, and 
belongs mostly to the basin of the Pei-ho. Its western frontier lies 
beyond the plain, and is marked by 
another great wall running south along 
the mountains. It contains Peking, the 
capital of a kingdom as far back as 1100 
B.c., and of the Chinese Empire as early 
as 1151 a.d , but not without intermission. 

It is entirely rectangular in shape, and is 
composed of two parts, a square to the 
north forming the Manchu city and en- 
closing the imperial quarters, and a more 
extensive oblong quadrangle to the south forming the Chinese city. It 
lies on a somewhat dreary alluvial sandy plain, swept in winter by cold 

dust-laden winds ; but it has the advantage of a good site strategically, as 

36 



532 The International Geography 

it commands the roads leading north-west through the Nankow Pass, too 
narrow for carts, and thence into Mongolia through Kalgan or Changkiakou, 
north-east through the Kupei-kou Gate in the Great Wall to Chengte or 
Jehol which contains the summer-palace of the emperor, and eastwards 
along the base of the mountains to the narrow pass between sea and 
mountains at Shanhaikwan (“ Mountain-sea-gate ”) which forms the entrance 
to Manchuria. Even more populous than Peking is Tientsin(-fu ) 1 on the 
Pei-ho, the port of Peking, a treaty-port, and the northern terminus of the 
Grand Canal. 

Shansi (“ Western Mountains”) is the province to the west of Pechili, 
and, like it, is divided into two portions by the Great Wall, but in this case 
both portions are alike mountainous, and for the most part sparsely 
peopled, the chief natural resources consisting in the mineral wealth 
above described. In the west this province has an unmistakable natural 
boundary in the profound gorge of the Hwang-ho, and the same river 
forms part of the boundary on the south-west. An important feature of 
the province is a line of narrow valleys running from north to south 
through the middle, in the central and largest expansion of which stands 
Taiyuen(-fu), the capital of the province. 

The province of Shensi adjoins Shansi on the west. Its most populous 
area is the valley of the Wei, but though this valley has such a marked 
physical barrier on the south, the province includes also the valley of the 
upper Han beyond that barrier, extending as far as the mountains border- 
ing the Red Basin. In the Wei valley stands the capital of the province, 
Singa?i(-fu ), the site of which makes it of necessity a great centre on 
account of commanding the main through routes from north-west to the 
east and south-east. When the main lines of railway are all made in China 
they must include lines along all the existing routes, the north-western line 
forming the only possible connection between central China and western 
Siberia, so that Singan is bound to be reinvigorated. The inhabitants 
show a business capacity and enterprise answering to the advantages of 
the situation, and own many of the most important industrial establish- 
ments in distant parts of China. 

Kansu is a mountainous province with deep valleys and loess gorges 
reaching in the north-west just to the end of the Great Wall. Its capital, 
Lanchou(-fu), stands on the great north-western road, on the right or south 
bank of the Hwang-ho, close to the point where that river begins its great 
northern bend. It is noted for its tobacco factories, most of which belong 
to the capitalists of Singan. 

Shantung (“ Eastern Mountains ”) includes, beside the mountainous 
peninsula to which it owes its name, a belt of populous plain swathing the 
mountains round on the west. The capital is Tsinan(-fu) at the north- 
western margin of the hill country, a short distance from the Hwang-ho. 

1 The termination in parenthesis (-fu, -hien) merely indicates the status of the town, 
and is often omitted. 


533 


The Chinese Empire 

The mountainous part has a much indented coast-line. On one of the 
northern bays is the small treaty-port of Chifu(-hien ), another further east 
now forms the British naval station of Weihaiwei (acquired in 1898). On 
the south the chief inlet, Kiau-chou Bay, was leased to Germany in 1897. 

Honan in the east occupies all of the great plain south of Pechili, and 
in the west it consists of mainly mountainous country. It is traversed in 
the north by the Hwang-ho, and south of that river by the numerous head- 
streams of the Hwai and its tributaries. The capital is Kaifeng(-fu) in the 
plain, on the great road from Peking to Hankow, about eight miles south of 
the Hwang-ho. In the west Honan(-fu) stands in a fertile valley amidst 
the mountains just south of the Hwang-ho. 

Kiangsu includes all the low flat seaboard studded with large and 
small lakes extending from the north-eastern shore of Hangchou Bay to 
Shantung. It is thus divided into two parts by the wide estuary of the 
Yangtse, the smaller southern portion, which includes the last spurs of the 
Nan-shan, being by much the richer and more populous. In this portion 
is the busiest of all the treaty-ports, Shanghai(-hien), the great entrepot for 
all northern China. It is, in fact, the outlet of the whole Yangtse valley, 
though not situated on the river itself, whose low and silted shores afford 
no site for a great port, but twelve miles up the Wusung river, the one 
drawback to which is a bar at the mouth with a depth at high water of 
ordinary spring tides of only 23^ feet and 20 feet at neap tides. Here 
is the chief Chinese arsenal. In the same part are the great silk-manufac- 
turing towns of Suchou (-/w) on the Grand Canal, and Nanking(-fu), the latter 
on the Yangtse, at the west end of a chain of hills stretching from the 
Grand Canal, the capital of the province, and for about a century before 1421 
the capital of the empire. It was once a magnificent city celebrated for 
its porcelain tower, which was destroyed by the Taiping rebels who held 
the town from 1853 to 1864. It contains another Chinese arsenal. 

Nganhwei is the province to the west on both banks of the Yangtse, 
traversed in the north also by the navigable portion of the Hwai. Its 
capital is Nganking(-fu ), on the left bank of the Yangtse, 100 miles directly 
south-west of Nanking ; its treaty-port is Wuhu(-hien), on the right bank of 
the river, about forty miles from the same city. 

Kiangsi, south-west of the previous province, is almost identical with 
the drainage area of the Poyang Lake. It is a great tea-producing district. 
Its capital is N anchang(-fu) on the Kan-kiang, not far from the south shore 
of the lake at its summer level. North-east of the lake is Kingtechen{-hien), 
the principal place of manufacture of earthenware in China, and the seat 
of the imperial porcelain factory. Its treaty-port is Kiukiang(-fu) on the 
Yangtse. 

Hunan is a similar province to the west, corresponding closely with 
the drainage area of the Tungting Lake. Its capital is Changsha(-fu) on the 
Siang, thirty miles south of the lake. Siangtan, on the same river, is reported 
to be one of the largest cities in China, and is a great centre of the drug 


534 The International Geography 

trade. Yochon(-fu) at the outlet of the Tungting Lake, not far from the 
Yangtse, is a treaty-port opened in 1898. 

Hupe, to the north of both the last mentioned provinces, comprises 
the whole of the plain of the middle Yangtse, except what belongs to the 
basin of the Tungting Lake, along with a mountainous region to the west. 
The capital is Wuchang(-fu), a treaty port at the north end of a range of 
hills on the right bank of the Yangtse near the north end of one of the 
chief bends of that river, directly opposite the confluence of the Han. It 
is one of three towns enjoying the advantages of the same commercial 
situation, the other two being Hanyang(-fu), at the mouth of the Han on 
the right bank, and the treaty-port Hankow(-hien) opposite the latter on the 
left bank, all of which are at the meeting-place of great waterways from 
the south-east (up the Yangtse), south-west (down the Yangtse), west, and 
north-west. This situation gives these towns, whose aggregate population 
is not less than 1,200,000 (according to some estimates more than twice as 
much), commercial importance not only for the adjacent country but also 
for more distant provinces, and they have the greatest river traffic of any 
place in China, probably in the world. Sliasi or Sliashi(-hien) } a treaty- 
port on the Yangtse, higher up, at the west end of a waterway connecting 
that river with the Han, is the chief market for cottons in central China, 
and Ichang(-fu) is a treaty port at the lower end of the Yangtse gorges. 

Sechwan extends westward from Hupe to the frontier of China, and 
includes nearly all the Red Basin, together with a mountainous region to 
the west extending beyond the Yangtse (here called the Kinsha-kiang or 
River of Golden Sand), the borders being sparsely peopled and inhabited by 
a non-Chinese (Tibetan) population. Its capital is Chengtu(-fu) situated 
near the margin of the Red Basin in a rich alluvial plain about 2,400 square 
miles in extent, irrigated in every part by works constructed about 200 
B.c., and ever since carefully maintained. The chief river port of the 
province is Chungking[-fu) now a treaty-port, situated at the confluence of 
the Kialing-kiang or Siao-ho (Little River) with the Yangtse, the one out- 
let eastwards of the trade of the province. It was reached by a British 
steamer, the first to ascend the rapids of the Yangtse, in March, 1898. To 
the south-west of the alluvial plain of Chengtu(-fu) is Yachou(-fu) a great 
centre of the trade in brick-tea with Tibet and central Asia, but most of 
the factories belong to capitalists of Singan. The province of Sechwan 
includes the chief towmsof the elevated, and in its first stages very difficult, 
trade route leading westwards to Lhasa. 

Kweichou is the mountainous province to the south-east of Sechwan, 
containing headstreams of rivers draining to the Yangtse and to the Si- 
kiang. Its capital is Kweiyang(-fu) on a small central plain. 

Yunnan comprises nearly all the rugged elevated region, rich only in 
minerals, in the south-west of China, together with marginal portions of 
the surrounding valleys. Its two chief towns lie on the shores of its two 
chief lakes ; its capital Yunnan(-fu), at the north end of a lake near the 


The Chinese Empire 535 

middle, centralises the trade of the province with Tongking ; the second 
town, Tali(-fu), is important for the trade with Burma, and stands on the 
west side of the lake called Erh-hai, in the west of the province. In the 
south is Sumao, the centre of trade in Puerh tea, which enjoys the highest 
reputation throughout China. 

East of Yunnan are two provinces comprising most of the basin of 
the Si-kiang, Kwangsi and Kwangtung (“ the western ” and “ the 
eastern Kwang”). Kwangsi is mainly a rugged, poor and sparsely peopled 
province, whereas Kwangtung has always been one of the richest parts of 
the empire, containing as it does the largest and most densely peopled 
tropical delta east of the Ganges. It is this delta which has always given 
importance to Canton, the great southern seaport of China, for the sake of 
the trade with which the Portuguese sought and obtained possession of 
Macao in 1586 and the British of Hongkong in 1842. Canton , in Chinese 
Kwangchou(-fu), Canton being a Portuguese corruption, is a town most 
happily situated at the west end of a series of hills, where the Canton 
or Pearl river affords a channel to the south for ocean vessels, the Si-kiang 
forms a waterway to the west for steamers drawing seven or eight feet as 
high as the treaty-port of Wuchou(-fu) in the adjoining province, the 
Tung-kiang, or East River, forms a navigable channel to the east, and the 
Pei-ho, or North River, leads to the northern confines of the province, and 
there by a fortunate arrangement of the physical features forks into two 
waterways, one leading north-west so as to communicate by a low water- 
parting and short portage with the main waterway of Hunan, the other 
north-east so as to communicate similarly with that of Kiangsi. About 
300,000 of the inhabitants of Canton live in boats moored in the 
river. 

Fokien, or Fukien, is a rich tea-growing maritime province with a much 
indented coast line to the north-east of Kwantung, having as its capital the 
ancient city of Fuchou(-fu), a treaty-port at the mouth of the Min. There 
is another treaty-port, Amoy, in the south-east, and a third, Funing(-fu), 
opened in 1898, in the north-east. 

Chekiang is a similar province further to the north-east, extending to 
Hangchou Bay, of which it embraces both sides at the northern end. Its 
northern part is drained by the Tsientang-kiang, remarkable for the 
violence of its tidal bore. It has three treaty-ports, H angchou{-fu), the 
capital of the province, at the head of the bay, Ningpo(-fu) on a creek 
on the south side of the bay, and Wenchou(-fu) in the south-east of the 
province. 

Statistics of China. — The censuses that have been taken of China 
are too untrustworthy, and the estimates of population too uncertain for 
any comparison of estimates at different dates to serve any useful purpose. 
The utmost that can be said is that it is not improbable that the total 
population of China Proper may amount to as much as 350 million or even 
more. Neither can statistical returns of the value of the external commerce 


536 The International Geography 

be drawn up so as to allow of a comparison of different periods, for the 
returns collected by the Imperial Maritime Customs now always include 
those for native junks, but these are not obtainable before 1887. 

STATISTICS OF CHINA PROPER. 


{Approximate for 1891-95.) 


Area in square miles . . 

• • • • * • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

.. 1,300,000 

Population 

• • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

. . 350,000,000 

Density of population per square mile 




PROBABLE POPULATIONS OF SOME IMPORTANT TOWNS. 

Canton 

. . 1,600,000 

Peking 

. 500,000 

Kaifeng 

. . 200,000 

Hankow 

. . 1,500,000 

Shasi 

. 500,000 

Tsinan 

. . 200,000 

Tientsin 

. . 1,000,000 

Suchou 

. 500,000 

Wuchou 

. . 200,000 

Siangtan 

. . 1,000,000 

Wuchang 

450,000 

Chinkiang 

. . 140,000 

Chengtu 

. . 800,000 

Shanghai 

350,000 

Nanking 

. . 130,000 

Singan 

. . 700,000 

Changsha 

. 300,000 

Chifu 

. . 1 20,000 

Fuchou 

. . 650,000 

Chungking 

. 250,000 

Amoy 

. . 100,000 

Hangchou 

. . 500,000 

Ningpo 

. 250,000 

Wenchou 

. . 80,000 

Lanchou 

. . 500,000 

Taiyuen 

. 250,000 




ANNUAL TRADE {in 

dollars, for 1891-95). 


Imports . . 






Exports . . 

• • • • 

• • • • • • 

• • • • 

• • • • 

. . 149,000,000 


II.— EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS IN CHINA 

Hongkong . 1 — Hongkong (Hang-kiang, “ fragrant streams") is one 
of the small islands off the Chinese coast, east of the mouth of the 
Canton River, nearly in the position of 22 0 N. and 114 0 E., and only 
separated from the mainland by a channel half a mile wide. The island 

was acquired as a British 
colony in 1841, and in 
1861 the southern portion 
of the Kaulun (Kowloon) 
Peninsula, on the opposite 
mainland, was added. In 
1898, the whole of the 
large peninsula forming 
the southern part of 
Kwangtung province 
was leased from China 
so as to secure the de- 
fences. 

Surface and Re- 
sources of Hong- 
kong. — The northern 
coast with the opposite 
mainland encloses one of the finest harbours in the world, covering 
an area of about 10 square miles, and on this the prosperity of the 
colony entirely depends. The island is composed of igneous rocks, granite 
and basalts. It is traversed east and west by hill ridges, intersected by 

By the Editor, assisted by E. J Hastings. 



z 


Hongkong 


537 


depressions or “gaps,” and rising in Victoria Peak, the highest point, to 
1,825 feet. The only product of importance is granite, which is extensively 
quarried. Forests which formerly covered the island have been completely 
destroyed, but a system of reafforesting is being successfully carried out. 
The climate is hot, but subject to great variations, the mean monthly 
temperature ranging between 40° and 90 0 F. During the winter months, 
November to March, the air is pleasant and bracing. The average rainfall 
is about 90 inches. Hongkong has outlived its old, evil reputation as an 
exceedingly unhealthy place. 

People and Government of Hongkong. — The native population 
consists chiefly of Chinese, about one-third of whom are British subjects 
by birth. Natives of India form a small proportion. Besides the members 
of the British naval and military establishments, there are representatives 
of various nationalities, as Hongkong is the greatest traffic centre on 
the Chinese coast. The government is that of a Crown Colony, the 
Governor being assisted by a nominated Legislative Council. The city 
of Kaulun in the leased territory is exempt from direct 
British jurisdiction. Hongkong is a very important 
strategic point, commanding the approach to Canton, 

90 miles distant. It is strongly fortified, and is the 
headquarters of the British naval squadron in Chinese 
waters. It is also a great commercial emporium, an 
absolutely free port without any Custom House, and 
is the principal distributing centre for European pro- Fig. 272. — Badge 
ducts in the Far East. The United Kingdom has the Hongkong. 
largest share in the trade, which is really part of the 
trade of China. The chief imports from Europe are cotton goods, and the 
chief exports tea, silk, and hemp from China. 

Victoria, the capital, stretches along the north shore of the island for 
about four miles, and rises in terraces up the sides of Victoria Peak, some 
of the garden-enclosed residences being as high as 600 feet. The town 
contains several fine public buildings. The Praya, or main street, runs 
along the shore, and for about two miles of its central part is protected 
by the Praya sea-wall, specially constructed to withstand the force of the 
typhoons which sometimes sweep along the coast, and provided with 
wharfage for the ocean liners and other vessels calling at the port. Six 
docks and large workshops afford every requirement for the repair of 
large naval and mercantile ships. The movement of the port, excluding 
native junks, is over 14,000,000 tons of shipping entered and cleared 
annually, a figure only equalled by two or three seaports in the world. 



STATISTICS. 


Area of Hongkong (square miles) . . 
Population of Hongkong . . 

Density of population per square mile 
Area of leased territory in Kwangtung 
Population of leased territory 


1881. 

30 

160,402 

5346 


1891. 

30 

221,441 

7,38i 


1901. 

30 

283.975 

9,466 

376 

100.000 


• • 


538 The International Geography 

Macao . 1 — Macao, the only Portuguese possession in China, practically 
consists of the city of that name, on an island at the mouth of the Canton 
river. It may be called a commercial colony of average prosperity. The 
islands of Taipa and Coloane, important fishing centres, are under the 
same administration. Macao is a healthy town with fine streets and build- 
ings. The mean temperature is 73 0 F. It has belonged to Portugal since 
1586, and is by far the oldest of the European possessions in China. The 
population of the town, which is a centre of the opium trade, is 78,000. 

Kiau-chou . 2 — Kiau-chou, in lat. 36° S., 120° E. long., is a large bay of 
180 square miles area on the southern coast of the peninsula of Shantung. 
It takes its name from the “ Glue city,” 22 miles north of it. The Kiau river 
coming from the mountains in the eastern portion of Shantung brings down 
much sand, which causes the bay to silt up. The entrance of the bay, be- 
tween two narrow spits of land, is about two miles wide and 20 fathoms deep. 
The landspits, together with the islands in the bay, are leased by Germany 
from China, while the German sphere of interest extends all round the bay 
for a distance of 31 miles (50 kilometres). The climate is excellent, and 

quite that of the temperate zone ; ice occurs in 
winter, but as it hardly ever covers the bay it does 
not form such an impediment to navigation as the 
fogs which are frequent on the coast further south, 
from which Kiau-chou is*perfectly free. The greatest 
rainfall occurs in July and August. The inhabitants 
are agriculturists who have carried a system of 

^ irrigation to great perfection. The tidiness of their 

Fig. 273.— Kiau-chou Bay. , • 1 /■ 1 • 

settlements is a mark of their prosperity. Kiau- 

chou is expected to prove valuable as an outlet for the great mineral 

wealth of Shantung, and the railway intended to run round the base of 

the western mountains of Shantung is now completed from Tsingtau to 

beyond Wei(-hien). 

III.— REMOTE PROVINCES OE THE CHINESE EMPIRE 

Manchuria. — Manchuria lies to the north-east of China Proper, and 
is made up of three provinces, Shengking in the south, Kirin in the middle, 
and Helungkiang in the north. Shengking consists of the broad valley 
of the lower Liau stretching upwards of 200 miles north-eastwards between 
bare mountains in the west and forest-clad mountains with fertile alluvial 
valleys in the east. The southern portion of the main valley is a dreary saline 
tract, but there is more fertile country further north. Mukden , situated at 
the base of the hills, on a tributary of the Liau-ho, is the capital of the pro- 
vince and country. At the mouth of the Liau is the so-called treaty-port 
of Niuchwang ( N ewchwang ), the town of Niuchwang being situated some- 
what inland. The extremity of the mountainous peninsula of Liautung 
1 By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos. 2 By Graf von Pfeil. 



539 


The Chinese Empire 

(“ East of the Liau ”), called Kwantung, was leased to Russia ; here are the 
naval station and arsenal of Port Arthur , together with Talienwan and the 
free-port Dalni } all three being termini of the trans-Manchurian railway (see 
Fig. 222), and now in the occupation of Japan. 

The northern provinces lying to the east of the Khingan mountains are 
composed of the rich valleys of the Sungari, Nonni (a left bank tributary 
of the Sungari) and Usuri, all navigable streams. The chief towns are Kirin 
(or more properly Girin 1 ) at the head of navigation on the Sungari, and 
Tsitsihar at that of the Nonni. The population of Manchuria is variously 
estimated at from 15 to 23 millions, the great bulk being in the southern 
province. For many years there has been a steady stream of immigration 
from China Proper, and Chinese now form the great mass of the popu- 
lation of the provinces. In recent years the flow of immigrants into the 
northern provinces has been peculiarly rapid. Russian influence is now 
paramount, and is being made permanent by the railways (p. 419). 

Mongolia. — Mongolia is the vast region surrounding the desert of 
Gobi or Shamo, the latter term being Chinese, and signifying Sea of Sand, 
though the region is for the most part sufficiently moistened by summer 
rains to produce a fair amount of pasture and fodder-shrubs for sheep, horses 
and camels. The altitude of the Gobi is from 3,000 to 3,300 feet. The 
fixed settlements of Mongolia are chiefly in the north, where it is traversed 
by extensive spurs from the Altai, Tian Shan, Sayan, and Yablonovyi 
mountains. The chief trade routes are from Kalgan in Pechili and Kwei- 
hwacheng in northern Shansi, northwards by Urga to Maimachin on the 
right bank of the Amur opposite Kyakhta, and north-westwards by Uliasutai 
and Kobdo to western Siberia. The inhabitants, from whom the region 
takes its name, are mainly Buddhists in religion, and are now a peaceable 
race engaged chiefly in the rearing of sheep, camels, horses and other 
animals, and having none of the qualities which rendered their ancestors so 
formidable throughout Asia and Europe in the thirteenth century under 
Jenghiz Khan and his successors. 

Eastern Turkestan. — Sinkiang, or Sintsiang, is the name now given 
to the province comprising all the rest of Chinese Central Asia north of 
Tibet. It is naturally divided into two sections by the Tian Shan range, 
Kashgaria, by much the larger, to the south, and Dzungaria to the north. 
In Kashgaria the population is for the most part settled in irrigated oases 
on the banks of rivers at the base of the Kwen-lun and Altyn Tagh, the 
Pamirs and the Tian Shan ; but in the east there is another series of oases 
between 94 0 and 96° E. due to the existence of wells stretching from 
Ngansichou, or Ansifan, in the south to Hami in the north. This chain of 
watering places forms the shortest route across the dreary waste of sand, 
and is the direct continuation of the great north-western highroad of China. 
Westward the route is continued either south of the Tian Shan by the oases 


1 Manchurian, Girin ; Chinese, Kilin ; Kirin is neither. 


540 The International Geography 

of Turfan, Karashahr, and Kuchar to Kashgar (the Tien-shan-nan-lu orTian 
Shan south road), or north of the Tian-shan by Barkul and Urumtsi (or 
Urumchi) to Kulja in the fertile valley of the Ili. There is now no regular 
trade route south of the desert in Kashgaria, but among the important 
oases here are Yarkand, Khotan, Keria and Cherchen in the order given 
from west to east. 

The greater part of Kashgaria may be described as belonging to the 
basin of the Tarim, though many of the streams which give life to the 
oases dry up before reaching the main river. The Tarim flows along the 
north of the desert, and then curving south finally makes an abrupt turn to 
the east and terminates in the lake known as Lob (or Lop) Nor, at an 
altitude of about 2,200 feet. Although without outlet this lake contains 
fresh water, a circumstance which can only be explained, as Dr. Sven 
Hedin points out, by the fact of its very recent formation, the lake beds 
being frequently filled up by desert-sand, and forming afresh in a new 
place. In its neighbourhood the wild horse and wild camel were found by 
the great Russian explorer Przhevalski, but it is questionable whether 
these may not be descended from domestic animals escaped long ago from 
servitude. The wild ass which roams in great herds on the bordering 
mountains to the south is undoubtedly native ; it is a fleet and graceful 
creature, larger than the common donkey. The interior of the Tarim basin 
is a continuous succession of sand dunes slowly moving westwards. In 
their progress they have in the course of ages overwhelmed ancient cities, 
the ruins of which yield interesting relics of a long-forgotten civilisation. 
Two of these cities were recently found by Dr. Sven Hedin between the 
rivers Khotan and Keria ; and the latter stream was found to reach at high 
water much further north than is represented on maps. 

Kashgar, on the Kashgar river, one of the two chief headstreams of the 
Tarim, is the administrative capital and the chief centre of trade with 
Russian Turkestan (across the Terek-davan and Terekti passes). Yarkand , 
on the Yarkand-daria or Zerafshan, the second of the two chief headstreams 
of the Tarim, is the chief centre of trade with Kashmir (across the Karakoram 
Pass), and is the rival of Kashgar in wealth and population. In the gorge 
of the Pamirs through which the upper waters of this river flow is the 
place from which all the jade (nephrite) introduced into China was formerly 
obtained. Khotan is another populous oasis, and in the sixth and seventh 
centuries was the seat of a powerful kingdom. The total population of 
Sinkiang, consisting mainly of Mohammedans of Turki race and speech, is 
about 1,000,000 or 1,500,000. Both in Mongolia and Sinkiang the govern- 
ment is mainly carried on through native rulers (Ambans) under the 
control of Chinese mandarins, and the principal centres are garrisoned by 
Chinese troops to guard against the revival of a native kingdom like that of 
Yakub-beg, who ruled Turkestan from 1869 to 1876. 

Tibet. — The great plateau of Tibet, the most elevated region in the 
world, stretches through about 12 0 of latitude (28° to 40°) between the 


54i 


The Chinese Empire 

Himalayas and the Kwen-lun, Altyn Tagh, and Nan-shan, and through 24 0 
of longitude (79 0 to 103° E.). It consists of extensive mountain-traversed high 
plains with an elevation of 14,000 to 17,000 feet in the west, and from 9,000 
to 14,000 feet in the north-east ; while in the east and south-east the 
intricate system of ranges and gorges containing the headstreams of the 
Me Kong, the Yangtse, and the Hwang-ho form the border towards China. 
Numerous large lakes are scattered over the surface. Among them are 
Kuku-nor in the extreme north-east, Charing and Oring-nor on the head- 
stream of the Hwang-ho, Tengri-nor to the north and Palti or Yamdok-tso 
to the south of Lhasa, and the two Manasarowar lakes in the extreme 
south-west, the western of which is the source of the Indus. The climate 
is necessarily bleak and inclement on account of the great altitude. 
Frightful snow-storms occur in winter, and agriculture of any kind is only 
possible in the most sheltered valleys. The great bulk of the inhabitants 
live in the valley of the Tsanpo or Brahmaputra on the south, and in the 
valleys immediately adjoining, where barley, wheat and peas are grown, 
although pastoral pursuits are the chief occupation of the country. The 
yak (a peculiar kind of ox), the sheep, and the goat all occur both wild and 
domesticated, and all three, besides horses and mules, are made use of as 
beasts of burden. The people are of Mongolic stock, speak a peculiar 
language, are Buddhists (Lamaists) in religion, and are extremely exclusive. 
The idea of “ making merit ” by repeating prayers, or offering them 
mechanically by prayer-wheels turned in the hand or actuated by wind or 
water-power, possesses the Tibetan mind to the exclusion of all enterprise 
or independent thought. 

Even the Chinese control appears to be slight. The governing classes 
live in monasteries, which are said to contain a third of the population, 
and thus form a terrible burden on the rest of the inhabitants. Though 
there are Chinese resident officials, the government appears to be 
practically exercised wholly in the name of the Dalai-Lama, who resides at 
Lhasa, in one of the northern valleys tributary to the Brahmaputra, and 
that of the Teshu-Lama who lives further west just south of the Brahma- 
putra. Lhasa , which is considered the capital of the whole country, had 
been entered by only three Europeans, — Mr. Manning in 1811-12, and MM. 
Hue and Gabet in 1845-46, — until it was temporarily occupied by a British 
force coming from India in 1904. It is a holy city, and a great centre 
of Buddhist pilgrims. A large trade with India might probably be main- 
tained across the Himalayan passes by exporting wool, borax, perhaps 
gold and other mineral products, in exchange for tea and manufactured 
goods, but this trade is greatly restricted by customs duties and other 
obstacles, in consequence of which brick-tea of wretched quality is 
imported by a most difficult route from China. Not till 1894 were 
British subjects allowed to reside in any part of Thibet, but in that 
year residence was allowed at Yatong or Yatung, near the frontier of 
Sikkim. 


542 The Internationai Geography 


TABLE OF PROVINCES OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE. 


Area in 

Pechili (within the wall) 
Pechili (without the wall) 
Shansi (within the wall) 
Shansi (without the wall) 
Shensi . . 

Kansu 
Shantung 
Honan 
Kiang-su 
Nganhwei 
Hupe .. 

Kiangsi 
Hunan 
Chekiang 
Fokien 


square miles. 
57,916 
57,916 
66,410 
15-444 
75,29i 

125.483 
55,985 
67,955 
38,610 
54.826 
7i,430 
69,499 

83.398 
36,681 
46.332 


Area in square miles. 


Kwangtung . . . . 86,873 

Hainan 13,166 

Kwangsi 77,220 

Kweichou 67,182 

Yunnan 146,719 

Sechwan 154,440 

Total (China Proper, round 

numbers) . . . . 1,533,000 

Manchuria 364.000 

Mongolia 1,093,000 

Sinkiang 550,000 

Tibet 738,000 


Grand Total, Chinese Empire 

(round numbers) . . 4,278,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Abbe E. R. Hue. “ Recollections of a Journey through Tartary, Thibet, and China 
during 1844-46” (from the French). London, 1852. 

P. Landon. “ Lhasa.” 2 vols. London, 1905. 

Rev. Justus Doolittle. “ Social Life of the Chinese.” 2 vols. London, 1866. 

R. Shaw. “Visits to High Tartary, Yarkand and Kashgar.” London, 1871. 

Baron Ferd. von Richthofen. “ China ” (German). 3 vols. 4to. Berlin, 1877, &c. 

R. K. Douglas. “ China.” London, 1882. 

S. Wells Williams. “The Middle Kingdom.” Revised edition. 2 vols. London, 1883. 
Rev. James Gilmour. “ Among the Mongols.” London, 1884. 

E. C. Baber. “Travels and Researches in Western China.” London, 1886. 

Emile Rocher. “ La Province Chinoise du Yiin-nan.” 2 vols. Paris, 1879-80. 

W. W. Rockhill. “ The Land of the Lamas.” London, 1891. 

Bela Szechenyi. “ Die Wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse der Reise des Grafen B.S., in 
Ostasien. 1877-80.” Vienna, 1893. 

A. Hosie. “ Thnee Years in Western China.” 2nd edit. London, 1897. 

A. J. Little. “ Through the Yangtse Gorges.” Revised edit. London, 1898. 

Sven Hedin. “Through Asia.” 2 vols. London, 1898. 

A. H. Smith. “ Chinese Characteristics.” New York and London, 1894 

“Village Life in China.” New York and London, 1899. 

E. and O. Reclus. “ L’Empire du Milieu." Paris, 1902. 

K. Futterer. “Durch Asien.” Berlin, 1901. 

E. Tiessen. “ China ” (in Kirchhoff’s series). Berlin, 1902. 


KOREA 

By Mrs. Bishop, F.R.G.S. 

Name. — Korea, or Korai, is known locally as Ch'ao-sien ( Fresh morn- 
ing), but the name was changed officially in 1897 to Dai Han ( Great Han). 

Position and Extent. — Korea is a definite peninsula of north- 
eastern Asia, lying between 34 0 and 43 0 N., and between 124 0 and 
13 1° E. Its coast-line is roughly estimated at 1,740 miles, its length 
at 600, and its extreme breadth at 135. Its eastern coast is steep and 
rocky, with deep water, few but excellent harbours, never ice-locked, and 
an insignificant tidal rise and fall. The western shores are mostly shelving 
and oft-times low, cut up by muddy estuaries, and fringing off into a 
remarkable archipelago with dangerous tideways, and the tidal rise and 
fall is from 20 to 38 feet. There is no lighthouse system. Many of the 
adjacent islands are fertile and inhabited, and Quelpart, on which is the 
volcanic cone of Hal-la-san (6,000 feet), has a large population, and breeds 
ponies to a considerable extent. The Tumen and Yalu rivers form the 
natural boundaries between Korea and Russia and Manchuria. 


Korea 


543 


Surface. — The general aspect of Korea is hilly. In the north there are 
several mountain groups with definite centres, Paik-u-san (8,000 feet), in 
which both the boundary rivers rise, being the most important. A range 
running southwards from this centre divides Korea into two unequal 
sections, the eastern being a narrow and fertile strip between the moun- 
tains and the Sea of Japan, while the western consists of innumerable 
rich and well watered valleys and slopes, lying among the lateral spurs 
which the range throws off. The Korean mountains present striking 
examples of denudation. The great axial range, forest-covered in the 
north and for 40 miles of its passage through the Kang-won province, 
is usually bare like the coasts, or is covered with oak and chestnut 
scrub. Towards the southern coast it falls away into rocky hills and 
frequently into infertile plains. The lakes are few and insignificant, and 
the plains are of very limited extent. Mesozoic rocks occur, but granite 
and metamorphic rocks predominate. North-east of Seoul are very 
extensive lava beds, and lava and volcanic rock occur frequently in the 
north. The Han and Tai-dong flow frequently through limestone 
formation. The rivers are numerous, shallow, and impetuous, and navi- 
gable only for a short distance from the sea. The exceptions are the 
Yalu, Nak-tong, Mok-po, Tai-dong, and Han, which last, rising thirty 
miles from the Sea of Japan, after cutting Korea nearly in half reaches 
the sea on the west coast near Chemulpo, the port of Seoul and the 
terminus of the Seoul railroad, and in spite of many and severe rapids 
is an important highway of trade for about 160 miles. 

Resources and Climate. — The soil is rich, eminently fitted for 
successful agriculture, and yields from two to four crops annually. The 
rainfall is ample and reliable, and irrigation is only necessary for the rice 
crop. All cereals and root crops, as well as tobacco, cotton and hemp, 
flourish. The mineral wealth consists in rich but undeveloped iron and coal 
mines, silver, galena, copper, and gold, which though exported in consider- 
able quantities is obtained only by a rude form of washing. For more than 
nine months of the year the climate is superb. The rainy season is hot 
and damp, but the heat is tempered by the sea breezes, and Europeans 
and their children are exempt from diseases of locality. The average 
rainfall at the capital is about 36 inches. The summers are hotter and 
the winters colder than those of central Japan. 

People and History. — The Koreans are undoubtedly of the Tun- 
gusic stock. Their features are decidedly Mongolian. Their language 
differs widely from Chinese and Japanese. It is polysyllabic and possesses 
an alphabet. The Koreans are physically a fine people, and mentally are 
liberally endowed. The earliest notice of the country is in a book, “ Roads 
and Bridges/’ by an Arab geographer, Khordadbeh, in the ninth century a.d. 
Oral tradition, fairly worthy of credit, asserts that Korea was inhabited by 
the same race as at present when the Chinese General Kit-ze, after con- 
siderable conquests, introduced Chinese civilisation in the twelfth century 


544 The International Geography 

B. C. After many subsequent vicissitudes, the kingdoms of which Korea 
is composed were united under one monarch, and became tributary to 
China until the war of 1894; after the Russo-Japanese war in 1905 Korea 
came under the protection of Japan. The government is a hereditary 
and absolute monarchy of a strictly Oriental type, the Imperial Edicts 
constituting law. There is a standing army of 6,000 men, clothed, drilled, 
and armed in European fashion. The chief sources of revenue are the 
land tax and Customs duties. Korea is solvent. The Empire contains 14 
provinces and 340 prefectural districts. Goods are carried by land on the 
backs of men, ponies and bulls. The roads are everywhere bad. A rail* 
road from Chemulpo to Seoul is being extended to Songdo and to Suwon. 

Korea has regular communication with Japan,. 
Russia, and China, chiefly by Japanese steamers.. 

Industries, Trade, Religion, Education. 
— Apart from agriculture, which claims three* 
fourths of the population, the chief industries are 
the manufacture of cotton and grass cloth, thin 
silks, horse-hair gauze, salt, and iron and brass 
Fig. 274 .—The Korean blag. u t ens ii s? a n f or native use. Rice, beans, hides, and 

ginseng are exported. Cotton piece goods and cotton yarn are the chief 
imports. Buddhism, introduced from China at an early period, has been 
discredited for three centuries. The officials observe the Confucian rites. 
The real cult of the people is Daemonism. Christianity is making rapid pro* 
gress. Education, though with some recent modifications, is on the Chinese 
system, and consists in acquiring the Chinese ideographs and classics. 
The pure Korean language and script are used almost solely by the lower 
classes. The arts are nil. Korea has an efficient postal and telegraph 
system. The country was closed to Europeans until 1882 ; but there are now 
ten open ports and a resident foreign population of about 22,000, over 
16,000 being Japanese. Korean history since the war with China of 1894 has 
been made up of reforms and retrograde movements. Trade has increased 
rapidly. The east and south coast fisheries are prolific, but are worked 
chiefly by Japanese. The fauna of Korea is headed by tigers and leopards. 
The country is rich in native and migratory birds. The economic plants are 
few, ginseng being the most important. Seoul , the capital, is the centre of 
government and of all public interests. It is nearly without antiquities. 

STATISTICS [Estimates). 

Estimated area of Korea (square miles) 

Population of Korea by first census, 1897 

Christian population in 1898 

Population of Seoul, 1897 

Total Exports from Korean open ports (1896-1900) 

Total Foreign Imports at Korean open ports (1896-1900) 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

Mrs. Bishop. “ Korea and Her Neighbours ” 2 vols. London, 1897. 

W. E. Griffis. “ Corea, the Hermit Nation.” New York and London, 1882. 


82.000 
17,000,000 

39.000 
219,815 

£700,000 

£1,000,000 



CHAPTER XXIX.— JAPAN 


By W. B. Mason, 

Tokyo. 

Position and Extent. — The Japanese call their country Nihon (in 
another form, Nippon) or Dai Nippon, which means “ Great Japan,” the 
Land of the Rising Sun. The chief islands which constitute Japan proper 
are Honshu, the central and largest (often erroneously called Nippon), 
Shikoku, Kyushu, and Yezo, separated from each other by narrow straits. 
The most important islands in close proximity to them are Sado, Tsushima^ 
Oki, and Iki, in the Sea of Japan ; the Goto group, and Amakusa, in the 
Tunghai, Awaji, in the Inland Sea ; Tanegashima, and Yakunoshima, in the 
Pacific. The Japanese possessions also include the Luchu group {Ryukyu), 
lying to the south-west of Kyushu ; Formosa {Taiwan), and the Pescadores 
{Ho-ko-to) y ceded to Japan after the war with China in 1894-5 ; the southern 
half of Sakhalin acquired as a result of the war with Russia in 1905 ; the 
Kuriles ( Chishima ), extending in a north-westerly direction from Yezo to 
Kamchatka, and a vast number of small islands, no less than 487 in all 
being considered worthy of administrative recognition. The Bonin Islands 
(1 Ogasawara-jima ), a small and unimportant group, lying far off in the 
southern seas in about 24 0 N. and 140° E., are also ruled by the Japa- 
nese. The main islands stretch along the east coast of the continent of 
Asia in the form of a crescent, the northern horn of which turns in towards 
Siberia, and the southern towards Korea. Between the two flows the Sea 
of Japan. 

Surface. — The eastern shores of the archipelago are washed by the 
waters of the North Pacific Ocean, from whose immense depths rise range 
upon range of imposing mountain heights, often crowned by still more 
imposing volcanic cones. But the islands are not solely of volcanic origin. 
Many of the higher formations are giant masses of granite overlaid with 
igneous rocks. Earthquakes, seismic-waves, and an excessively humid 
climate have contributed, in no small degree, towards giving Japan its cha- 
racteristic physical features. In the Main Island the central mountain 
range follows the trend of the land itself from north-east to south-west, 
while various smaller ranges run parallel with or branch out from it, 
often descending precipitously to the sea and forming bays and harbours 
capable of sheltering the largest ships. Almost all are luxuriantly 
wooded, and the numberless valleys winding amongst them are culti- 
vated to the utmost limit. Solfataras and thermal springs of various kinds 

545 


546 The International Geography 



abound in every part of the 
country. The chief mountain 
peaks comprise the famous and 
beautiful Fuji-san (12,400 feet), 
a perfect cone rising from the 
plain, the Hida-Echu range, 
with Tateyama, Yari-ga-take, 
Ontake, and others, all about 
10,000 feet above sea-level, and 
another similar lofty range 
running from north to south 
between the rivers Fujikawa 
and Tenryu-gawa. The active 
volcano of Asama-yama, in the 
province of Shinshu, attains a 
height of 8,280 feet. In Shikoku 
the main system slopes towards 
the Pacific on one side and to- 
wards the Inland Sea on the 
other. Kyushu is likewise very 
mountainous. It possesses two 
notable active volcanoes, Aso- 
san (5,630 feet), rising from the 
bed of an ancient crater, said 
to have the largest circum- 
ference of any in the world, 
and Kirishima-yama (5,530 
feet). There are also some 
conspicuous volcanic cones in 
the island of Yezo. Fully 
three-fourths of the area of 
Japan are mountainous, and 
less than 16 per cent, under 
cultivation. 

Rivers. — The rivers mostly 
partake of the character of 
torrents. They cut their way 
impetuously through deep 
rocky gorges and wooded 
ravines until thej r reach the 
lower land, where, owing to 
the detritus carried down from 
the heights, their beds often 
attain a width of several miles. 
They are rarely navigable for 


Fig. 275 . — Japan. 



54-7 



any but the shallowest craft, being for the greater part of the year little 
more than fordable streams. It is only in late summer, after the close of a 
period of drought, that they assume dangerous proportions, the torrential 
rains causing them to rise from ten to fifteen feet above their normal height, 
and spread destruction for many miles around. Of the few rivers of any 
length, the most noteworthy are the Tone-gawa which, rising in the province 
of Kotsuke flows into the Pacific Ocean at Choshi, and has a remarkable 
system of lagoons near its mouth ; the Shinano-gawa and the Kiso-gawa 
both rise in the province of Shinshu, the former reaching the Sea of Japan 
at Niigata, the latter the Pacific Ocean, near Nagoya ; the Kitakami- 
gawa, after traversing the provinces of Rikuchu and Rikuzen from 
north to south, falls into the Bay of Sendai. The longest river in Yezo 
is the Ishikari-gawa, noted for its salmon. Lake Biwa, in the province 
of Omi, is the only large sheet of fresh water worthy of special mention. 
It is 36 miles long by 12 miles in width, its greatest depth about 300 feet ; 
and its shores, which are classic ground to 
the Japanese, famous throughout the land 
for their beauty. 

Climate. — Japan, at one extreme, lies 
within the tropics, and at the other, though 
just touching the latitude of the south of 
England, experiences the rigours of arctic 
cold. The climate of the chief islands is 
considerably influenced by their proximity 
to the mainland of Asia and to the Kuroshiwo, 
an ocean current like the Gulf Stream, 
which carries the heated waters of the 
equatorial seas along the east coast of the 

archipelago, while a branch of the same, fig. 276 . — Temperature and Rain- 
entering the Sea of Japan through the Strait fall Curves for Tokyo and Niigata* 

of Korea, strikes the north-west coast of the main island. The prevailing 
winds being southerly in summer and northerly in winter, the effect of 
these ocean currents is consequently greater upon the amount and distri- 
bution of precipitation than upon the temperature. Snow falls in every 
portion of the main islands, but, except on the west coast and the moun- 
tains, does not lie for any length of time. Yezo alone remains snow-bound 
for several months, and even the sea freezes on a part of its coast. The 
hottest period is usually from the middle of July to the middle of Septem- 
ber. Japan has an abundant rainfall. The wet weather sets in early in 
April, and with occasional intermissions, lasts until the beginning of 
August. Again, in September, at the end of the summer heat, heavy rains, 
sometimes accompanied by typhoons, or revolving storms, cause immense 
damage to property. Thunderstorms are not frequent except in the 
mountainous districts. The driest months are November, December, and 
January, when a clear sky with high barometer prevails on the Pacific side 



548 The International Geography 

and dull, dense masses of cloud lie over the Sea of Japan. A cold, arctic 
current which sweeps past the Kuriles causes the east coast of Yezo and the 
north-east of the main island to be enveloped in fog for a large portion of 
the summer months. At Tokyo the mean temperature for twenty years 
(1876-95) shows an average of 57 0 F. ; the absolute maximum tempera- 
ture during the same period was 98° F., and the absolute minimum 
temperature 15 0 F. The mean yearly rainfall amounted to 58 inches. 

Mineral Resources. — The chief mineral productions of Japan 
are gold, silver, copper, iron, antimony, and coal. The more precious 
metals occur in small quantities, and the ore is generally poor. Copper 
has always been, and still continues to be, the most abundant as well as 
the purest of Japanese metals, the mines of Ashio, near Nikko, being the 
largest in Asia. The output of antimony from the island of Shikoku reaches 
a high figure. The richest coal-fields are found in Kyushu and in Yezo. 
Very little stone is employed for building purposes. 

Flora. — A climate ranging from the temperate to the tropical gives an 
extraordinary luxuriance to the Japanese flora. The bamboo and the sago- 
palm flourish even in the latitude of Tokyo. The pine, elm, chestnut, and 
oak are common, while the beech is found in the north and on the higher 
elevations. Amongst Japan’s most picturesque trees is the Cryptomeria 
japonica (a kind of cedar) which borders the ancient highways and the 
approaches to celebrated shrines. It often attains gigantic dimensions, as 
does also the camphor laurel. The wax-tree ( Rhus succedanea) supports an 
. important branch of industry in Kyushu and the southern half of the main 
island. Other valuable trees are the paper-mulberry and the lacquer-tree. 
The cherry and plum are cultivated chiefly for their blossoms. Persimmons 
and oranges rank amongst the most characteristic of Japanese fruits, the 
apples, pears, peaches and figs which are grown being mostly of an 
inferior description. The tea-plant flourishes best in central Japan. A 
profusion of wild flowers carpets the moors in summer, while the maple 
and other deciduous trees make the hillsides glow with their changing 
colour in autumn. Rice, barley and millet are the staple cereals. 

Fauna. — The fauna of Japan furnishes numerous types to prove the 
connection of the islands with the continents of Asia and America in remote 
geological times. Bears still roam in the wilds of Yezo, and with the wild 
boar, wild deer, and the monkey, are occasionally to be met with in the 
mountain fastnesses of the main island. The fox and the badger play an 
important part in folk-lore ; but wild animals are far from numerous. Among 
the rodents may be named the squirrel and the hare, while the rat is every- 
where a common plague. Domestic animals include the horse, cow, pig, dog 
and cat. Sheep have been imported, but do not thrive. Of the numerous 
species of birds only the lark and the uguisu (a species of nightingale) break 
the silence of the moors and valleys with song. Snakes, large and small, 
abound, but are mostly harmless. The Japanese seas teem with fish, the 
tai (a kind of bream), and the maguro, a large red-fleshed fish, calling for 


549 



special mention, as both are highly esteemed for food, and often eaten raw. 
Among fresh-water fish the salmon and the masu (Salmo japonicus) swarm 
in some of the northern rivers. The ai, a kind of trout, is common 
to all Japanese rivers. Insect life is abundant and varied ; particularly 
beautiful in colour are the moths and butterflies. Mosquitoes and fleas 
infest all parts of the country. 

People and Language. — The origin of the Japanese people is 
unknown, but learned opinion generally agrees in regarding them as the 
fusion of two or three different tides of Tataro-Mongolian immigration 
which flowed to Japan byway of the Korean peninsula. Before the advent 
of these settlers the land was inhabited by the Ainu aborigines, a hairy race, 
who, in their turn, must have come from the neighbouring continent. At 
the present day, having been gradually driven northwards by the more 
energetic race, and unable, like other aboriginal tribes, to exist under 
civilised conditions, they are only to be found, in ever-decreasing numbers, 
in the island of Yezo and the adjacent Kurile Islands. That much inter- 
marriage ever took place between them and the smooth-faced invaders does 
not seem probable, although undoubted traces of the' 

Ainu type exist, especially in the northern provinces. 

There may be also an admixture of the Malay, but 
the Mongol type largely predominates in the straight 
hair, pallid complexion, and the more delicate oval 
features which distinguish the better classes. Small- 
ness of stature characterises the whole race. The 
Japanese are distinguished from other Oriental 
peoples by their love of cleanliness, their politeness, fig. 277.— Average popu- 
and the possession of a certain artistic instinct, and lation of a square mile 
appreciation of natural beauty. ^ a ^ an ' 

The Japanese language has certain structural affinities with the Altaic 
family, but no close resemblance to any known member of the stock. It 
is polysyllabic and has the verb after its object, features radically separating 
it from Chinese, which is a monosyllabic tongue, and which has the verb 
before its object. Other marked peculiarities of Japanese are that the 
tenses of the verb have no distinction of number or person ; the nouns no 
inflexions to distinguish gender, number, or case, and that the prepositions 
follow the nouns they govern. The pronouns differ to mark the rank or 
grade of the person addressed or speaking, an “ honorific ” system which 
also modifies the verbal forms. A wide divergence exists between the 
spoken and written languages. Japanese may be written in two ways, 
either in the Chinese ideographs or in the native kana (of which there are 
two forms), a phonetic syllabary composed of forty- seven simplified cha- 
racters, the former being chiefly used by the educated, the latter by the 
lower classes. 

History. — Japanese official history dates from 660 b.c., but no records 
prior to the fifth century of our era are considered trustworthy. Claiming 



550 The International Geography 

descent from the gods who created the islands of Japan, the Mikados or 
Emperors held absolute and undisputed sway until the middle of the 
eleventh century, when their authority, passing into the hands of the 
dominant military families, became merely nominal — a state of affairs 
which inaugurated a dual system of government, and, only slightly changed 
in form, lasted down to our own day. The power thus attained by the 
sword had to be maintained by the sword. Continual internecine strife 
waged by the Daimyo, or feudal lords, characterised the Middle Ages. Not 
until the appearance in 1603 of the greatest of these military rulers, or 
Shoguns, as they were called, in the person of Tokugawa Jeyasu, did 
the country enjoy the blessings of peace. By his able administration 
and judicious distribution of political favours, he succeeded in firmly 
establishing the supremacy of his own house, who continued to rule 
the land in profound tranquillity for two hundred and fifty years. 
During this long period a restricted intercourse with Dutch merchants 
at Nagasaki, in the south-west corner of the empire, was Japan’s only 
point of contact with the outer world ; and it was the attempt of 
the United States in 1853 to break down this policy of isolation which 

led to the collapse of the Shogunate and the feudal 
system with it, the opening of the country to 
foreign commerce in 1868, and the restoration of 
the Mikado to that absolute sovereignty of which 
he had so long been deprived. The chief sub- 
sidiary events of Japanese history include the 
introduction of Buddhism from Korea in a.d. 552, 
Fig. 278 —The Japanese soon followed by the Chinese system of adminis- 
Fla & tration, the invention of the native syllabary at 

the beginning of the ninth century, the repulse of the Mongol invaders 
under Kublai Khan (1274-1281), the arrival of the Portuguese and 
Spanish missionaries and subsequent persecution of the Christians in 
the sixteenth century, and the closing of the country against the outer 
world in a.d. 1624. The most important events since the signing of 
the treaties with foreign powers in 1859, have been the introduction of 
posts, telegraphs, and railways in 1871-72, the Satsuma Rebellion in 1874, 
under General Saigo — a futile effort to restore the old order of things — the 
proclamation of the Constitution on Western lines in 1889, and the 
successful war with China in 1894-95. New treaties have since been con- 
cluded with all the Great Powers, which enable Japan to enter the comity 
of nations on a footing of perfect equality — the first Asiatic State to receive 
that high privilege. 

Government. — The authority of the Emperor remains paramount 
and unquestioned in all matters of government. The Diet, established 
under the Constitution of 1889, is composed of two Houses, an Upper and 
a Lower. The members of the former are selected from among the here- 
ditary nobility, and others are chosen by the Emperor for conspicuous 



Japan 5 5 1 

merit in civil or military life ; the members of the latter are elected by the 
suffrages of a limited portion of the people. The Cabinet consists of nine 
Ministers of State appointed by the Emperor, to whom they are alone 
responsible ; but all laws must receive the sanction of both Houses before 
passing. The departments over which they preside comprise Foreign 
Affairs, the Army, the Navy, Home Affairs, Finance, Justice, Education, 
Agriculture and Commerce, and Communications. There is also a depart- 
ment of the Imperial Household, but its chief has no seat in the Cabinet. 
Provincial assemblies were established in 1889. 

Trade and Communications. — Japan is no longer a State depend- 
ing solely, as she did for centuries, on her agricultural resources ; but in 
manufactures and industries has already taken a considerable place amongst 
the nations of the world. The remarkable expansion of her commerce may 
be seen in the figures of the appended tables. Silk is the chief staple of 
export, the best qualities coming from the provinces of Shinshu, Kotsuke, 
and Koshu. Numerous filatures are now worked by imported machinery. 
Tea ranks next in importance. It finds its principal markets in Canada and 
the United States, where it is used for mixing with other varieties. In the 
cotton spinning industry the development has been extraordinarily rapid. 
During 1896, raw cotton to the extent of 206,000,000 lbs. was consumed, of 
which quantity only 1,350,000 lbs. were of Japanese production. Other 
important articles of export include rice, coal, straw-braid, matting, matches, 
fish-oil, and copper. Japan has long enjoyed a high reputation for her 
achievements in the mechanical arts, notably in metallurgy and the manufac- 

e of porcelain and lacquer-ware. The United Kingdom and dependencies 
share to the extent of nearly one half in the total foreign trade. Numerous 
steamship companies provide for an extensive coasting trade. The largest 
of these also runs vessels regularly to China, India, Europe, and America. 
The native junk with its huge square sail still forms a picturesque feature, 
both on the coast and larger rivers. The first line of railway, 18 miles 
in length, connecting Yokohama with the capital, was opened in 1872 ; and 
in 1900 a well-equipped system existed of over 3,700 miles, with many new 
lines in course of construction. The trunk line of railway joins Aomori, 
in the extreme north of the main island, with Kagoshima, in the south of 
Kyushu. Two branches cross the country from east to west, one from 
Tokyo to Niigata, the other from Kyoto to Kanazawa, while a network of 
lesser lines is rapidly spreading over the large plain in which the capital 
lies. In districts still unprovided with railway communication, the 
jinnkisha remains the chief mode of conveyance. An admirable post and 
telegraph system, together w r ith telephone exchanges in all the larger 
towns, adds to the convenience of internal communications. 

Political Divisions and Towns. — Before the revolution of 1868 
Japan was divided into nine Circuits (Do) which were subdivided into 
seventy-one provinces (Kuni). These ancient divisions still remain in 
popular parlance, but for administrative convenience and political con- 


552 The International Geography 

siderations, they have been replaced, without regard to physical or 
historical frontiers, by a classification into three City Governments (Fu) t 
which comprise Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and forty-three Prefectures (Ken). 
Yezo, under the denomination of Hokkaido and Formosa, possess separate 
administrations. All the larger towns, with the exception of Kyoto, may be 
said to derive their prosperity from the comparatively wide and fertile plains 
in which they are situated. 

Tokyo , formerly known as Yedo, only became the capital when the 
Emperor removed from Kyoto to take up his residence there on the fall 
of the Shogunate in 1868. It lies on the Sumida-gawa, one of the rivers 
which drain the largest plain in the empire, and, with its suburbs, 
covers an area of 190 square miles. The government offices, banks, 
public offices, and the various barracks are now the most conspicuous 
buildings. Besides much artistic work in lacquer, bronze, and ivory, Tokyo 
now possesses numerous industries for such purely Western commodities 

as blankets, matches, glass and hats. There are 
also many chemical works, ship-building and 
engine works. A suburban line of railway con- 
nects the termini of the trunk lines running north 
and south, these being fed by various branches 
which traverse the plain. Tokyo has no harbour. 
Only vessels of light draught can enter the river. 
Kyoto, also called Saikyo , was the capital of Japan 
from a.d. 794 until 1868. Though the city has, 
in modern times, greatly diminished in extent 
and population, its historic associations, together 
with its palaces and temples, its art products 
in bronze, cloisonne, porcelain, brocade and 
embroidery, and its picturesque native life 
make it the most interesting city in the empire. Kyoto is supplied 
with water from Lake Biwa, about ten miles distant, both by river and 
canal. Osaka, lying on the Yodo-gawa, the river which drains Lake Biwa, 
and only twenty-six miles distant from Kyoto, was already a flourishing 
commercial centre at the beginning of the seventeenth century. It was also 
then noted for its castle and the magnificence of the palace built within 
its walls. At the present day the city covers an area of nearly sixty-four 
square miles, and is intersected by numerous canals to facilitate the trans- 
port of commerce. Osaka is the chief centre of the cotton-spinning 
industry. A considerable development in ship-building, on European 
lines, has likewise to be noted. The foreign import trade of Osaka is largely 
merged into that of Kobe. Nagoya, the capital of the province of Owari, 
is the largest commercial city on the Tokaido Railway which connects the 
modern with the ancient capital. Its political importance dates from feudal 
days, the founder of the House of Owari having been a son of the great 
Shogun Ieyasu. The plain in which Nagoya stands is one of the most 



553 


extensive to the east of the central range of mountains, and is devoted to 
the cultivation of rice. The chief manufactory of porcelain in Japan is 
at Seto, a village thirteen miles distant. Several other villages in the 
neighbourhood produce porcelain and pottery, largely for the foreign 
market. The cloisonne of Nagoya is highly esteemed. Yokohama , the 
leading “ open port ” of Japan, stands near the entrance to Tokyo Bay, 
eighteen miles by rail from the capital, for which it is, practically, the 
port. From being a mere fishing hamlet when first opened to foreign 
residence in 1859, Yokohama has now a population of over 170,000, and 
transacts more than half of the external trade of the empire. Kobe ranks 
next in importance, both in regard to population and to volume of trade. 
Its situation at the eastern end of the Inland Sea and close to Osaka and 
Kyoto makes it the principal outlet for the rich products of central Japan. 
The other open ports are Nagasaki in the south-west of the island of 
Kyushu, Hakodate in Yezo, and Niigata on the north-west coast of the Main 
Island. Nagasaki owes its prosperity to the coal-fields in its immediate 
vicinity and to the large docks within its magnificent land-locked harbour. 
Ship-building has lately been undertaken with considerable success. Hako- 
date is the emporium for the vast resources of the northern island in 
agriculture, fishing, and coal. Niigata , being unfavourably situated, has 
never had any appreciable share in the external trade. Its chief exports 
are rice and petroleum. Hiroshima , the capital of the province of Aki, 
stands on the northern shore of the Inland Sea. It suddenly rose into 
prominence during the war with China in 1894-95, when the Emperor, as 
commander-in-chief of the army, made it his headquarters. Its produc- 
tions in bronze, lacquer, and other artistic work claim attention. Other 
important towns are Kanazawa , in Kaga, and Sendai , in Rikuzen, each with 
a population exceeding 80,000. Kumamoto and Fukuoka , in Kyushu, and 
Tokushima , in Shikoku, have over 60,000 inhabitants. 

Japanese Possessions. — The Luchu Islands, which extend in a 
south-westerly direction from Kyushu, were formally claimed by the 
Japanese in 1879, and incorporated into the prefectural system under the 
name of Okinawa-ken. Previous to that date the Luchuan king had paid 
yearly tribute to China as well as to the old feudal lords of Satsuma in 
Japan ; but both in race and language the people are closely allied to the 
Japanese. The largest islands are Oshima and Okinawa (Great Luchu), in 
the latter of which is situated Shuri, the capital. The port of Nafa lies 
some three miles distant. The area of the islands is estimated at about 
1,500 square miles, witn a population of 170,000. Rice and sugar constitute 
the chief products. 

Formosa, called by the Japanese Taiwan , which, with the small Pesca- 
dores group, was annexed after the war with China in 1894-95, may be said 
to be Japan’s only foreign possession. It has an area of about 14,000 
square miles, with a population (excluding the savages) estimated at 
2,700,000. The area of the Pescadores is only some 47 square miles, with 


554 The International Geography 


a population of 50,000. The centre and east of Formosa consist of mountains 
covered with virgin forests of camphor-laurel and other trees, and inhabited 
by aborigines of Malay race, some having a tincture of civilisation, others still 
head-hunting savages. The western side is a rich alluvial plain cultivated 
by Chinese settlers, who produce large quantities of rice, sugar, tea and 
hemp. Coal, sulphur and other minerals are worked on a small scale. 
The principal ports are Kelung and Tamsui in the north ; Anping and 
Takao in the south-west. The external trade is chiefly in British hands. 

The Kuriles ( Chishima ) form a chain of barren, inhospitable islands, 
several of them containing active volcanoes. The most southerly islands 
are inhabited by Japanese and Ainu, while the more northerly are annually 
frequented by seal-hunters. The islands were ceded to Japan by Russia 
in 1875 in exchange for the southern portion of Sakhalin. 


STATISTICS. 

1886. 1898.1 

Area of Japan (square miles) 148,742 .. 161,198 

Population of Japan 38,151,217 .. 46,453,249 

Density of population per square mile 256 . . 288 


Tokyo 

Osaka 

Kyoto 

Nagoya 


POPULATION OF LARGE TOWNS (1898). 


1,440,000 

821.000 

353 .000 

244.000 


Kobe (Hyogo) 
Yokohama 
Hiroshima 
Nagasaki 


216.000 

194.000 

122.000 

107.000 


ANNUAL TRADE OF JAPAN (in yen). 


1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 26,000,000 .. 28,400,000 94,000,000 

Exports .. 19,000,000 .. 34,300,000 .. 102,000,000 


ANNUAL TRADE OF JAPAN (in pounds sterling).* 


I 87 I- 75 - 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 5,200,000 .. 4,300,000 .. 9,400,000 

Exports 3,800,000 .. 5,200,000 .. 10,200,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. Batchelor. “The Ainus of Japan.” London, 1892. 

B. H. Chamberlain and W. B. Mason. “ Murray’s Handbook to Japan,” 5th ed. London, 
1899. 

W. E. Griffis. “The Mikado’s Empire.” New York, 1876. 

J. J. Rein. “ Japan nach Reisen und Studien.” 2 vols. Leipzig, 1880, 1886. (Vol. I. 
translation. London, 1884.) 


1 The figures for 1898 include Formosa and the Pescadores. 

2 Owing to the fall in the value of silver the exchange value of the yen, which was 

4s. 2d. in 1871, was 2s. in 1895. In the table the value for the period 1871-75 has 
been taken as 4s., that for 1881-85 3 s -» and that I° r 1891-95 at 2s. 


CHAPTER XXX.— THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 

By Henry O. Forbes, LL.D. 

L— GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 

Position and Physical Divisions. — The Malay Archipelago 
occupies that immense island-strewn region lying on both sides of the 
equator, between the 95th meridian east of Greenwich and the western 
coast of New Guinea, an area embracing 40 degrees of longitude, and 
extending 30 degrees south of the 20th parallel of north latitude. The 
region, though invariably spoken of as a geographical whole (as politically 
it almost entirely is), is far from being homogeneous, so that its usual 
appellation is not altogether appropriate. Its physical and biological 
characters clearly divide it into two distinct parts. From the Strait of 
Sunda east to about 118 degrees east there lies a submarine plateau 
hardly 50 fathoms deep, while be- 
yond that line all the way to a 
bank close to the coast of New 
Guinea, extends a deep sea with 
deeper basins. 

The boundary line between this 
plateau and the deeper sea, known 
as Wallace’s Line (after the dis- 
tinguished naturalist who first in- 
dicated its existence), lies close to 
the east of Borneo, and may be pro- 
longed through the outer margin of 
the Philippines and Formosa to the 
Asiatic mainland. The biological features of the region show that, in all 
the islands to the west of Wallace’s Line, the forms of life are the same 
as, or closely related to, those of the Asiatic continent, while on most of 
the islands to the east they as unmistakably point to Australia as the 
centre whence they have spread. This line, therefore, clearly follows what, 
in very recent geological times, was the shore of the continent of Asia. 
With the exception of Celebes the islands to the east, rising out of deeper 
water — the result of longer continued subsidence — have also at various 
times formed part of a greater Australasian continent than the present. 

From the Asiatic plateau rise the Philippines, and the Greater Sunda 
Islands (Java, Sumatra, Borneo). Over the deeper eastern seas are spread 
37 555 



556 The International Geography 

the Celebes; the Moluccas (Halmaheira and the intervening islands to Ke) 
and the Lesser Sunda Islands, a chain 1,200 miles in length, from Lombok 
to Timor-laut. 

The remarkable specialisation of the fauna and flora in the Philippines, 
demanding a long period for its accomplishment, indicates that this group 
was earlier separated from the continent than any of the Sondaic Islands, 
as the deep water in its neighbourhood would also imply. Indeed, but 
for the Palawan and Sulu banks it would be isolated from the plateau. 
The results of a comparison of the forms of life in Java with those in 
Sumatra or Borneo are held to warrant the belief that the latter were 
connected with the mainland after the separation of the former, which 
must have occurred during the great climatic changes of the Pleistocene 
period. Later subsidences severed Sumatra from Borneo, and finally 
separated the latter from the Malay Peninsula. Of the islands east of 
Wallace’s Line, Celebes is surrounded by very deep seas, and in pre- 
senting a fauna (whose affinities are Asiatic), with a degree of speciali- 
sation exceeding any in the Archipelago, it proclaims the still greater 
antiquity of its separation from that continent, and its entire isolation 
ever since, by the absence of forms that ought otherwise to have been 
present. Of the island-groups with characteristically Australian affini- 
ties the Lesser Sunda Islands were probably detached from the Australian 
mainland before the Moluccas, which appear to have been separated subse- 
quently to the submersion of the Asiatic plateau. 

The most notable physical feature of the Archipelago is its vulcanicity. 
A chain of cones, some extinct, some dormant, and others active, sweeps 
in a semicircle round its border from Sumatra eastward to the Philip- 
pines. The geological structure of many of the islands is still unknown. 
In Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines, Celebes, and Timor, ancient rocks 
occur ; but most of the others are composed mainly of Tertiary strata, 
over which the ejecta of the volcanoes are piled to an enormous 
depth, and form the bulk of the high land in the Archipelago 
(see Fig. 19). 

Climate. — The climate is tropical and humid, and with the exception 
of the Philippines, part of which lie within the region of typhoons, the 
Malay Archipelago is not subject to violent extremes. Along the equa- 
torial belt, about four degrees wide, the wet and dry seasons, which 
occur with great regularity beyond those latitudes on both sides, are 
ill-defined. In this region rain falls more or less throughout the year. 
South of the equator the wet season lasts from November till March, 
the period which north of the line is the dry season (see Fig. 323). 

Flora and Fauna. — On the west side of Wallace’s Line, vegetation 
carpets the ground from the water’s edge to an altitude of 7,000 feet, with 
palms, bamboos, Euphorbias, Papilionaceae, and Artocarpeae ; with giant 
Altingias, laurels, oaks, and Dipterocarpeae. Monkeys, tigers, rhinoceros, 
tapirs, elephants, and ruminants roam the islands ; woodpeckers, trogons, 


The Malay Archipelago 557 

barbets and pheasants people the forests. On the east side, Eucalyptus, 
Casuarinas, phyllode-bearing Acacias, Podocarpeae, and Cycads, unknown 
in the west, mark the Australian character of the flora. The terrestrial 
mammals just named are absent. The Cuscus and other marsupials take 
their place. Cockatoos, megapodes, cassowaries, and Birds of Paradise 
meet the eye, while woodpeckers, barbets, and pheasants are conspicuously 
absent. 

Native Peoples. — Viewed generally the archipelago is peopled by 
Malays, who are mostly Mohammedans, and Melanesians, who are nearly 
all pagans. Although predominant to the west of Wallace’s Line, the Malay 
has spread to the nearer Sunda Islands, and many of the Moluccas. The 
Melanesians occupy the more eastern islands. The Malay is typically a 
short olive-brown Mongolian, with a round head, straight hair, bare face, 
wide cheeks, and slightly oblique eyes. In temperament he is sedate, 
morose, ceremonious, yet revengeful and cruel. The Melanesian is a 
sooty-brown Ethiopian, tall, with a long head, covered with a mop of 
frizzly hair, a narrow face, often well bearded, and with a prominent nose ; 
in temperament he is lively and boisterous. The origin of these races is a 
complex problem. The Malays, as known to us in purer Atjinese and 
Sundanese — a race developed through the commingling of Caucasian and 
predominating Mongol blood in Indo-China — were the last incursionists 
into the region. They followed an earlier pure-Caucasian migration — 
known as Polynesians, whose last remnants in the Archipelago linger 
in the Mentavi islands on the west coast of Sumatra — who drove 
the Negrito autochthones of the Archipelago out into the remote in- 
terior of the Philippines and other islands, and were themselves over- 
whelmed by half-breeds of Mongol and predominating Caucasian blood, 
now known as Indonesians, of wuom the Battaks and Dyaks are 
survivors. 

In like manner the Melanesians of the Solomon and New Hebrides 
Islands, migrating westward into the eastern part of the Archipelago, partly 
supplanted, partly commingled with the Negrito autochthones; and then 
Caucasioid (Polynesian) pre-incursionists, whose strain appears still in 
many of the people, as well in their language as in their customs. 
Throughout the Archipelago low Malay is the lingua franca on the coasts ; 
but each island has its own dialect, or language, and sometimes many 
languages are spoken in one island. 

Political Divisions. — Politically the Archipelago was long divided 
between the two European Powers, Spain and Holland. The Philippines 
have passed from the possession of Spain to that of the United States ; 
and except for the eastern moiety of Timor, which is Portuguese, and 
a considerable area of the north-west of Borneo, which is a British 
Protectorate, the remainder of the Malay Archipelago forms the magnifi- 
cent possession of Netherlands-India. 


558 The International Geography 

II.— THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 

Extent, History, People and Trade. — The Philippine Islands, 
numbering some 1,200, separated by narrow channels, covering an area 
not quite so large as the British Islands, with a population of 7^ 

millions, lie between 21 0 and 4 0 N. and 
from 116 0 to 128° E. Most of the 
islands are extremely irregular, high 
and intensely volcanic. The loftiest 
mountain in the group attains 10,000 
feet of elevation. The rainfall is heavy, 
the vegetation luxuriant, and there are 
innumerable lakes and rivers. The 
mean temperature is about 84° F., and 
the annual range under 40°. Though 
fever and many zymotic diseases, pre- 
ventable by better sanitary supervision, 
prevail, the Philippines are fairly 
healthy. The inhabitants are Malays, 
much crossed with Chinese blood, 
Negritoes, and a few Indonesians. 

PIG. 281.— Philippine Islands. The map Discovered in 1521 by a Spanish 
includes 700 miles by 500. squadron, under Magellan — who lost 

his life on the occasion, fighting with the people of Zebu — the Philip- 
pines were called St. Lazarus Islands, which twenty years afterwards 
was changed to their present name, in honour of Philip II. Only in 
1565, however, forty years after their discovery, first Zebu, then Panay, 
and finally Luzon, were taken effective possession of by a force under 
Miguel de Legaspi. After that date Spain held the whole group, though 
several of the southern islands hardly acknowledged her authority. By 
the capture of Manila in 1898 the United States of America undertook 
the control of the islands and the Spanish forces were withdrawn. 

The chief products of the group are tobacco leaf, 
cigars, hemp and sugar, which make up nine-tenths 
of the value of the exports ; and also coffee, indigo, 
copra, rice, and pine-apple fibre. The Philippines, 
under the Spaniards, were administered by a Captain- 
General, under whom were the four Governors of 
Luzon, Bisaya, Mindanao, and the Adjacent Isles. 

Every religion was forbidden except the Roman 
Catholic, whose priests consequently became very 
influential. 

Since occupied by the United States the group has been organised into 
39 provinces, each under a Governor, while municipalities have been 
formed and schools established. There is also a Governor for the whole 
group, assisted by a legislative body of seven. 




FlG.282 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of the Philippines. 




British Borneo 


559 


Principal Islands and Towns. — Luzon Island is the largest and 
most fertile of the group. Sugar and tobacco are largely cultivated. 
There are a few miles of railway and telegraph lines, and it is proposed 
to extend the railway system by the construction of a trunk line 600 miles 
long ; a transverse line from Manila to the east coast ; and various branch 
lines. Manila , the capital of the Philippines, was captured and founded 
in 1571. It is protected by Cavite , nearer the sea, on the Bay of Manila, 
a fortified harbour with an arsenal and dockyard, which was taken by 
Admiral Dewey for the United States in June, 1898. The Manila Obser- 
vatory, founded by the Jesuit, P. Federico Faura, in 1865, has a world-wide 
celebrity. The volcano, Mount Mayon, 9,000 feet in height, is noted for 
its disastrous eruptions. Iloilo , in the Island of Panay, with an excellent 
harbour, is the second city in the Philippines in commercial importance. 
It largely exports sugar, tobacco, Manila-hemp, and perfume. Coal beds 
are found in Samar and in Zebu, whose chief town of the same name is 
the oldest settlement of the colony. On the island of Mactan, in its 
harbour, Magellan, the navigator, was 
killed before he had completed the first 
circumnavigation of the globe. 

Mindanao island, the next in size to 
Luzon, is very fertile. It contains gold, 
quicksilver, and coal in considerable 
abundance, and there are valuable forests 
of ebony and teak. Zamboango is its chief 
town. The Sulu islands, which form part 
of the government of the Philippines, are 
ruled by a tributary but very powerful 
sultan. Palawan and Balabac islands are 
geographically and biologically part of 
Borneo. Puerto Princessa is the chief town and port. Burial caves of 
vast antiquity, containing bones, vases, and ornaments of Chino- Japanese 
origin, indicate an early Mongolian occupation, of which all tradition 
is lost. 



FlG. 2&3 . — Manila Bay. 


III.— BRITISH BORNEO 

British North Borneo.— Although most of the Malay Archipelago 
fell into the possession of the United Kingdom in 1811, it was returned 
to its former rulers in 1817, and now only a part of Borneo, about 
the area of Great Britain, is under British protection. British North 
Borneo occupies the northernmost part of the island. Ceded to a 
company under grants from the Sultans of Brunei and Sulu, which 
were confirmed to it by Royal Charter in 1881, it was in 1888 pro- 
claimed a British Protectorate, to which Labuan Island was annexed in 
the following year. Tobacco, coffee and pepper are largety cultivated 


560 The International Geography 


These, with forest products of the same kind as those described under 
Dutch Borneo, form its export trade. The revenue is derived from the 
opium and spirit rents, import duties, licenses, and royalties. Sandakan , 
on the north-east coast, is its chief town, and a telegraph cable connects 
the Protectorate with Singapore. 

Brunei is a small native State lying between British North Borneo and 
Sarawak, and is ruled by a Sultan, who came under British Protection in 
1888. The name of this State has come, in a slightly modified form, to be 
applied to the whole great island. 

Sarawak, considerably larger than British North Borneo and Brunei 
combined, has a coast line of 400 miles on the north-west side of the 
island. It was in 1842 made over to an Englishman, Sir James Brooke, by 
the then Sultan of Brunei, and administered for nearly fifty years by that 
gentleman and his successor. In 1890 it was proclaimed under British 

Protection. Sir Charles Brooke is the present Rajah. 
His capital is Kuching , on the Sarawak river, a little 
over 20 miles from its mouth. The exports are the 
same, and the revenue is raised on the same subjects as 
in British North Borneo. Gold, and other precious 
metals, diamonds, and coal beds, are amongst the 
natural products of the territory. 

The natural features of British Borneo, which, as 
a whole, includes practically the entire north-western 
drainage area of the island (see Fig. 287), are described along with those 
of the Dutch possessions. 



Fig. 284 . — The badge 
of British North 
Boreno. 


IV. — THE DUTCH EAST INDIES 

Government and Administration. — With the exception of the 
Philippine Islands, British Borneo, and half of the island of Timor the 
whole Archipelago is a Dutch possession, Netherlands-India (N ederlandsch 
Oost Indie) or the Dutch East Indies. The area of these colonies is sixty- 
two times as great as that of the mother country ; they are all ruled by a 
Governor-General appointed by the States-General in Amsterdam, assisted 
by a Council ( Raad van Indie). Under the central authority the whole 
of the islands is divided into Governments and Residencies according 
to the importance of the provinces. Each governor or resident has 
under him assistant residents, subordinate to whom are controllers, one 
for each district. These officers exercise almost unlimited administrative 
and judicial powers. In the tributary States the resident advises the 
native potentate to whom he is accredited, who carries out these instruc- 
tions by his own subordinates. In the provinces which are directly 
governed, the controllers assume the same attitude to the native chiefs, 
who are held responsible for the due execution of the government 


Dutch East Indies 


5 6 i 

behests. The army, composed partly of natives and partly of European 
mercenaries, under Dutch officers, numbers about 40,000 men. The 
navy consists of about 80 vessels, of which the majority are colonial and 
the remainder of the Dutch Royal Navy. 

Since 1830 the Dutch have farmed all the more valuable cultures in 
Java, and also in West Sumatra and the Minahassa, in Celebes, as 
monopolies, which the natives have been forced — as the tax they were 
best able to pay — to plant and crop gratuitously, and to deliver the 
produce at the government stores at a fixed price. The result was a large 
yearly revenue to the government, and to the native, remuneration 
abundantly sufficient for all his needs. The general prosperity of the 
people under this regime is evidenced by the continued (and in some 
places extraordinary) increase in the population of the islands. The 
monopolies, except coffee, have now been abandoned, and forced labour, 
except for one day a week on the roads, has been commuted for a small 
yearly money tax. 

Under the Dutch there live in the Archipelago about 35,000,000 people, 
of whom only 63,000 are Europeans and half a million Chinese. In the 
Courts of Justice, Europeans are tried according to the laws in force in 
Holland, and the natives by the same modified according to Malayan 
customs and institutions. 

The revenue of the Possession is mainly derived from the Government 
monopolies — the railways, the farming of salt and opium — and the sale of 
coffee grown under forced labour, with duties (import and export), and 
taxes. Coffee and sugar are by far the most important exports ; tobacco, 
tea and indigo following. There is a small inter-insular trade done in 
krises, for which the native blacksmiths are famed, and in articles of dress, 
particularly sarongs, peculiarly dyed (or batek-ed) in Java. 


GREATER SUNDA ISLANDS 

Java. — Java, although not the largest of the Greater Sunda Islands, is 
the most important of the Dutch possessions. It is the most fertile, 
the most highly cultivated, and the 
most densely populated island in 
the Archipelago. It lies entirely 
between 6° and 8° S., and is 590 
miles in length, from west to east. 

The south coast is bold and rocky, 
the northern low and fringed with 
mangrove swamps. The whole 
surface of the island is mountainous, with only a few elevated plateaus, 
the highest summit reaching 12,000 feet, and there are a score over 9,000 
feet. No equal area of the globe contains so many volcanoes ; the whole 
island is practically covered with the mud — they rarely discharge lava— 



♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 


562 The International Geography 

which they have thrown out. The few sedimentary rocks which occur, 
are entirely of Tertiary age. The rivers are numerous and fairly 
large, but none are navigable, and there are practically no lakes. Luxuri- 
antly clothed with vegetation, Java is a paradise to the botanist. Monkeys 
( Semnopitheci ), apes ( Hylobates ), tigers, leopards, rhinoceros and wild 
cattle ( Bos banteng) are its more conspicuous mammals. Over 200 species 
of birds, including pea-fowl, are found in its jungles and mountains. 
A fossil (. Pithecanthropus eredus), remarkable for its combined human 
and simian characters, has been discovered in Tertiary strata in the 
Bengawan valley. 

People and History of Java. — The west of Java is peopled by the 
Sundanese, the east by Javanese, and the island of Madura at its eastern 
extremity, which is always included with Java, by a distinct race, the 
Madurese. All of them are Malays, but in the Javanese there is a strain of 
Hindu blood. In addition there is a large population of Chinese, Arabs and 
other nationalities. In some districts the density of the population is as 
high as 900 to the square mile. The three chief languages differ from each 

other widely. Javanese, however, is the most elabo- 
rate and highly developed. It possesses both a court 
and a vulgar dialect, and has a script, peculiar to itself, 
which had its origin in India. All three peoples are 
Mohammedans, tinctured in the west with Paganism, 
and in the east with Brahmanism. They are all 
very skilled agriculturists, and employ a most elabo- 
rate system of irrigation. 

Fig. 286 .— Average popu- The first immigration into Java, so far as known, 

lation of a square mile by races subsequent to the Malay occupation, was 
°- f J au1, by Hindus, probably about 800 years before their 

power was broken by Arab Mohammedans in 1478. They introduced 
their religion and a high civilisation into eastern Java and the island of Bali, 
which is attested by the ruins in those regions of great cities, and vast and 
finely sculptured temples. Between 1511 and 1550 the Portuguese reached 
the island and did some trading with the people of Bantam, where the first 
Dutch post was established in 1595. In 1602 the Dutch East India Com- 
pany was formed, and in 1609 a fort was erected at Batavia, but it was not 
till sixty years later that the first territorial acquisitions were made, which 
have extended into the splendid possessions of to-day. In 1685 the English, 
who had also been attracted to Bantam, but had been forced to give way 
to the Dutch, moved to Benkoolen, in Sumatra, leaving Java free to their 
rivals. In 1798 “The Company,” as the ruling power still continues to be 
called by the natives, was dissolved, and the mother country assumed the 
direct government of Netherlands-India. 

Divisions and Towns of Java. — For administrative purposes, 
Java with Madura is divided into 22 residencies. Batavia, the capital, is a 
large town situated on a low plain, at the mouth of the Tji-liw r ong. It con- 


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Dutch East Indies— Java 563 

sists of the original Batavia, and the new town, a couple of miles to the 
south. The former contains the native quarter, the Stadt-house, and the 
business offices and godowns ; the latter the hotels, the European residences, 
the official palace of the Governor-General, and the government offices, 
surrounding a large park — the King’s Plain. Canals everywhere traverse 
both towns, lined by trees which shade the streets that run beside them. 
Nearly every dwelling — native and European — is embowered in vegetation. 
A few miles east of the Tji-liwong mouth, a fine harbour has been built at 
Tandjong Priok , whose stone piers are capable of accommodating the 
largest vessels. It is connected with Batavia by canal, road and railway. 
On the hills, 35 miles south, is the town of Buitenzorg, at an elevation of 750 
feet, a delightful sanatorium, surrounded by high mountains and amid most 
beautiful scenery. It is the usual residence of the Governor-General, whose 
palace stands in the richest and most beautiful botanical garden in the 
world. Bantam , on the north-west coast, one of the most important cities 
of the East in the sixteenth century, was the site occupied by the Portuguese, 
Dutch and English, on their first reaching Java. Samarang, a seaport 
situated about the middle of the north coast, is commercially important, 
but its open roadstead is often a rough and unsafe anchorage in the west 
monsoon. It is connected by railway with the main line through the 
middle of the island. Some 30 miles south is Soerakarta, the most populous 
town in Java. It is the capital of the independent territory of the Susu- 
hunan, or emperor, who resides there ; but while retaining his court and 
state, he is guided and “ advised” by a Resident. Still further south, Djokdjo - 
karta , also the capital of a dependent sultanate, was long the rival of 
Soerakarta. Both are now stations on the Central Railway. 

Ruins of the temples of the Hindu period are widely spread over the 
whole of this region ; those of Boeroboedur are celebrated for their extent 
and magnificence. Tjilatjap, a free port, and the only good harbour on the 
south coast, is connected with Samarang and Soerabaya by railway. Soera- 
baya, at the mouth of the Solo river, at the eastern extremity of the island, is 
one of the largest towns in Java, and the most important commercially. It 
has grown up on a natural harbour that cannot be excelled. A short dis- 
tance from the town are the ruins of Madjopait, the ancient Hindu capital, 
which the Arabs destroyed in 1478. 

Neighbouring Islands. — Large clusters of small islands are scattered 
along the northern coast of Java. The traveller entering the Strait of Sunda 
is face to face with his first evidences of the volcanic nature of the region 
in a series of symmetrical cones, of which Krakatao, shattered by the 
memorable outburst of 1884, is the most remarkable. On emerging from the 
strait into the Java Sea, he has to thread his way amid clumps of verdure, 
set in the alabaster basins of their coral beaches, known as The Thousand 
Islands, as far as the Roads of Batavia, which for centuries was the great 
anchorage of the East, till the harbour of Tandjong Priok was built. 
Karimon Java, Bawean and Kangeang are the remaining more important 
38 


564 The International Geography 

clusters. Two or three small islands off the south coast are so close to the 
mainland that they may be reckoned as part of Java itself. 

Bali. — This island lies near the eastern edge of the submerged Asiatic 
plateau, separated by a shallow and narrow strait from Java. It is usual to 
reckon Bali as the most westerly of the Lesser Sunda Islands ; but, con- 
nected as it is with the Asiatic plateau, it is geographically, as it certainly is 
biologically, a part of Java, and ought never to be disassociated from the 
Greater Sunda Islands. It is very mountainous and volcanic ; the highest 
peak, Gunong Agong, rising to 10,000 feet, is a dormant volcano. The 
streams are numerous but small, and there are few lakes. The Balinese 
are Malays with a strain of Hindu blood, who still retain the Brahmanical 
religion, which elsewhere in the Archipelago is lost. They possess an 
extensive literature in a language of their own, written in slightly modified 
Javanese characters. In the working of iron and gold their artificers have 
a high reputation. As agriculturists they are very successful owing to 
their skill in the irrigation of the soil. Bali produces coffee, rice, and 
tobacco ; these, with copra and cattle, are the chief exports. Various small 
rajahs divide the ownership of the island among them. Buleleng, the chief 
town and port, is the seat of the Residency, which includes Lombok. 

Sumatra. — The second island of the Archipelago in size is Sumatra, 
which forms the western boundary. It extends in a north-west and south- 
east direction for six degrees on each side of the equator ; it is over 1,000 
miles in length, and in greatest breadth about 300. Including the sur- 
rounding islands, it is more than three times larger than Java, although its 
population is only one-seventh of that of the more favoured island. It is 
separated from the Malay Peninsula by the Strait of Malacca, and from 
Java by the Sunda Strait. The main physical feature of Sumatra is a 
high narrow mountain chain — the Barisan — buttressed by plateaux in some 
• parts and studded with dead, dormant and active volcanoes along its west 
coast, and a wide alluvial plain on the east side, from north to south,, 
formed by the deposits resulting from the long denudation of the Barisan. 
In the mountains, Palaeozoic slates, schists, and limestones have been 
found ; but Secondary rocks appear to be entirely unrepresented in the 
island, which is chiefly composed of Tertiary strata, containing extensive 
deposits of coal. The rivers on the west side are numerous, but short, 
rapid, and unimportant ; those flowing to the east are also numerous, but 
large, placid, and navigable, many of them for several hundred miles 
across the alluvial plains. The more important from north to south are 
the Rakan, the Kampar, the Indrigiri, the Batang-hari, and the Palembang, 
of which the last two carry to the sea the waters of four degrees of lati- 
tude. There are numerous lakes — Toba, high up among the mountains in 
the north, Korintji, and Ranau being the largest. Since Sumatra is crossed 
by the equator the seasons in the north are the opposite of those in the 
south. Along the equatorial belt there are no definite monsoons, and rain 
squalls occur throughout the year. The plains, from their humidity and 


Dutch East Indies— Sumatra 565 

high temperature, are very unhealthy ; but on the mountains, at elevations 
over 3,000 feet, no better climate can be desired. 

The flora of Sumatra is exceedingly rich ; the whole surface of the island 
is forest clad. Gutta-percha trees — from whose abundance Sumatra derived 
its name of Pulo Pertja — are among the most valuable denizens of its 
forests. Camphor trees, Dipterocarpeae, many of the species attaining to a 
great altitude, and Pinus Merkusii are also notable. Among its mammals 
the tapir, the mountain goa.t(Antilocapra sumatrana), the elephant, and the 
orang-utan are characteristic, while among its birds the Argus pheasant and 
the Bronze-tailed peacock-pheasant may be specially named. 

People and History of Sumatra. — The people are pure-blooded 
Malays, but among them are interspersed colonies of Melanesians (e.g., the 
Battaks), a Malayo-Caucasian race. High Malay, or dialects of it, is the 
language spoken throughout Sumatra. In the Lampong, Palembang, and 
Battak regions it is written in a character whose origin has been traced to 
the Indian mainland and to Phoenicia. In the eastern plains the people 
are mostly Mohammedans ; in the mountains they are mainly Pagans. 

At an early but unknown date Sumatra received a large incursion of 
Hindus, whose traces are left over a wide area in numerous stone sculp- 
tures, which, however, are far ruder in execution than those in Java. The 
first European to visit the island appears to have been Marco Polo who 
remained for some months in 1291. Varthema, the Italian, is doubtfully 
credited with touching at Atjeh in 1505. In 1598 the Dutch formed their 
first settlement there. During the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and of James I. 
English ambassadors were sent to reside at the Court of the Sultan of 
Atjeh (Achin), who appears to have been then* a great potentate. In 1685 
the British traders, on being ousted from Bantam by the Dutch, established 
themselves at Fort Marlborough, in Benkoolen, which they occupied till 
1824, when it was exchanged for Malacca. Since that date the whole of 
Sumatra — except Atjeh, with which there has been a chronic state of war 
now it is said successfully concluded — has been effectively occupied by the 
Dutch. 

The trade and industries of Sumatra are similar to those of Java, but 
more tobacco is cultivated. Black pepper, largely grown in the Lampongs, 
forms an important article of export. The forest products are extremely 
valuable. These are principally gutta-percha, camphor, dammar, beeswax, 
and gambier. Gold occurs abundantly in Jambi and northern Palembang. 
In the Padang highlands there are valuable beds of coal. The native 
manufactures are few, krises, sarongs, gold and silver filigree work being 
the chief, but made only for sale or barter among the natives themselves. 
Only a few miles of railway have yet been laid down ; all the chief towns 
are, however, connected by telegraph with Batavia. 

Divisions and Towns of Sumatra. — Including the Riow Archi- 
pelago, and Banka on its east coast, Sumatra is divided, for administrative 
purposes, into nine Residencies. 


566 The International Geography 

Telok-betong , the chief town of the Lampongs, situated at the head of 
a long gulf of the same name, is the principal port for the shipment of 
black pepper. It suffered severely by the sea-wave following the final 
outburst of Krakatao in 1884. Padang , a large and important seaport 
about the middle of the west coast, is the seat of the Residency, and has a 
large export trade from the Padang highlands, and the island groups to 
the westward. The Peak of Korintji, in the south of the Residency, the 
highest mountain in Sumatra, attains 12,000 feet in height. The large 
lake of the same name on the east of the Barisan, drains into the Jambi 
river. Oleleh, on the north coast, is the port for Kota-raja, the capital of 
Atjeh. From Deli, on the east coast, tobacco, grown on the numerous large 
plantations, which extend inland, forms the chief export. The leaves, 
which are used to form the outside wrappings of the best cigars, fetch a 
high price in the European market. Hence is reached the country round 
Lake Toba, which has an area of 500 square miles, and is inhabited by the 
Battaks, an Indonesian pagan race, who practice cannibalism on their 
enemies, but who nevertheless possess an alphabet, invented by and 
peculiar to themselves. Jambi , the capital of the Sultan of that territory, 
is situated on the Batang-hari river, which is navigable by steamers for 
nearly 500 miles. In the south-east Palembang , on the river of the same name, 
is separated from the sea by 40 miles of half-submerged alluvium. It is the 
capital of the Residency, and has a mixed population of Malays, Chinese 
and Arabs, making it the largest and busiest mart of the island, and the 
“ receiving house ” for the produce of a vast and rich area, brought by raft 
and boat from the base of the Barisan. The city, a great part of which is 
built on floating platforms, is quaint and picturesque, and altogether one of 
the most interesting towns of the Archipelago. Mount Dempo, one of the 
peaks of the Barisan, is its highest mountain. In the south-east corner of the 
Residency is Ranau, a district surrounding a lake of the same name, noted 
for the excellence of its tobacco. 

Islands of Sumatra. — Of the satellite islands lying off the east 
coast — the Riow Group, Banka and Bileton — the two last are the most 
important in containing the famous tin mines (discovered in 1709), which 
yield annually an average of nearly 10,000 tons of ingots. Off the west 
coast, and some 70 or 80 miles off, lie the Nias, the Nassau, and the 
Mentawi Islands, the last named forming the largest and most important 
group. Its islanders are noteworthy as being the only remnants now 
inhabiting the Archipelago of the Caucasioid stock from south-eastern 
Asia, who ousted the Negrito autochthones, and for a time occupied 
probably all the islands east to the Pacific, where they are now found. 

Borneo. — The largest island of the Archipelago, and the third on the 
globe not ranking as a continent, lies across the equator between 7 0 N. 
and 4 0 S. The Balabac Strait and the Sulu Sea separate it from the 
Philippines, and the Macassar Strait from Celebes. The island is irregularly 
triangular, and its northern and southern coasts are more irregular than 


Dutch East Indies — Borneo 


5 6 7 


those on the east and west. Its geological structure proves it to be a 
fragment of a continental land. The central mass of Tabang, with its 
radiating range of mountains, contains strata of all ages from Primary to 
Quaternary. Between its mountain arms, low level alluvial valleys extend 
far back into the country, which would by a small amount of subsidence 
in the south and east be overflowed by the sea to the centre of the island. 
Few of the mountains, except Kinabalu in the north, are high, and none 
are volcanic. There are no lakes of any magnitude ; but of its rivers, 
which are numerous and tortuous, a few are large. The Barito, flowing due 
south, the Kapuas, running west almost on the equator, the Bulangan, 
flowing due east, the Redjang, flowing due west to a great delta on the 
Sarawak coast are the chief. Most of them can be navigated by boats far 
into the interior. 

The meteorological conditions and climate of Borneo are very similar 
to those prevailing in Sumatra — an equatorial belt of variable weather 
divides the northern from the southern 
regions, which are regular, but opposite 
in season. The fauna and flora also agree 
very closely indeed with those of Sumatra, 
but the tiger and the tapir are absent. 

Borneo has, however, a peculiar anthro- 
poid — the Nosed Monkey ( Nasalis larvatus) 

— and is rich in birds, over 500 species 
inhabiting its forests and mountains. 

People, History and Trade of 
Borneo. — The inhabitants — Dyaks and 
Kayans, by name — now much mixed with 
Chinese blood, are largely Indonesian 
pagans who occupy the interior of the 
island. The coasts are tenanted by 
Chinese, Arabs, and chiefly Malays from western Malaysia, of whom 
the tribes known as Bajans still live by piracy. Some of the southern 
districts seem at one time to have been occupied by Hindus. In 
the north-west of Borneo, the Sulus predominate. The Dyaks are less 
civilised than the Sumatrans ; they have no literature, and no script. They 
live in large communal pile dwellings, and are spoken of as likeable 
savages by those who have lived among them. Their head-hunting — the 
sign amongst them of manhood — is practised, not from bloodthirstiness, 
so much as from conformity to inexorable custom which demands it as an 
essential to matrimonial success. They have no manufactures beyond the 
fabrication of a few krises, ornaments of gold, or silk sarongs — all of high 
repute — for their own use or barter. Rice, sugar, and a little tobacco are 
all the products the people cultivate, and those mainly for their own use. 

The export trade of Dutch Borneo consists of Chinese or European 
cultivated tobacco, sugar and pepper, and the native-collected forest produce 



568 The International Geography 

of edible birds' nests, bees-wax, dammar, and gutta-percha, with some 
beche-de-mer and tortoise-shell. The natural resources of the island are, 
however, still almost entirely undeveloped. Vast fields of coal of Tertiary 
age, composed mainly of large dicotyledonous trees, occur in the south, 
near Martapura ; and though there are abundant deposits of the more 
valuable minerals and metals, gold and diamonds are alone extensively 
worked. 

Ludovic Varthema was the first European to visit Borneo, early in the 
sixteenth century ; the Spanish squadron which put into Brunei on its 
way from the Philippines in 1521 next reached the island. Then some ten 
years later the Portuguese, who had touched in 1526 on their way to the 
Moluccas, established a few ports from which they carried on trade for 
over 150 years. It was not till the close of the sixteenth century, however, 
that the Dutch reached Borneo, where they also settled and traded for 
70 years. Close on their heels came the rivals of both, the English, who 
fixed their stations at Bandjermassin, where they remained till the beginning 
of the eighteenth century, when, owing to the hostility of the natives, they 
left the island. Onwards from 1733, when the Dutch returned, and 
especially since 1825, Holland has slowly increased her territory, till now 
the whole of Borneo, except the region on the north-west coast under 
British protection (p. 559), is under her dominion. 

Towns of Borneo. — Dutch Borneo is administered under two 
Residencies — those of South and East Borneo combined, and of West 
Borneo. The former province has an area thirteen times as large as 
Holland, though its population is less than a million. Its chief town 
is Bandjermassin , on the Riam-kina, a tributary of the Barito ; most of 
the inhabitants live in floating raft-houses, and pile dwellings. It is a 
large port, keeping up frequent communication with Batavia, the rest 
of the Archipelago, and Singapore. Pasir and Tangarong , on the north- 
east coast, are the chief towns of small semi-independent sultanates, 
inhabited chiefly by Kayans. The Western Residency is about one-third 
the size of the Eastern. Its chief town is the large port of Pontianak , 
on the delta of the Kapuas river, fifteen miles from the sea, and situated 
on the equator. It does a large export trade, of which gutta-percha is 
the most valuable commodity. 

CELEBES 

Celebes, which lies east of Borneo, west of the Moluccas, and south 
of the Philippines, between 2 0 N. and 6° S., is remarkable for its singular 
configuration. Four long, mountainous peninsulas radiate from a high 
central mass, and there are no alluvial lowlands of any extent. Orographi- 
cally, it seems to be composed of parallel ranges, separated by valleys, in 
part occupied by lakes. Near the centre a high peak, Mount Koruvi, is 
thought to be over 10,000 feet high. The rivers are mostly short and 
unnavigable, but the Koro, in the west, is a large stream. The oldest 


Dutch East Indies — Celebes 569 

strata are sandstones, crystalline schists, and limestones of pre-Cretaceous 
age, possibly in part Palaeozoic, as biological evidence indicates for the 
island a great antiquity and early continental character. A deep sea pro- 
bably existed in Cretaceous times, while a movement of elevation began at 
the close of the Eocene. 

Its northern part has an equatorial climate, and the southern the definite 
dry and wet seasons of its latitude. Celebes is considered to be one 
of the healthiest islands in the Archipelago. 

The people are Malays, partly pagan, partly Mohammedan, except in 
the Minahassa district in the northern peninsula, where they are Chris- 
tianised. The southern Mohammedan races, of whom the Bugis are the 
best known on account of their wide trading voyages over all the Archi- 
pelago, use a script resembling but not identical with that used in Sumatra. 

The Makassar and Minahassa districts are alone effectively occupied by 
the Dutch ; the rest of the island being ruled by rajahs, who can hardly be 
said to acknowledge the sovereignty of Holland. The first Dutch establish- 
ment in the island was effected at Makassar in 1618. In the middle of the 
seventeenth century they ousted the Portuguese, and have since then 
remained the nominal masters, except for 
the short period when (during the Penin- 
sular War) the Dutch possessions were 
held by the United Kingdom. Makassar , 
in the southern peninsula, is the greatest 
native mart in the Archipelago ; through 
it passes the whole of the trade of the 
islands to the east up to and including 
New Guinea — beche-de-mer, tortoise shell, 
pearl shell, Birds of Paradise skins, and 
spices. From Dongala on the west coast, 
the seat of an independent rajah, excellent 
horses are exported. Menado is the 
chief town of the Minahassa, one of the 
richest and best cultivated provinces in 
the Dutch possessions, long famed for the excellence of its coffee. The 
people, who are Christians, cultivate these government coffee gardens 
under the forced-labour system ; but, exercised as it is under a kindly 
paternal government, the people are prosperous, happy, and contented, 
as, indeed, they are almost nowhere else in the Archipelago. The 
Minahassa plateau, rising to 2,000 feet above the sea, is one of the most 
beautiful and fertile in the world. Kema, on the opposite side of the 
peninsula, twenty-three miles from Menado, is the port of the province 
during the west monsoon, during which a dangerous surf prevails at 
Menado. 

Numerous island groups surround Celebes, the chief are the Sanghir 
Islands in the north ; Butung, Tukang Bessi and Salaier, off its southern 
peninsulas. 



57© The International Geography 

THE MOLUCCAS 

Moluccas. — Under the general name of the Moluccas or Spice 
Islands are included three groups of small islands clustered respectively 
round one or more larger islands, the principal being Halmaheira, Buru, 
Ceram (or Serang) and Ke. The Moluccas are traversed by the great 
volcanic chain of the Archipelago. Many of its islands are volcanic cones ; 
some are raised coral reefs and others are composed of crystalline rocks 
of Palaeozoic age. The majority are as yet but little explored. The 
vegetation is luxuriant and of Papuo-Australian affinities. The nutmeg, 
clove, and cardamom trees are the species which first made the region 
famous as the Spice Islands. In its fauna marsupials take the place of 
mammals. Kangaroos, cassowaries, and Birds of Paradise appear for the 
first time in our journey east. Butterflies are, like the birds, remarkable 
for their abundance and beauty. The climate of the Moluccas presents 
the variety and the differences, already noted, of a region extending on 
both sides of the equator. Here, however, the seasons are somewhat 
modified by the proximity of the islands to New Guinea. 

Three races commingle in the Moluccas. A few remnants of the 
Mongolo-Caucasian forerunners of the Malays still linger, Malays and a 
larger proportion of frizzly-haired Melanesians of Papuan stock, with 
hordes of mixed Chinese, Arab and European blood. Most of the islands 
have a language of their own, but without a script. The discovery of the 
Spice Islands is lost in antiquity ; their fame however long antedated 
their geographical localisation by the Western world. This was at last 
accomplished by the Portuguese officers D’Abreu and Serrano in 1511. 
The islands were annexed to Portugal in 1522, but in 1583 the natives 
expelled their masters. In 16 [3 the Dutch came on the scene and, partly 
by treaty, partly by force, acquired the whole of the possessions of the 
Sultans of Ternate and Tidore, which embraced Mindanao, the Moluccas, 
and the whole of north-western New Guinea, all of which, except 
Mindanao, still belong to the Netherlands. 

Halmaheira (or Gilolo) and its surrounding islets form a very 
mountainous and volcanic group. They are inhabited by Melanesians, of 
Papuan stock somewhat mixed with Malayan blood, and it is curious that 
they are Mohammedan in religion, though the Melanesian strain is in the 
ascendancy. Ternate , consisting of the peak of that name, 6,000 feet in 
height, is famed throughout the Archipelago for its beautiful harbour. 
The Sultan has his residence there. Tidore is a minute islet, but the seat 
of the great rival sultanate to Ternate, through which it became a name 
famous in the Archipelago. Baijian, a considerable island, but sparsely 
populated, is zoologically interesting from containing a genus of Birds 
of Paradise peculiar to itself. 

Buru, a large island to the west of Ceram, is in its western half high 
and mountainous, and has on its eastern side a wide alluvial plain. In the 


Dutch East Indies 


57 1 


centre of the island, at an elevation of 2,000 feet above the sea, is the lake 
of Waikolo. The inhabitants are Malayo-Papuan, and their chief industry 
is the manufacture of kajuput oil from the leaves of Melaleuca kajuputi, 
Kajeli is the only town of consequence. 

Southern Moluccas. — The largest island of the southern Moluccas 
is Ceram, which as yet is very little explored. The people on the coast are 
Malays, and in the interior more or less pure Melanesians. Sago is the sole 
export. Amboyna (with Saparna, Haruku, and Nusa-laut), though small in 
area, is the most celebrated and one of the most interesting of the Spice 
Islands. To Amboyna it was that the lucrative and coveted clove-monopoly 
was restricted by the Dutch, and secured by exterminating the tree in every 
other island. The monopoly has now been abandoned in favour of a tax 
levied on the adult male population. This island group is mountainous, 
volcanic, and richly clad with vegetation. Amboyna itself is one of the 
healthiest islands in the Archipelago. The people are Mohammedan Malays, 
Melanesians (Ceramese) and Christian descendants of Europeans by native 
mothers. Amboyna, the chief town and capital of the Residency, is a large 
military station. Banda, 140 miles south-east of Amboyna, is a small cluster 
of volcanic islands rising from the depths of the Banda Sea. On Banda-neira 
stand the town and fort, facing west to the smouldering island-cone of 
Gunung Api. On Lontar, the largest of the group, are laid out the principal 
nutmeg gardens, for which the islands are famous, and from which the 
world’s supply is almost entirely drawn. The value of the spice is 
estimated at about $450,000 annually. 

The Ke Islands, consisting of between thirty and forty narrow 
mountainous islets, separated by small channels, extend for sixty miles 
north of the 6th parallel of south latitude. Numerous rajahs divide 
between them the ownership of the group, whose inhabitants are, with the 
exception of a few Malays, mainly Melanesians of Papuan origin. Their 
fame as boat-builders and as artistic wood-carvers has spread throughout 
the Archipelago. 


THE LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS 

The Lesser Sunda Islands form the long chain stretching from 
Lombok eastward to Timor-laut. Many of the links of this chain i;ise from 
the same submarine bank and thus combine into island-clusters, which must 
at a former time have been more closely connected together than they are 
now. Of these the islands from Lombok to Ombay comprise one cluster ; 
Sumba and Timor, with Wetta and the Serwatty islands are independent 
links, each rising out of deep water, while the Timor-laut bank gives origin 
to another closely inter-related constellation. As a whole the group is arid, 
and less verdure-clad than the islands farther west, and both biologically 
as well as in appearance it is Australian. This greater dryness of these 
islands, especially those further to the east, is due to their proximity to the 
heated interior of the continent to their south and east: ' With few excep- 


572 The International Geography 

tions they are mountainous and very volcanic ; many of them, however, 
are still but slightly known. 

Lombok-Ombay Group. — The most westerly member of the chain 
is Lombok, separated from Bali by the Lombok Strait, only a few miles in 
width. The island is only twenty-five miles long, and its rivers are necessarily 
small, while the lakes it contain are only old craters. Rinjani, the highest 
summit, which rises to 12,000 feet, has an ever-smoking top, and is often a 
clear landmark far at sea, when the rest of the island is hidden from view. 
With the exception of a few Hindu Balinese, the inhabitants of Lombok, 
known as Sassaks, are Mohammedan Malays, with a slight infusion of 
Hindu blood. They have a language of their own written in the Balinese 
character. For half a century they lived under the tyrannous yoke of the 
Balinese, by whom they had been subjugated, but in 1894, unable to bear 
their oppression longer, they successfully appealed to the Dutch to take up 
their cause. The Sassaks are skilled irrigators of their fields, which yield 
large crops of rice and maize. They export the same products as the 
Balinese. Ampanam is the port of the island, and Mataram, a few miles 
inland, was the residence of the Balinese Rajahs. The next island, Sumbawa, 
a larger island, is nearly cut in two by an immense bay, on the east end of 
which rises the famous volcano Tamboro, 9,100 feet high, whose eruption in 
1815 was only less disastrous and far reaching in its effects than that of Kraka- 
tao in 1884. Bima and Sumbawa are the capitals of the two sultanates into 
which the island is divided. It is celebrated throughout the Archipelago for 
its fine breed of horses. The island of Flores, separated by a small islet 
and two straits from Sumbawa, is 220 miles in length, and although very 
narrow, the interior is hardly known. Its inhabitants are mainly frizzly- 
haired Melanesians of Papuan origin, occupying the interior, and Malay 
traders on the coast. Larantuka, the administrative capital, is its best 
known town and its most frequented port. The islets of Adenara, Solor, 
Lomblen, Pantar and Ombay, standing on the eastern end of the Lombok- 
Flores bank, are very sparsely inhabited. 

Sumba, which diverges in a north-west and south-east direction from 
the general trend of the chain, is almost surrounded by deep water. The 
inhabitants, who are pagan Malays, are excellent agriculturists, and large 
exporters of cattle and horses, which are shipped from Nangamessi by 
Makassar traders. 

Timor. — The little islet of Savu, having a Hindu population, forms a 
stepping-stone to Timor of which Rotti, which lies under its west corner, 
is but a separated fragment. Timor, the largest of the Lesser Sunda 
Islands, 300 miles long, diverges from the line of the Sunda island chain. 
On both sides the depths exceed 1,000 fathoms. Its rocks are largely of 
Palaeozoic age. Few of its rivers are large, none are navigable, and 
many of them meander through deep and wide valleys full of shingle, 
in which gold occurs in apparently considerable quantity. The people 
are of very mixed pedigree. They appear to be Melanesians (with 


Dutch East Indies— Timor 573 

indications of Indonesian or Polynesian intermixture), Malays, and 
mongrels form the intermixture of these. At the coast there are Chinese, 
Arabs, Bugis and Solorese. Their agriculture is very poor ; maize being 
the main staple of their food. Numerous pigs are reared by them. 
Their religion is paganism, tinctured here and there with Christianity. 
The country has been all parcelled out into “ kingdoms," each ruled 
by a Rajah or Dato ; nearly every one of which has its own language 
or dialect, though only a few miles may separate their capital villages. 
The Portuguese, who occupied the whole island prior to 1613, were 
driven from the western moiety by the Dutch, who have since retained 
possession of it with Cupang as the capital. 

Portuguese Timor . 1 — The greater part of the island of Timor 
belongs to Portugal. The Portuguese portion includes the north-eastern 
end of the island, with Dilli, the best seaport, as the capital of the colony, 
which is an autonomous district for which a special administrative 
organisation is being introduced. The geological structure of Timor is in 
part coral formation and in part schistose. The reported existence of 
active volcanoes has not been confirmed. There are only small streams, 
the most important of them being the Lois. The climate is healthy in the 
mountainous districts ; but has a bad reputation on account of the fact 
that Dilli is built on low and marshy ground. Timor coffee is of 
superb quality, and the plantations are progressing greatly. Cocoa, 
nutmeg, pepper, and sandal- wood grow well. Petroleum occurs and, 
when regularly worked, will become a source of wealth to the island. 
There are traces of gold, but no veins have been found. The area of 
Portuguese Timor is about 7,000 square miles, and the population amounts 
to about 300,000. 

Eastern Sunda Islands. — Wetta and the Serwatty Islands are 
inhabited partly by Christianised Malays and partly by Papuan Melane- 
sians. The Timor-laut group, terminating the Lesser Sunda chain, con- 
tains three larger islands — Larat, Yamdena, and Selaru — and about 
thirty smaller. They are mainly upraised coral-reefs, peopled by Papuan 
Melanesians, and Malays with Polynesian and Papuan blood in their veins. 
Very little is knowm of even the larger members of the group, and all 
the smaller are perfectly virgin ground to the geographer and the bio- 
logist. 

* By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos. 


574 


The International Geography 


STATISTICS OF MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. 


(. Mainly estimates about 1895.) 

Density of Population 

Province. Area in sq. miles. Population. per sq. mile. 


Philippine Islands 

115,000 

• • 

• • 

7,500,000 

• • 


65 

Luzon 

— 

• • 

• • 

3,057,000 

• • 



Bisaya 

— 

• • 

• • 

2,213,000 

• • 


— 

Mindanao 

— 

• • 

• • 

750,000 

• • 


— 

Adjacent Islands . . 

— 

• • 

• • 

22,000 

• • 


— 

British Borneo 

84,000 

• • 

• • 

493,000 

• • 


6 

British North Borneo 

31,000 

• • 

• • 

175,000 

• • 


5 

Brunei 

3,000 

• • 

• • 

18,000 

• • 


6 

Sarawak 

50,000 

• • 

• • 

300,000 

• • 


6 

Netherlands-India 1 

584,000 

• • 

• • 

34,000,000 

• « 


58 

Java and Madura . . 

50,500 

• • 

• • 

25,700,000 

• • 


509 

Sumatra and Islands 

184,000 

• • 

• • 

3,450,000 

• • 


19 

Dutch Borneo 

212,700 

« • 

• • 

1,180,000 

• • 


5 

Celebes 

71,400 

• « 

• • 

1,998,000 

• • 


28 

Moluccas 

43,800 

• • 

• • 

400,000 

• • 


9 

Lesser Sunda Islands 2 . . 

65,600 

• • 

• • 

1,164,000 

• • 


17 

Malay Archipelago 

783,000 

• • 

• • 

42,000,000 

• • 

• • 

54 


Manila (Philippines) . . 
Soerakarta (Java) 
Soerabaya „ 

Batavia * „ 


POPULATION OF TOWNS. 

. . 150,000 Djokdjokarta (Java) . . 

. . 150,000 Samarang „ 

. . 130.000 Palembang ( Sumatra ) 

. . 100,000 Bandjermassan ( Dutch Berneo ) 


90.000 

80.000 

50.000 

45.000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

(Estimates about 1895.) 

Philippines. British Borneo. Netherlands-India. 


Imports 2,100,000 . . .. 900,000 .. .. 13,500,000 

Exports 4,100,000 .. .. 1,200,000 .. .. 18,700,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. R. Wallace. “The Malay Archipelago. A Narrative of Travel [in 1854-62].” London. 
New edition, 1890. 

F. H. H. Guillemard. “Malaysia and the Pacific Archipelagoes” in Stanford's Com- 
pendium. London, 1894. 

H. O. Forbes. “ A Naturalist’s Wanderings in the Eastern Archipelago from 1878 to 
1883.” London, 1895. 

A. H. Keane. ** Eastern Geography.” 2nd edit. London, 1892. 

D. C. Worcester. “The Philippine Islands.” New York and London, 1808. 

Jesuitae El Archipielago Filipino. 2 vols. and Atlas. Washington, 1900 ; and Translation 
in “ Report of the Philippine Commission.” 2 vols. Washington, 
1900-01. 

P. A. vander Lith. “ Encyclopedic van Nederl. Indie.” Leiden, 1895. 

P. J. Veth. “ Java, Geographisch, Ethnologisch, Historisch.” 3 vols. Haarlem, 1875-84. 
T. Posewitz. “ Borneo ; Entdeckungsreisen und Geologischen Untersuchungen.” Berlin, 
1889. Translation, London, 1892. 

Molengraaff. Geologische Verkehningstochten in Central Borneo. 2 vols. and Atlas. 

Leiden, 1900. Translation, Leiden, 1903. 

Nieuwenhuis. “In Central Borneo.” 2 vols. Leiden, 1900. 

“ Quer durch Borneo.” 2 vols. Leiden, 1904, 1907. 

K. Marten. “ Reisen in der Molukken.” 2 vols. Leiden, 1894. 

“ Report of the Philippine Commission to the President.” 4 vols. Washington, 1900-01. 
F. H. Sawyer. “ The Inhabitants of the Philippines.” 1900. 

P. and F. Sarasin. “ Entwurf einer geographisch-geologischen Beschreibung des Insel 
Celebes.” Wiesbaden, 1901. 

“ Reisen in Celebes.” 2 vols. Wiesbaden, 1905. 


1 Not including Dutch New Guinea. 


3 Including Bali. 


BOOK III. 

AUSTRALASIA AND POLYNESIA 


CHAPTER XXXI.— THE CONTINENT OF 

AUSTRALIA 

By C. H. Barton, B.A., 

Maryborough , Queensland. 

Australia. — Australia, the least of the five continents, with its 
southern satellite, Tasmania, stands aloof, both in character and situation, 
from the world at large. Unlike any of the other great land masses, it lies 
wholly within the southern hemisphere, without either encroaching on the 
equatorial region or approaching, even remotely, the antarctic circle. No 
other continent is so evenly parcelled out among the torrid, subtropical, 
and temperate zones ; none so deeply lapped in great ocean expanses as 
to form the one prominent land area in what is known as the “ water hemi- 
sphere.” Severed from Africa by an average interval of 4,500, and from 
South America by 8,500 miles, it differs from both not merely in outline, 
but in the proportion that its longitudinal extent — 41 0 , or about 2,360 miles, 
bears to the average width from north, to south — 17^-°, or 1,050 miles. In 
neither of the zones most exposed to prolonged solstitial heat is there to be 
found another example of a land so proportioned, and at the same time so 
entirely withdrawn from equatorial or polar influence. Long ages of 
seclusion from the rest of the world have impressed on this outlying region 
a marked singularity in aspect, climate, and natural products. Isolation is 
the predominant characteristic ; indications of affinity with other regions 
are few and obscure. Only on the north-west, where the myriad isles of 
Malaysia suggest a former connection with Asia, does Australia make any 
advance towards the clustered continents of the “ land hemisphere.” Even 
in this direction the nearest opposite points — North Cape in West Australia, 
and Cape Romania, at the extremity of the long-drawn Malay peninsula — 
are still 1,800 miles apart ; while the average interval between the Asiatic 
and Australian continents exceeds the breadth of the North Atlantic between 
the British Islands and Newfoundland. Of neighbouring islands, New 
Guinea, separated from the north coast of Australia by the Arafura Sea, 
Torres Strait, and the Coral Sea ; and the New Zealand group, some 1,200 
miles distant on the south-east, are the most important. The south-eastern 

575 


57^ The International Geography 

peninsula of New Guinea, together with New Caledonia and Norfolk 
Island, form stations in a vast curve running approximately parallel to the 
east coast of Australia, while a second and larger curve can be traced 
through New Ireland, the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and the 
Kermadecs, to Cape Runaway in northern New Zealand. The outer or 
more easterly of these two curves is studded with volcanic vents, the inner 
one only at the southern extremity, where both are merged in a series of 
active volcanoes, Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe, the culminating 
points of the New Zealand plateau. 

Coasts. — The continent of Australia is reniform in outline ; the western 
lobe imperfectly rectangular, while the curvature of the eastern describes 
about two-thirds of an irregular ellipse. Simple and compact, the continent 
presents only two important deviations from the general outline — Arnhem 
Land and Cape York Peninsula, both projecting northward towards New 
Guinea, and enclosing the spacious, almost land-locked, Gulf of Carpentaria. 
The only other striking indentations of the coast are the Great Australian 
Bight, extending from Cape Pasley to Cape Catastrophe ; and the twin 
gulfs Spencer and St. Vincent, between Cape Catastrophe, Yorke Penin- 
sula, and Cape Jervis. The Bight and Carpentaria jointly determine the 
division of the continent into a western and an eastern half, differing not a 
little from each other in aspect and physical conditions. Thus the western 
half has a more angular contour, studded with bold prominences; 
more and larger estuaries, but fewer rivers, and not half a dozen that are 
navigable above tidal influence. Long tracts of coast show no sign of 
drainage to seaward, and there is but one solitary example (Sturt Creek) 
of a watercourse of any length flowing towards the interior. There is 
much uniformity of surface, and except in the far north-west and north, 
barrenness and poverty of organic life are the prevalent characteristics. 
The eastern half possesses, on a less accentuated outline, more available 
harbours, roadsteads, and rivers, together with some 1,500 miles of inland 
navigation. The mountain systems are higher, more intricate and con- 
tinuous ; they play a greater part in attracting and distributing moisture, 
in diversifying the surface, and so favouring the development of a richer 
fauna and flora. 

Islands. — Of the islands belonging to Australia, the great majority are 
mere rocks, others are practically unexplored, or are uninhabited, or have 
only local importance. Tasmania, the largest, alone claims special 
mention. Cut off by Bass Strait from the south-eastern portion of the 
mainland, a former connection with which is still attested by chains of 
intervening islets, the offshoot differs greatly in outline from the parent 
mass. The heart-shaped contour presents a concave northern front to the 
prominent convexity of the opposite main ; the broken coast is studded 
with projections and indentations ; and the southerly position of the island 
— between lats. 40I 0 and 43J 0 — exempts it from the peculiar climatic con- 
ditions that affect Australia proper. 


Australia 


577 

Configuration and Hydrography. — Superficially, Australia re- 
presents the exposed portion of an irregular, partly submarine plateau,, 
with an average submersion of 600 feet, the remains of an older 
lozenge-shaped continent, reaching from lat. 50° S. to the equator,, 
and including Tasmania, New Guinea, Timor, and the Moluccas. Proof 
of a subsidence sufficient to break up the continuity of the mass is 
found in the extreme shallowness of the Arafura Sea and Carpentaria 
Gulf ; the swampy shores of the latter ; the concentric trend of the 
rivers that empty into it from the south ; and above all in the Great 
Barrier Reef, extending nearly 1,000 miles along the north-east coast at an 
average distance from land of about 30 miles (Fig. 294). Of the inland 
area, nearly two- thirds is occupied by the Great Austral Plain. Flanked on 
every side by mountains or tablelands, and sloping more or less gradually 
towards a central depressed lake-region, the outfall of a vast system of 
inland drainage, this en- 
grossing feature is by no 
means the unbroken level 
that its name implies. 

Heights of land or un- 
dulating downs indicate 
the water-partings ; flat- 
topped hills, the ruins of 
a once continuous rock- 
cap, with, here and there, 
some scattered mountain 
groups of bolder aspect, 
subdivide it into lesser 
concavities of varying ex- 
tent. Of the subdivisions 
thus created, the basin 
of the river Murray, in 
the eastern half of the continent, alone has an outlet to the sea. All 
the other subdivisions constitute systems of inland drainage ending in 
saline lake basins, where not absorbed by the soil or lost through evapo- 
ration. The outer portions of the great plain merge into tablelands 
buttressed to seaward by mountain chains, whose trend follows, ap- 
proximately, that of the coast. Chief among them is the Great Divide, 
reaching from long. 142 0 E. on the south coast to Cape York, parting the 
Pacific waters from those that flow westward, throwing out secondary 
ranges on both sides of the main axis, and giving rise to the not 
very numerous class of Australian watercourses that deserve the name of 
rivers. The courses of those on the Pacific slope are of no great length, 
but they carry ample volumes of water, and are liable, in rainy seasons, to 
frequent but brief overflows. Those on the landward slope have courses 
of great length, carry but little water, and are flooded only at long intervals. 





FlG. 289 . — Hydrography of Australia. 


578 The International Geography 

The Murray, the main artery of the Murray-Darling system, is an excep- 
tion, being regularly fed during the dry season by the melting snows of the 
Australian Alps. 

The south-western coast, between Cape Leeuwin and Shark Bay, is 
flanked by another but shorter mountain chain, the scarp of a huge granite 
plateau extending inland, whose scanty drainage is discharged through a 
series of defiles into the Indian Ocean. On the semi-peninsular projections 
that diversify the coast north and north-east from Shark Bay, other less 
regular mountain masses are planted whose radiating trend roughly corre- 
sponds with the prominences of the shore line. The south coast, as far as 
the head of the Great Australian Bight, for more than 700 miles con- 
sists of a line of cliffs over 500 feet in height, merging further eastward 
into extensive sand-dunes. This side of the continent presents the 
phenomenon of a coast line nearly 1,000 miles in length, unbroken by the 
discharge of even the smallest watercourse into the ocean. 

The drainage area of Carpentaria Gulf is bounded on the south by high 
downs, in which the coastal rivers discharging into it take their rise. 
Nearly equidistant from the east and west coasts a system of parallel 
chains, with a general west-north-west and east-south-east strike, occupies, 
with some intervening tablelands and valleys, the centre of the continent. 
Lastly, the wedge-shaped bulk of Flinders Range striking north from gulfs 
Spencer and St. Vincent, and finally bifurcating to the east and west, 
indirectly connects the central system with the more distant outlying spurs 
of the Great Divide. 

The rivers of Tasmania all drain into the sea. The two principal, the 
Derwent, flowing south, and the Tamar, north, both rise in the central 
lake-studded tableland round which the mountains cluster in detached 
masses up to 5,000 feet in height. A smaller plateau of similar character 
occupies the south-western angle of the island, and from one or other of 
these elevated regions the larger rivers derive their chief supply. 

Geological Structure. — Geologically, Australia ranks among the 
oldest existing lands. Two-thirds of the surface is overlaid with th q debris 
of Mesozoic and Tertiary sandstones, which must once have covered the 
interior with an unbroken sheet. In the south-west denudation has 
exposed the underlying granite over an area of from 25,000 to 30,000 
square miles, while the central ranges, and those of the western part of 
Arnhem Land, afford strong evidences of metamorphic agency. On the 
west and south-west of the Gulf of Carpentaria is a large irregular area of 
Jurassic age, and strata belonging to the same system reappear on the 
opposite side of the Gulf, in association with crystalline and trap rocks, in 
the south and middle of Cape York Peninsula. In the Great Divide, the 
granite combines with Silurian, crystalline, and Carboniferous rocks to form 
a solid, terraced axis, on whose slopes the sandstones rest. Coal seams of 
good strength and high quality are worked at various spots along the 
Pacific coast. There is apparently some reason to believe that the Blue 


Australia 


579 


Mountain sandstone was formed by the action, not of water, but of wind ; 
the process of the consolidation of wind-drifted sand into sandstone being 
visible at Fraser Island (Hervey Bay), at Warrnambool on the south coast, 
and elsewhere. Flinders Range is mainly of Silurian origin, as is also the 
greater portion of Eyre Peninsula, on the west of Spencer Gulf. While 
there is no active volcano known to exist in Australia at present, evidences 
of recent volcanic action are found in “ Australia Felix,” a district between 
Port Phillip and Cape Jaffa, within which no less than eighty-three distinctly 
marked volcanic cones, from 700 to over 2,000 feet high, have been counted, 
besides numerous lesser vents and crater-lakes (Fig. 301). Other volcanic 
indications are found in north-eastern Australia, where they are dispersed 
over an area of some 30,000 square miles. Such are the basaltic flows 
about the Cape River, the Upper Burdekin, and the Lower Burnett ; 
such the congeries of dome-shaped craters and cones found, at intervals* 
about the 20th parallel. 

Tasmania is, in the main, of Silurian age. Much of the interior, how- 
ever, and part of the east coast is Carboniferous or Jurassic, the two 
systems being separated by an intervening belt of crystalline formation, 
along which, as in most places on the mainland, the richest and most 
profitably worked mineral deposits are found. Both continent and island 
are remarkable for their immunity from severe earthquakes. There is, 
however, an ironstone region about 450 miles due north from the head of 
the Great Australian Bight, in the Central Ranges, where, about the 
summer solstice, earthquakes of considerable force are stated to recur 
almost daily during the hotter hours of the afternoon. Apart from this 
isolated phenomenon, due, no doubt, to local causes, the seismic energy 
displayed elsewhere is but feeble, a fact attributable, perhaps, to the 
numerous volcanic safety valves, which, at a safe distance of from 1,000 to 
2,000 miles, protect the continent on the east, north-east, and north-west. 

Climate. — The climate, though in the main healthy, is subject to 
strange vicissitudes. The summer solstice of the hemisphere coinciding 
with the Earth’s position in perihelion, the heat at that season is intense, 
even in latitudes far south of the tropic line. The enormous longitudinal 
extent of the continent, over which the Sun, when nearest, is vertical for 
nearly three hours out of the twenty-four, combines with a generally shade- 
less surface to favour so continuous an absorption of heat as is only 
paralleled in the African Sahara, where the summer Sun is more than a 
million and a half miles farther away. The absence of lofty cloud-con- 
densing peaks in the central region, and the tendency of coastal chains to 
rob the sea-winds of their moisture, and deflect them from a horizontal to 
an ascending course, combine with the radiation of the Sun-parched 
interior to produce severe and protracted droughts. On the approach of 
winter, when the Earth is tending towards aphelion, the obliquity and the 
distance of the Sun increase together ; the column of light, superheated 
air that rises from the inland region rapidly cools down into a dense 



b.oumt 

TASMANIA 


FIG. 290 . — Mean Annual Rainfall of Australia 
( after Supan). 


580 The International Geography 

cushion of heavy cold air, exercising a strong lateral pressure on all sides, 
and manifesting itself to the warmer coast regions as a nipping, bitterly 
cold land-wind, lowering the temperature many degrees below the lati- 
tudinal average for the season. 

Rainfall. — The rainfall is so unevenly distributed, that whole districts 

may be suffering from drought, 
while others, not far distant, are 
the scene of great and destructive 
inundations. At irregular intervals, 
sometimes extending over several 
years, the most arid parts of the 
interior will thus for a few days 
assume the appearance of a bound- 
less, though shallow, inland sea. 
While the north-west and north 
coasts derive their rainfall from the 
monsoons ; while the east coast is 
bathed in showers condensed from 
the south-east trade wind by the 
Great Divide, varied with the ampler 
discharge from an occasional tropical disturbance ; and while the southern 
parts of the continent, north to some 30° of latitude, owe their rainfall to a 
series of progressive cyclonic movements travelling eastward from their 
source in the higher latitudes of the Indian Ocean — a very dry zone, from 
5 0 to 7 0 wide, stretches across the interior from the west coast to about 
141 0 E., over which the annual rainfall hardly averages 5 inches. 

Temperature. — While subject to sudden diurnal changes, mean 
temperatures vary but slightly with the latitude ; height and dis- 
tance from the sea being the principal modifying factors. Within 
the marine influence frost seldom occurs 
and insular conditions, as a rule, prevail ; 
whereas inland, even at slight altitudes, 
strong contrasts of heat and cold will be 
felt even in the torrid zone. Coincidently 
with the setting in of the tropical rains, the 
south and centre are liable to hot winds 
and dust storms, which, however, serve to 
dispel miasma and purify the atmosphere. 

The climate of Tasmania has little in com- 
mon with that of the mainland, -esembling 
rather that of South Devon or the Channel 

Islands. The west coast, however, is at all times liable to severe gales ; 
the summer is short, and the winter wet and boisterous. 

Flora. — Organic life in Australia is in keeping with the singular natural 
conditions that mark the region. The native flora, where not obscured by 


r> Ffi. Mai Am. Mat. Jvh. Ait. Auc. 8t a Oct Ioy 0*o. U. 


©0 

85 

80 

76 

70 

85 

00 

65 

60 



• 















__ 











mm 






■» • 











- 




CV:TT 





ptd 

WV1 




:V::7 


vS«< 

i 

Wz 




iiiiii 

PE 

.'.*.*.* A 

RT 

:::::: 

H- 

VAW- 

r.::: 


< 

>YDN 

EY 


- - 




Australia 


581 


the intrusion of East Indian types, bears a decidedly archaic impress. 
The numerous genera of arborescent myrtles, the proteads, casuarinese, 
araucarias, cycads, ferns, lycopods, and other orders, whose maximum 
development reaches back to Oolitic, Triassic, and even Carboniferous 
times, recall conditions of plant development once universal, though at 
present centred in, if not absolutely limited to, the southern continent. 1 
The survival of these old-world forms was no doubt rendered possible by 
a long-continued process of slow adaptation to the increasing aridity of 
the climate, as the ancient watercourses became obliterated through the 
weathering of the former sandstone crust. Thus, in the more typical 
genera, the foliage has acquired a tough, leathery texture that enables 
it to resist the wilting effect of excessive evaporation ; or its functions are 
assumed by other organs, like the phyllodia or modified leaf-stalks of 
certain acacias, and the branches of the 
casuarina ; or again, in virtue of a slight 
twist of the stalk, it presents no reflecting 
surfaces, but only narrow edges to the 
vertical sunlight. Throughout the great 
myrtaceous order, which far outnumbers 
all other Australian types, the power of 
resistance is increased by abundant se- 
cretion of volatile oils, which renders the 
cellular tissue impervious to the heat rays, 
and diffuses the delightful aroma peculiar 
to the Australian “ bush." Some of the 
eucalypts or “ gum-trees ” rival in dimen- 
sions the Californian Sequoia gigantea. The 
tallest authenticated specimen of Euca- 
lyptus amygdalina, felled on the Black 


i - -0 Jan Feb. Man Apb. Mat. Jun. Jul Auc Sep Oct Nov Oec 


00 

85 

80 

75 

70 

66 

60 

65 

60 

46 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

15 

10 

5 

O 


Port Darwin — Alice spr 













N 












s 








* 




s 

\ 

1 






« 

/ 

/ 

/ 

— 

/ 





\ 

\ 

V 


/ 

/ 

/ 





r. 



S 














t 









• 







jjljjjj 








tf . 












•S; 


rfSS 






rw * 



:::::: 


ngs 


18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

12 

11 

10 

0 

a 

7 

a 

5 

4 

3 

2 

1 

0 


Spur, near Melbourne, in Victoria, measured FlG * 2 9 2 .—Temperature and Rainfall 
r . r 1 at Port Dai win and Alice Shrines. 

420 feet from the butt to a point where 

the top had been broken off, and at 300 feet from the ground still had 
a diameter of 6 feet. In the glens of the river Warren, Western 
Australia, Eucalyptus colossea attains a height of 400 feet, and the 
Tasmanian blue gum, Eucalyptus globulus, is but little inferior. Leguminous 
plants, chiefly represented by the genus Acacia, of which there are 300 
species, whereof some 250 are peculiar to Australia, rank next to the myrtles 
in number and extent of range. In company with the strange order of 
proteads ( Banksia , Grevillca, Hakea, Helicia, &c.), with the desert-loving 
conifers ( Frenela and Callitris), and with certain beef-woods ( Casuarina ), 
they flourish where the hardiest eucalypts refuse to grow. The heaths, 
so abundant in northern Europe and South Africa, are here represented 


1 South Africa and South America, for instance, both have proteads, and South America 
an araucaria, while a species of casuarina is common to the greater part of Polynesia. 

But the three orders are nowhere found in association, except in Australia. 


582 The International Geography 

by the allied genus Epacris , of which some 300 species are enumerated. 
In addition to the orders already mentioned, Australia is rich in composites, 
figs, mallows, capparids, night-shades, spurges, rue-worts, sterculiads, grape- 
vines, madder-worts, asclepiads, succulents, labiates, chenopods, vervains, 
water-peppers, sandal- woods, orchids, lily-worts, palms, and sedges. Among 
the more striking forms may be mentioned the baobab or “ gouty-stem ” 
tree ( Adansonia Gregorii), the only other existing species of which (A. 
digitata ) belongs to the African continent ; the various species of grass- 
tree ( Xanthorrhcea ), arborescent rushes of strange aspect ; the equally 
uncouth bottle-trees ( Sterculia ) ; the parasitic mistletoes ( Loranthus ) with 
their variable foliage and brilliantly-coloured flowers ; the “ giant lily ” 
(Doryanthes excelsa ) with a flower-stalk thirty feet high ; the stinging tree 
( Laportea ) ; and the gorgeous “ waratah ” {T eloped), with crimson flower- 
heads visible half a mile away. Most of the coast region and much of the 
interior is mantled with valuable grasses, of which seventy genera, com- 
prising some 300 species, are indigenous. 

Fauna. — The animal kingdom, so far as typically Australian, is as 
quaint in aspect as the vegetation. Excluding sundry bats, a few rodents, 
a feral dog, and certain marine forms, the native mammalia all belong 
to the primitive marsupial sub-class, and thus confirm the geological record 
of the antiquity of this zoological region. They comprise some forty-five 
species of Macropodidct (kangaroo tribe) ; about twenty species of phalangers 
— variously misnamed “ opossums,” “ flying squirrels,” “ native bears,” &c. ; 
four Phascolomydce or wombats ; ten of the Peramelidce or bandicoot tribe ; 
and twenty dasyures or marsupial carnivores, including the “ striped wolf ” 
and “ devil,” both confined to Tasmania, and now nearly extinct. The 
recently discovered pouched-mole, constituting by itself a distinct family, 
Notoryctidce, seems to be confined to a patch of sandy desert north of Lake 
Eyre. Of still lower development than the marsupials are the monotremes 
or egg-laying mammals, of which there are two genera, the duck-bill 
(' Ornithorynchus ) and spiny echidna. Their semi-reptilian anatomy deter- 
mines for these strange creatures a still higher antiquity than for the 
marsupials proper. 

The numerous avifauna includes, besides those common to other regions, 
many characteristic forms. Such are the emu, cassowary, laughing-king- 
fisher, lyre-bird, black swan, bower-bird, and the mound-building mega- 
podes. Among the reptiles are to be noted two species of crocodile ; 
frilled, thorny, and basking lizards ; many venomous and harmless snakes, 
and sundry long-necked tortoises. The fishes, a more cosmopolitan race, 
yet comprise several peculiar types, such as the lung-fish ( Ceratodus ), 
freshwater herring ( Diplomystus ), and cod-perch ( Oligorus ), barramundi 
(Osteoglossum), and others ; most of them belonging to genera unrepresented 
elsewhere. Insects differ little from those of other continents. Some 
curiosities of the arthropoda are a “ whistling spider ” from the western 
interior, two species of Peripatus, and a burrowing crayfish, which builds 


Australia 


583 

and fills for itself an underground tank, wherein to spend the dry season. 
Among annelids, it will suffice to mention the giant earthworm of Gipps- 
land, which in favourable situations attains a length of six feet. 

Aboriginal People. — Although there is little doubt that the north-west 
coast of Australia has from time immemorial been frequented by Malayan 
trepang fishers, the first reference to the aborigines occurs only in 1644, 
when Abel Tasman, the Dutch navigator, found himself seriously hampered 
in his attempted examination of the west coast, by the hostility of the 
“ Indians,” as they were then called. And it was nearly half a century 
later when the first details of their personal peculiarities and habits were 
recorded by the explorer Dampier. What their numbers may have been 
at that time it is impossible to conjecture, but calculations based on the 
rate of their diminution during the last half century, give warrant for 
assuming that when settlement by Europeans first began, the aboriginal 
population was at least three times more numerous than at present. 

Of black, or more precisely, dark brown hue, the Australian has few 
other negroid characteristics. In his high facial angle, straight or wavy 
hair, lustrous eye, ample beard, well-shaped limbs, and spare, muscular 
build, he approximates more to the Caucasian than to either the Ethiopian 
or the Mongolian variety of mankind. Except for some slight resemblance 
in physical appearance, language, and habits to the jungle Veddas of 
Ceylon, the affinities of the aborigines of Australia with the outside world 
are so obscure as to baffle inquiry. That they are virtually a survival 
from the long dim past that dragged on unrecorded for centuries before 
the earliest dawn of civilisation, there is no room to doubt. Nor is there 
any valid reason for regarding them as otherwise than truly indigenous, 
i.e. } coeval with the existing condition of the continent they inhabit. After 
a full century of contact with this rapidly vanishing people, all that we yet 
know about them amounts to very little. As to their social development, 
it is still that of the earlier phases of the Stone Age, with which their 
weapons and implements, the practice of infanticide, ritual mutilation and 
cannibalism, the modes of sepulture, and the absence of chieftainship or 
any other authority exactly correspond. That they have occupied the 
continent from remote antiquity is inferred not only from the occurrence 
of enormous shell-mounds, the accumulation of many centuries, but from the 
discovery of innumerable human tracks and other impressions, together with 
ancient cooking places and ash-heaps, within the substance of a laminated 
sandstone found on the south-west coast of Victoria. Amid much diversity 
of speech, customs, and traditions there is yet such a general likeness as 
amounts to proof of a common origin. A complex code of social observ- 
ances, especially in relation to marriage, prevails, with little variation, 
throughout the numerous tribes into which the nation is split up. Boys, 
on reaching puberty, are subjected to more or less cruel tests of endurance, 
and for every condition of life vexatious and trying prohibitions of certain 
kinds of food remained in force ; the apparent aim of the system being to 


584 The International Geography 

weed out all the weaklings, to check the natural increase of population, 
and to guard against any tendency on the part of neighbouring tribes 
towards mutual fusion. 

The languages, although constructed on one general plan and scarcely 
more than dialectically distinct, yet show much diversity in the degree of 
elaboration or development ; some varieties being almost devoid of internal 
mechanism, and correspondingly obscure, whilst others, such as the 
Kamilaroi and the Parnkalla, have evolved a whole series of fairly regular 
grammatical inflections, and thereby gained vastly in precision. 

The present number of the race is variously estimated at from 60,000 to 
80,000, of whom, perhaps, two-thirds frequent the settled districts, while a 
dwindling balance still roam their native wilds unsubdued. 

The Tasmanian aborigines, now extinct, had no kinship with the 
Australians ; their physical characteristics pointing to a Papuan or Mela- 
nesian origin. Their number probably never exceeded 3,000. 

These “ provisional n types of mankind are now being superseded by a 
civilised population of European, and predominantly British lineage, with 
a slight and jealously watched infusion of Asiatic and Oceanic elements. 

Discovery and History. — Although Australian history turns mainly 
on discoveries, it is doubtful when its shores were first sighted from a 
European ship. Traces of a belief in the existence of an Austral continent 
are found more than two centuries before our era, due perhaps to vague 
rumours spread by the Malayan trepang fishers. The geographer Ptolemy, 
in a.d. 150, regarded it as an extension of the antarctic land region which 
modern research has restricted to the polar circle, and this notion con- 
tinued to sway the earliest known account — by Wytfliet in 1598 — in which 
“ Terra Australis ” is recognisable as the Australia of modern maps. 
Wytfliet describes it as “ separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait,” 
as beginning at “ one or two degrees from the Equator,” and as deserving 
to rank as “ a fifth part of the world.” The discoveries of De Torres, who, 
eight years afterwards, navigated the strait which now bears his name, and 
of De Quiros, who designated the New Hebrides as “la Austrialia del 
Espiritu Santo,” did not tend to clear up the confusion of ideas expressed 
in Le Testu’s map of “Jave la Grande” (1542) and Descelliers’ “Terre 
Australle” (1550). The Dutch explorations of the north, west, and south 
coasts during the seventeenth century, and Tasman’s discovery of Van 
Dieman’s Land and New Zealand (1642) gradually fixed the position and 
dimensions of the continent, thenceforth known as New Holland. Yet 
the most important and fertile region, that of the east coast, remained 
wholly unknown until examined by Captain Cook in 1770. 

With the arrival of the “ First Fleet ” at Botany Bay under Governor 
Phillip in 1788, the history of Australia as a civilised land begins. Its 
earliest chapter deals with the struggles of the young settlement against 
difficulty and privation until 1813, when a track was found across the Blue 
Mountains, which had hitherto barred access to the interior. This event 


Australia 


585 

gave the first impulse to inland exploration, while the circumnavigation of 
Tasmania (then called Van Diemen’s Land) by Bass and Flinders in 1799 
led, four years later, to the official occupation of that island and its 
subsequent separation (1825) from New South Wales. The examination 
of the coasts of the mainland, too, was proceeding apace. Flinders, in 
1801-2, had surveyed the southern coast-line, and during the next year 
circumnavigated Australia for the first time. Oxley's exploration of the 
marshy tracts towards the west and north-west gave rise to the long and 
stubbornly maintained theory of an inland sea, while his discovery of the 
river Brisbane in 1823 was followed within two years by the formation of 
a branch settlement at Moreton Bay. In 1824 the upper course of the 
river Murray and the central parts of the present colony of Victoria were 
traversed by Hovell and Hume. Persistent rumours of an intended occu- 
pation of Australia by the French now led to the planting of military 
posts (since abandoned) 
at Western Port, at King 
George Sound, Melville 
Island, Raffles Bay, and 
Port Essington. The 
years 1827-30 were 
memorable for Cunning- 
ham’s exploration of the 
Darling Downs, for Sturt’s 
discovery of the river 
Darling, his boat voyage 
on the Murray to and 
from Encounter Bay, and 
the founding of the Swan 
River settlement. In 
1834 stations were formed 
at Portland Bay, in the subordinate province of Port Phillip, and on the 
lower Yarra, where Melbourne now stands. In 1836 explorations thence 
to the west and north revealed the rich volcanic district of Australia 
Felix — as it was then called. 

Adelaide, the capital of the independent colony of South Australia, was 
founded in 1836, and thenceforth exploration in the centre and the west 
proceeded rapidly. A further impulse to occupation and settlement was 
given by the influx of population that resulted from the discovery of gold 
in 1851-52. Grey’s explorations on the west coast ; Eyre's journey round 
the Bight to King George Sound ; Leichhardt’s overland route from 
Darling Downs to Port Essington ; Sturt’s expedition to the Barrier Range 
and the Stony Desert ; Mitchell’s discoveries in north-eastern Australia ; 
Stuart's crossing of the continent from Adelaide to Van Diemen Gulf ; and 
the wanderings of the brothers Forrest and Gregory in the west and 
north ; with the relief parties sent out after Burke and Wills, and the still 



293 . — Political Divisions and Railways of Australia . 



586 The International Geography 

more numerous expeditions dispatched in search of Leichhardt after his 
disappearance in 1847 — soon shed so much light on Australian geography 
as to leave little for future explorers to fill in. The distant dependency erf 
New Zealand had in 1840 been withdrawn from the control of New South 
Wales, and in 1851 the Port Phillip district likewise attained its majority 
as the colony of Victoria. Shortly after (1855) responsible government 
was conferred on all the eastern colonies ; Western Australia alone 
continuing under Crown control, until the rapid increase of population 
consequent on the gold finds of 1890 paved the way for its autonomy. 
The contemporary history of Australia, as a whole, closes with the pro- 
clamation of a sixth colony in 1859, when the Moreton Bay District after 
a protracted struggle for separation from New South Wales, became a 
self-governed State under the name of Queensland. 

In 1901 the six colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, 
Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia, were federated into the 
Commonwealth of Australia, of which they became the original States. 
The King is represented by a Governor-General, and the legislative 
authority is vested in a Senate and a House of Representatives. 

STATISTICS OF AUSTRALIA. 


Area of Australia, including Tasmania and lesser islands (square miles) 

Population, excluding aborigines 

Density of population per square mile .. .. .. 

1901. 

2.972,906 

3.77L7I5 

1*27 


LAND IN CULTIVATION. 



Acres « • 

1880. 

1890. 

7,679.525 

1901. 

10,279,090 


LIVE STOCK. 



Horses 

Cattle 

Sheep . . 

1880. 

1890. 

1,509,669 

9,903.599 

97,878,619 

1901. 

1,625,042 

8,464,724 

72,126,626 


EXTERNAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 


Imports . . 
Exports . . 

Average 1871-75- 

1881-85. 

46.316.000 

45.316.000 

1891-95* 

52.542.000 

55.879.000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 



C. H. Barton. 
T. A. Coghlan. 

“ Outlines of Australian Physiography.” Maryborough, 1895. 
“ A Statistical Account of the Seven Colonies of Australasia." 

Sydney. 


E. Curr. “ The Australian Race.” 4 vols. Melbourne, 1886-87. 

E. Favenc. “ History of Australian Exploration.” Sydney, 1888. 

Gordon and Gotch. “ Australian Handbook.” London , Annual. 

G. Ranken. “ Federal Geography of British Australasia.” Sydney, 1891. 

W. Saville-Kent. “ The Naturalist in Australia.” London, 1897. 

Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen. “ The Native Tribes of Central Australia. London, 

J. E. T. Woods. ^Discovery and Explorations in Australia.” 2 vols. London, 1865. 
J. W. Gregory. “ The Dead Heart of Australia.” London, 1906. 


CHAPTER XXXII.— THE EASTERN STATES OF 
THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA 


I. — QUEEN SL AND 

By C. H. Barton, B.A., 

Maryborough, Queensland. 

Position and Coasts. — The colony of Queensland occupies the 
north-eastern portion of the Australian continent for an extent of 1,200 
miles from north to south, and 900 from east to west. The Gulf of 
Carpentaria and South Australia bound it on the west ; the Pacific 
Ocean on the east ; and New South Wales- and South Australia on the 
south. It contains an area of 
about 688,000 square miles, 
being more than twice as large 
as New South Wales. The sea- 
board extends north and west 
from Point Danger in lat. 28° S. 
to Cape York in n° S., and on 
to long. 138° E. on the south 
coast of Carpentaria Gulf, thus 
including the great Cape York 
Peninsula, a tract larger than 
Ireland, and the boldest promi- 
nence on the Australian conti- 
nent. The Pacific coast, over 15 0 
of latitude, is protected from the 
swell of the outer ocean by the 
vast natural breakwater of the 
Great Barrier Reef, thus ad- 
mitting of coastal navigation 
along a smooth-water channel 
1,000 miles long and from ten 
to thirty miles wide. Other 
noteworthy features of the coast are the Wellesley Islands opposite 
Point Parker in the Gulf of Carpentaria, enclosing a roadstead capable 
of developing into a first class port ; Endeavour Strait, between Cape 
York and Prince of Wales Island at the extreme north ; and a series 
of prominent headlands separating bays along the east coast. Amongst 
these are Edgecumbe and Repulse Bays, creating, with Gloucester and 
39 587 



588 The International Geography 

Cumberland Islands, the beautiful scenery of Whitsunday Passage ; 
Capes Palmerston and Townsend, enclosing two spacious estuaries, 
Broadsound and Shoalwater Bay ; Keppel Bay, with Cape Capricorn on 
Curtis Island, almost on the tropic ; Port Curtis, one of the best harbours 
on the Pacific coast ; and Moreton Bay, partly sheltered by Moreton and 
Stradbroke Islands. 

Configuration and Rivers. — The “ Great Divide/' receding from 
the Pacific shore and striking north-west to the 18th parallel as it passes 
into Queensland from the south, secures for that province a more diversified 
surface and ampler distribution of water channels than Australia, as a 
whole, enjoys. The main axis of the water-parting throws off to right 
and left numerous spurs of considerable length, trending north-east 
towards the coast and south-west inland. Most of these branch into 
secondary spurs of equal or greater height, which on the seaward slope, 
averaging some 300 miles in width, give rise to a number of well-defined 
river systems, of which the Brisbane, Burnett, Fitzroy, Burdekin, Herbert, 
Normanby, and Kennedy are the chief. On the landward, or south- 
western slope, the great tributaries of the Murray-Darling basin, together 
with numerous feeders of inland drainage systems, flow south-west or 
south to their respective points of absorption. The Carpentarian Plain, 
with the western slope of the Cape York Peninsula, forms a distinct 
system draining into the gulf ; the principal effluents being the Leich- 
ardt, Flinders, Gilbert, and Mitchell. 

Geology. — Geologically, Queensland presents three parallel belts, 
traversing the territory from south-east to north-west, in accordance with 
the general strike of the Pacific coast. The most westerly, of Cretaceous 
origin, but surrounding a large wedge-shaped enclave of metamorphic 
rocks, covers about two-fifths of the territory. It includes the Blythes- 
dale Braystones, an older stratum of the same series, and a prolific source 
of artesian water. The second belt, on the western slopes of the Great 
Divide and extending to Cape York, consists of sandstones of later, mostly 
Tertiary, age, with patches of intrusive crystalline and volcanic rocks. 
The third belt, comprising the rest of the province, exhibits the Primary 
rocks (granitic, Silurian, Devonian, Permian, and crystalline) characteristic 
of the Australian Cordillera, with extensive Jurassic and Carboniferous 
areas, where coal-seams of excellent quality are worked. Gold-bearing 
quartz reefs and other mineral lodes are widely disseminated. 

Climate. — Although Queensland is not exempt from the climatic 
vicissitudes to which all Australia is liable, their effects are less marked 
than elsewhere. The extreme heat, fiery winds, rapid thermal changes, 
and bitter frosts common in the south and centre of the continent are 
almost unknown. Even in the hot and dry south-western region, the 
temperature rarely rises higher than 95 0 F., while the Cape York Peninsula 
— within only io° to 15 0 from the equator, enjoys, by reason of its sea- 
board and towering highlands, a more equable climate than many countries 


Queensland 589 

classed as “ temperate/’ The rainfall is very unequal. Over the Pacific 
slope it ranges from about 50 inches near the southern border to as much 
as 100, and even 150 inches about lat. 17 0 , where the ocean vapours are 
arrested and condensed by the twin peaks of the Bellenden Ker Mountains, 
5,000 feet high. The rainfall of the Carpentarian plain and littoral, 
depending on the partly spent north-west monsoon, is much less, seldom 
exceeding 40, and often as low as 20 inches. In the west and south- 
west it is even more uncertain, some localities getting only 10 to 12 
inches per annum, while others, not far off, receive 30 to 40. In all parts 
of the colony droughts of greater or less duration occur at times, and again, 
the balance may be suddenly restored by widespread and destructive 
floods. 

Flora and Fauna. — The flora, while conforming generally to the 
Australian type, is enriched by the intrusion of eastern and oceanic forms, 
giving to the denser forests, or “ scrubs,” a distinct Indo-Malayan character. 
Here are found the red cedar, flindersia, alphitonia, hoop pine, and other 
excellent timbers, intermingled with a dense growth of palms, bamboo and 
lawyer canes, caper shrubs, tree-ferns, orchids, and countless climbing or 
parasitic plants. Several of the most striking and valuable trees, such as the 
Bidwill pine, “ turpentine,” “ silky oak,” bottle tree, kauri pine, Leichardt 
tree, calophyllum and “ Queensland nut ” are strangely limited in their 
habitat ; hence, some are on the verge of extinction as members of the 
wild flora. There are at least two indigenous species of banana, two of the 
citrus tribe, many edible figs, well-flavoured wild grapes, a mangosteen, 
cashew and other nuts, the “Herbert-cherry” ( antidesma ), the “sour 
plum” ( owenia ), nonda ( parinarium ), jujubes, raspberries, and other fruits. 
Hundreds of square miles are covered with wild rice, tobacco, indigo, 
“ salt-bush,” “ Mitchell grass,” and similar valuable herbs ; screw-pines and 
mangroves fringe the coast, while the inland pools are gay with the 
fragrant red chalices of the “ sacred lotus,” or the blue, white, or purple 
petals of various nymphaeas. 

The native fauna comprises most of the common Australian species, 
besides some peculiar to the region. Such are the tree-kangaroo ( denciro - 
lagus), the five-toed kangaroo-rat (hypsiprymnodon), and several phalangers. 
The dugong (halicore), a marine Sirenian, frequents the weedy estuaries 
and bays on the coast. Fruit-bats (ptcropus; harpyia ; carponycteris ) are a 
great plague, and, like that greater plague, the imported rabbit, seem to be 
on the increase. Among the birds typical of this region are the pelican, 
jacana, regent-bird, bronze-winged and nutmeg pigeon,- jabiru, and 
cassowary. There are two species of crocodile, and snakes (venomous 
and otherwise) abound. The lung-fish ( ceratodus ) is confined to the rivers 
Mary and Burnett; the highly-prized barramundi ( osteoglossum ) to the 
Burnett, Dawson, and Carpentarian river-system. Turtles of fine quality are 
caught off the coast, where the shallows swarm with edible and pearl oysters, 
sea-slugs (holothuria), sponges, corals, and other forms of marine life. 


590 The International Geography 

Aborigines. — The aborigines of north-eastern Australia differ but 
slightly from their brethren in other regions, save in being taller and more 
muscular ; an advantage attributable to the ampler food supplies and other 
more favourable natural conditions. They show some skill in the con- 
struction of their winter huts, canoes, weapons, implements for gathering 
and dressing food, woven bags and baskets (frequently watertight), neck- 
laces and other personal ornaments ; and, when first met with, had 
evidently taken a step or two on the ascending plane, which, in the course 
of ages, might have led them on to civilisation. Many of the strongest 
and fiercest tribes are now extinct, or represented only by a surviving 
handful, the whole number probably not exceeding 20,000 (1898). 

History and Government. — The territory now known as Queens- 
land was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770. For fifty years it remained 
unvisited, save by runaway convicts, until in 1825-6, a branch penal 
establishment, subordinate to Sydney, was founded at Brisbane, Moreton 
Bay. The dependency was first thrown open to free settlement in 1842, 
between which date and 1861, when the first census was taken, the 
population, originally insignificant, increased to 30,000. Separation from 

New South Wales was effected, after years of agi- 
tation, in 1859. For a long time afterwards, the cost 
of immigration from England, Germany, and other 
European countries was defrayed by the State. At 
present Asiatic and Pacific sources are being tapped 
in order to meet the demand for low-priced labour. 
As a result, the population is more mixed than in any 
Fig 295. — The Badge other Australian province. 

of Queensland. The g overnmen ti s G f the “ responsible ” pattern, and 

differs from that of the United Kingdom chiefly in the wider suffrage, in 
payment of an annual allowance of $1,500 to each elected member of the 
legislature, and in the functions of Grand Jury devolving on the Attorney- 
General. There is a Governor appointed by the Crown, a nominee 
Legislative Council of indeterminate number — usually about 35 — and a 
Legislative Assembly of 72 members, elected by 61 constituencies. 
Primary education, free, secular, and (nominally) compulsory, is under 
the care of the State. Higher education is imparted in ten grammar 
schools, governed by elective trusts, and liberally subsidised by Govern- 
ment. There are also ten “ orphanages ” under Government inspection, 
and maintained chiefly from State funds. 

Resources, Industries and Trade. — Amongst the resources of 
Queensland, pastoral wealth — such as wool, hides, meat and tallow — stands 
first, closely followed by the yield from the many rich gold, coal and tin- 
fields ; silver, copper and other mines. The chief agricultural products 
are sugar and rum ; maize, wheat, rice ; sorghum, guinea-grass ; wine, 
arrowroot, bananas, sweet potatoes, tobacco, coffee, cotton ; oranges, pine- 
apples and other tropical and European fruits. The forests abound in 



Queensland 


59i 


cedar, pine and other useful timbers, and a large fleet of vessels find em- 
ployment in the pearl-shell, trepang, oyster, turtle and dugong fisheries. 

In 1896-7 pastoral leases covered nearly two-thirds of the whole sur- 
face, whence live stock, hides, horns and bone-dust ; frozen, preserved 
and salted meat ; tallow, and wool were exported to the value of three- 
fifths of the total exports. The mining industry, pursued on twenty-two 
proclaimed gold, silver, copper and tin-fields, was accountable for nearly 
two-thirds of the balance. The value of agricultural exports — sugar, fruit, 
molasses, maize, arrowroot, rum, hay, wine, was about one-tenth of the 
whole. Manufactures, in the ordinary sense of the term, are limited to 
the supply of home requirements. Sugar factories, saw-mills, flour-mills, 
breweries, and co-operative cheese and butter factories are the most im- 
portant. All the towns above the status of mere villages are lighted either 
by gas or electricity, and supplied with water by pressure through service 
pipes. Boring artesian wells, to supplement the scanty rainfall of the far 
west, is being carried on with satisfactory results ; 341 water-yielding bores 
in 1898 sufficed by their surplus supply to convert 
many water-courses formerly dry into permanent 
streams. This yield, which is steadily increasing, 
already equals in irrigating effect a yearly rainfall of 
12 inches over 108,500 square miles. 

Communications. — In addition to steamers 
that ply regularly along the coast, internal traffic is 
promoted by more than 2,500 miles of State railways 
(Fig. 293). Of the four main lines, the Southern and FlG 296.—^ The average 
Western connects Brisbane with Sydney on the one wf/e ^f^eensland^ 

hand and with Charleville and Cunnamulla on the 
other ; the North Coast Line connects Brisbane with Gladstone, by 
way of Gympie, Maryborough and Bundaberg ; the Central extends from 
Rockhampton to the river Thompson ; and the Northern, from Townsville 
to Hughenden and Winton. Numerous branches assist the traffic along 
these routes, while shorter detached lines connect Mackay with the sur- 
rounding villages ; Bowen with the Burdekin delta ; Croydon (gold-field) 
with Normanton, on the Gulf of Carpentaria ; Cairns with the table- 
land of Cape York Peninsula, and Cooktown with the Palmer gold-field. 
Numerous coaches ply to and from all terminal stations, connecting 
with places outside the railway system. The postal and telegraph arrange- 
ments are very complete. 

Divisions and Towns. — For administrative purposes Queensland is 
divided into twelve districts ; numerous counties (which are added to from 
time to time) ; about 120 divisional boards and six shires for local taxation 
and improvement ; together with a still larger number of parishes, which 
ill-chosen term refers solely to land survey and not to any scheme of 
ecclesiastical rule. Thirty-one of the centres of population, mostly mere 
villages, are under municipal government. 



592 The International Geography 

The coast-line is dotted with harbours, most of which are becoming 
active industrial and commercial centres. Brisbane , on a river of the 
same name, and the seat of government, owes its growth chiefly to 
that circumstance, to the proximity of the rich pastoral and agricul- 
tural lands of Darling Downs, and to lavish expenditure on the legisla- 
ture and civil service. The site of the city is low and exposed to 
floods, and the twenty miles of river that form its port are kept open 
for over-sea vessels only by incessant dredging. Ambitious public build- 
ings, planned on a scale out of proportion to present needs or means, 
overlook the leading thoroughfares. Well-kept botanic gardens, acclima- 
tisation grounds, museums, libraries, schools of arts, an art gallery, a 
technical college, and numerous scientific and other societies make for 
the “ gentle life ” ; while the infirm and aged poor find a comfortable 
retreat in the asylum at Dunwich, a beautifully- wooded island in Moreton 
Bay. St. Helena, another of the same group, is the enforced abode of 
Queensland’s felonry. 

Northward along the coast follow in succession : Maryborough, on a 
bend of the river Mary, twenty miles from Hervey Bay, with large 
foundries, saw-mills, cane and orange cultivation, and the shipping port for 
the Wide Bay district and Gympie goldfield ; Bundaberg, near the mouth 
of the Burnett, on the edge of a large area of rich volcanic soil, a com- 
munity wholly given over to the manufacture of sugar ; Gladstone, with its 
splendid deep sea harbour, Port Curtis — in 1847 the scene of an abortive 
attempt to found a colony provisionally named North Australia — the 
outlet of a large mineral district, and one of the few places on the coast 
adapted for embarking horned cattle ; Rockhampton, the destined capital 
of central Queensland, the main outlet for wool and other pastoral 
produce, and the gate leading to Mount Morgan, the richest gold mine 
in the world. Then, longo intervallo, come Mackay, another sugar town ; 
Bowen, renowned for its harbour and the length of its jetty, but unfavour- 
ably placed for inland traffic ; Townsville, the principal shipping port 
of northern Queensland, and connected by rail with the gold-fields of 
Ravens wood, Charters Towers, and Cape River ; Cairns, where the 
teeming jungle soil yields rice, coffee, sugar, cacao, and other tropical 
crops in perfection, while a railway, that ranks as the boldest engineering 
feat ever attempted in Australia, leads towards the rich mineral fields of 
Herberton, Chillagoe and Etheridge. The most northern settlement 
on the Pacific coast is Cooktown, on the Endeavour River, where Captain 
Cook careened and repaired his ship. It is connected with the Palmer 
gold-field by a railway 31 miles in length. 

Thursday Island, about 30 miles north-west from Cape York, is a 
fortified imperial coaling-station, the headquarters of the pearl-shell 
fishery, and a place of call for the Indo-European mail steamers. 

The most northerly inland town is Charters Towers, the leading gold- 
field ; others are : Gympie, on the site of an earlier gold discovery, and 


New South Wales 


593 


rivalling the former in importance ; Ipswich , at the confluence of the 
rivers Bremer and Brisbane, the oldest inland settlement, with woollen 
and cotton factories and adjacent coal mines ; Toowoomba and Warwick , 
much frequented sanatoria, 2,000 and 1,500 feet above sea-level, and 
prosperous seats of that agricultural industry (principally concerned with 
wheat cultivation) which flourishes on the rich, black loam of Darling 
Downs ; Mount Morgan , with its “ mountain of gold,” which has paid four 
and a half million sterling in dividends since its discovery in 1885 ; and 
numerous other centres of less note. 


STATISTICS. 





i88r. 

1891. 


1901. 

Area of Queensland (square miles) 



668,497 

• • 

668,495 

Population of Queensland (excluding aborigines) 

.. 213,525 

393.718 

• • 

503,266 

Density of population per square mile . 


034 

071 

• • 

°'75 

POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 




1881. 

1891. 

1901. 


* 1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

Brisbane (10-mile radius) 36,169* 

IOI .554 

119,428 

Ipswich 

. . 7,576 

7,625 

15.246 

Charters Towers . . 4,385 

4-597 

20,976 

Gympie 


8 , 45 ° 

14 43 i 

Rockhampton .. .. 12,412 

13.380 

19.691 

Toowoomba 

. . 6,270 

7.007 

14,087 

Townsville . . . . 7,860 

8.564 

I 5 . 5°6 

Maryborough 

. . 8700 

L 9 . 28 I 

12,900 


ANNUAL TRADE OF QUEENSLAND (in pounds sterling). 

Average 1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 2,596,000 . . 5,888,000 . . 4,875,000 

Exports 3.583.0°° • • 4,056,000 . . 9,028,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

“Queensland, Past and Present." Brisbane, Annual. 

A. Meston. “ Geographic History of Queensland." Brisbane, 1895. 

R. Semon. “ Im Australischem Busch und an den Kiisten des Korallenmeeres." Leipzig, 
1896. (Translation, London, 1899.) 

W. Saville-Kent. " The Great Barrier Reef of Australia." London, 1893. 


II.— NEW SOUTH WALES 

By Edward A. Petherick. 

Position and Extent. — New South Wales, the oldest of the Austra- 
lian colonies, originally comprehended the eastern half of the continent, 
and the jurisdiction of the earlier governors extended also over Tasmania, 
New Zealand, and other islands of the Pacific. Since the foundation of 
the province of South Australia in 1836, and the erection into separate 
colonies of Victoria in 1851 and Queensland in 1859, the boundaries of 
New South Wales have been roughly within 28° and 37^° S., and 141 0 and 
153" E., and its area a little over 310,000 square miles. The frontage to 
the Pacific Ocean, including the inlets of Port Jackson, Botany Bay, Port 
Hunter (or Newcastle), Port Stephens and Twofold Bay, is over 800 miles. 
Configuration of Coastal District. — The Great Dividing Range 
or Cordillera of Australia, which extends from Cape York to Wilson’s 
Promontory, passes through New South Wales in broken ranges at a 

1 Without suburbs. 


594 The International Geography 

distance of 30 to 120 miles from the sea, and with an elevation of 4,000 
to 7,000 feet. West of Sydney, where they present a precipitous barrier, 
and are composed of horizontally stratified sandstone, broken by canyons, 
deep gullies, and chasms due to aqueous erosion, they are called, from 
their appearance, the Blue Mountains. The more northerly are known as 
the New England and Liverpool Ranges, and those to the south as the 
Cullarin, Gourock, Manaro, and Muniong Ranges, the last-named forming 
part of the Australian Alps, their highest point being Mount Kosciusko 
(7,336), 700 feet above the limit of perpetual snow, and the loftiest peak on 
the continent. The coastal district on the eastern slope of these ranges 
is about 50,000 square miles in area and very fertile, being watered by a 
number of rivers, nearly all of which are navigable for a considerable 
distance from the sea. From the valleys of the Alps the Snowy river 
makes a circuitous course and passes southward to the ocean, through 
the Gippsland district of Victoria. 

Configuration of the Interior. — Behind the Cordillera, which 
presents its abrupt front to the ocean, broad, elevated tablelands and 
undulating plains form the chief pastoral districts of the colony. The 
northern plateau is drained by tributaries of the Darling or Barwan, which 
also receives streams from the south of Queensland. With these waters 
the Darling is navigable in rainy seasons for 1,700 miles. The southern 
plateau is drained by the Murrumbidgee, which rises in the Australian 
Alps and is navigable for 500 miles, the Lachlan, its tributary, and a 
number of smaller streams traversing the Riverina District. These, as 
well as the waters of the Darling, flow to the Murray, which is the 
only outlet for a drainage-area of over 300,000 square miles. It is a land 
of drought and flood, for all the rivers mentioned, except the Murray, 
which is fed by the snows of the Alps, stop running in dry seasons ; and 
in very wet seasons the lower lands of the far interior are inundated for 
weeks. West of the Darling, and on the South Australian border, the 
Grey and Stanley or Barrier Ranges rise from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. The 
streams flowing from them are soon lost in the desert. The only lake 
of importance in New South Wales is Lake George, 25 miles long and 8 
miles broad, situated in the southern ranges, 2,100 feet above sea-level. It 
is salt, and for a long period before 1852 its bed was quite dry. 

Climate. — The climate naturally varies according to locality. The 
northern part of the coastal district is dry and sub-tropical, the central and 
southern parts more temperate. The air is clear and the sky generally cloud- 
less. At Sydney, though occasionally rising above ioo° in the shade, the 
mean temperature is 63° ; snow is unknown and frost never severe (Fig. 291). 
At Albury on the upper Murray, at Deniliquin in the Riverina District, and 
at Bourke on the Darling, the range is greater, winter being much colder and 
summer much hotter. The extreme of heat is felt inland, where tempera- 
tures of 130° in the shade have been reported. Hot winds accompanied 
by dust blow during the height of summer, but they are not unhealthy. 


New South Wales 


595 


In the coastal district the rainfall varies from 30 inches in the south to 73 
in the north, the average at Sydney being 50 inches. In the highlands on 
the Queensland border it is 35, at Deniliquin 17, at Wentworth, the junc- 
tion of the Darling and the Murray, the lowest part of the interior of the 
colony, it is 12, and in the Barrier ranges on the west only 9. 

Flora. — Open forests cover nearly the whole of the tablelands and 
interior plains, the characteristic tree being the eucalyptus in its many 
varieties. The plains west of the Darling and on the lower Murray are 
covered with stunted bushes or mallee scrub. A considerable portion of 
the coastal district is covered with brush forests, the valleys being filled 
with tree-ferns, a red and white cedar, silky oak, tulip-wood, a lofty ash, 
colonial pine, and other timber trees. Economic plants are very numerous ; 
their productions include oils, perfumes, drugs, dyes, tans, fibres, gums, 
and resins. There are many useful and some noxious grasses. European 
trees and the beautiful Norfolk Island pine have been acclimatised, 
while European plants and flowers 
bloom all the year round. Un- 
fortunately, imported briars, burrs, 
and thistles have spread all over 
the country. 

Fauna. — The indigenous ani- 
mals of New South Wales are 
the egg-laying monotremes — the 
platypus and native porcupines 
{echidna) ; marsupials — including 
several varieties of kangaroo, 

“ opossums,” native bear, wombats, 
bandicoots, native cat, several 
species of rodents, insectivorous 
bats, and the flying fox. Sperm and whalebone whales, other cetacea, 
and seals are found off the coast. Snakes, harmless and venomous, are 
numerous, and so are lizards (including iguanas six feet in length), 
tortoises, tree and swamp frogs. Birds exist in extraordinary variety 
and are notable for plumage, song and powers of mimicry. They include 
birds of prey, cockatoos, parrots, parroquets, and lories ; the “ laughing 
jackass,” and other kingfishers ; the beautiful lyre and bower birds, 
ground-thrushes, doves, wood-pigeons, numerous game birds, and one 
of the largest of running birds, the emu, which being treated as a 
noxious animal, like the kangaroo, native dog, “ opossum,” and rabbit, 
is rapidly becoming extinct. The multiplication of the common rabbit 
has seriously affected pastoral pursuits in many districts, and 17,000 miles 
of rabbit-proof fencing have been erected in the effort to subdue the pest. 
The whole western frontier is fenced in this way. The camel has been 
acclimatised in the Darling districts. Over 300 species of fish (of which 
more than 100 are edible) are found in the rivers and on the coast. 

40 



596 The International Geography 

Aborigines. — Although the aborigines were estimated at one million 
when the colony was founded, probably their number never exceeded five 
hundred thousand on the whole continent, and in New South Wales they 
now number about 7,000, of whom 3,000 are half-castes. Low in the 
present scale of humanity, some of their usages and customs seem to 
imply a higher origin or the adoption at some distant period of usages and 
customs of a superior race, perhaps castaways or shipwrecked survivors 
from another continent. Internal quarrels, the loss of their natural food 
and their destruction by firearms or adoption of the vices of the European, 
have been the chief causes of their rapidly diminishing numbers, and the 
race is now fast fading away. 

Resources. — Though New South Wales is very rich and varied in its 
mineral wealth, the chief resources are wool and other animal products. 
Of wool, over 200,000,000 lbs. are annually exported, but owing to drought 
this is less than in the early nineties ; some flocks number over 100,000 
sheep, chiefly merinos. Silver and gold, tin, copper, iron, and many 
precious stones are found. Coal is abundant in the coastal districts, 
especially at Newcastle, Illawarra, and Lithgow, the annual output being 

5.500.000 tons ; that from Newcastle alone exceeding 3,000,000, and the 
seams now being worked are calculated to be sufficient to keep up the 
present rate of production for 500 years. Manufactures are numerous, but 
not at present sufficient for home supply. Breweries, meat-preserving 
factories, boiling-down and wool-washing establishments employ over 

50.000 hands. Most of the trade is with the United Kingdom and British 
possessions. 

Discovery and Exploration. — The coast of New South Wales may 
have been seen by Spanish vessels as early as the middle of the sixteenth 
century, but from the time of Mendana’s discovery of the Solomon Islands 
in 1568, the voyage of Torres in 1606, and that of Tasman in 1642, no 
European vessel is known to have been in the sea between New Zealand 
and Australia until Cook crossed it and came upon the Australian coast in 
1770. He surveyed the whole of the eastern coast, took possession, and 
named it New South Wales. Several attempts to scale the perpen- 
dicular cliffs of the Blue Mountains were made, but no one effected 
their passage until 1813, when they were crossed by Wentworth, Blax- 
land, and Lawson, who discovered the extensive tablelands at their 
summit. Evans and Oxley continued the exploration, discovering the 
Macquarie in 1815, the Lachlan and Castlereagh, Liverpool Plains, and 
another passage to the north near Port Macquarie during 1817 and 
1818. Several expeditions were undertaken into new country to the south 
during the following five years. Hume and Hovell crossed the Murray and 
some of its upper tributaries and reached the sea at Port Phillip in 1824 and 
1825. The northern tablelands, including the Darling Downs, the rivers 
Dumaresq, Gwydir, and Condamine, were discovered by Allan Cunning- 
ham in 1827. Sturt traced the Lachlan and the Murrumbidgee to the 


New South Wales 


597 


Murray, and the Murray to the sea in 1829 and 1830, and Mitchell 
completed the solution of the problem of the river system west of the 
Great Dividing Range by tracing the courses of the rivers discovered by 
Oxley and Cunningham to the Darling, and the waters of the Darling to 
the Murray, between the years 1831 and 1836. The country and ranges to 
the west of the Darling, Cooper Creek, and the desert beyond in the 
heart of the continent, were explored by Sturt in 1844 and 1845, himself 
and party suffering terribly from heat and thirst. 

Settlement and History. — New South Wales was founded as a 
penal colony for the relief of English prisons and hulks as far from 
civilising influences as it was possible to go, and the first twenty years of 
its history is a record of hardship, famine and deprivation. The first 
fleet under Governor Phillip arrived in Botany Bay January 20, 1788, 
but finding a more suitable position for a settlement at Port Jackson, » 
landed there on the 26th of January. The transported people were for 
many years utterly dependent for food and other necessaries upon 
supplies sent intermittently and irregularly from the other side of the 
world, at a time when voyages each way averaged seven months in 
duration. Disheartening calamities also came upon the few free settlers 
farming the banks of the Hawkesbury ; several times their homesteads 
and produce were swept away by floods. 

Under the early governors who, as a rule, were naval officers absolute 
and arbitrary in the exercise of their power, the military officers secured 
the monopoly of all trade, including that in spirits. Governor Bligh, 
already noted in the eventful history of the Bounty, having stopped 
this trade, and quarrelled with Macarthur (who was engaged in laying 
the foundation of Australia’s future industry by importing the finest 
breeds of merino sheep), the military party arrested and shipped him 
out of the country. This ended the quarter-deck government and 
brought about a change in the policy as well as in the character of 
the governors. ' After an interregnum of two years General Lachlan 
Macquarie, the next governor, laid out Sydney and other towns, made 
roads across the mountains, erected public buildings, encouraged ex- 
ploration, and took a paternal interest in the settlers. At the end of 
his twelve years’ administration the colony was prosperous and flourish- 
ing. The population then numbered 40,000, more than half being free 
or emancipated persons. A measure of representative government was 
conceded about 1825 in the shape of a legislative council of nominated 
members. After ten years’ fierce agitation transportation to this colony 
ceased in 1839. The next twelve years is a record of the extension of 
legislative privileges — representative and municipal government having 
been introduced in 1842 — of considerable progress in pastoral, grazing, 
and agricultural pursuits, unfortunately marked by much speculation in 
land and live stock ; this, and the cessation of imperial expenditure 
for transportation, and the cost of free labour, caused a financial 


59^ The International Geography 

collapse, the country being saved from ruin by the introduction of a 
new industry, tallow production by the “ boiling-down ” process. 

The districts south of the Murray were separated as the colony of 
Victoria at the beginning of 1851, and a few weeks later by the gold 
discoveries in the Bathurst District, New South Wales emerged from the 
purely pastoral state into a vigorous national existence, stimulating industrial 
enterprise, claiming constitutional rights, and receiving responsible govern- 
ment in 1855. From the time of the arbitrary governors the public affairs of 
the colony had been administered nominally under successive Ministers of 
the Crown (in reality under the control and direction of irresponsible 
officials) in London. The Moreton Bay district and territory to the north 
was constituted a separate colony under the name of Queensland at the 
end of 1859, leaving the older colony her present territory and a population 
of 300,000. Thenceforward the material progress of New South Wales, 
though for a time out-distanced by that of Victoria, has been steady and 
continuous, and she stands once more at the head of her sister States in 
population as well as in material wealth and its attendant advantages. 

Government. — There are two Houses of Parliament and an executive 
chosen and presided over by the Governor, who is appointed by the Queen, 

the depository of the prerogative of mercy within the 
colony, and who also nominates the members of the 
Upper House or Legislative Council, assents to or 
vetoes Bills or reserves them for consideration of the 
sovereign, as he may be advised by the law officers of 
the Crown. The Governor of New South Wales is 
Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the colony, 
Fig. 298 .—The Badge an d W as, prior to 1855, “ Governor-in-chief ,” or 

of New South Wales. « Governor-General ” of all the Australian colonies. 

The members of the Upper House hold their seats for life ; members of 
the Lower House or Legislative Assembly are elected by manhood 
suffrage, and by ballot; parliaments are triennial and the members are 
paid. For political and territorial purposes the colony is at present divided 
into 141 counties. Three-fifths of the population is under municipal 
government. The administration of justice, as in the other Australian 
colonies, is similar to that of England, local enactments being founded 
upon the laws of the mother country. There is no established church ; 
primary education is compulsory, and free to children of parents unable 
to pay school fees. There are numerous technical schools and work- 
shops, libraries and schools of art, agriculture and engineering, grammar 
and high schools, and a university in Sydney founded upon the model of 
University College, London. 

Railways and Communications. — A network of good coach- 
roads covers the settled districts ; the telegraph penetrates to all occupied 
territory, and four trunk lines of railway with their branches, bring the 
most important, and some of the more distant towns, into daily communi- 



New South Wales 


599 


cation with the capital, which is also connected by direct lines with 
Brisbane, Melbourne, and Adelaide (Fig. 293). Several great engineering 
efforts have been necessary in the accomplishment of these public works, 
notably the bridges over the Hawkesbury and Murrumbidgee, and most 
important of all, the zigzag line over the summit of 
the Blue Mountains. 

Towns. — There are 188 boroughs and municipal 
districts outside the metropolis, but most of these are 
small towns ; the only one at the census of 1901 which 
could boast of a population exceeding 20,000 being 
Broken Hill. 

Sydney , the capital and the oldest city in Australia, 
founded in 1788, on one of the coves of Port Jackson, 
now spreads over both the northern and southern shores 
of that capacious, land-locked, and sheltered harbour, 
which with its bays and coves possesses a deep-water frontage of over 
one hundred miles. There is ample anchorage for fleets, and large vessels 
are accommodated at the wharves and quays of the city proper, which is 
four miles from the mouth of the harbour. Sydney is the present terminus 
for all mail steamers between Europe and Australia ; excursion steamers 
and ferry-boats ply to all the marine suburbs, and the port is generally 
crowded with coasting vessels and steamers trading to other Australasian 
ports and to the Pacific Islands. From the fact that Sydney is circum- 
scribed by bays and promontories, the streets present an old-world aspect ; 
it possesses noble public buildings, cathedrals, and churches, colossal 

warehouses, and very fine 
shops, and the residential 
suburbs are as a rule well 
built, the older buildings 
giving place to new and 
substantial edifices, while 
the shores of the harbour 
become more and more 
picturesque with the ad- 
dition of villas and man- 
sions and private and 
public gardens. Govern- 
ment House is situated in 
a princely domain over- 
looking Farm Cove, in 
which a man-of-war 
usually lies at anchor, and adjoining the oldest botanical garden in 
Australia. Centennial Park lies on the south side of the city. The 
National Park, a few miles further south, contains 35,000 acres of the 
loveliest woodland, forest, mountain, and river scenery, and has a frontage 




Fig. 299 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square mile 
of New South Wales. 


600 The International Geography 

of eight miles to the Pacific Ocean. One hundred miles west of Sydney, 
in a deep valley of the Blue Mountains, are the marvellous limestone 
Jenolan caves, as yet but partially explored. 

Parra matta, literally “head of the waters,” is at the head of the harbour, 
fourteen miles from the capital. It is the next oldest town in the colony, 
and, being extensively planted with oaks and other English trees, it is 
essentially English in its appearance. It possesses orchards and orangeries, 
which have a world-wide reputation, public buildings, residences of Sydney 
merchants, and the homes of many old colonial families. A few miles to 
the south, connected by a tramway with the main Southern line, are the 
small towns of Camden, Campbelltown, and Narellan, on the Nepean river, 
important only from their situation in the midst of the estates of the Mac- 
arthurs, Macleays, Cowpers, and other founders of Australian wealth and 
prosperity. Goulburn, 134 miles south-west of Sydney, on the main Southern 
line, and 2,070 feet above sea-level, is the centre of the southern inland trade. 
Wagga- Wagga, on the same line, and on the Murrumbidgee river, is the 
most important town of the Upper Riverina District. Albury, sometimes 
styled “the Federal City,” is on the north bank of the upper Murray, and 
the station where trains are changed for Melbourne. Newcastle, the 
principal seaport town north of Sydney, distant therefrom 62 miles by 
water and 102 miles by rail, is the greatest coal-mining centre of the 
southern hemisphere, and the outlet for the agricultural produce of the 
Hunter river district. In addition to its coal industry, which employs 
nearly 10,000 men, the town contains several factories and smelting works. 
Twenty miles up the river, which is so far navigable, lies Maitland, a town 
of enterprising citizens, possessing fine public buildings, churches, schools, 
and factories. The town, known as East and West Maitland, suffered 
formerly from disastrous floods, but is now protected by stone embank- 
ments. There are coal mines in the vicinity. Grafton, chief town of the 
Clarence river district, 45 miles from the sea, has a large shipping trade, 
is the centre of a rich agricultural district, and near mines of copper and 
antimony. Tamworth, on the. Peel river, 160 miles from Maitland and 280 
from Sydney; Armidale, the centre of a gold-mining, pastoral, and agri- 
cultural district, over 3,300 feet above sea-level ; and Tenterfield, are rising 
and important towns on the Great Northern line, the last-named close to 
the Queensland border. On the Western and North-Western line Bathurst 
stands 144 miles west of Sydney. It was founded in 1815, well laid out with 
broad streets, and now has fine buildings, factories, railway workshops. 
It is the centre of an agricultural, pastoral, and gold-mining district. 
Orange , 190 miles west of Sydney, and nearly 3,000 feet above sea-level, 
has a bracing climate, produces late fruit and the finest wheat. The 
railway terminates at Bourke, on the Darling, 503 miles from Sydney. 
Lower down the Darling are Wilcannia and Wentworth ; the latter, at 
the junction of the Murray, has a large river trade. May, on the lower 
Murrumbidgee, and Deniliquin, on the Edward river, are the chief towns 


New South Wales 


601 


in the Western Riverina District ; the latter is connected by railway with 
Echuca and Melbourne, and most of the trade with the Riverina District, 
therefore, passes through Victoria. Silverton and Broken Hill, towns in 
the Barrier Ranges silver-mining district, 800 miles west of Sydney and 
close to the South Australian border, are more easily reached by rail from 
Adelaide. 

Dependencies of New South Wales. — Norfolk Island, situated 
about 29 0 S. and 168 0 E., 1,100 miles distant from Sydney, discovered by 
Captain Cook in 1774, was occasionally used as a penal settlement for 
reconvicted criminals. The island was annexed to Tasmania in 1844 and 
again used as a reformatory prison, but in 1855 the establishment was 
withdrawn, and most of the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty 
removed thither in 1856, though many returned later to Pitcairn. Since 
1865 Norfolk Island has been the headquarters of the Melanesian Mission. 
The inhabitants, who are lodged in well-built houses, occupy themselves 
with planting, herding, and whaling, and the island is once more a depen- 
dency of New South Wales, with separate laws and regulations. It has a 
fertile soil, but no good harbour. 

Lord Howe Island, a small island situated between Norfolk Island 
and Sydney in 31^° S. and 159 0 E., discovered in 1788, and used as a place 
of call, is at present occupied by a few settlers, who supply vessels, chiefly 
whalers, with vegetables. A magistrate has been resident on the island 
since 1879. 


STATISTICS. 

1881. 1891. 1901. 

Area of New South Wales (square miles) 310,700 310,700 310,700 

Population 751.468 1,132,234 1 , 359,537 

Density of population (per square mile) 2 4 4 

POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 




1886. 

1896. 



1886. 

1896. 

Sydney and suburbs 

308,270 . . 

410,000 

Grafton 

• • • • 

4,000 . . 

6,000 

Newcastle and suburbs . . 

19,027 . . 

27,000 

Orange 

• • • • 

3,795 • • 

5,850 

Broken Hill 

• • • • 

— 

18,580 

Albury 

• • • • 

5,000 . . 

5,650 

Parramatta. . 

• • • • 

10,287 .. 

12.500 

Tamworth . . 

• • • • 

4,400 . . 

5,400 

Goulburn . . 

• • • * 

8,343 • • 

12,300 

Wagga-Wagga 

• • • • 

4,000 . . 

4,600 

Maitland (East and West) 

8.910 . . 

10,600 

Armidale 

• • • • 

2,668 . . 

4,700 

Bathurst 

• • • • 

8,810 . . 

9,200 






RESOURCES 

OF THE COLONY IN 

1896. 








Value of 



No. of 

No. of 

No. of 

Value of Value of 

Silver and 

Value of 


Sheep. 

Cattle. 

Horses. 

Wool. 

Gold. 

Silver-lead. 

CoaL 


48,319,000 

2,226,000 

510,600 

£8,776,000 £1,073,000 

£1,785,000 

£1,125,000 



AVERAGE ANNUAL TRADE {in -pounds sterling). 


1873-75- 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 11,957,000 .. 21,168,000 .. 19,212,000 

Exports 12,611,000 .. 17.489,000 .. 22,670,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

T. A. Coghlan. “The Wealth and Progress of New South Wales.’’ Sydney, Annual. 
Annual Reports published by the Government of New South Wales on the Lands, Rail* 
ways and Mines. 

F. Hutchinson. “ New South Wales.” Sydney, 1896. 


602 The International Geography 

IJI.— VICTORIA 

By Edward A. Petherick. 

Position and Extent. — Victoria, the most southerly of the colonies 
on the Australian mainland, and the latest settled, lies between 34 0 and 39 0 S. 
and 141 0 and 150° E., having New South Wales on the north, the Province 
of South Australia on the west, the Southern Ocean, Bass Strait, and the 
Pacific Ocean on the south. Its greatest length from east to west is 420 
miles, its greatest breadth 250 miles, and its area nearly 88,000 square miles, 
about one-third that of New South Wales, of which it formed part until 
1851, or one thirty-fourth part of the whole continent. 

Coastal Features. — Two lofty capes, Otway and Wilson Promon- 
tory, the latter a granitic mountain peninsula, forming the southernmost 
point of Australia, project far into Bass Strait, and, with King, Flinders, 
and other islands, geologically link Tasmania with the continent. The 
principal inlets on the Victorian side of the Strait are Port Albert, Western 
Port, and Port Phillip — an almost land-locked bay, 800 square miles in area, 
off which open Hobson’s Bay, the port of Melbourne, and Corio Bay, the 
port of Geelong (Fig. 304). 

Surface and Natural Divisions. — Mountain chains and hilly ranges, 
forming part of the Great Dividing Range, traverse the country east and 
west, at a distance of 50 to 70 miles from the sea, throwing out spurs which 
divide their northern and southern slopes into several basins, known as the 
Murray (or North-eastern), Gippsland (or Eastern), Loddon (or Northern), 
Port Phillip (or Central), Wimmera (or North-western), and Portland (or 
Western) districts. The eastern chains, or Australian Alps, rise to an 
elevation of over 6,000 feet, amid magnificent scenery. There are 
evidences of past glaciation, but snow now remains in summer only in 
sheltered spots on the loftier summits. The highest peaks measured in 
Victoria are Bogong (6,508 feet), and Feathertop (6,303 feet). Westward 
the ranges are lower, descending from 4,000 to 2,000 feet. The Murray 
District, on the northern slopes of the Alps, is drained by the Mitta Mitta, 
the Ovens, the Goulburn, and other tributaries of the Murray. The 
southern slopes of the Alps form the Gippsland District, watered by the 
Margalong or Snowy river, which rises in New South Wales and flows to 
the sea direct, and a number of smaller streams, which mostly unite and 
pass to the sea through a chain of tidal lakes. Count Strzelecki, who 
explored Gippsland in 1840, called it a noble province of arcadian beauty, 
possessing lofty mountains, magnificent streams, and fertile plains. The 
Loddon District is so called from the river of that name, which, with the 
Campaspe and their affluents flow to the Murray from the northern slopes 
. of the Dividing Range and the Pyrenees. The southern slopes of these 
mountains form the Port Phillip District, drained chiefly by streams 
which find their way to Port Phillip Bay, the principal river being the 


Victoria 


603 


Yarra Yarra. The Wimmera District occupies the north-western part of 
the colony, mostly flat country covered with stunted bushes or scrub, 
known as mallee. Several streams take their rise on the northern and 
western slopes of the hills known as the Grampians, the Victoria and 
Black ranges, but these dry up without reaching the Murray, or lose them- 
selves in salt lakes. The Portland District lying south and west of the last- 
mentioned ranges is well watered by numerous streams which unite with 
the Glenelg and other rivers flowing to the sea. This region is volcanic, 
characterised by numerous detached and isolated hills, from 1,000 to 2,000 
feet in height, some showing extinct craters, and there are many salt and 
fresh lakes. Hills, plains and valleys are well grassed, and are, for 
sheep pasturage, perhaps the best in the world. Only two of the rivers, 
the Murray and the Goulburn, are navigable for any distance. 

The geological structure of the colony has been indicated in the general 
chapter on Australia. Palaeozoic strata prevail with intrusions of granite 
and large masses of volcanic rock abounding in minerals. The weathering 
of these rocks gives rise to a 
variety of soils adapted for 
the growth of a wide range 
of products. 

Climate. — The climate 
is more temperate than that 
of any other part of Australia. 

The thermometer rises oc- 
casionally above ioo° in the 
shade — a dry heat — and may, 
for a few nights in the year, 
fall below freezing point, 
the mean annual tempera- 
ture over a long series of years being 57 0 . Spring is marked by sudden 
changes. In the summer months — December, January and February — 
hot winds laden with fine dust occasionally blow from the north, but 
intense heat is succeeded by thunderstorms and refreshing showers. The 
winter months are June, July and August, but sunshine is rarely absent, 
the atmosphere usually being as clear as that of Italy. The rainfall varies 
from 25 to 40 inches in the east and south, and from 14 to 20 in the 
north-west. 

Flora. — Vegetation is sparse in the plains, giving the country a park- 
like appearance. In the ranges it is more dense and subtropical in its 
forms, but the predominating feature is the eucalyptus or gum-tree, hard 
and durable, valuable for making piles, railway sleepers and girders, yet 
capable of a high polish for cabinet work. In the Gippsland District 
specimens of immense girth have been measured, 50 to 80 feet in circum- 
ference, and also of extraordinary height — considerably over 300 feet — one 
fallen tree has been estimated at 480 feet. The blue gum, famous for its 



Fig. 301. — The extinct volcanoes of south-western 

Victoria. 


604. The International Geography 

medicinal properties, has been acclimatised in malarial districts of the 
south of Europe, in India, and in California. The consumption of timber 
for mining purposes has been enormous, yet it is estimated that over six 
million acres of hardwood trees are yet untouched. Several species of 
acacia, or wattle, supply bark for tanning purposes. The gullies also 
abound with a species of fan-palm, and with fern trees of gigantic growth ; 
there are multitudes of smaller ferns, altogether not less than 160 species. 
The desert tracts and mallee country of the Wimmera District are more or 
less interspersed with pasture grass and a great variety of salt bushes. Fire, 
in time of drought, has been a very destructive agent. The ravages in the 
forests are, however, soon repaired, for Australian vegetation is as remark- 
able for celerity of growth as for abundance and variety, the eucalyptic 
species surpassing all other trees in this respect. 

Fauna. — The animals of Victoria are similar to those of the adjacent 
colonies ; the dingo and native cat, the only carnivora, are practically 
exterminated ; the kangaroo driven out of the settled districts, and the 
“ opossum," owing to ruthless pursuit for its skin, largely reduced in 
numbers ; the wombat and platypus are now rare. There are many 
species of lizards ; snakes are numerous, but only two or three species are 
venomous enough £0 cause death. Of birds, the emu and native com- 
panion are also rare, the lyre bird extremely so, but the smaller birds — 
cockatoos, parrots, parroquets, laughing jackass, snipe and quail are 
plentiful. Cattle, deer, and sheep, and the Angora goat have been 
acclimatised ; rabbits and sparrows have become pests. 

Aborigines. — When the colony was first settled, the aborigines were 
still in the hunter and fisher state, nomadic, and without habitations. Their 
numbers were then estimated at from 6,000 to 15,000. Although protected 
and cared for in villages and reserves, they have dwindled to less than 600. 
Being very agile, intelligent, and acute in their sense of sight, they were 
of some service to the early settlers as shepherds, and in the police force. 

Resources. — The chief products are wool, the finest brands obtainable 
in the world being those of Victorian growth, meat, hides, and other pro- 
ducts of cattle, grain and breadstuffs, potatoes, timber, bark (for tanning 
purposes), tobacco, hops, fruit and wine, all of which are exported, as well 
as live stock, especially horses. Next to wool, gold (after an aggregate 
yield of the value of £260,000,000) is still the principal product, although 
the number of miners employed is now under 30,000. Nearly all gold is 
now passed through the Melbourne mint and the total value exported in 
sovereigns and half-sovereigns is over £3,000,000 annually. Extensive beds 
of brown and black coal are now worked in Gippsland ; building stone, 
limestone, and marble exist in large quantities, as well as kaolin and other 
clays. Fisheries are also an important industry, the principal supplies of 
fish coming from the Gippsland lakes, Port Albert and Western Port. 
Fruit of all kinds is largely grown and exported. The manufactures are 
of importance for home supply in almost all departments, but are not yet 


Victoria 


605 

exported to any appreciable extent. The principal imports are gold from 
the other States (for minting), cottons, woollens and clothing, sugar, tea, 
coal, iron, and steel. Over 80 per cent, of the total imports come from 
Great Britain and British possessions, of which in some years more and in 
some years less than half is from the United Kingdom, India and Hong- 
kong. The remainder comes from the other Australian States and foreign 
countries, chiefly the United States and Germany. 

Discovery and Exploration. — Part of the south-eastern coast was 
sighted by Captain Cook in 1770, and Wilson Promontory was probably 
seen during Cook’s second voyage, by his lieutenant, Captain Furneaux, in 
March, 1773. Ten years after the settlement of Port Jackson, George 
Bass, exploring the coast southward in a whale boat, rounded Wilson 
Promontory and entered Western Port, 5th January, 1798. A few months 
later Flinders and Bass demonstrated the existence of the Strait by circum- 
navigating Tasmania. The coast west of Cape Otway was discovered by 
Lieut. Grant in the Lady Nelson in 1800, and Lieut. Murray, continuing 
these explorations in the same vessel, discovered Port Phillip Bay in 1802, 
entered and took formal possession of it on March 9th. This port was again 
explored by Flinders in the following month, and a French expedition 
being then on the coast, the importance of a settlement in the strait was 
urged upon the Home Government w T ho sent out two transports with 
convicts, their wives and children, a number of free settlers, and a military 
detachment under Colonel Collins, in 1803. Collins landed his people on 
an arid ridge, inside Port Phillip Heads, and finding it unsuitable for a 
settlement soon removed to the Derwent near the present site of Hobart, 
Tasmania. For twenty years the shores of Victoria were visited only by 
whalers and sealers. Again, there were rumours of an intended French 
occupation, and a military detachment was sent from Sydney to Western 
Port by sea, and Hume and Hovell undertook an overland journey in 
1824-25, but being forced westward by the mountains they came out on 
the western shores of Port Phillip Bay near Geelong. The Western Port 
party was soon withdrawn. Ten years later, Mitchell, continuing Sturt’s 
exploration of the river system of eastern Australia, ascertained that the 
Darling joined the Murray, and crossed the latter into Victoria. The 
country, which he traversed in two directions, appearing to be more 
temperate, richer, and more beautirul than any he had seen before, he 
named it — the better to distinguish it from the parched deserts of the 
interior — Australia Felix. 

Settlement and Growth. — Pasture land being mostly taken up in 
Tasmania, applications were made as early as 1827 to the Sydney Govern- 
ment for the use of lands at Western Port, but were not granted. Pioneer 
settlers removed their stock to Portland Bay in 1834, and others crossed to 
Port Phillip in 1835 and purchased from a number of wandering aborigines 
a tract of land 600,000 acres in extent, the consideration being an immediate 
present and a yearly tribute of goods. These proceedings were disallowed. 


606 The International Geography 


and the settlers warned that they were trespassers. At the same time 
their services to the colonisation of the country were recognised, and they, 
or their heirs, were afterwards compensated. During the year following 
Mitchell’s explorations, a number of squatters on the Sydney side drove 
their flocks and herds over the Murray, more followed from Tasmania, 
and the news reaching the mother country, the tide of emigration began 
to flow towards Port Phillip in 1839. 

An arbitrator was chosen from among themselves by the first settlers 
until a police magistrate was sent to them from Sydney. Governor Bourke 
visited the settlement in March, 1837, and approved of plans for a town on 
the Yarra, to be called Melbourne, a second at Geelong, and a third, 
Williamstown on the harbour, which, having been surveyed by Captain 
Hobson of H.M.S. Rattlesnake , was named Hobson Bay. As incon- 
venience was caused by the necessity of referring matters to Sydney, a 
Superintendent was sent out from England in 1839, and provision made for the 
local administration of justice. Melbourne was declared a free port in 1840 
and incorporated a town in 1842. Representative government being con- 
ferred on New South Wales in the same year, six 
members were allotted to the districts south of the 
Murray, the population of which was 23,000, but the 
inhabitants desiring the control of their own local affairs 
petitioned for separation. This, after several years’ 
agitation and a long period of financial trouble, was 
granted at the beginning of 1851, with a Governor and 

FlG ; • The B a dge Legislative Council, composed of elective and nomi- 
of Victoria showing 0 r 

the constellation of nated members. The discovery of gold in California 
the Southern Cross. h av i n g drawn away some of the population, and 

the more recent discovery of gold in New South Wales (February, 
1851), threatening to draw away more, a substantial reward was offered 
for the discovery of a gold-field within the colony. In a few days 
former “ finds” were verified, gold was unearthed in the nearest ranges, 
and in a short time richer fields were revealed than any previously 
known. Melbourne was soon emptied of its male inhabitants, and in a 
few weeks Tasmania and South Australia were largely depleted. By the 
end of the year immigrants came flocking in from all parts of the world. 
This influx continued for four years, the arrivals being from one to five 
thousand weekly, the population increasing (in spite of departures) from 
78,000 in 1851 to 400,000 in 1856. A Commission assisted the Governor in 
Council in controlling the operations on the gold-fields, which soon 
extended over the greater part of the colony. 

Government. — Responsible government was conferred upon the 
colony in 1855 in the form of two Houses of Parliament, the lower house, 
whose members are paid, being elected by ballot and manhood suffrage, 
and a Cabinet of Ministers, responsible to Parliament, presided over by a 
Governor appointed by the Crown. The population as in New South 



Victoria 


607 

Wales, is largely concentrated in the capital. From the beginning of 
the influx of population the government was beset by the difficulty of 
settling the people upon the unoccupied lands. Acts and regulations 
more and more favourable to that end continued to be passed ; lands were 
surveyed expeditiously, and all possible facilities granted. Public works 
also were undertaken upon an extensive scale — main roads and bridges, 
railways and telegraphs, waterworks and reservoirs for towns and mining 
operations as well as harbours and lighthouses — with the result that more 
than half of the present largely-increased population is now settled in 
rural districts, 15 per cent, in country towns and not more than one-third 
in the metropolitan area, which is a very large one. As a further induce- 
ment, in recent years, over 150,000 acres have been set aside in eighty-five 
different localities for homestead and village communities financially 
assisted by government, and labour colonies are also in operation to fit 
men for the duties of country life. Irrigation settlements at Mildura, on 
the lower Murray, have, despite financial difficulties, met with a large 
measure of success, and shown to what use the waste lands of the 
“Mallee” country may be turned. National irri- 
gation works in the valleys of the Goulburn and 
lower Loddon, and storage works at Horsham in 
the Wimmera District, are entirely under State 
control, and, like the railways, are the property of 
the State. ♦ 

Primary education is free, unsectarian, and com- 
pulsory, froe passes on the railways being granted ¥lG . i0i ,_ Average popu . 
to the children of the scattered settlers. There are lation of a square 
many public and private schools of a higher grade, mile °f victoria - 
technical colleges, and a university in Melbourne. There is no Estab- 
lished Church. 

Towns. — Municipal government having been granted early in the 
history of the colony local improvements have been carried on simultaneously 
with national works, with the result that the annual death rate is much 
below that of any European country, being under fifteen per thousand. 
Ninety-nine per cent, of the territory is locally governed in 60 urban 
districts and 150 shires. Besides the capital, eight cities or towns have 
a population exceeding 25,000 each ; but most of the country towns 
are small. In addition to public offices, churches, schools, mechanics' 
institutes, and libraries, a special feature of the principal towns is their 
parks and recreation grounds. Scattered over the country also are the 
homesteads and mansions of the squatters and other magnates. A 
considerable part of the population, as in all young countries, is 
migratory in its habits ; for instance, nearly 100,000 migrated from 
Victoria to Western Australia and the adjacent colonies during the 
financial troubles in 1893 and 1894 — over 50,000 left Melbourne alone. 
Some of these have since returned. 


6o8 The International Geography 


Melbourne, the capital, the most populous city in Australasia and the 
seventh city in order of size in the British Empire, with its suburbs, 
including Port Melbourne and Williamstown, occupies over 200 square 
miles. It is situated on the Yarra Yarra and Saltwater rivers, which are 
crossed by fine bridges. Steamers of 8,000 tons now pass through a 
new channel from the port to wharves (eight miles in length) in the heart 
of the city, and a dry dock at Williamstown can accommodate the largest 
vessels. Ninety per cent, of the imports and exports of the colony passes 
through Melbourne. The city possesses all the public buildings and com- 
mercial facilities of a first-rate European capital and seaport ; the houses 
of parliament, vice-regal residence, university and affiliated colleges, as 
well as the parks, botanic and zoological gardens, may be particularly 


while the “Alps” can be reached by rail in a few hours. 

Ballarat, the second city in Victoria and fifth in Australia, 75 miles 
north-west of Melbourne, stands at an elevation of 1,400 feet above 
sea-level, and has been for half a century the centre of the richest gold- 
yielding district in the world. The “ Welcome ” nugget, weighing 2,217 
ounces, was found at Ballarat and sold for £ 10,500 . The city, which 
is in the midst of agricultural and pastoral districts producing the finest 
wool, is well laid out, has fine streets and public buildings, and an 
artificial lake. Six lines of railway branch off to other mining towns 
in the neighbourhood and all parts of the colony. Bendigo, formerly 
Sandhurst, 100 miles north of Melbourne, is the headquarters of another 
rich auriferous district, occupying 22 square miles, and containing 700 
distinct quartz reefs. This city possesses many fine buildings, a botanic 
garden, a park, and various factories. Eaglehawk, four miles from 



FlG. 304 .— Port Phillip and Melbourne. . 


mentioned. In pictu- 
resqueness of situation 
and in beauty of archi- 
tecture — civil, ecclesiasti- 
cal, and domestic — Mel- 
bourne and its suburbs 
rank with the finest cities 
of the old world. It has 
ample water-supply for 
all purposes, railways and 
cable-tramways, and a 
comprehensive scheme of 
sewerage is approaching 
completion. There are 
many favourite resorts 
of excursionists in the 
vicinity on the shores of 
the bay as well as in the 
nearer mountain ranges. 


Victoria 


609 

Bendigo, contains many rich quartz mines, and is an important town in 
itself. Geelong , situated on the Barwon and Corio Bay, 45 miles south-west 
of Melbourne, is reached by steamer and rail. It possesses a fine harbour 
and all the public buildings of a prosperous commercial and manufacturing 
town. It is the chief seat of the woollen industry in Victoria, and the 
railway connects it with Colac, Camperdown, Warrnambool, and Port 
Fairy, passing through the richest pastoral and agricultural districts. 
Warrnambool is a seaport town, having a fine jetty and breakwater. Its 
chief export is dairy produce, and it possesses many fine buildings and 
factories, sea-baths, colleges, museums, gardens, and the coolest summer 
climate in Australia. At Framlingham, 18 miles from Warrnambool, the 
remnant of the Western District aborigines is sheltered. Between Geelong 
and Queenscliff, the pilot-station and the fortified entrance of Port Phillip — 
also a favourite watering-place — lies the most highly cultivated district in 
the colony, the formation being sand over clay. 

Railways. — The above-mentioned towns are all connected by rail, 
the lines radiating from Melbourne (Fig. 293). The North-Eastern and 
Northern Railways tap the Riverina District of New South Wales at seven 
points on the Murray, the navigable frontage of that river being nearly 
eight hundred miles. The North-Eastern line for Sydney crosses the river 
at Wodonga for Albury, but change of carriage is necessary owing to 
a difference of gauge. The Northern Railway crosses the river, by an iron 
bridge 2,000 feet long, at Echuca, the principal town on the Murray, the 
entrepot for intercolonial trade, and junction for Deniliquin, the chief 
town of the Riverina District. Echuca is also the centre of an agricultural 
and wine-growing district, and possesses immense wool stores and factories. 
Branches of the same lines touch the river at Yarrawonga (where there is 
another fine bridge), and at other points. There are other important 
towns in the northern and north-eastern districts rich in cattle, agricultural, 
and mining products, including Mooroopna and Rather glen, centres of the 
largest wine-producing districts in Australia, and Beechworth, a mining centre 
and picturesque holiday resort, situated 1,770 feet above sea-level. From 
Bright, a small town in the same district, there is an easy ascent to some 
of the highest peaks of the “Alps.” From Ballarat the North-Western 
trunk line passes through thickly-timbered country to Ararat, the centre of 
a pastoral, agricultural, and wine-making district, and sends branches to 
the mining town Stawell and to Portland, the oldest settlement in the 
colony, situated on the bay of that name, which affords anchorage for the 
largest vessels, and is the natural outlet for the Western District. From 
Ararat the main line proceeds to Horsham, the chief town of the Wimmera 
District and a market for live stock, grain and fruit, and thence to Adelaide, 
crossing the South Australian border at Serviceton, no change of carriage 
being necessary. The South-Eastern main line from Melbourne passes 
through the Dandenong State forest and the recently discovered coal 
districts to Sale, the chief town in Gippsland, and to the Gippsland lakes. 


6io The International Geography 


STATISTICS. 


1881. 1891. 

Area of Victoria (square miles) 87,884 . . 87,884 

Population 862,346 .. 1,140,405 

Density of population (per square mile) . . 10 13 


1901. 

. . 87,884 

.. 1,200,914 

.. 14 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 



1885. 

1895. 


1885. 

1895. 

Melbourne and suburbs. .345 380 

.. 460,371 

Warrnambool 

. • 5.398 

. . 6,60c 

Ballarat 


. . 46,276 

Maryborough 

. . 3,800 

. . 5.460 

Bendigo 


. . 42,000 

Stawell 


. . 5.200 

Geelong 


. . 25,000 

Castlemaine 

. . 6,000 

.. 5.100 

Eaglehawk. . 


8,476 

Echuca 

• • 4.065 

. . 5.000 


RESOURCES OF VICTORIA IN 1896. 

No. of Sheep. No. of Cattle. No. of Horses. Value of Gold raised. Value of Wool. 
14,000,000 . . 1,900,000 . . 435 .ooo . . £3,220,000 . . £5,250,000 


RESOURCES OF VICTORIA IN 1896. 

No. of Sheep. No. of Cattle. No. of Horses. Value of Gold raised. Value of Wool. 
14,000,000 . . 1,900,000 . . 435 .ooo . . £3,220,000 . . £5,250,000 

ANNUAL TRADE OF VICTORIA (in pounds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 15,241.000 .. 18,091,000 .. 15,422,000 

Exports 14,787,000 .. 16,089,000 .. 14,420,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Fenton. “Victorian Year Book.” Melbourne, Annual. 
Dnwick. “ Port Phillip Settlements.” London, 1883. 


IV,— TASMANIA 

By the Editor . 1 

Position and Coasts. — Tasmania, the fourth and most southerly 

Australian colony of the eastern tier, is an island separated from Victoria 

by Bass Strait (about 140 miles wide), and lying between the parallels of 

40J 0 and 43^° S. Its area is scarcely less 

than that of Scotland, and it is the smallest 

as well as the most temperate of the 

Australian colonies. The north coast of 

Tasmania faces the continent in a concave 

curve from the two ends of which lines of 

islands, the Furneaux group on the east 

and Hunter and King Islands on the west, 

stretch northward across Bass Strait, like 

chains suspending a heart-shaped pendant. 

The indentations on the north and west 

coasts, although affording a few natural 

harbours — notably the narrow estuary of the 

Fig 3°5 — The South-Eastern corner T amar on the north, and Macquarie Harbour 
of Tasmania. ^ 

on the west — are neither numerous nor 
important. The east coast is a little more broken ; but in the south-eastern 
corner the edge of the island is wrought into a singular complex of 
fantastic peninsulas, amongst which the form of a recurved hook is re- 



1 Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 


Tasmania 


61 1 


peated again and again on different scales of magnitude. In the heart of 
this rocky maze the estuary of the Derwent opens, access to it being 
hampered by many serious dangers before the days of lighthouses. 

Configuration and Rivers. — Tasmania is essentially a highland 
region, built up mainly of ancient Palaeozoic strata through which harder 
igneous masses have been intruded. The result of the initial form and the 
diverse materials is that the full rivers fed by the rain of the “ roaring 
forties ’’ have carved the surface into picturesque gullies and bold moun- 
tainous slopes. An irregular range, or series of ranges, runs close along 
the east coast, rising in Ben Lomond to over 5,000 feet. It consists largely 
of trap which has broken through the overlying sandstone, limestone, and 
other strata now found in the valleys and lowlands. Volcanic forces have 
been active in recent geological time, covering large tracts of the east and 
centre with lava, which, in decomposing, formed a very fertile soil. West 
of this mountainous belt, the valleys of the Tamar, Macquarie, and Coal 
rivers, and connecting lowlands form a line of depression affording means 
of direct communication between north and south, utilised by the main 
trunk railway of the island. Farther west, the whole centre is occupied by 
a plateau much of which exceeds 3,000 feet in elevation, dominated by 
short mountain ranges and isolated summits, including Mount Cradle 
(5,070 feet), the culminating point of the island. Bordering the plateau on 
the south and west there are several ranges of metamorphic rocks rising 
to a considerable height. The highest part of the plateau in the north- 
east, not far from the centre of the island, is occupied by a remarkable 
group of fresh-water lakes, situated in picturesque scenery, and likely to 
prove one of the most valuable resources of Tasmania by attracting visitors 
from the mainland colonies in the summer months. Great Lake, the 
largest, is about twelve miles long and four wide, and is situated at an 
elevation of 3,800 feet above the sea. The principal rivers are the Der- 
went, which rises in Lake St. Clair and flows south-eastwards for about 
130 miles to Storm Bay ; the Huon, about 100 miles in length, flowing 
through a rich forest region to D’Entrecasteaux Channel; the Tamar in the 
north, properly an estuary formed by the union of the rivers Esk and 
Macquarie which drain the great eastern depression, coming from the 
Eastern Ranges, and receiving tributaries from the central lakes. 

Mineral Resources. — Tasmania is rich in minerals. Tin has been 
the most extensively worked hitherto, the principal mining centres being 
at Mount Bischoff on the north-west, and at Branxholme in the north-east. 
Valuable deposits of copper and antimony are being opened up at Mount 
Lyell, and silver in the vicinity of Mounts Zeehan and Dundas, in the west 
Iron is widely distributed, and large beds of coal, some of good quality, 
are found in different parts ; the mines of the Fingal basin in the east 
supply the Tasmanian railways. Other useful minerals are bismuth ore, 
slates, marble, and excellent building stone. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The climate, on account of the pre- 


612 The International Geography 


vailing westerly winds, which moderate the heat, is the mildest and most 
equable of any part of Australasia and shows well-marked seasons. It 
resembles that of the south of England ; and, as in the British Islands, it 
gives a definite character to the land and its productions. The mean 
temperature in winter on the coast is 47 0 , and in summer 62° F. ; but 
in the highlands the winters are more extreme. The rainfall is moderate, 
but, compared with that of the continent of Australia, ample and uniformly 
distributed. At Hobart the average is a little less than that of London. 
The vegetation is mainly of the Australian type, eucalypti being the most 
widely distributed. One species, known as the Tolasa Blue Gum, is said 
to attain a height of 350 feet. The Huon Pine is abundant in the south. 
The island was once almost entirely forest-clad, and large woodlands still 
remain yielding much valuable timber. The fauna also is, in general, similar 
to that of the Australian continent, but a few forms are peculiar to the 
island, the most noteworthy being two species of carnivorous marsupials, 
the famous Tasmanian devil and the native tiger, or striped wolf, both of 
which have been hunted almost to extinction by the settlers on account of 
the destruction they caused to sheep. Of 170 species of Australian birds 

about 15 are common to Tasmania, including a “ reed 
warbler ” and one species of quail as large as a partridge. 
The platypus is more common in Tasmania than in the 
Australian continent. Fish of various kinds are abun- 
dant, and a very large and much esteemed crayfish is 
an article of export to the neighbouring colonies. 
History and Government. — Tasmania, or as it 
Fig. 306 — The Badge was first named Van Diemen’s Land, was discovered 
of Tasmania. by Tasman in 1642. Towards the end of the follow- 
ing century it was visited by several navigators, amongst whom was 
Captain Cook, who landed at Adventure Bay on the south-east coast 
in 1777, but did not recognise the insularity of Van Diemen’s Land, 
which was not proved until Bass and Flinders circumnavigated it in 1798. 
In 1803 it was formally taken possession of on behalf of the British Crown, 
as a dependency of New South Wales, and a small convict settlement was 
formed at Risdon on the Derwent. This was transferred in the following 
year to the opposite side of the river, the site of the present capital. The 
island continued to be a dependency of New South Wales till 1825, when 
it was constituted a separate colony, but transportation of convicts to Van 
Diemen’s Land continued until 1853. In 1856 the colony was granted 
responsible government, and the name changed to Tasmania. The 
Governor represents the Queen ; the Parliament consists of a Legislative 
Council and a House of Assembly, the members of both being elected. 

Aborigines. — The Aborigines, who at the time of the British annexa- 
tion numbered perhaps 4,000 or 5,000, are now quite extinct. A few half- 
breeds only remain on the Furneaux Islands. The history of the dealings 
of the British settlers with the aborigines is deplorable. From 1804, soon 



Tasmania 



after the planting of the first convict settlement, until 1832, when the 
natives were almost exterminated, a “ Black War ” was waged, marked on 
both sides by cruelty and treachery. In 1830 an 
attempt was made to drive the surviving inhabitants 
into a corner of the island, but it utterly failed. Sub- 
sequently after five years of effort, marked by countless 
dangers and hardships, some philanthropic individuals 
succeeded in gathering the remnant of the race to- 
gether in Bruni Island, whence they w r ere afterwards 
removed to other stations, but it was too late, and 
although considerable attention was paid to the last 
of the Tasmanians they had dwindled to sixteen in 
1850, and the last survivor, an old woman of seventy-three, died in 1876. 

Industries and Trade. — Sheep-rearing and agriculture are the 
principal occupations. Besides the crops grown for domestic supply, the 
most important are fruit and hops. Much attention is devoted to the 
former, and fruit, both fresh and preserved, constitutes the chief agri- 
cultural export. The leading exports are wool, gold, silver and tin, and 
the imports textiles, various manufactured goods and provisions. The 
bulk of the trade is carried on with the neighbouring colonies of Victoria 
and New South Wales, and with the United Kingdom. The main line of 
railway runs from north to south between Hobart and Launceston, and 
there are several secondary lines. Coaches connect the principal town- 
ships, but facilities for internal communication are, as yet, very limited. 

Towns. — Hobart (formerly called Hobart Town), is pleasantly situated 
on the Derwent, on rising ground at the base of Mount Wellington (4,160 
feet). The city is well laid out and has various handsome churches and 
other public buildings. Local industries include flour mills, jam factories, 
woollen mills, tanneries, and important iron works, where materials for 
railway and bridge construction and steam machinery are produced. The 
harbour is spacious, deep and well sheltered. Launceston , on the Tamar, is 
the second town in the colony, and the chief port of the north. It stands 
in a valley at the head of the estuary, between the Cataract and Windmill 
Hills ; the former takes its name from picturesque falls in Cataract Gorge 
on the South Esk. 


• • 


• « 


• • 


FlG. 307 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Tasmania. 


STATISTICS. 

1881. 1891. 1901. 

Area of Tasmania (square miles) .. .. 26,215 .. 26,215 .. 26,215 

Population of Tasmania 115,705 .. 146,667 .. 172,475 

Density of population per square mile . . 4 6 7 

Population of Hobart 21,118 .. 24,905 .. 24,654 

„ Launceston 12, 752 .. 17,108 .. 18,022 

AVERAGE ANNUAL TRADE OF TASMANIA {in pounds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95- 

Imports 1,027,000 . . 1,669,000 . . 1,336,000 

Exports 911,000 .. i,533.ooo •• 1,400,000 

STANDARD BOOKS. 


, Bonwick. “The Last of the Tasmanians.” London, 1870. 
Fenton. “ History of Tasmania.” Launceston, 1884. 

'. C. Just. “Official Handbook of Tasmania.” London, 1892. 


CHAPTER XXXIII.— CENTRAL AND WESTERN 
STATES OF THE COMMONWEALTH 

OF AUSTRALIA 


I. — SOUTH AUSTRALIA 

By Edward A. Petherick. 

Position and Extent. — The Province of South Australia lies between 
26° and 38° S. latitude, and 129 0 and 141 0 E. longitude, having Western 
Australia on the west, New South Wales and Victoria on the east, the 
Southern Ocean on the south, and an area of 380,000 square miles. The 
territory extending north of the iwenty-sixth parallel to the shores of the 
Indian Ocean, Arafura Sea, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, lying between 
129 0 and 138° E., the boundaries respectively of Western Australia and 
Queensland, and containing 523,000 square miles, has also been under the 
administrative control of the South Australian Government since 1863. 
The “ Province ” and the “ Northern Territory” together are 1,800 miles 
in length from sea to sea, and in area are three times as large as New 
South Wales, comprising indeed nearly one-third of the continent. 

Coast. — The southern coast is deeply indented by Spencer Gulf, 
which penetrates nearly 200 miles and includes Ports Lincoln and 
Augusta, and by St. Vincent Gulf penetrating 100 miles, Yorke Peninsula 
lying between. Spencer Gulf is bordered on the west by Eyre Peninsula, 
beyond which comes the Great Australian Bight. To the east of St. 
Vincent Gulf, Lake Alexandrina forms the outlet of the river Murray, and 
a remarkable sand-spit runs south-eastward along the coast for nearly 
90 miles, locking in a long narrow lagoon — the Coorong — against the 
land. South of the gulfs is Kangaroo Island, 85 miles long, separated from 
the mainland by Investigator Strait and Backstairs Passage. 

The northern coast comprises the western side of the Gulf of Car- 
pentaria bordered by several islands, and the much-indented north and 
east coasts of Arnhem Land. Coburg Peninsula and the two islands of 
Melville and Bathurst enclose a considerable area of water in Van 
Diemen Gulf, the south coast of which contains the inlet of Port Darwin. 
Queen’s Channel, the estuary of the Victoria river, forms the south-westerly 
corner of Arnhem Land. 

The Interior. — Ranges of hills running northward from Cape Jervis 
parallel with St. Vincent Gulf — the highest points, Mount Lofty (2,330 
feet) and Razorback (2,830 feet) — divide the waters flowing eastward to 
the Murray and a few streams flowing to the Gulf. This part of the 

614 


South Australia 


6i 5 

country is almost wholly arable land. The south-eastern district is largely 
composed of the same eruptive rocks which occur in the adjoining 
part of Victoria ; the most conspicuous of several ancient volcanoes is 
Mount Gambier. The Flinders Range runs east and north of Spencer 
Gulf, and Gawler Range westward, crossing Eyre Peninsula. Beyond are 
low-lying lands, and Eyre, Gairdner, Torrens, and other salt lakes which 
in wet seasons receive the waters of a vast extent of back country, in- 
cluding streams from western Queensland. The waters thus received are 
absorbed or evaporated during seasons of drought, when the interior 
plains become an arid and burning desert. The surface of Lake Eyre 
is a few feet below sea-level. Further north, in the centre of the con- 
tinent, is an elevated tract of country, Larapinta Land, formed by the 
Macdonnell and James Ranges, composed of rugged and barren rocks 
nearly 5,000 feet above sea-level. From these ranges occasional heavy 
rains rush down numerous channels to the Finke (native name, Larapinta) 
river, flooding and fertilising the hot moving sands of the surrounding 
country, and rapidly producing a luxuriant growth of vegetation. Lake 
Amadeus lies west of this region and partly within Western Australia. 
The coastal districts of the Northern Territory are fairly well watered 
with streams from ranges at no great distance inland, the chief rivers 
being the Roper, which flows into the Gulf of Carpentaria, the East, 
North, and South Alligators, the Adelaide, Daly, and the North-Western 
Victoria flowing into the Indian Ocean. 

Climate. — The temperature of the Province varies considerably. At 
Adelaide, during a long period of years the maximum observed for the 
month of January (midsummer) was 112 0 , and the mean day temperature 
86°; the maximum for July (midwinter or rainy season) was 69°, and 
the mean during the day 58° ; the minimum observed was 34 0 . In the 
Mount Lofty ranges, within an hour’s journey of the capital, the tempera- 
ture is from io° to 15 0 lower in summer, and in winter snow sometimes 
falls. The prevailing winds, except in midsummer, are south-east ; in 
summer they blow from the north, are hot and enervating, especially to 
those in feeble health, and severe upon tender or unprotected plants. In 
proof of its general healthfulness it may be noted that the colony has 
never been visited by any epidemic. South Australia suffers more from 
drought than the other colonies — serious visitations occurring at intervals 
of about eleven years ; the last was in 1896-97. In Larapinta Land the 
climate is milder on account of altitude, with warm clear days and bright 
cold nights with light breezes, hot winds being rare — conditions which 
have a marked influence on the indigenous life of that region. The 
average rainfall varies from 13 to 30 inches at Adelaide — mean for 52 
years, 21 inches — and from 11 to 5 inches further north and west. In the 
Northern Territory upon and near the coast which is affected by the 
monsoons, the mean rainfall is over 50 inches ; at Port Darwin it is 63 
inches, and the mean annual temperature 82°. At Alice Springs, the central 
telegraph station, the rainfall is 11 inches and the mean temperature 70° 


616 The International Geography 

(Fig. 292) ; at Port Augusta, head of Spencer Gulf, 9 inches and 66°; at 
Eucla, on the Australian Bight, 10 inches and 63°. 

Flora and Fauna. — South Australia and the Northern Territory, 
between the northern and southern gulfs, occupy the depressed area once 
covered by the sea between eastern and western Australia, which were 
geologically two islands, and its sparse vegetation partakes of the character 
of both regions. The eucalyptus predominates, though the trees do not 
grow to the size they reach in the other colonies. Grass trees, with 
edible roots, and shea oak abound in the south-eastern district ; the 
sandalwood tree on Yorke Peninsula ; saltbush in the northern districts, 
and “ scrub ” or mallee more or less over the whole Province. The 
vegetation of the Northern Territory is Australian, though with tropical 
grasses and sedges, mangroves on the coast, and the paper bark tree, 
which forms impenetrable thickets for hundreds of miles on the banks of 
the rivers. 

The animals of the Province and the Northern Territory are generally 
the same as in other parts of Australia except that alligators abound in 
the northern rivers, and the wombat is found only in the south. Animal 
life is abundant in Larapinta Land on account of the favourable climatic 
conditions, and includes a remarkable mole-like marsupial. Among 
insects, the white ant in the north is very destructive, necessitating the 
use of iron and steel for telegraph poles and railway sleepers. Seals, 
once found in great abundance on the shores of Kangaroo Island, are 
now rare ; and the marsupial, which was so numerous when Flinders 
named the island, has there been long extinct. 

Aborigines. — In 1876 the number of aborigines in the Province 
was under 4,000, in 1891 they had dwindled to about 3,000 ; the number 
in the Northern Territory is about 20,000. Those of the extreme north 
were reported by early explorers to be cannibals, but there is no evidence 
of this since the settlement of Port Darwin. In Melville Island they are 
fierce and intractable. The aboriginal of Larapinta Land is described as 
the living representative of the Stone Age, performing the most daring 
surgical operations with his flint knives ; naked, hairy, merry, a mimic, 
wonderfully agile, possessing an unerring hand that works in perfect 
unison with an eye keen as that of an eagle ; without habitation, living 
entirely upon the spoils of the chase ; untameable ; with no belief except 
in an evil spirit, or in traditions, he yet practises with scrupulous exact- 
ness the most painful and hideous customs, of the origin or reason of 
which he knows nothing. Adopting the debasing habits of the white man 
he will soon have passed away. 

Discovery and Exploration. — The northern coasts were regularly 
visited by Malays in search of trepang before the advent of Europeans to 
the Malay Archipelago at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The 
first comers were Portuguese, from whose observations early accounts of 
the country and the inhabitants are no doubt derived. The Dutch % 


South Australia 


617 

surveyed the same shores during the following century. Ships of the 
British navy finally took up the work, Flinders in 1803, King in 1820, 
and Stokes in 1839, when Port Darwin was discovered and named. The 
Great Australian Bight was sailed along in January, 1627, by a vessel 
named the Golden Seahorse , which carried the Dutch ambassador, Pieter 
Nuyts, to Japan, hence the name “ Nuyts Land.” This country being 
situated in the most favourable degree of south latitude, the Swiss pro- 
jector, J. P. Purry, proposed to settle it as a vine-growing colony in 1717 
and 1718, It does not, however, appear to have been seen again until 
January, 1793, when D’Entrecasteaux visited the coast in search of La 
Perouse. Lieut. Grant, making the first outward voyage through Bass 
Strait in the Lady Nelson in 1800, came upon the coast further east. 
Flinders discovered Kangaroo Island and completed the survey of the 
southern coasts in 1802. At Encounter Bay he met and gave copies of his 
charts to Admiral Baudin, who brought them to Europe where they were 
published with French nomenclature, Spencer and St. Vincent Gulfs 
appearing as “ Buonaparte” and “ Josephine,” and the whole country 
between Nuyts Land and New South Wales as “ Terre Napoleon.” 

Nothing was known of the interior until Sturt sailed down the Murray in 
1 830, and Adelaide was founded in 1 837, when Eyre and others made overland 
journeys from New South Wales and Port Phillip. In 1841 Eyre, who had, 
meantime, discovered Lake Torrens, accomplished his more extraordinary 
journey round the Great Bight to King George Sound. Sturt made his 
last expedition (in 1844-45) to Cooper Creek (the Victoria of Mitchell) and 
the great stony desert, whence he was driven back after terrible privation 
and partial loss of sight. Although exploring journeys were kept up, it 
was not until 1862 that M’Douall Stuart, in a third attempt, succeeded in 
crossing the continent to Port Darwin. Burke and Wills’s successful ex- 
ploration, partly through the same territory, to the shores of the Gulf of 
Carpentaria was accomplished the year before, but they perished at Cooper 
Creek on their return journey. Exploration in the interior has been con- 
tinued in private and government expeditions conducted by Warburton, 
Forrest, Gosse, Giles, Lindsay, Favenc, Tietkins, Carnegie, and others, 
who have left little of the interior that is quite unknown. Conducted by 
Winnecke, the Horn Scientific Expedition explored Larapinta Land in 
1894. 

History and Government. — South Australia was founded by Act 
of Parliament upon principles advocated by Gibbon Wakefield, whereby 
revenue from sales of land was to be devoted to the promotion of immi- 
gration. The first colonists were sent out in 1836, preceded by a survey 
party to examine Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln, and other parts. A site 
for a town was chosen where Adelaide now stands early in 1837, and 
town and country lands soon allotted. Divided authority, disputes 
between the officials and the colonists, and experiments in finance 
which destroyed the self-supporting character of the colony, led to the 



618 The International Geography 

recall of the first two governors, and to the constitution of South 

Australia as a Crown Colony. The new governor, Sir George Grey, 

brought the affairs of the colony into shape, though for a time the 

necessary retrenchments pressed sorely upon the community. The 

discovery of copper ore in 1843 advanced South 

Australia upon a career of prosperity and enterprise, 

interrupted, however, by the gold discoveries in New 

South Wales and Victoria in 1851, which drew away 

nearly fifty thousand men and for a time stopped all 

local trade. Many returned in the following years, 

and land being cheap, the colony was saved from 

FlG ; }°^;~ rhe Bad & e ruin by the energetic development of its agricultural 
of South Australia . , ,, £ . , „ & 

resources, and the “ farinaceous colony, as it was 

facetiously called, became for a long period the granary of Australia. 

Responsible government was conferred upon the colony in 1856. The 
members of the Upper House or Legislative Council are elected upon a 
property qualification, those of the Low r er House or Assembly by man- 
hood suffrage. South Australian statesmen have led the way in many 
progressive measures of policy with good effect on the prosperity of the 
people. Public works and unleased lands are controlled by local author- 
ities. Hydraulic works have made many districts 
independent of an uncertain rainfall, and artesian 
wells, sunk in various places, chiefly along the over- 
land line of railway, have conclusively proved the 
existence of enormous subterranean supplies of water. 

An irrigation colony, Renmark, similar to that of 
Mildura, is in operation on the lower Murray. 

Afforestation is under the direction of an Agricultural 
Department, and 7,000,000 trees have been planted 
in the Province since 1876. The chief products are 
wheat, which is largely exported, and copper, of which 
over £20,000,000 worth has been raised in the State 
since 1845 ; wine is an increasing industry. The 
total value of exports per head of population is far 
in excess of that of any other of the Australian 
States, and the acreage under cultivation exceeds 
all these colonies with the exception of Victoria. 

The imports consist chiefly of British manufactured 
goods. The most important public works yet under- 
taken have been the transcontinental telegraph, and 
telegraph lines to the borders (connecting the fig. 30Q.— The Trans - 
Australian systems, as well as those of Tasmania and continental Telegraph 

New Zealand, with other parts of the world), and and Railway - 

trunk lines of railway to the Murray and Victorian border, to Broken Hill 
in New South Wales, to Spencer Gulf, and nearly half way across the 



South Australia 


619 

continent towards Port Darwin. Primary education is compulsory, secular 
and free ; secondary education is afforded in private establishments, and 
there are government schools of mines and industry, of painting and 
design, agricultural colleges and schools, a museum of natural products, 
botanic garden, libraries, observatory, and university. 

Towns. — Essentially an agricultural and pastoral country, the 
Province of South Australia possesses few towns containing more than 
five hundred inhabitants, and with the exception of the capital and its 
suburbs there are only ten with upwards of a thousand. Adelaide , the 
capital, sometimes called the “ model Australian city/' is well situated on 
a plateau, on the river Torrens ; it has fine avenues and buildings, is 
surrounded by a belt of park-land, several suburbs, including Glenelg and 
Port Adelaide, and is within eleven miles of the summit of Mount Lofty, 
the ascent to which is easy. The other important towns are Mount 
Gambier, at the foot of the extinct volcano in the 
south-eastern district, centre of the “ garden of the 
colony" ; north of the capital are Gawler, on a river 
of the same name, situated in an extensive wheat- 
growing district ; Kapunda, noted for its copper 
mines, worked from 1843 to 1879 ; Kooringa, con- 
taining the famous Burra mine. Moonta and 
Wallaroo , possessing rich copper mines and the 
largest smelting works in Australia, are on Yorke 
Peninsula ; and PortPirie and Port Augusta on Spencer 
Gulf. All these towns are connected by rail with Adelaide. Port Lincoln 
has a commodious harbour, and is the chief town on Eyre Peninsula, 
which is occupied mostly by sheep farmers. 

Northern Territory. — Settlements were formed on Melville Island 
in 1824 an d at Raffles Bay in 1827, but both were abandoned in 1829. 
Another settlement was formed at Port Essington on Coburg Peninsula in 
1838, as a military post and harbour of refuge, but this also was abandoned 
in 1849. Palmerston, the capital (founded in 1869), occupies an elevated 
site overlooking Port Darwin, one of the finest harbours in Australia, and 
contains the offices of the government Resident, the officials of the territory, 
and of the telegraph departments. The transcontinental railway, which 
has its terminus here, now extends to Pine Creek, 146 miles inland. The 
country is well adapted for tropical and semi-tropical products, and is 
believed to be rich in minerals. A large extent of the territory is at 
present leased for pastoral pursuits. Pearl fishing is carried on chiefly 
at Melville Island. This island, about fourteen miles from the main- 
land, is 75 miles long by 37 broad, covered with mangrove swamps 
and dense forests, and inhabited by Australian animals and intractable 
aborigines. 



Fig. 310 . — Average popu- 
lation of a square mile 
of South Australia. 


41 


I 


620 The International Geography 


STATISTICS. 


1886. 1896. I9OI. 

Area of South Australia Province (square miles) . . . . 380,070 380,070 380,070 

,1 Northern Territory (square miles) 523,620 523,620 523,620 

Population of South Australia 304,336 355,286 362,604 

„ Northern Territory (exclusive of aborigines) — 4>934 4.096 

Density of population, South Australia Province .... 1 1 1 

Population of Adelaide and suburbs 128,377 140,406 163,430 

„ Port Pirie — 5,000 — 

„ Kapunda — 3,800 — 

„ Mount Gambier . . . . — 3,000 — 


RESOURCES OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA AND NORTHERN TERRITORY, 1897. 


No. of Sheep. No. of Cattle. No. of Horses. Value of Wool. Value of Copper. 
5,092,000 540,000 180,000 ^1,790,700 ^238,000 

ANNUAL PRODUCE OF WHEAT IN BUSHELS. 

1883-84. 1891-92. 1893-94. 1896-97.1 1897-98.1 

14,649,000. 6,436,000 13,618,000 2,804,000 4,014,800 

ANNUAL TRADE (in founds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 3.397.000 5,856,000 7,420,000 

Exports 4,223,000 5,338,000 8,255,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

D. Woods. “ Province of South Australia, and Northern Territory.” Adelaide, 1894. 
-. Hodder. "The History of South Australia.” 2 vols. London, 1893. 


II.— WESTERN AUSTRALIA 

By the Hon. David W. Carnegie. 

Position and Extent. — Western Australia includes all that portion 
of the Australian continent extending to the west of the meridian of 
I2p° E., and is situated between the parallels of 13^° S. and 35 0 S. Its 
most westerly point, Dirk Hartog Island, is in longitude 112° 52' E. The 
State includes all the islands adjacent to the coast of the mainland in the 
Indian and Southern Oceans. The greatest length is 1,480 miles, and the 
greatest breadth about 1,000 miles, with an area of 975,920 square miles, 
or nearly one-third of the whole continent of Australia, or equal in extent 
to one-fourth of Europe. 

Surface and Agricultural Resources. — The coast-line is short 
compared with the large extent of the territory, being little broken by bays, 
gulfs, or river mouths. Consequently, natural harbours are wanting. The 
principal anchorages used are open roadsteads, only partially protected, 
the most noticeable exception being Princess Royal Harbour, the inner 
bay of King George Sound. At Fremantle, at the mouth of the Swan 
river on the west coast, harbour works of large extent are nearing com- 
pletion. King Sound and Cambridge Gulf in the northern portion of the 
colony are inlets of considerable size, and would appear to be fine natural 
harbours ; but their value must be discounted by the great tidal range. 


1 Droughty seasons. 


Western Australia 


62 1 

The rise and fall of ordinary tides in Cambridge Gulf is 20 feet, in 
King Sound 46 feet. Further south the difference decreases, until on 
the south and south-west coasts there is no tidal rise worth mentioning. 
A striking feature on the south coast is the entire absence of rivers or 
even streams of any size until the extreme south-western corner of the 
territory is reached. High cliffs along the south coast form the abrupt 
termination of an elevated limestone tableland, which extends some 200 
miles inland between the meridians of 121 0 and 129 0 E. This tableland 
in winter has the appearance of magnificent pasture land, there being 
probably a fair rainfall. No surface water occurs, with the exception of 
small rock-holes, and consequently the land has not been settled. In 
this district cylindrical cavities in the rock are frequently found, reaching 
to unknown depths, and known as “blow-holes” from the sound of rushing 
wind that they emit. Along the south coast, west of 12 1° E., eucalyptus 
forest land begins, and extends over the whole south-western corner of the 
colony, forming one of its richest resources. Here the immense Karri 
and Jarrah trees attain a height of between 200 and 300 feet. Jarrah 
timber is extraordinarily durable, resisting the white ant and the Teredo 
navalis, and consequently admirably adapted for railway sleepers, and 
piles for bridges or sea jetties. Karri timber is largely exported, being 
used chiefly for wood paving. The forest land when cleared is eminently 
suited for agriculture. 

Along the west coast there are numerous rivers ; of these the Swan 
river is the most important, those further to the north being for the most 
part mere storm channels filled only during the rainy season. The 
occupied portion of the colony extends along the west coast for about 
1,200 miles, the most thickly peopled part being that lying roughly 
between Geraldton and Albany (King George Sound). Here farming and 
viticulture is carried on, the area for the cultivation of cereals lying south 
of 28° S. The total area under crop is about 202,000 acres, the principal 
crops being wheat, barley, oats, maize, potatoes, hay of all kinds, green 
forage, onions, and other root crops, and vines. As well as the grape a 
great variety of fruit is grown, particularly oranges, lemons, apples, and 
peaches ; and these are capable of being produced in large quantities. 
Between 28° S. and 20° S. the occupied portion of the colony follows the 
western coast-line with a breadth of some 250 miles. In the valleys of 
the numerous rivers, cattle and sheep stations have been established. 
North of the De Grey river an unbroken stretch of coast-line known as 
Eighty-mile Beach, a flat sand plain, the western extension of the great 
inland desert, intervenes between the pasture lands of the north-west and 
the rich Kimberley country, where, in the valleys of the Ord, Margaret, 
Fitzroy, and Lennard rivers, cattle, sheep, and horses are reared with 
success. The total number of live stock at the end of 1900 included 68,000 
horses, 340,000 cattle, over 2,400,000 sheep, and nearly 4,000 camels, 
imported from India and South Australia. The pearl fisheries on the 


622 The International Geography 

north-west coast are important. Coal is found in the south-west of the 
colony ; copper, lead, tin, iron, antimony, zinc, manganese, and asbestos 
form the chief mineral resources, other than gold, as yet undeveloped, but 
likely in the future to afford valuable returns. 

Mountains and Deserts. — The mountains of the state are not of 
great height nor of frequent occurrence. The most important range is the 
Darling, which extents from the extreme south-western corner, running 
parallel to the coast-line at a distance of 20 miles, for 300 miles to the 
northward. Its highest point, however, is only 1,500 feet. The Stirling 
Range, 40 miles inland from Albany, attains a height of 3,500 feet, and 
from its isolated position on the low coastal plain is visible for an immense 
distance. Mountainous country follows the western coast-line at a distance 
of 200 or 300 miles inland, giving rise to the rivers of that coast. High 
country is found in the north, in Kimberley Division, where the Leopold 
and Muller Ranges attain a height of 2,300 feet. No mountainous country 
of any extent occurs in the far interior, though numerous isolated hills and 
ranges of sandstone are met with. South of 19 0 S. and east of 122^° E. an 
elevated sandy tableland, roughly estimated at 1,000 to 2,000 feet above sea- 
level, cuts off the settled portions of the colony from the populated 
districts of South Australia. Between 26° S. and 31 0 S. the Queen Victoria 
Desert lies, uninhabited except by a few scattered tribes of aborigines. 
Undulating sand-hills, or sandy plains covered with dense acacia scrub, 
almost devoid of surface water, met the eyes of the few that have pene- 
trated far inland. Low ranges and cliffs occur at intervals along the 
parallel of 26° S. latitude. North of this lies Gibson Desert, a barren 
expanse of stones and gravel, reaching to the Tropic of Capricorn. Beyond 
this the great sandy desert rolls away to the northward, ridge succeeds 
ridge of drifted sand, parallel one to another, and stretching nearly due east 
and west. These sand ridges, doubtless formed by the winds, vary in 
height from a few feet to one hundred, the average distance between them 
being about 300 yards. It is an uninhabitable desert, waterless, and barren 
of all vegetation excepting that plant of spines and prickles commonly 
known as Spinifex ( Triodia ). 

The so-called lakes of the interior are merely vast sheets of stiff mud, 
sparkling with salt in the dry seasons, and covered after the rain to a depth 
varying from a few inches to four or five feet with water which rapidly 
becomes salt. To the west of the Darling Range numerous salt and 
fresh-water lakes occur, but many of them also dry up in the summer 
months. 

Geology and Mineral Resources. — Geologically, Western Aus- 
tralia is built up of crystalline and schistose rocks ; including a great de- 
velopment of granite with auriferous quartz, quartzite and ironstone, in the 
southern portion. On the west coast is a long strip of Tertiary formation, 
and older deposits extending from the Carboniferous to the close of the 
Cretaceous run in a comparatively narrow band along the north-west coast. 


Western Australia 623 

The strip of Tertiary strata is separated from the Secondary formations by 
a narrow transverse band of volcanic rocks. 

Settlement has now penetrated over 500 miles inland, owing to the 
discoveries of rich gold deposits. The gold-fields may be said to form a 
belt, unbroken save by the Eighty-mile beach, running parallel with the 
coast-line from Kimberley in the north to Dundas in the south, including 
Pilbarra, Ashburton, Gascoyne, Murchison, East Murchison, Yilgarn, 
Mount Margaret and Coolgardie. The Kalgurli and Coolgardie gold-fields, 
extending to the 125th meridian, as well as other fields, are being rapidly 
developed. The export of gold was 1,880,000 ounces for the year 1901, 
and the total amount exported from the State from 1895 to 1901 inclusive 
was about 5,700,000 ounces. Gold, therefore, forms one of the State’s 
richest sources of wealth, and the excitement caused by its discovery has 
attracted a great increase of population. The imports chiefly consist of 
provisions, machinery, ironware and clothing, while the exports are 
mainly wool, gold and timber, but also include some tin, copper, guano, 
sandal-wood, pearls, pearl-shells, and kangaroo hides. 

Climate. — The climate generally is good and healthy, naturally 
varying considerably owing to the extent of the State. In the north it is 
tropical, with a wet season between December and March, that is during 
the hottest months. The heat is extreme, but away from the coast the air 
is dry. On the north-west the same conditions hold ; but during the rainy 
months tremendous cyclonic disturbances occur, causing great damage to 
live stock and property. In the south and south-west the climate is 
temperate for the greater part of the year, December, January, and 
February being the hottest months. In the interior the heat is extreme, 
but not enervating, on account of the dryness of the air. During the 
winter months, June and July, the weather is often cold, and slight frost 
is experienced at nights ; in the far interior the thermometer has recorded 
- as low a temperature as 17 0 F. in the very early morning. The annual 
rainfall varies from 33 inches at Perth to 21 inches in Kimberley, 10 
inches in the north-west, and 9 inches in the Coolgardie district, and from 
37 inches at Augusta in the south-west, to practically nothing in parts of 
the far interior. 

Aborigines. — The aborigines of Western Australia differ in no great 
degree from those of the other parts of Australia. Their origin is 
unknown, and since they possess few traditions and no written language, 
it is likely to remain so for all time. Their dialects, habits, weapons and 
characteristics vary considerably. Those of finest physique are found in 
the north, and it is thought by some that a strain of Malay blood may 
account for this. Wallace’s description of the natives of Australia applies 
fully to those of the western state. In height they fall but little short of 
the European, though inferior in muscular development, the limbs often 
being little more than bone. The cranial formation is narrow and long, 
with high cheekbones, the lower portion of the forehead about the brows 


624 The International Geography 

projecting, the upper receding ; the nose, narrow above, becomes broad 
and squat further down ; the ears are inclined forward, the mouth is large 
and unshapely, with white, well-formed teeth ; the jawbone is contracted, 
and the chin small. The complexion is dark brown, almost black, while 
the hair is pitch black, and sometimes inclined to curliness. Their intelli- 
gence is not of a high order, though they show a certain quickness of 
apprehension, and great imitative powers. The tribes are nomadic 
though confined to certain bounds. In no part are villages or kraals built, 
and amongst the inland tribes even houses or huts of grass or branches 
are unknown. They are seen now in greatest numbers in the Kimberley 
district, and in the ranges from which the rivers of the west coast take 
their rise. In the south and south-west they are rapidly decreasing in 
number, and will soon be extinct. Small tribes are found in the interior, 
living from hand to mouth on lizards, iguanas, and other reptiles, depend- 
ing for their w T ater supply on wretchedly supplied rock-holes and native 
wells, naked and houseless, always forced by the stern nature of the 
country to be moving on. Kangaroo, emu, pelicans, ducks, fish, and edible 
plants form the food of the coastal tribes ; their weapons, well suited to 

their purposes, include the boomerang, spear, throwing 
stick, club or waddy, and the wommera, mero, or 
wanner, the flat board with which their spears are 
thrown. The spears vary in size and manufacture. 
In the north they are formed of cane and bamboo, 
and tipped with delicately-chipped heads of quartz, 
opaline, or since the advent of the white man, of 

Fig. 3 1 1. The Badge glass, or the material of telegraph insulators. Spears 
of Western Australia. . ' , , . , , & ^ \ 

with sharp and cunningly devised wooden and bone 

barbs are used further to the south, whilst in the interior spears with 

sharpened wooden points are found. Though to all appearances little 

above the beasts of the field in their mode of life, they have laws and 

ceremonies of great mystery and import. Several missions have been 

established amongst them, and in some cases with good results. A good 

many aborigines are employed on cattle and sheep stations, where they 

soon learn to become useful and clever servants. Habitual cannibalism 

does not seem to be practised, though some authenticated cases have been 

reported in the north-west and in the north. 

Colonial History. — With the landing of the emigrants from the Par - 
melia , the history of Western Australia as a British colony begins, on the 
2nd of June, 1829. The first camp of settlers was known as the Swan River 
Settlement. Closely following the Parmelia and Sulphur a number of 
vessels arrived, rapidly adding to the band of pioneers, and bringing the 
necessary live stock for colonisation. Since the time of its foundation 
the authorities and people of the colony have never given up the work of 
exploration, and from 1829 to 1899 no year has passed in which new 
districts have not been opened up, new pastures or minerals found, 



Western Australia 


625 

whether by government or private enterprise. From the seventy pas- 
sengers of the Parmelia the population had grown in 1901 to the number 
of 184,000, exclusive of coloured people. At first a Crown Colony, under 
a Lieutenant-Governor, Western Australia received Responsible Govern- 
ment in 1890, and became an Original State of the Commonwealth. The 
railway system of Western Australia has made great strides. There were 
more than 2,000 miles of railway open in 1902. The Great Southern line 
connects the capital, Perth, with Albany, on King George Sound, and the 
Eastern connects the capital with Fremantle, and Kalgurli, Coolgardie, 
and other mining towns in the interior. The Midland and Northern lines 
join Perth to Cue. There is direct telegraphic communication with the 
outer world through Java by a cable from Roebuck Bay in the north- 
west, and also by a land line in the south, through Eucla to Adelaide. 

The Chief Towns. — Perth* the capital, is prettily situated on the 
Swan river, some ten miles from its mouth. It is the seat of Government, 
the residence of the Governor, and contains the Houses of Parliament, 
a museum, mint, botanical gardens, obser- 
vatory, cathedral, and public- parks. A 
causeway bridge, connecting it with South 
Perth , crosses the Swan river, at the mouth 
of which Fremantle , the chief port of the 
colony, is situated. It has railway, road, 
and river communication with the capital. 

Extensive harbour works are being carried 
out, which will enable the mail steamers to 
make this their port of call, and so shorten 
the time of transit for mails from England. 

While of advantage to the general com- 
munity, the completion of this harbour will deal a blow to Albany, on 
Princess Royal Harbour, in King George Sound, the present port for mail 
steamers, the terminus of the Great Southern Railway, and a coaling station 
for the British navy. The entrance to the harbour is defended by forts in 
which a permanent force of artillery is kept, under the command of an 
imperial officer. The junction of the railway systems at Perth makes 
possible a through journey of over 500 miles from Albany to Geraldton, on 
Champion Bay on the west coast (Fig. 293). This is the port for the 
Murchison district, which is rich in minerals, and for agricultural and 
pastoral purposes. Seven thousand bales of wool are annually exported. 
A railway connects Geraldton with Cue, the chief town of the Murchison 
gold-fields, nearly 300 miles inland, and in the not distant future it will be 
possible to travel by rail from Geraldton, through Cue, to Menzics and 
Coolgardie, the capital of the gold-fields of that name. In 1892 a mere 
camp of tents, in 1891 a part of the silent bush, by 1898 Coolgardie could 
boast its stone and brick buildings, hotels, stock exchange, churches, and 
electric light, railway and telegraph. It is surrounded by gold mines in 



626 The International Geography 


active operation, saw-mills, brick and tile works, and other progressive 
industries. The water supply is brought in pipes from the Coast moun- 
tains, not far from Perth, a distance of more than 300 miles. The railway 
from Perth passes through Southern Cross , for long the last outpost of 
civilisation, and Kalgurli , some twenty miles beyond Coolgardie and 
nearly 400 miles east of Perth, as far as Menzies . Kalgurli has eclipsed 
Coolgardie, and has become the scene of the most active gold-mining 
operations in the colony. The most important centre for pearl fisheries is 
at Broome , on Roebuck Bay, on the north-west coast ; the landing-place 
of the submarine cable from Java. The centres of farming and agriculture 
are York and Northam, about forty miles east of Perth. Coal is obtained 
at Collie in the south-west. 


STATISTICS. 

1881. 

Area of Western Australia in square miles 975,920 
Population (excluding Aborigines) . . 29,708 

„ Perth 5,044 

„ Fremantle 3,641 

„ Coolgardie — 

„ Kalgurli — 


1891. 

975-920 

49,782 

9,617 

7,077 


1901. 

957,920 

184,124 

36,274 

20,444 


ANNUAL TRADE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (in pounds sterling). 


1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 1901. 

Imports .. .. 288,000 .. 520,000 .. 2,011,000 .. 6,454,000 

Exports . . . . 353,000 . . 469,000 . . 1,036,000 . . 8,515,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

M. Fraser. "Western Australian Yearbook.” Perth, Annual. 
Sir John Forrest. " Explorations in Australia.” London, 1875. 
E. Giles. "Australia Twice Traversed.” London, 1889. 

D. W. Carnegie. " Spinifex and Sand.” London, 1899. 


CHAPTER XXXIV.— NEW ZEALAND 


By the Hon. W. P. Reeves, 

High Commissioner /or New Zealand . 

Position and Extent. — The Colony of New Zealand is an archi- 
pelago, with a total land area of 104,471 square miles, lying in the South 
Pacific, about 1,200 miles east-south-east of Australia, and almost entirely 
between the parallels of 34 0 and 47 0 S. Its two main islands, called North 
and South respectively, and a third and much smaller island, named 
Stewart, lie close to each other. Of the other and smaller groups the 
Kermadecs, about 500 miles to the north of the main islands, the Chathams 
about the same distance to the east, and the Aucklands about 200 miles to 
the south are the chief. Others are the Campbell, Antipodes, and Bounty 
groups, all of which are uninhabited, and, from their isolated position and 
cold, bleak climate, likely to remain so. The long, narrow, irregular chain 
formed by the main islands is distinguished by height and variety, by an 
extensive coast-line — 4,330 miles — and a climate passing by degrees from 
subtropical to the cooler temperate. The extreme length of North Island 
is 515 miles, and its breadth varies from 6 to 300 ; of South Island the 
length is 525 miles, the greatest breadth 180. 

Coasts. — On the whole the coasts are high, sometimes grandly pre- 
cipitous. Deep water is nearly always found close to the shore. The 
inlets are numerous, but the harbour accommodation not very conveniently 
distributed. In the south-west of South Island many sounds or fjords 
penetrate, and are overhung by the towering ranges of the Southern 
Alps. Their combination of mountainous grandeur and lavish vegetation 
makes them at least rivals of Norway or Alaska, and as anchorages they are 
not easy to surpass. But they give access to nothing better than storm- 
beaten and well-nigh uninhabitable mountains. When, north of these 
fjords, a more practicable country is reached there are no harbours but the 
mouths of bar-bound rivers. This is true also of the whole western coast 
of North Island, though some of its bar-harbours are very commodious 
when once they are entered. The eastern side is, on the contrary, well 
provided with harbours in its more northern portion. Among them 
Waitemata, the port of Auckland city, is one of the best in the southern 
hemisphere. South of the Bay of Plenty, however, there is no such thing 
as a good natural harbour found right down to Cook Strait. Fortunately 
this channel, which divides North and South Islands, and is but sixteen 
miles across in its narrowest part, is well furnished with havens, on one of 
which, Port Nicholson, Wellington (the political capital of the colony) holds 
42 627 


628 The International Geography 

an unrivalled commercial position with easy access by steam to both coasts 
of both islands. On the southern side of the strait is another series of 
sounds, beautiful, though not equal in magnificence to the fjords of the 
south-west. 

Little natural shelter is afforded by the eastern coast-line of South Island. 
But about half-way along the coast a large volcanic peninsula, named by 
Captain Cook after his friend, the distinguished naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks, 
juts out in picturesque hills, the highest of which is slightly over 3,000 feet 
in height. Several of its inlets provide excellent refuge for shipping ; one of 
them, Akaroa, is an admirable natural harbour, and another, Lyttelton, has 
been artificially made one of the most commodious in New Zealand. Further 
south Port Chalmers, a large bar-harbour of the less impracticable class, 
has also been greatly improved by dredging and other works. On 
Foveaux Strait, by which Stewart Island is separated from South Island, 
The Bluff is the port of the large district of Southland. Twenty-nine 
coastal lights have been erected by the colonial government, eight of the 
first class, fifteen of the second, three of the third, and three yet smaller. 
This is exclusive of harbour lights. The coast is stormy, but fogs are rare. 

Mountains. — The most striking physical characteristic of New 
Zealand is the parallel system of mountain ranges which form its back- 
bone. Starting in the extreme south-west, they run north-eastward, are 
interrupted by Cook’s Strait, but end only near East Cape, at the point 
of the shoulder which forms the south-eastern corner of the Bay of Plenty. 
They reach their greatest height near 40° S., where they are known as the 
Southern Alps, and there Mount Cook or Aorangi attains to 12,349 feet, the 
noblest of many fine peaks. In this part of the Alps there are glaciers 
exceeding those of Switzerland in size. On the west side some of them 
descend to within a thousand feet of sea-level, and penetrate the forest 
zone. Further north the Alps fork, so as to reach and overlook both the 
east and west shores of South Island under the names of the Kaikoura 
and Tasman Ranges. In the former Tapuae-nuku is 9,462 feet high. 

The continuation of the chain in North Island is at a lower elevation. 
Near its north-eastern end Hikurangi, 5,606 feet, is at once its highest and 
most picturesque summit. Westward of and quite apart from the main 
range three remarkable volcanoes present a striking appearance. Two 
of them, Ruapehu, 9,008 feet, and Tongariro are still active, and from the 
three craters of the latter, of which the highest is Ngauruhoe, 7,515 feet, 
steam and noxious vapours constantly issue. The fine cone of the third, 
Egmont, 8,260 feet, slopes in solitary beauty to the western sea-shore, and 
in the symmetry of its form is considered to equal its famous Japanese 
congener, Fujiyama. Ruapehu and Tongariro are at the south-eastern 
end of an interesting volcanic line which is prolonged to White Island, 
an insular cone in the Bay of Plenty, incessantly active and noted for 
its sulphur deposits. On either side of the line lies the Hot Lakes District, 
abounding in hot and warm springs and pools, geysers, solfataras, and 


New Zealand 


629 

fumaroles. The chemical properties of many of the thermal waters, 
some sulphur-acid, some sulphur-alkaline, are potent for the cure of 
illness, especially gout, rheumatism, skin-diseases, and disorders of the 
throat, liver, digestion and nerves. A number of bathing establishments 
and a government sanatorium are already the resort of invalids and 
tourists. 

The lakes of the islands are many : the largest, Taupo, about twenty 
miles long, and as many broad, lies in the very centre of North Island, but 
on the whole the most picturesque sheets of water are the deep, ribbon- 
like Wakatipu (54 miles long), Te Anau (132 square miles), and the 
strangely irregular Manapouri, all found amongst the Southern Alps. 

Surface of South Island. — The western half of South Island may 
be summed up as a mountainous country, fit chiefly for miners, shepherds, 
and timber cutters, and in places not even for these. West of the water- 
shed the mountains are, as a rule, clothed with forest and drenched with a 
copious rainfall, which in the fjord region is as heavy as 170 inches per 
annum. Here and there in river valleys or coastal strips are patches of 
arable land, fertile, but usually troublesome to drain and clear. East of 
the watershed the ranges are for the most part bare of timber, and below 
the snow line carry sparse but nourishing native grasses. Here and there 
an elevated plain is found, such as the Mackenzie or Maniototo, useful, but 
bleak in winter. Towards the east coast, however, there are considerable 
tracts of level or undulating country. The largest of these, the Canter- 
bury plains, which is about 160 miles long and 30 miles broad in its 
widest part, is almost a dead level. At the south end of the island 
wide expanses of arable land occur in the district of Southland. 

Stewart Island, on the other hand, is broken and forest-clad 
throughout, has beautiful inlets on its eastern side, and presents a 
bleak, bold western coast to the fierce south-westerly gales from the 
Antarctic. From the Kaikouras to Foveaux Strait the treeless and, on 
the whole, fertile character of the country rendered it easy of occupation 
by graziers and farmers, and a belt of almost unbroken settlement of an 
average breadth of 25 miles from the coast may now be found there. 
In certain localities agriculture has ceased to be rough and primitive, 
and is now carried on with no small outlay of skill and capital. 

Surface of North Island. — In North Island the two most valuable 
tracts of country are those on the middle parts of the east and west coasts. 
On the east coast the district round Hawke Bay is rolling and in part a 
dead level of great fertility, though rather exposed to floods. On the west 
coast the country is more undulating, swelling in places, and in others 
made up of low, steep hills of a blue calcareous clay called “ Papa,” the 
soil of which is exceedingly well fitted for pasture. From about thirty 
miles to the north of the city of Wellington as far as the harbour of 
Kawhia, a fertile territory extends which was formerly covered with forest, 
now to a large extent cleared away, and is without a superior in the 


630 The International Geography 


colony for dairy farming and for some kinds of sheep. Another useful 
piece of country is the central plain of the Wairarapa lying between 
mountains in the southern part of the island. The Hot Lakes District is, 
however, for the most part covered with pumice-sand too porous to carry 
grass well. The Onetapu and Waingaroa Plains there, at a mean elevation 
of about 2,000 feet above sea-level, seem empty and desolate. Further 
north the soil of a large portion of the province of Auckland is made up 
of stiff white or yellow clay, fertile only after assiduous tilling. Here and 
there, however, this is relieved by strips and patches of alluvium of great 
fertility, and some of considerable extent. 

Rivers. — Throughout the islands it is scarcely possible to travel more 
than two or three miles anywhere without encountering a river or stream 
of greater or less size. Nearly all are perennial, and the volume of water 
discharged into the sea by some of them is surprisingly great in proportion 

to their length. But the narrow, elevated 
nature of the country gives most of the 
rivers the character of mountain torrents — 
swift, cold, liable to sudden floods, and of 
but little use for navigation. Among the 
exceptions to this, however, is the longest 
river in the colony, the Waikato, which 
flows northward from Lake Taupo. It is 
traversed by river steamers for a great 
part of its course. Several of the western 
rivers of North Island, notably the Wan- 
ganui, flow between high cliffs thickly 
clothed with vegetation of remarkable 
richness and beauty. Many of the rivers 
of South Island wander about beds of 



Fig 313 —Temperature and Rainfall shingle, sometimes miles in breadth, and 

of Hokitika and Christchurch. , . ... . r , . . .. 

constantly change their swift and shallow 

courses in a fashion costly and puzzling to road-makers and bridge- 

builders. 

Climate. — Though singularly healthy and on the whole agreeable, the 
climate of New Zealand is distinctly warmer than even the southern part 
of Great Britain. The average temperature of the air in South Island is 4 0 
and in North Island 7 0 higher than that of London. It is, however, more 
equable. The variation between the extremes of daily temperature is 20° 
only, and the average difference between the mean of the warmest and the 
coldest month is 5 0 less than in Jersey. Except on the saturated and almost 
uninhabited south-west coast, almost the only serious climatic drawback is 
wind. The narrow mountainous islands lie in the “roaring forties,” and 
the gales in Cook and Foveaux Straits, and in the neighbourhood of some 
of the alpine gorges are frequent and severe. The average annual rainfall 
in the more important centres of settlement is, at Auckland 42 inches, at 


New Zealand 


63 1 

Wellington 50, at Christchurch 26, at Dunedin 36. At Hokitika on the 
west coast of South Island it is 120 (Fig. 313). 

Flora. — The flora of New Zealand is striking, varied and beautiful. 
Nearly half the colony, including almost the whole west coast, was until 
recently clothed with dense forest. The eastern half of the islands except in 
the far north and the extreme south-east corner, is usually open and covered 
with wiry indigenous grasses, or in the swamps with the tall Phormium 
tenax , or native flax. The forest trees are evergreens, and the larger, 
mostly pines (which, however, bear little resemblance to the pines of Europe) 
or small-leaved beeches. In the northern half of North Island, the huge 
kauri pine, often from eight to twelve feet in diameter, yields a fine timber, 
as well as the resin or kauri gum of commerce. Lianas, flowering creepers, 
one palm (the nikau), and a palm-like lily, add to the beauty of the forest, 
but to botanists the most engrossing division of the New Zealand flora is 
the ferns of which there are scores of species, mostly peculiar to the islands. 
Tree ferns as high as sixty feet are met with. In the more closely settled 
districts, imported willows, poplars, Australian eucalpytus, and Californian 
pines make up the plantations. All English flowers and fruits, and, in 
North Island, oranges and lemons, are cultivated. Some ten million acres 
are sown with English grasses. 

Fauna. — Animal life in New Zealand, before colonisation, was remark- 
able for the paucity of land mammals and reptiles. A rat with round ears 
like a mouse, a smallish dog, and two kinds of bats alone represented the 
mammals, and of these the dog is now extinct, and the rat rarely seen. 
Lizards were the only reptiles, and a small and not widely distributed frog 
the sole amphibian. The native birds are numerous and interesting, 
especially in the forests. Several, notably the iui and the mako mako, sing 
very sweetly. The islands were formerly the home of the gigantic wing- 
less moa, whose skeletons are now prominent in museums. Wingless birds 
still live in the shape of the kiwi and takehe, the latter extremely rare. 
The weka, called wood-hen from its likeness to the domestic fowl, has 
rudimentary tufts of feathers in place of wings, and the kakapo, or 
ground-parrot, has wings but cannot fly. No large fresh- water fish are 
indigenous though eels were common and sometimes grew to a great size. 

All English domestic animals have been introduced by the colonists, 
and have thriven ; this is true also of such English birds as the 
skylark, blackbird, starling, house-sparrow, and goldfinch, and certain 
game-birds, notably the pheasant. Pigs introduced by Captain Cook have 
run wild, and afford sport, as do red and fallow deer, hares and rabbits. 
Rabbits are now a serious plague, though stoats, weasels and ferrets have 
been imported to prey upon them. Trout have been acclimatised, but 
not salmon, despite many attempts. Sea fish are fairly plentiful ; the 
schnapper, flounders, and a kind of whitebait are especially good eating. 

People and History. — When discovered by Europeans the islands 
were sparsely peopled by the Maori, a brown Polynesian race which had 


632 The International Geography 

colonised them some five or six hundred years before.. They were intelli- 
gent and physically active, tall, and well-built, good canoemen, fishermen, 
and tillers of the soil. They showed considerable skill in wood-carving, 
but had no knowledge of writing, metals, or pottery. They were ferocious 
cannibals, constantly engaged in tribal wars. Their religion was a vague 
polytheism, and their government a rule of priests and chiefs enforced 
largely by the famous tapu (taboo). The first European to encounter them 
was the Dutch sea-captain, Tasman, who lighted upon the islands in 
December, 1642, but did not land. Not recognising their insular character, 
he gave them the name of Staaten Land, which was afterwards changed to 
New Zealand. Not until 1769 were they again visited, but then Captain Cook 
circumnavigated them in successive voyages, and mapped out their coasts 
with great care and accuracy. He took possession of them, but the British 
government repudiated his action, and for seventy years the country re- 
mained a No Man’s Land. Early in the nineteenth century it became the 
haunt of whalers, sealers, and traders in timber, flax, native weapons and 
mantles, and tattooed heads. Samuel Marsden, Anglican chaplain in New 

South Wales, established a mission there in 1814. 
Some years later the Maori began to obtain muskets 
and powder, and in twenty years a fourth of their race 
perished in war. After about 1825 the missionaries 
began to make numerous converts, and by 1838 the 
wars died away. The growing number of white ad- 
venturers, however, domiciled in the country, and their 

Fig. 314 .—Badge of enormous land claims made some sort of settled govern- 
A czv Zealand. , t' u j ■ j j i .. 

ment necessary. Ihe French decided to annex the 

islands, but they were anticipated by the New Zealand Company, an 
English colonising association, founded by Edw T ard Gibbon Wakefield. 
This Company forced the Colonial Office to take possession of New 
Zealand by despatching emigrants thither, who reached Wellington on 
January 29, 1840. A week earlier, however, Captain Hobson had 
landed in the Bay of Islands, with a dormant commission in his pocket 
authorising him to annex the country. This he did after entering 
into a treaty with the principal native chiefs, 512 of whom signed it. 
The British flag was hoisted in South Island in July of the same year, 
only a few days before the arrival there of a French frigate sent to take 
it. Until 1853 the colony was personally ruled by Governors. Parliamentary 
government was not fully established until 1856. After various modifica- 
tions it has taken the form of a bicameral system, under which members 
of the Upper House are nominated for seven years, and those of the Lower 
elected for three under a universal franchise possessed and freely used by 
women as well as men. The British Viceroy has the right of dissolution, 
and may — and occasionally does — reserve laws for the consideration of 
the Imperial government. Foreign affairs are expressly and currency law 
virtually excluded from the purview of the parliament. 



New Zealand 






NORTH 

ISLAND 


.. ' a / CL.Tau 
Napie^y 


ihristtKurch 


f SOUTH-'. 

. ISLAND 
•Dunedin 




The settlement of the colony was pushed not from one centre but 
from nine or ten different points on the coasts. Hence arose a 
strong local feeling which still exists. The colonists 
are almost entirely British — English, Scots and Irish 
in order of strength. A small German and Scandi- 
navian element is now almost absorbed. Chinese 
immigration is checked by a £50 landing-tax, and the 
Chinese have diminished from eight thousand to three 
thousand. The Maoris, who, after more than one 
obstinate war with the settlers have been at peace 
for nearly a generation, are still slowly declining, 
though half-castes increase. The birth-rate amongst 
the whites falls steadily but the death-rate is the lowest in the world. As 
to numerical strength the religious bodies rank thus : the Church of 
England, Presbyterian, Wesleyan and Methodist, Roman Catholic. Edu- 
cation is free, secular and compulsory. There are good secondary schools, 
and a university with five colleges. 

Industry and Trade. — The chief occupation of the people is the 
grazing of sheep and cattle, and certain industries cognate thereto, 
such as cheese and butter making, the freezing of mutton and beef for 

tanning, and the manufacture of 
The best frozen mutton imported 
into Great Britain comes from 
New Zealand. Agriculture comes 
next to grazing, and gold and 
coal mining follow agriculture. 
Timber-cutting and kauri gum 
digging are of importance. Brick 
and tile making, furniture making, 
iron founding and machine making, 
flax-dressing, printing, jam making 
and brewing are other industries. 
Distilling is prohibited by law. 
Most manufactures are more or 
less protected by customs duties, 
often as high as 20 and 25 per 
cent, ad valorem . Butter and 
cheese are of excellent quality, 
and are made in factories on the 
Danish system for export to Great 
Britain. Three-fourths of the trade 
of the colony is with the mother 
country, and nearly all the rest 
within the British Empire — with Australia, India and Fiji. The colony is 
well provided with State-owned railways, telegraphs and telephones. 


export, wool-scouring, bone-crushing, 
boots and shoes., and woollen stuffs. 


FlG 316 . — The Railways of New Zealand, 1899. 


FIG. 315 . — Average pop- 
illation of a square 
mile of New Zealand. 


634 The International Geography 

The four chief ports are fortified with batteries and torpedoes. In 
case of war about eight thousand fairly efficient volunteers could be imme- 
diately mustered. A British warship, towards the cost of which the colony 
contributes, is stationed in New Zealand waters. 

Towns. — For many years New Zealand was divided into provinces. 
Though these were legally abolished in 1876, the names of the Provincial 
Districts are still used for the sake of convenience, and the colonists 
commonly speak of them. They are Auckland, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, 

Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canter- 
bury, Westland, Otago, Southland. The 
four principal towns are Auckland, Christ- 
church, Dunedin and Wellington. Auckland 
is the most attractive to the eye, and its fine 
harbour is important for trade. Wellington , 
though still the smallest, is the capital, and 
is overtaking the others in population. Un- 
like the others, which are by the sea, Christ- 
church stands inland on the Canterbury 
Plain. All the towns are railway termini. 
Dunedin is the centre of the Presbyterian Church, Christchurch of the 
Anglican. All are fairly well paved, and lighted with gas or by electricity, 
and are provided with churches, theatres, halls, and recreation grounds. 
Most of the buildings are of wood. The rather mean architecture is 
pleasantly redeemed by the trees and gardens in which most of the 
residences stand. The towns are well drained and healthy. The hours 
of labour seldom exceed eight and a half a day, with a weekly half-holiday. 
Football is the favourite athletic sport, and horse-racing very popular. 

STATISTICS. 


Area of New Zealand (square miles) 104,471 

North Island 44,468 

South Island 58,525 

Stewart Island 665 

Chatham Islands 375 

Other Islands 438 

Number of acres under cultivation (1898) 11,483,127 

1881. 1891. 1901. 

Population 530,000 . . 688,651 . . 815,862 

Density of population per square mile . . 5 6 8 

POPULATION OF TOWNS. 

1891. 1901. 1891. 1901. 

Auckland (with suburbs) 51,297 .. 67,226 j Christchurch (with suburbs) 47,846 .. 57,041 
Wellington „ „ 34,190 .. 49,344 | Dunedin „ „ 45,869 .. 54390 

ANNUAL TRADE OF NEW ZEALAND {in founds sterling). 

1871-75- 1881-85. 1891-95. 

Imports 6,323,000 . . . . 7,837,000 . . . . 6,579,000 

Exports 5,324,000 .. .. 6,745,000 .. .. 9,229,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. P. Reeves. “ The Long White Cloud.” London, 1899. 

F. von Hochstetter. “ New Zealand, its Physical Geography,” etc. London, 1867. 
W. Gisborne. “The Colony of New Zealand.” London, 1888. 

G. E. Mannering. “With Axe and Rope in the New Zealand Alps.” London, 1891. 



CHAPTER XXXV. — MELANESIA 


Position. — The great island of New Guinea, or Papua, occupies an 
intermediate position between the continent of Australia and the Malay 
Archipelago ; but the character of its fauna and flora shows clearly that it 
belongs to Australasia. The aboriginal people, on the other hand, are dis- 
tinct from those of both the great regions to north and south, but show 
affinities with the Melanesians who inhabit the chain of oceanic islands 
immediately to the east. New Caledonia, coming half-way between New 
Guinea and New Zealand, may also be considered as a Melanesian island. 

I.— BRITISH NEW GUINEA 

By Sir William Macgregor, G.C.M.G., C.B., M.D., 

Formerly Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea. 

Position and Surface. — The colony of British New Guinea, formally 
annexed in 1888, occupies the south-east of New Guinea and a number of 
small islands. The total area of 
the colony is about 90,500 square 
miles, of which 2,700 square miles 
represent the small islands. With 
the exception of the low coral 
islands of Kiriwina, Nada, part 
of Murua, and a few others of 
small dimensions, the islands are 
mountainous and principally of 
schistose formation ; the highest, 

Goodenough, rises to 8,000 feet. 

The eastern end of the main- 
land part of the colony is also mountainous, and as the mountains 
extend westward they rise and coalesce to form a massive central chain, 
which attains its greatest altitudes in the Owen Stanley Range, the 
highest point of which is Mount Victoria, 13,200 feet, and in Mount 
Scratchley, the Wharton Range, and Mount Albert Edward (about 
13,000 feet). Further west the range becomes more broken and lower, 
while pursuing nearly the same general trend towards the north-west. 
The western end of the colony is for nearly 300 miles generally low and 
swampy for a long distance inland. The mountains near the east end, on 
the mainland, are of igneous origin ; the great masses of the central part of 
the main range are all schistose, while in the west sandstone predominates, 
but there are outcrops of igneous rocks such as Mount Yule (about 10,000 
feet). On the Fly river near the point of junction of British, Dutch, and 

635 



636 The International Geography 

German territory, and in other low grounds in the west, there are limestones 
with fossil corals. The whole possession is remarkably well watered ; 
the mountains and most of the lower country are covered by forest. 

Rivers. — Most of the principal rivers converge upon and enter the Gulf 
of Papua. The head streams of the Fly, the largest river in the island, 
spread over a large area in the centre of the island, its basin being 
shared by the three different territories. Its course is about 620 miles 
from the sea to the British-German boundary. The influence of the tide 
is felt over a hundred miles up the Fly ; and it is navigable by a steam 
launch for over 500 miles. The Purari river is navigable by steamer for 
120 miles. The Mambare, the chief river of the north-east coast, is 
navigable for about fifty miles. 

Climate and Natural Resources. — As the colony lies between 
5 0 S. and n£° S. lat., the climate of the lower part of the country is warm. 
It is outside the range of the hurricanes that pervade the southern part of 
the western Pacific. At Port Moresby, near the middle of the colony, the 
average temperature at 9 a.m. for three years ending 1897 was 8i° F. The 
extreme range of temperature was from 94 0 to 74 0 F. at 9 a.m. The hot 
season is from November to May, hottest in January and February ; the cold 
season is from June to October, coolest in August. During the hot season 
unsteady north and north-west winds blow on the south coast ; during the 
cold season they are from the south-east and are much more regular. At 
Port Moresby the rainfall of three years averaged 37 inches, at Daru in the 
western division 82^5 inches, while at Samarai near the south-east end of 
the mainland it was I26’5 inches in one year. It is much greater, but 
undetermined, on the central mountain ranges. The climate is generally 
agreeable at an altitude of 3,000 feet, a height that can be reached in one 
day from Port Moresby. At 5,000 to 6,000 feet it becomes distinctly cold 
at night, the thermometer sometimes reading 55 0 F., and at 10,000 feet ice 
is met with in the early morning. Malarial fever, of a type that is as a 
rule comparatively mild, is not rare on the low grounds. The obstinate 
scaly ring-worm common in many parts of the Pacific exists, and rheuma- 
tism is not unknown ; but many of the infectious diseases of Europe have 
never been introduced. The climate is favourable to the cultivation of all 
tropical products, including rice and maize. 

Flora and Fauna. — The flora is as varied as the climate. On the 
tops of the highest mountain chains there are many species of grasses, 
buttercups, forget-me-nots, daisies, rhododendrons and heaths. The forest 
there is principally cypress; from 7,000 to 10,000 feet it is chiefly myrta- 
ceous, often covered by trailing bamboo or mixed with pandanus ; and 
from 2,000 to 5,000 feet evergreen oaks are common. Native cloth is 
made by beating out the bark of the paper mulberry and other trees. 
Fibre is obtained from the banana, the coco-nut and the aerial roots of 
certain species of pandanus. There are no dangerous carnivora in the 
colony, although wild swine are common. There are several varieties of 


British New Guinea 


637 

wallaby, phalanger and echidna ; and no deer, hares or rabbits. The 
most dangerous creature is the crocodile, which causes considerable loss 
of life, and there are poisonous snakes nearly related to those of Australia. 
The birds include the cassowary, many Birds of Paradise, pigeons, the 
hornbill, cockatoos, geese, ducks, quail, and on the mountain tops, snipe 
and woodcock. 

People. — All the native tribes of the colony that have up to now been 
met with seem to belong to the same race ; they present, however, well 
marked differences in physical appearance, disposition, language and 
customs. No clear trace of an old or earlier race than the existing one hais 
been discovered. The present inhabitants doubtless arrived in the country 
when it was already covered by dense forest, which had its effect in 
separating them into secluded, shy and suspicious communities. Differ- 
ences in the nature of the food and of the water also help to differentiate 
the people. Some live almost exclusively on sago, others on yams and 
taro, some on bananas, others principally on sweet potatoes. Many tribes 
live continuously in a heavy, moist, warm atmosphere near the coast line ; 
others in the light and bracing climate of the mountains. The average 
size of a Papuan is less than that of an average European. The race affini- 
ties with the Pacific are strong ; and on the coast line there is a smooth- 
haired Malay-like element that is absent in the interior. There is a well 
marked relationship to the languages of Polynesia, but the isolation of the 
different communities has led to such diversities of dialect that people 
living only a few miles apart cannot understand each other. The dialects 
are easy to acquire, containing few or no sounds that cannot be represented 
by the English alphabet, or be easily pronounced by an English-speaking 
person. English is now making considerable progress. The European 
population is about 500 ; the native population is estimated at about 350,000. 
There has been, however, no native census. 

Government. — The possession has the constitution of a Crown Colony, 
but the cost of administration is chiefly defrayed by 
the Commonwealth of Australia, the exact relation of 
which to the Government of New Guinea was not de- 
fined up to 1903. There was no form of government 
among the native population. A certain measure of 
chiefly influence is being created now by a few men 
under government authority, but control over the 

natives is best acquired by the gradual creation of a F i G ‘ ? 1 ?•“ The Badge of 
r r it .. • , British New Guinea, 

torce of village policemen. The administration has at 

its disposal an armed constabulary consisting of over a hundred natives 
enrolled from many different districts. There is a local Legislature nomi- 
nated by the Crown, and consisting, with one exception, of officers of the 
government. 

Trade. — The chief industry worked by Europeans is alluvial gold 
mining ; the number of miners has varied at different times from 100 to 



638 The International Geography 

800 men. The gold-bearing country is extensive, but very difficult to 
prospect. There are indications of auriferous reefs. The valuable mineral 
osmiridium has been found from the Gira river to the Owen Stanley Range, 
and coal exists in the Purari sandstone district. The pearl and pearl-shell 
fishery is of considerable importance, the shell being widely distributed 
over the eastern seas of the colony. Beche-de-mer is found on most of the 
reefs, and turtle shell is common. Sandal-wood is sometimes found in the 
form of large trees, so far only in the central district on the mainland, and 
is exported. The rubber industry is important and promising ; the indi- 
genous trees alone yield this article at present, but both soil and climate 
should be favourable to the better sorts of foreign rubber trees. There 
are some good varieties of timber, including cedar and ebony. There can 
be no reasonable doubt that the sugar-cane, which is native and present 
in a great many varieties, sago, cotton probably also indigenous, coffee, 
tea, vanilla and tobacco, which is domesticated if not actually indigenous 
and of exceptionally fine quality, will eventually be very valuable. The ex- 
ternal trade of the colony is chiefly with Queensland and New South Wales ; 
it amounts to about ^130,000 annually. The tariff is comparatively light. 

A steamer runs regularly to the possession, starting from Sydney and 
calling at Port Moresby and Samarai, and proceeding to the Solomon 
Islands and thence back to Sydney. Much of the internal communica- 
tion will be carried on by the rivers. Tracks have been cut right across 
the colony from north to south and in many other directions, and the 
natives are becoming accustomed to travel alone or with Europeans for 
great distances ; but there are few roads. 

Political Divisions and Towns. — The colony is divided into four 
magisterial divisions, in each of which there is a Resident Magistrate. 
The Central Court, which possesses the jurisdiction of an ordinary Supreme 
Court, sits wherever there is occasion. The principal seat of Government 
is at Port Moresby , which is centrally and picturesquely situated on a 
large and sheltered harbour, easy of approach and provided with sub- 
stantial wharves. The population consists of about 1,000 natives and 
some 40 Europeans. The immediate neighbourhood is not suited for 
ordinary cultivation on account of the rather scanty rainfall. Samarai, 
the most important place, is situated on an islet lying about a mile 
from the mainland in the east. It is the headquarters of the 

Resident Magistrate of the district, and the European population is 
generally greater than at Port Moresby ; there is no native village. The 
third port of entry for the colony is the island of Daru, the headquarters 
of the Resident Magistrate for the western division. It has a good and 
safe harbour, the only one the colony possesses in the west, and is visited 
by many boats engaged in the pearl-shell fishery of Torres Straits. . 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

Rev. J. Chalmers. " Pioneer Life and Work in New Guinea.” London, 1895. * 

Sir W. MacGregor. “ British New Guinea.” London, 1897. 

— ■ “Annual Reports.” Brisbane, 1888-1898. 

J. P. Thomson. “British New Guinea.” London, 1892. 


German New Guinea 


639 


II. — GERMAN NEW GUINEA 

By Graf von Pfeil. 

Position and Surface. — The coast of Kaiser Wilhelmsland, or 
German New Guinea, on the north-east of the island, runs nearly in a 
straight line from north-west to south-east for 600 miles. Two inden- 
tations, Astrolabe Bay and Huon Gulf, flank a peninsula on which rise the 
Finisterre and Rawlinson mountain ranges. Beyond this promontory no 
morphological development is noticeable along the coast, which yet has 
a number of good harbours formed by coral reefs bordering it. There 
are besides some good roadsteads sheltered by small coral islands and 
a few bays cut into marshy lowlands. So far no mouth of the numerous 
rivers of New Guinea has been found available as a harbour. The navi- 
gable rivers offer no building sites near their outlets, the banks of their 
lower course being mostly marshy plains suitable for rice-growing ; those 
rivers which are not navigable have mostly too small an entrance from the 
sea to render them suitable. The Ramu has been found to be navigable, 
and when the Margaret river is explored, it is justly surmised that it also 
will prove navigable. The Kaiserin Augusta river has been ascended with 
a sea-going steamer for 180 miles. All the rivers carry a surprisingly large 
quantity of water, a circumstance no doubt due to the great elevation of 
the mountains which crowd this huge island, the interior of which is as 
yet almost unknown. The few expeditions that have ventured to open 
up the country found progress exceedingly difficult. There are no paths, 
the territory is terribly rugged, and covered with so dense an undergrowth 
of shrub that a road must be cleared with hatchets ; a day's toilsome 
march may result in the advance of one mile. On the steep hillsides 
water is not always met with, so that expeditions suffer from thirst. From 
the sea, chains of tall mountains may be discerned far inland. Above all 
tower the two loftiest peaks of the Bismarck Range, Mounts Wilhelm 
and Herbert, exceeding 13,000 feet. It seems probable that these mountains 
form a continuation of those in Dutch New Guinea, on which, it is re- 
ported, snow has been observed, and that they lead on to the Owen 
Stanley Range, thus forming a central backbone. Of the geological 
character of these mountains absolutely nothing is known. In Huon 
Gulf the rivers bring down pebbles derived from ancient volcanic 
rocks, while north-west of the peninsula mentioned above more recent 
formations seems to prevail. A zone of coral rock forms the coast for 
some distance north-west of the peninsula and rises in a number of peculiar 
and very striking terraces to a great height. As far as can be ascertained 
this coral zone does not extend more than a few miles inland. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The climate is hot and moist, the 
yearly rainfall being very considerable, though subject to great variations; 
a difference of 79 inches has been observed. The seasons are not clearly 


640 The International Geography 

defined and there is no strictly rainy or dry season, but rain falls in 
nearly every month of the year. A very remarkable local influence on 
the distribution of the seasons seems to be exercised by the Finisterre 
Mountains ; when the greater rainfall takes place east of them, their 
western part enjoys a dry season, and vice versa. Heat, moisture and a rich 
soil combine to produce a most luxuriant vegetation. The whole country 
is covered with dense dank forest, the upper boundary of which has not 
yet been ascertained. Timber and a great variety of wood, valuable for 
cabinet makers’ purposes, is plentiful, but difficult to obtain on account of 
the rugged character of the country. Banyan trees of gigantic size, with 
labyrinths of aerial roots, are frequently met with, the mango is found 
wild, huge tree-ferns delight the eye, and tangled lianas render progress 
next to impossible. Orchids of rare colour and shape are often found, 
and there is no doubt that the nutmeg also exists. The few plains known 
in New Guinea near Hatzfeldhafen and on the banks of the Kaiserin 
Augusta river, and also the coral terraces, are covered with tall grass 
instead of the customary forest. The fauna, very poor in quadrupeds, 
has only a few marsupials — among them the wallaby — and rodents, but 
the many varieties of the Bird of Paradise which are found are the 
most beautiful birds in the world, and only the large specimens of butter- 
flies the country produces can vie with them in the splendour of their 
colouring. The cassowary has been met with, and the tufted pigeon as 
large as a goose is well known. Snakes are not very numerous, though 
mostly venomous. Large crocodiles are sometimes found in the rivers. 

The Bismarck Archipelago, containing New Britain and New 
Ireland, forms a part of this South Sea colony, and is a name given 
to several groups of islands, of which the Solomons are one. Of these 
only the three largest belong to the archipelago. The only well-explored 
districts are the Gazelle Peninsula, which forms the northern part of New 
Britain (Neu Pommern), and the small islets of the Duke of York 
(Lauenburg) group. On the small coral islands some of the trading 
firms have their establishments ; on the Gazelle Peninsula several planta- 
tions are carried on successfully. The soil is a rich loam formed of 
volcanic ashes, which spread over a large area after they had been 
ejected by the three now extinct volcanoes, which are the distinguishing 
features of this peninsula. New Britain offers greater facilities to 
European settlers than any of the other islands of the archipelago. Its 
coast-line is well indented with numerous bays, the mountains which 
fill the interior seem to be less precipitous, the valleys between them 
wider and easier of access than those of New Guinea. The other 
islands, though all of considerable size, are almost unapproachable, their 
coasts are steep and unbroken, and man is almost wilder than nature. 
Confirmed cannibals, the natives are nearly all very warlike, and offer 
strenuous opposition to all attempts at European ingress. Some islands 
have suffered from the Australian labour traffic. The natives in the 


German New Guinea 641 

archipelago differ considerably from each other, according to the island 
which they inhabit. Three types can clearly be distinguished. The 
people of New Britain, of New Ireland (Neu Mecklenburg), and those 
of the Solomon Islands, who again divide into a darker and a lighter type. 
All again differ from the inhabitants of New Guinea, who are physically 
inferior. It seems probable that we have to deal with two races, a darker 
and a lighter one. In every small district a separate dialect is spoken, and 
so far as we know the people have no traditions which might point out 
their history. The islands of the archipelago are covered with primeval 
forest of a different character from that in New Guinea. The bread-fruit 
tree is found on the coral islands, almost all of which are fringed with a 
broad belt of coco-nut palms. The sago palm is common, timber less 
plentiful, the mango apparently wanting. Birds of Paradise are not found ; 
cockatoos and several species of parrots are plentiful. Pigeons are found 
in immense flights, but certain kinds only inhabit certain islands. The 
bats, called flying-foxes, occur in thousands, and are eaten by the natives. 
The interior of these islands is probably the least known corner of the 
whole world. 

Government. — The colony is directly administered by the 
Imperial German Government ; but the develop- 
ment of its resources remains in the hands of the 

* 

German New Guinea Company. Friedrich Wil - 
helmshafen, the best natural harbour in New 
Guinea, has developed into a permanent settle- 
ment. As this bay gives access to wide fertile 
plains there is no doubt that the settlement on its 

border has a future. Other ports of some promise ^nNe^CMnea cZfany. 
are Berlinhafen , Konstantinhafen and Finschhafen . 

In the Bismarck Archipelago the chief settlements are Matupi, a small 
island in Blanche Bay, entirely occupied by the establishment of a 
successful trading firm. Ralum is a flourishing and steadily growing 
plantation, and Herbertshohe is the seat of administration. All those 
localities are situated on the Gazelle peninsula, which is the centre of 
traffic. All other settlements are trading or missionary stations at which 
a few Europeans live in comparative solitude. Gold occurs in the 
Bismarck Range of New Guinea, but plantation products and mother-of- 
pearl are the chief exports. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

“ Nachrichten iiber Kaiser Wilhelmsland.” Berlin (published periodically by the German 
New Guinea Company). 

Krieger, M. “ Neu-Guinea” [in Kirchhoff’s series]. Berlin, 1899, 



64.2 The International Geography 

III.— DUTCH NEW GUINEA 

By Dr. C. M. Kan , 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Amsterdam. 

Position and Exploration. — The western or Dutch half of New 
Guinea extends from about twenty miles south of the equator to 9 0 S., and 
from longitudes 13 1° to 141 0 E. It is larger than British and German New 
Guinea taken together. The voyages of the Dutch to New Guinea in the 
early days of the Dutch East India Company, undertaken by Willem 
Yansz, Carstensz, Pool, Tasman, Vink, and others, were limited to par- 
ticular parts of the coast, such as Telokh Berau, and Onin. Torres Strait 
was long unknown, and the north coast of New Guinea was sought for north 
of the equator, the whole being looked upon as part of the great hypothetical 
southern continent. The explorers of the nineteenth century have outlined 
the coast and made preliminary surveys which allow it to be represented 
on maps with some approach to accuracy. Subsequently mission stations 
were established in Dorei and Geelvink Bay, and traders came from 
Banda, Ternate, and Celebes, while occasional visits of men-of-war ex- 
tended the knowledge of the coast. Since 1858, several scientific travellers 
have visited the island, chief amongst them being Wallace, Bernstein, Meyer, 
Van Rosenberg, D’ Albertis, Maklukho Maklay, Braam Morris, De Clercq 
and Horst. The interior still remains entirely unknown. 

Surface. — The south coast may be divided into two parts, lying res- 
pectively west and east of Cape Buru, opposite Geelvink Bay. The western 
half is best known on account of the repeated surveys and thorough studies 
of Versteeg and De Clercq, and is characterised by off-lying islands, and 
three deep bays named MacCluer Gulf, Arguni and Etna Bays. A few 
small rivers, including the almost unknown Karufa, enter on this part of the 
coast, and a steep line of cliffs about fifty feet high, composed of coral lime- 
stone, sandstone and flints, commences in the neighbourhood of the flat 
Sebekar Bay, and is repeated further east between Arguni Bay and Cape 
Buru. The other half of the south coast is still very little known ; for the 
most part it seems to be low with no deep bays, and is dangerous for navi- 
gation, and very difficult of approach even off the mouths of the rivers. 
On the north coast the eastern half from Humboldt Bay to Geelvink Bay is 
characterised by numerous small inlets, while the rivers, on account of the 
proximity of the coast mountains, are but little developed. The only 
important stream is the Amberno river, which flows from the Van Rees 
mountains in the far interior. In the western half the great incurve of 
Geelvink Bay contains a number of large and small islands, the largest, 
including Japen Island, extending in a double chain across the mouth of the 
bay, and further west the land has the form of a flat coastal plain backed 
by mountains which give rise to numerous small rivers. The only part of 


1 Translated from the German by the Editor. 


Dutch New Guinea 


6 43 

this coast that is fairly well known is that in the neighbourhood of Dorei 
and Andai and where Meyer crossed the island opposite MacCluer Gulf. 

The mountains and rivers are very imperfectly known. East of Arguni 
Bay, a range with an elevation of about 3,000 feet runs from Mount Genoffa 
(about 5,000 feet) in a north-easterly direction. Further east, in the interior, 
the long range of the Charles Louis mountains has been seen from the 
coast running west and east between the meridians of i35°and 138° E. They 
rise into plateau-like summits much higher than the coast range, and are 
often covered with clouds. The height, as measured from passing ships, 
appears to reach 12,000 and even 16,000 feet, but it is still uncertain 
whether they rise above the snow-line as has been reported. The coast 
mountains appear to be formed of a Tertiary limestone, and from the 
evidence of the pebbles in the river beds, the great mountains of the 
interior consist mainly of slates and sandstone with some volcanic rocks. 
On the north coast the Cyclops mountains (about 7,000 feet), near the 
newly discovered Santani Lake, are perhaps of volcanic origin. On 
account of the insuperable difficulties of the cataracts of the Amberno river 
the Van Rees mountains remain entirely unknown. Further west the edge 
of the central plateau approaches the coast. Along Geelvink Bay and in the 
Arfak mountains (about 10,000 feet), some great heights and isolated peaks 
occur, but they are scarcely known. Only the mouths of the rivers can be 
laid down on the maps ; the breadth and depth of the mouth of the Oetanata 
appears to indicate that it is a river of some length. We are absolutely 
ignorant as to the connection, if any exists, between the mountains of 
Dutch New Guinea and the east of the island. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The central mountain chain acts not 
only as a watershed, but as a climatic boundary. The north coast, with a 
rainfall of about seventy inches per annum, receives most rain during the 
north-west monsoon, from November to April, the dry season lasting from 
June to September at the utmost. The seasons on the south coast are 
reversed, the rainy season occurring between July and September, during 
the south-east monsoon. The climate of the south coast is influenced by 
the proximity of the Australian continent, the direction of the coast line, 
and the latitude. The temperature is high at all times of the year, the 
average being 79 0 F., and the range is small. The natural vegetation of 
primeval forest, palms, lianas, acacias, &c., is transitional between the flora 
of the Malay Archipelago and that of Australia. The cultivated plants are 
rice, sugar-cane, maize, yams, bananas, bread-fruit, and the Massoi tree 
which supplies spices, medicine, and dyes. Amongst the land animals the 
most characteristic are the marsupials, including a tree-kangaroo, and 
amongst birds the Bird of Paradise is pre-eminent ; indeed, out of eighteen 
species recognised by Wallace, no less than fourteen, including the most 
magnificent in plumage, belong to New Guinea and the neighbouring 
islands. The green pigeon and emu are also found. The trepang or 
beche-de-mer occurs in about twenty varieties in the water off the coast 


644 The International Geography 

People and Government. — The population is small. The aborigines 
are Papuans mixed with Malays, as they are mixed with Polynesians in 
the east. The Mountain-Papuans, sometimes called Alfurs, are distinct 
from the coast-dwellers, and from the inhabitants of the more eastern part 
of the possession, who are well known for their savagery and cruelty. 

On August 24, 1828, the western half of New Guinea, over which the 
Sultan of Tidore claimed a certain jurisdiction, was placed under Dutch pro- 
tection by proclamation, and the post of Merkusoord was established along 
with Fort Dubus (which was given up in 1838), and in 1848 the boundaries 
and the relations with the Sultan were revised. The occupation is practi- 
cally limited to the occasional visits of Dutch war-vessels to the coast for 
the prevention of intertribal war, and the protection of the few trading 
and missionary stations. Quite recently a post has been established under 
a Dutch official ( Controleur ). There are trading and mission stations at 
Sorong on the west coast opposite Salawati, Sekar, Skroe on or near 
MacCluer Gulf, and Sileraki near the eastern boundary. On the north 
coast Dorei , and Mansinam in the north-west of Geelvink Bay are mission 
stations, while Roon and Ansoes on the island of Japen are trading posts. 
All these stations are regular calling places of the trading vessels which ply 
along the coast as far as Humboldt Bay. 

STATISTICS (Estimates). 

Area of Dutch New Guinea in square miles 151,800 

Population „ „ (rough estimate) 200,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Robide van der Aa. “ Reizen naar Nederlandsch Nieuw Guinea.” The Hague, 1879. 
Haga. “Nederlandsch Nieu'w-Guinea.” Batavia and The Hague, 1884. 

For the more recent literature cf. C. M. Kan. “ Geographische Untersuchungen in der 
Westhalfte von Neu-Guinea,” in Report of VI. International Geo- 
graphical Congress, London, 1895. 


IV.— NEW CALEDONIA 

By Professor Augustin Bernard,* 

Algiers. 

Position and Configuration. — New Caledonia ( Nouvelle Cale- 

donie ) is almost equally distant from Australia 
(900 miles east) and from New Zealand (970 
miles north-west), and New Guinea (1,100 miles 
south-east). Its form is that of an elongated 
ellipse, lying north-west and south-east, with a 
length of about 250 miles and a breadth of only 
25 to 30. It is prolonged on the north by the 
Belep Islands and on the south by the Isle of 
Pines. Archaean rocks occupy the north-east ; Triassic and Cretaceous 
strata form a narrow band along the west coast, and eruptive rocks, 

1 Translated from the French by the Editor. 



Fig. 321 . — New Caledonia. 


New Caledonia 


645 

principally Serpentine, are greatly developed, covering two-thirds of 
the island. The surface is essentially mountainous, as, although of no 
great height (Mont Panie, 5,400 feet, and Mont Humboldt, 5,360 feet, are 
the highest summits), the slopes are steep and the country very broken, 
particularly in the north where two mountain ridges frame the valley of 
the Diahot, the only important river. Every variety of coral reef is found 
along the coast ; the great barrier reef, which is second only to that of 
Australia, surrounds the east and west coasts and is continued to the north 
for more than 150 miles from the land. The chain of the Loyalty Islands 
(Uvea, Lifu and Mare) is formed entirely of masses of dead coral, and lies 
parallel to New Caledonia, separated by a channel 50 miles wide. 

Climate and Vegetation. — The climate of New Caledonia is 
characterised by a rainy season in summer (December «to May), and a 
comparatively dry and cool season for the rest of the year ; but the seasons 
are not very sharply separated, and no month is absolutely rainless. The 
average rainfall at Noumea, in the south, is 45 inches per annum, which is 
less than that of most of the Pacific islands. The vegetation, like the 
climate, resembles in part that of Australia and in part that of the New 
Hebrides. Bush, analogous to the Australian scrub, covers at least half of 
the island ; the rest is occupied by grassy pastures and by the niaouli 
(. Melaleuca leucadendron ), the most characteristic tree of New Caledonia, 
which takes the same place in its vegetation as the eucalyptus in that of 
Australia. Although the island lies wholly in the tropics, tropical forests 
in the strict sense of the word occupy only a small area. 

People. — The basis of the population of the archipelago is a woolly- 
haired dolichocephalic Melanesian race, to which a small proportion of 
mesocephalic light-complexioned Polynesians with almost straight hair has 
been recently added. As in all the Pacific Islands these natives, called 
kanakas , are rapidly diminishing in number. 

New Caledonia was discovered by Cook in 1774, and was annexed by 
the French in 1853. Although acclimatisation is easy for Europeans there 
are as yet scarcely 8,000 free colonists, leaving the military guards and the 
officials out of account, of which the half live in Noumea and its neigh- 
bourhood. The slow rate of progress is due to the transportation system, 
which has produced only bad results ; the public works carried out by the 
convicts are insignificant, the concessions of land which have been made 
to them have scarcely succeeded, and the liberated prisoners infest the 
country. Now, however, the situation tends to improve ; successful efforts 
have been made to attract free cultivators and to reduce the number of 
convicts, from whose presence there is reason to hope the island may soon 
be entirely relieved. 

Resources and Trade. — The principal vegetable produce of the 
island is coffee, which succeeds well, and the area of the plantations is 
being extended. Sugar-cane, tobacco, vanilla, pine-apples, bananas, maize, 
and manioc, are also cultivated. Stock-rearing, not however carried on 


646 The International Geography 

in the Australian manner on account of the limited area of the pastures, 
forest produce, and fisheries all have a certain importance. 

The mineral resources of New Caledonia are particularly rich ; gold and 
copper occur amongst the primitive rocks, mines of iron, chromium, 
cobalt and nickel are worked in the serpentines, and coal occurs in the 
Cretaceous strata. Hitherto nickel-ore only has been largely worked, and 
this industry has undergone frequent crises on account of the lowering of 
the price by the competition of other producing countries, especially of 
Canada. The condition of the industry will be improved by the erection 
on the spot of reducing furnaces which will diminish the weight of the 
cargoes by about 92 per cent, and increase their value. As yet there are 
few roads, but the means of transport are improving. A service of local 
steamers connects the capital with various points on the east and west 
coasts. Monthly steamers of the Messageries Maritimes run between 
Noumea and Marseilles, calling at Sydney and Melbourne, and make the 
passage in 38 days. A submarine cable also unites New Caledonia with 
Australia and the rest of the world. Noumea , the capital, has an excellent 
harbour sheltered by the island of Nou and the peninsula of Ducos. The 
future prospects of New Caledonia are good on account of its wealth in 
coffee and nickel, and the prospect of free colonisation taking the place of 
the present convict system. 


STATISTICS. 

Area of New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands (square miles) 

Population „ „ „ 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Noumea 


7,150 

52,000 

7 

4,600 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

Average 1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 


Exports . . 32,000 . . 200,000 . . 280,000 

Imports 360,000 . . 320,000 . . 480,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. Bernard. *' L’Archipel de la Nouvelle-Caledonie.” Paris, 1895. 
M. Petit. “ Les colonies frangaises.” Paris, 1901-2. 


V.— SMALLER MELANESIAN ISLANDS 

By the Editor.* 

New Hebrides. — The New Hebrides, including the Banks and 
Torres groups, stretch north-west and south-east for about 480 miles 
between 13 0 and 20^° S. Some of the islands are of coral, and others of 
volcanic formation, mountainous and extremely fertile. The bread-fruit, 
coco-nut, banana, sago-palm, sugar-cane, nutmeg and other tropical pro- 


* Assisted by E, J. Hastings. 


Smaller Melanesian Islands 647 

ductions flourish. Fish, pearl-shells, beche-de-mer, and tortoise-shell are 
obtained on the coasts. The natives are mainly of the Papuan or Mela- 
nesian race, but Polynesians are found on some of the islands, and many 
different languages are spoken in the group. Most of the people are 
still heathen, and cannibalism is not yet extinct. The islands were dis- 
covered in 1606 by Quiros, and explored in 1774 by Captain Cook. 
Espiritu Santo, the largest island, rises to about 5,500 feet, is densely 
wooded and intersected by deep ravines. Antumey (Annatom) is the 
most southerly of the group, and the one in which missionary effort 
has been most successful. Ambrym and Tanna have active volcanoes, 
the eruptions of which are sometimes very destructive. The New 
Hebrides have long been a favourite recruiting-ground for the labour- 
traffic, the natives ( kanakas ) contracting to work on the Queensland 
plantations for a term of years. 

Santa Cruz. — This group, crossed by the parallel of io° S., lying 
north of the New Hebrides and east of the Solomon Islands, was dis- 
covered in 1595 by Mendana, who named it Santa Cruz. Forgotten for 
nearly two centuries, the islands were rediscovered by Carteret, who 
named them after Queen Charlotte. They are of volcanic and coral 
formation, and surrounded by coral reefs. The inhabitants belong to the 
Polynesian race intermixed with the Melanesian ; they are of good 
physique, dwell in large villages, and surround their houses with stone 
fences. Agriculture and fishing are their chief occupations, and the men 
are hardy sailors. The climate is humid ; both the north-west and the 
south-east monsoons bring rain. Santa Cruz, the largest island, occupies 
more than half of the total area. Vanikoro, the most southerly, is the best 
known. 

Solomon Islands. — The Solomon Islands, forming an archipelago 
comprising twelve larger islands or groups, and numerous smaller ones, 
extend north-west for about 600 miles, between the parallels of 5 0 and 
ii° S. from near Santa Cruz to the Bismarck Archipelago. They contain 
examples of the typical low coral and lofty volcanic islands, the latter 
rising in several points to 4,000 feet and over, and in the island of 
Bougainville to 10,000 feet. The islands are in general surrounded by 
coral reefs, and there are several good harbours. Much of the surface is 
covered with dense forest, and, in many instances, belts of mangrove 
border the coast. The soil is fertile, the yam, bread-fruit, banana, taro, 
betel-nut, pepper and coco-nut are widely cultivated. The fauna combines 
Melanesian and Polynesian types. Anthropoid apes are said by the natives 
to inhabit the woods, but this statement lacks confirmation ; crocodiles are 
numerous, and this is the most easterly group in which they are found. 
The inhabitants belong mainly to the Melanesian race, with an admixture 
of Polynesian elements.; they are skilled in carving and in the construction 
of canoes ; but are still mostly in a savage condition, and cannibalism is 
practised. In the interior other inhabitants, probably a Negrito people, 


648 The International Geography 

known to the English traders as Bushmen, are in course of being exter- 
minated by the Melanesians. The climate is rather unhealthy ; temperature 
ranges between about 75 0 and qo° F., and the prevailing winds are the 
north-west and south-east monsoons ; the rainfall considerably exceeds 
100 inches. The islands were discovered by Mendana in 1567, but they 
remained almost unknown for two centuries, when they were visited 
successively by Carteret and Bougainville. The people are ruled by native 
chiefs, but the most northerly and largest island in the group, Bougainville 
Island, is a German possession, and the remaining islands are all British. 
The principal islands of the British group are Choiseul, and Isabel. The 
others are Rennell, San Christoval (Bauro), with one of the best harbours 
in the group, Ugi, with a British coaling station, Guadalcanar, which rises 
in Mount Lammas to 8,000 feet, New Georgia (Kausagi), and Malaita or 
Mala Island. 


STATISTICS AND STANDARD BOOKS. 

See end of Chapter XXXVI. 


CHAPTER XXXVI.— THE ISLANDS OF THE 

PACIFIC OCEAN 


By the Editor . 1 

I. — GENERAL 

General Description. — The islands of the Pacific Ocean, or South 
Sea, are sometimes grouped together with Australia, sometimes without 
that continent under the name Oceania. They are divided by different 
geographers into various subdivisions, that most widely adopted being into 
Micronesia, or the Small Islands in the west, north of the latitude of New 
Guinea, Melanesia, or the Islands of the Blacks between New Guinea and 
Fiji, and Polynesia or the Many Islands scattered over the rest of the ocean, 
and inhabited by a race of men wonderfully homogeneous when one con- 
siders the vastness of the area of dispersal and the smallness and isolation 
of the scattered island-homes. The whole land area of all these islands — 
New Zealand excepted — is only about 60,000 square miles. Except for a 
mistake as to the extent of scientific knowledge regarding the coral polyp, 
the description of this region by Robert Louis Stevenson in his book 
“ In the South Seas,” is true as well as graphic : — 

“ That wide field of ocean, called loosely the South Seas, extends from 
tropic to tropic, and from perhaps 120° W. to 150° E., a parallelogram of 
one hundred degrees by forty-seven, -where degrees are the most spacious. 
Much of it lies vacant ; much is closely sown with isles, and the isles are 
of two sorts. No distinction is so continually dwelt upon in South Sea talk 
as that between the 1 low ’ and the ‘ high 5 island, and there is none more 
broadly marked in nature. The Himalayas are not more different from 
the Sahara. On the one hand, and chiefly in groups of from eight to a 
dozen, volcanic islands rise above the sea ; few reach an altitude of less 
than 4,000 feet ; one exceeds 13,000 ; their tops are often obscured in 
cloud ; they are all clothed with various forests, all abound in food, and 
are all remarkable for picturesque and solemn scenery. On the other 
hand, we have the atoll ; a thing of problematic origin and history, the 
reputed creature of an insect apparently unidentified ; rudely annular in 
shape ; enclosing a lagoon ; rarely extending beyond a quarter of a mile 
at its chief width ; often rising at its highest point to less than the stature 
of a man — man himself, the rat and the land-crab, its chief inhabitants ; 
not more variously supplied with plants ; and offering to the eye, even 
when perfect, only a rim of glittering beach and verdant foliage, enclosing 
and enclosed by the blue sea.” The ring of the atoll may be of any 

Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 

649 


6 5 o The International Geography 

diameter from a few hundred yards to many miles ; it is always narrow, 
composed of broken blocks of coral and without a blade of grass. Mono- 
tony of surface is broken by groves of the coco-nut palm, “ that giraffe 
of vegetables, so graceful, so ungainly.” The narrow rim is often partially 
submerged, so that instead of an annular strip the atoll becomes a ring of 
islets surrounding a lagoon with several entrances. But the grand contrast 
in all low coral islands is that of the two beaches, the inner beach facing 
the lagoon, which is the harbour and the site of all houses, and the outer 
beach on which the ocean surf always thunders, filling the whole island 
with its unceasing noise, and this beach is deserted, shunned by the 
natives as the haunt of the spirits of the dead. 

The Island Groups. — Although the Pacific appears on the map to be 
thickly sprinkled with islands, these are really grouped along certain 

lines, with vast 
vacant breadths of 
sea between, and 
it is to be remem- 
bered that Magel- 
lan, when he left 
the Strait which 
bears his name 
and ventured for 
the first time on 
the unknown 
waters of the Pa- 
cific, crossed the 
whole breadth of 
the ocean, and in 
three months of 

voyaging saw no land except one barren and waterless rock. Speaking 
generally, the depth of the Pacific appears to exceed 2,000 fathoms 
from 8o° W., close to the coast of South America, to 180 0 W. Across 
the western half of this vast abyss a narrow rise runs in the latitude 
of the northern tropic roughly from east-south-east to west-north-west, 
and upon it the volcanic islands of Hawaii appear. A broader and 
much longer rise, edged by smaller parallel ridges, stretches east and 
west along the southern tropic, bearing the innumerable atolls of the 
Paumotu, or Low Archipelago, the Society Islands and Cook Islands. 
Smaller scattered elevations of the sea-bed occur to the north and 
north-west, each bearing a cluster of islets — including the Marquesas, 
and some smaller groups. The less deep water east of Australia and of 
the Malay Archipelago is traversed by two great rises, curved nearly 
parallel to the coast, and each studded by a chain of island groups. The 
outer line taking a bold sweep at first north-eastward from New Zealand 
forms the foundation whence spring the Fiji and Friendly Islands- and the 



Land EH Sea more than 2000 fms deep 
Sea lessthan 2000fmsdeepQ Island Chain- 

FlG. 322 . — The Island Chains of the Pacific. 



Fiji 651 

Samoa group (in 12 0 S.) ; thence wheeling north-westward, it bears in 
succession the Ellice Islands, and the Micronesian archipelagoes consisting 
of the Gilbert group (on the equator), the Marshall Islands and the 
Carolines, and the rise finally curves inwards towards Jilolo. In 145 0 E. 
another rise branches off northward towards Japan, bearing the Marianne 
or Ladrone Islands, also included in Micronesia. The inner rise, which 
also starts from New Zealand, forms a sharper north-westerly curve, and 
its course may be traced on a map by New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, 
the Solomon Islands, and the Bismarck Archipelago, for all of which it 
forms the foundation. It terminates in New Guinea. The more important 
islands of the Pacific (Fig. 322) may thus be treated as belonging to (i.) 
the Inner or Melanesian Chain, (ii.) the Outer or Micronesian Chain, (iii.) 
the South Tropical or Paumotu Chain, and (iv.) the North Tropical or 
Hawaiian Chain. As a matter of con- 
venience the islands of the Melanesian 
chain were considered with New Guinea. 

Political Divisions. — Amongst the 
scattered groups and islands in the Pacific 
forming British possessions are Fiji, the 
Solomon Islands (southern), Santa Cruz, 

Gilbert Islands, Ellice Islands, Phoenix 
Islands, Union Islands, Tonga or Friendly 
Islands, Cook Islands, Manihiki group, 

Pitcairn Island, besides many others, some 
mere rocks, and uninhabited. These are 
under the jurisdiction of the High Commis- 
sioner of the Western Pacific, whose autho- 
rity extends over all lands in the western FlG ' 

Pacific, not being dependencies of any of 

the British Colonies or of any other civilised Power. The only important 
unattached group is that of the New Hebrides, controlled by a joint 
British and French commission. The French possessions come next in 
number and importance, including New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands, 
the Marquesas group, the Society Islands, with Tahiti, and most of the 
islands of the South Tropical Chain. The total area does not exceed that 
of a small French department, and their total population is under 29,000. 
The islands administered by Germany include the Bismarck Archipelago 
and Bougainville Island in the Melanesian Chain, the Marshall, Caroline, 
and Marianne Islands in the Micronesian Chain, and part of Samoa. The 
United States are responsible for Guam in the Marianne Islands, part 
of Samoa and Hawaii. A few of the islands in the Eastern Pacific belong 
to South American countries. 

II.— FIJI 

Position and Extent. — The Fiji Islands, a scattered group about 

2,000 miles east of Queensland, consist of two large and a great number 
43 


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652 The International Geography 



Fig. 324 . — The Fiji Islands. 


of small islands, islets, and rocks, lying between 15 0 and 22® S., and 
traversed by the 180th meridian. The island of Rotuma, in 12 0 S. and 
177 ° E-, is a dependency of Fiji. 

General Description. — The two largest islands, Viti Levu and 
Vanua Levu, lie on the west and north-west of the group, separated from 

the cluster of small islands called 
the Lakemba group, on the east, by 
the islet-starred water of the Goro 
or Karo Sea. Most of the islands 
are surrounded by barrier reefs, 
which form admirable natural break- 
waters, crossed by deep channels, 
giving access to the enclosed har- 
bours and roadsteads. The larger 
islands, all composed of volcanic 
rock, are mountainous, with summits 
rising to or even exceeding 4,000 
feet. Numerous streams descend from the mountains and are utilised by the 
natives for irrigation. Earthquakes are not uncommon, and the great sea- 
waves which often follow them sometimes cause great destruction on the 
low shores. The scenery is in many parts grand and picturesque. There are 
no large native animals. Cattle have been introduced, and many now run 
wild. Turtle and pearl-shell are obtained on the reefs, and fish off the 
coasts. Dense forests clothe the windward side of the islands, where the 
south-east trade-winds bring a copious rainfall. The coco-nut, banana, 
pineapple, and many tropical fruits flourish. Sugar-cane is the chief 
plantation product, but rice and maize are widely grown, and the taro and 
yam form the principal native foods. 

People, History, Government and Trade.— The Fijians belong 
to the Polynesian race, are of a dark copper colour, well-built and hand- 
some. Their numbers have greatly decreased since the 
advent of Europeans, and in 1875 about one-third of the 
population was carried off by a terrible epidemic of 
measles. The islands were discovered by Tasman in 
1643. In 1835 the Wesleyan missionaries commenced 
their labours amongst the islanders, many of whom were 
then cannibals ; and now Christianity is professed by 
all the inhabitants. The first British consul was ap- fig. 325 .—The Badge 
pointed in 1859; * n 1864 the leading chiefs offered to oj the Crown Colony 

cede the sovereignty, but it was not until 1874 that the 
islands were taken over by the British Government, and shortly after- 
wards constituted a Crown colony. The Governor is assisted by an 
Executive and a Legislative Council, and the local administration is carried 
out by native chiefs. Native labour is insufficient for the increasing 
plantations, and labourers have to be imported from other islands. The 



Micronesia 


6 53 

leading exports are sugar, copra and fruit, especially bananas. The prin- 
cipal imports are cotton goods, machinery and hardware, and food-stuffs. 
Trade is carried on chiefly with the United Kingdom and the Australian 
Commonwealth. 

Suva , the capital, situated on the south of Viti Levu, is a small town 
with a good harbour. Levuka, on the small island of Ovalu, east of Viti 
Levu, the former capital and a port, occupies a narrow coast-strip backed 
by mountains rising almost perpendicularly to over 2,000 feet. 

STATISTICS OF FIJI. 

1881. 1891. 

Area of Fiji (square miles) 7.74° • • 7,74° 

Total Population of Fiji 127,095 .. 121,180 

Number of Native Fijians .. ,. .. 114,748 .. 100,321 

Density of Population per square mile . . 16*4 . . 15' 7 

ANNUAL TRADE OF FIJI (in pounds sterling). 

1875-79. 1881-85. 

Imports 125,000 .. 365,000 

Exports 140,000 .. 278,000 


1901. 

7,740 

117,870 

94.397 

152 


1891-95* 

279.000 

436.000 


III. — THE MICRONESIAN CHAIN 


Friendly Islands. — To the east of Fiji, and clustered round the 
parallel of 20° S., several small clusters of high and low islands, some 
atolls, and one an active volcano, were discovered by Tasman in 1643. 
Their present English name is due to Cook, who wished to preserve the 
memory of his kindly reception by the natives. The native name is Tonga, 
or, in the new spelling, Toga, for the local chiefs are all subject to the 
King of Tonga, who resides in Tonga-tabu, the largest island of the group. 
The climate is hot, oppressive and humid, and hurricanes frequently occur 
in February and March. Yams, bananas, coffee, coco-nuts and arrowroot 
are amongst the chief productions ; but copra — dried coco-nut — is practi- 
cally the only export. New South Wales and New Zealand send most of 
the imports. The people are Polynesians, and most of them now profess 
Christianity. The islands are under British protection. 

Samoa. — The Navigator or Samoan Islands, lying near 14 0 S. and 
172 0 W., have become more known than most of the neighbouring groups 
because they lie in the direct line of the mail steamers between Australia 
or New Zealand and Hawaii on the way to the western ports of 
North America. The islands are of the usual high or low type, and 
usually surrounded by a barrier reef. The lofty slopes facing the south- 
east trades are well watered and luxuriantly fertile ; and the climate, 
although hot, is not of the worst. Disastrous hurricanes occur, and none 
of the harbours, otherwise good, are safe from their fury. The productions 
resemble those of other tropical Pacific islands, copra being the chief. 
The trade is in the hands of British, American and German firms ; but the 
islands, which were for a time under the control of the consuls of the United 


654 The International Geography 

Kingdom, the United States, and Germany, are now divided. Upolu and 
Savaii form a German possession ; the capital is at Apia, which has a fair 
harbour on Upolu. Tutuila, with its adjacent small islands, is a possession 
of the United States, and contains the best harbour in the group at Pago - 
pago. The people are amongst the least spoiled of the Pacific folk in spite 
of the measure of civilisation they have assimilated ; they are feelingly 
described by Robert Louis Stevenson, who spent his last years in Samoa. 

Ellice and Gilbert Groups. — The Ellice or Lagoon Islands to the 
north-west of Samoa stretch for 360 miles between n° and 5 0 S. They 
consist of nine large atolls or ring-like clusters of low coral islands, and on 
account of the typical forms assumed by the atoll of Funafuti it has been 
made the subject of an interesting experiment in physical geography. 
The Royal Society of London and the Government of New South Wales 
sent out an expedition in several successive years to put down a deep 
bore-hole through the coral in order to discover the nature of the under- 
lying rocks and so to test the rival theories as to the origin of coral 
islands. Although the bore was carried down 1,200 feet no rock but coral 
was found. The people of the Ellice group are for the most part Christian 
Polynesians, governed by their own chiefs, under British protection. 

The Ellice group is followed on the Outer Australasian Curve by the 
Gilbert or Kingsmill Islands, a line of atolls and low coral islets which 
follows the same trend and crosses the equator. The chief trees on 
these islands are the coco-nut and pandanus, but the soil is less fertile 
than in most of the Polynesian groups. The inhabitants are active and 
intelligent ; and they retain practical independence under the rule of their 
own chiefs, supported by British protection. 

The Marshall Islands . 1 — This group is formed by a number of 
coral reefs, or atolls, with a total area of 160 square miles, which run in 
two nearly parallel rows from north-west to south-east, and extend over 9 
degrees of latitude, with their centre about 7-p N. The eastern line of 15 
atolls is called the Radak, the western containing 18, the Ralik group. The 
islands, pure coral formations, are of very small size ; they rise only a few 
feet above the surface of the sea, and only on one has the wind heaped up 
so much sand that it forms an elevation which might be called a hill. Each 
atoll, though of most irregular shape, encloses a deep lagoon, into which 
ships can enter through passages between the islands. On none of them is 
there any deep soil ; a thin layer of earth has been formed by the decay of 
vegetation, in which the coco-nut palm stands most prominent. Bread-fruit 
trees, various kinds of pandanus, bananas, and a fibrous plant which is 
used for mat making, nearly complete the flora. Taro is grown for food. 
The fauna is very poor. Fish and Crustacea abound in the lagoons and 
on the reefs, where the natives catch them in large quantities as the only 
animal component of their chiefly vegetable diet. The climate is hot and 


* By Graf von Pfeil. 


Micronesia 


655 

very moist, the rainfall being nearly the same in all months of the year, 
with the exception of perhaps January and February, which are drier. 
It is remarkable that, although these islands are in the northern hemb 
sphere, the warmest month in the year is January and the coolest July. 
The inhabitants are Micronesians, their colour varies between lighter and 
darker shades of coffee-colour ; they are well grown, and their features are 
pleasant. Great navigators, they construct curious charts with little sticks, 
but these are not intelligible to Europeans. The population is increasing. 
The islands form a German colony, and the Landeshauptmann stands at 
the head of the administration, the expense of which is defrayed by the 
Jaluit trading company. 

Caroline Archipelago. — The Caroline Archipelago, including the 
Pelew Islands, stretches from east to west between the equator and io°N., 
and consists of about thirty-five groups. Some of the islands are volcanic, 
but most of coral origin, and all surrounded by reefs. They are generally 
well-wooded and fertile ; their products being the usual wealth of coco- 
nuts, bread-fruit, bananas, pine-apples, taro, and yams. The inhabitants, 
who are called Micronesian, are of a very mixed descent. They are 
governed by their own kings or chiefs. The Caroline Islands were dis- 
covered by the Portuguese in 1526, and in 1686 taken by the Spaniards and 
named after Charles II. of Spain ; but they were little known to Europeans 
before the nineteenth century. The Pelew group had, however, previously 
acquired an honourable name through the kindness shown by the inhabi- 
tants to the crew of the Antelope wrecked in 1783. In 1899 the Caroline 
Archipelago and the Ladrones were sold by the Spanish government to 
Germany. Although so near the equator, the climate is pleasant, the 
heat being tempered by sea-breezes. The volcanic island of Ponape in 
the east is the largest of the archipelago, with a good harbour at Kill. 
The central Truk, or Hogolu Islands, form the largest group. Yap, or Guap, 
is the most important island in the west. These islands contain a 
number of remains of an ancient people skilled in the building of cyclopean 
masonry, but as yet presenting an unsolved problem as to their origin, the 
period when their great works were carried out, and their ultimate fate. 

Ladrones. — The Marianne or Ladrone Islands run north between 
13 0 and 21 0 N. along the meridian of 145 0 E. They include two distinct 
groups : a northern, containing ten high volcanic islands, with still active 
volcanoes ; and a southern, with five low coral islands. The flora has 
been modified by the introduction of plants from the Philippines. Maize 
is the principal cereal ; but potatoes, yams, sugar-cane, and various fruits 
are also cultivated. The aboriginal inhabitants — Chamorros of Indonesian 
origin — scarcely exist now as a distinct race, owing to admixture with 
Talages from the Philippines, and Spanish. The climate is healthy, and, 
although two seasons are recognised, the rainfall is distributed throughout 
the year. Destructive hurricanes sometimes occur, and slight earthquakes 
are frequent. The islands were the first discovered by Magellan in 1521, 


656 The International Geography 

and called, from the habits of the people, Ladrones or Robbers. In 1688 
they were taken possession of by the Spaniards, and re-named after the 
Empress Marie Anne of Austria. Guam is the largest island of the 
archipelago, occupying more than half of the total area and containing 
most of the population. The coasts are mostly rock-bound ; but the port 
of San Luis de Apra , or Caldera, is the best in the archipelago, and on 
the island is Agaua, the principal town. The name of Guam has acquired 
a curious significance for Pacific traders wishing to keep their destination 
secret, often clear from Australian ports for Guam, the most distant 
harbour among the islands, and one to which there are many routes. It 
belongs to the United States ; the rest of the Mariannes are German. 

IV.— SOUTHERN POLYNESIA 

Cook and Tubuai Islands. — A narrow line of small rises running 
from 1 8° to 28° S., parallel to the wider elevation of the ocean-bed which 
bears the Low Archipelago, is crowned by the volcanic groups of the 
Cook Islands in the north-west and the Tubuai Islands in the south- 
east. The people, who exhibit Malay affinities, are darker in complexion 
than the Tahitians. The mountainous islands are fertile, producing the 
plantation products common to the latitude and the soil. Government 
is administered through native chiefs, though under the superintendence 
of European Powers. The Cook or Hervey Islands are now annexed to 
the colony of New Zealand. Raratonga is the largest (thirty square 
miles) and most picturesque of the islands, a volcanic mountain richly 
wooded and surrounded by a coral reef. The Tubuai or Austral Islands, 
five in number, are French possessions. 

The Society Islands. — The broad band of island groups, which 
stretches between io° S., and the tropic of Capricorn, from 155 0 W. to 
130° W., forms several groups, some of which have been under French 
protection since 1842, and almost all are now administered by the French. 
The Society Islands, lying between 16 0 and 18 0 S., form the most 
important groups in the South Pacific. They comprise Tahiti and many 
smaller islands arranged in two groups, the Windward, and the Leeward. 
They are all volcanic and mountainous, well watered by numerous 
streams, densely wooded, and surrounded by coral reefs. Copra and 
mother-of-pearl are the chief commercial products ; but coco-nut-oil, 
cotton, vanilla, oranges, and an edible fungus much appreciated by the 
Chinese, are exported. The inhabitants belong to the Polynesian race. 

Tahiti was discovered by Quiros in 1606 and named La Sagittaria ; 
in 1767 it was re-discovered by Captain Wallis, who gave it the name of 
King George Island, but its native name, formerly spelled Otaheite, is now 
alone used. Tahiti was Captain Cook’s favourite centre when exploring 
the Pacific, and here he observed the Transit of Venus on his first great 
voyage of circumnavigation in 1769. On this occasion he gave the name 


Southern Polynesia 657 

of Society Islands in honour of the Royal Society of London. English 
missionaries settled in the island in 1797 and met with some success for 
a time. A French protectorate was declared in 1842, and subsequently in 
1880 the two groups were formally annexed by France. Tahiti con- 
sists of two mountainous peninsulas united by 
an isthmus. The coasts are low, but the central 
parts of the islands are traversed by a ridge 
of mountains whose highest summit ap- 
proaches 7,500 feet. From this ridge wooded 
spurs extend on each side, enclosing fertile 
plains and valleys. Matavai Bay, in the north 
of the island, is the best harbour, but there are 
several others. Papeete, the capital and seat of 
government of French Oceania, is a modern 
town picturesquely situated at the foot of FlG * 
mountains on the north-west, and surrounded 

by groves of coco-nut, orange and guava trees. Point Venus, the most 
northerly point in the island, was the station for observing the Transit of 
Venus in 1769. Owing to the many observations which have been made, 
its longitude, 149 0 28' 21" E., is said to be the most certainly determined 
in the Pacific. 

Low Archipelago. — The Tuamotu, Panmotu, or Low Archipelago, 
contains about eighty low coral islands and numerous islets lying between 
14 0 and 24 0 S. to the east of the Society Islands. The inhabitants, who 
are under French administration, belong to different branches of the 
Polynesian race ; some resemble the Fijians, others the Tahitians. They 
are honest, industrious and thrifty, qualities which often distinguish 
the dwellers on coral islands where hard work is necessary for a liveli- 
hood from the lazy and careless inhabitants of 
the fertile volcanic islands, where life is easy. 
There is considerable trade in copra, pearl-shell, 
and pearls. Anaa, discovered by Cook in 1769, 
is one of the smallest but most populous of 
the group, well cultivated and yielding about 
one-fourth of the exports. Huo Island was dis- 
covered by Bougainville in 1768, and it is inte- 
resting as having been the scene of some early 
investigations on the structure of coral islands 
carried on by Sir Edward Belcher. 

Fakarava, the atoll on which Roioava, the 
capital of the archipelago, is situated, owes this 
distinction to the fact that its lagoon has two 
good channels — one to windward, the other to leeward — so that the small 
sailing-vessels which carry on the trade of these islands can enter and leave 
with a fair wind. 



FlG 327. — Fakarava, a typical 
atoll or low island. Dryland 
black, partially submerged 
reef dotted. The atoll mea- 
sures 40 miles by 15. 



658 The International Geography 

The Manga Reva or Gambier Islands are a small group of French 
islands lying south-east of the Low Archipelago, with which they are 
sometimes included. 


V.— SCATTERED GROUPS 

Marquesas. — The two groups forming the Marquesas or Mendana 
Islands lie between 8° and io£° S. The islands are of volcanic formation, 
mountainous and rugged, intersected by ravines and valleys of exquisite 
beauty, and generally fertile. The soil is well adapted for the growth of 
cotton, which, with a fungus for the Chinese market, forms the principal 
export. The natives keep a good many cattle. The climate is sultry, the 
temperature seldom falling below 73 0 , but the islands are nevertheless 
healthy. The inhabitants are of the Polynesian race and nearly allied to 
the Tahitians ; their moral standard is very low, worse than in the old 
days of heathenism, and the European vices and diseases, which are 
rapidly killing them off, have become subordinate to the Chinese vice of 
opium-eating. Formerly the natives of the Marquesas were celebrated 
above all Polynesians for the beauty of the tattooing with which they 
ornamented their whole bodies. Some of the islands were discovered by 
Mendana in 1595 1 others by Cook in 1774. They were taken posses- 
sion of by France in 1842. Nuka-Hiva is the largest island of the archi- 
pelago ; it affords the best anchorage in the bay where Tai-o-hae, the seat 
of the French Resident, is situated. 

Central Groups. — Between the Society Islands and Hawaii the bed 
of the ocean rises in a series of isolated elevations forming a line directed 
towards the north, and each is crowned by one or several islands of the 
familiar Polynesian type. The scattered coral Manihiki islands lie about 
io° S., and of them Penrhyn Island, the largest of the group, is the only 
one regularly inhabited, the people living by pearl-shell fishing ; the others 
are only visited occasionally by collectors of coco-nut produce and guano. 
Malden, Jervis, Christmas, Fanning, and Palmyra Islands carry on the 
chain, the last named being situated in about 6° N. The whole are now 
under British protection. 

Juan Fernandez Islands, situated near 34 0 S., between 400 and 500 miles 
from Valparaiso, were discovered by Juan Fernandez about 1563* The 
largest island, Mas a Tierra, is famous for the five years’ residence of Alex- 
ander Selkirk, the possible original of Robinson Crusoe. The islands now 
form a Chilean possession. 

Galapagos Islands.— On the equator, in 90° W., the volcanic group of 
the Galapagos {i.e. Tortoise) Islands lies at a distance of 750 miles from 
the coast of Ecuador, to which country they were annexed in 1832. 
Albemarle, the largest island, is sixty miles in length, and there are 
four other islands of fair size, and eight smaller. The climate is cooler 
than that of any other equatorial land at sea-level, on account of the 


Pacific Islands 


659 

reduction of temperature by the Humboldt current. The lower ground of 
the islands suffers from want of rain, which, however, falls in sufficient 
quantity on the higher slopes, and some plantations are worked. The 
flora and fauna of the islands are peculiar. No palms of any kind grow 
on them, and out of about 400 species of plants which have been found, 
nearly 200 are absolutely confined to this group. All the reptiles are 
without representatives elsewhere ; but the giant tortoise, from which 
the islands took their Spanish name, is likely to become extinct if not 
protected ; it has already vanished from some of the islands. Very 
large turtles frequent the coasts. Amongst the birds there are some 
sea-fowl of antarctic species, another result of the cool current from the 
south. 

Pitcairn Island. — Pitcairn Island in 25 0 S. and east of the Low 
Archipelago, is a small mountainous and rock-bound but fertile island. 
Bounty Bay, one of the two possible landing-places for boats, is the 
place where vessels communicate with the inhabitants by means of their 
canoes. Yams and potatoes form the staple food of the islanders. 
There are no springs on the island, and the water supply is derived 
from rain. The island was discovered by Carteret in 1767. In 1789 
some of the Bounty mutineers with Tahitian wives reached it, and 
remained absolutely unknown to the outside world for twenty years. 
Owing to the resources of the island becoming inadequate for the growing 
population, then numbering nearly two hundred, they were, by agree- 
ment, removed in 1856 to Norfolk Island. Some of these, however, 
returned to Pitcairn Island, in 1859 and 1864, where they and their 
descendants remain, now numbering 140 persons. 

Easter Island. — The remotest islet of Polynesia, far to the east 
of every other group, is Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in about 27 0 S. 
and 109-J 0 W. It lies 2,030 miles west of the coast of Chile, to which 
it belongs. It is of volcanic origin, triangular in form, highest in 
the north, where it reaches 1,970 feet, and contains several distinct 
craters. Cook’s Bay or Hanga river on the west is the principal 
anchorage, and round it the inhabitants chiefly dwell. The vegetation is 
scanty, and there are no trees, though the soil appears to be not infertile. 
The climate is temperate and healthy. The island is remarkable, for in 
spite of its overpowering isolation, it harbours a clue to the migrations 
of an earlier and vanished race of men, whose colossal works are also 
found in the Carolines, 7,500 miles away at the opposite corner of the 
island world. These take the form of sculptures, including numerous 
gigantic stone busts carved out of trachyte, sculptured stones and a 
number of well-preserved stone houses of unguessed antiquity. No 
existing Polynesian race is competent to produce such work. According 
to native tradition, their ancestors came from Rapa, 1,900 miles to the 
west, in two large canoes. Easter Island was discovered by Rogge wein 
on Easter Sunday, 1721 — hence its European name. During the first 
44 


660 The International Geography 

half of the nineteenth century, the population numbered about 3,000 
divided into tribes, and ruled by an elected king. In 1863 a party of 
Peruvians carried off nearly half the population to work the guano in the 
Chincha Islands. There many died, and of those who were sent back the 
few survivors brought with them diseases which have since caused great 
ravages. Hence the population has rapidly decreased and is now small. 
A Tahitian firm has formed a station on the island, and large numbers of 
cattle and sheep are being raised. 


VI.— HAWAII 

Northern Tropical Chain. — Hawaii, formerly called the Sandwich 
Islands, stands on the long narrow rise which runs across the centre of the 
North Pacific Ocean. The actual island chain (Fig. 328) extends for 340 
miles from w T est-north-west to east-south-east between the parallels of 19 0 

and 22 0 N. and the 
meridans of 155 0 and 
160 0 W. North of the 
main group, a slender 
chain of uninhabited 
islets and rocks stretches 
west by north for about 
1,350 miles. 

Character of the 
Land. — The islands 
rise abruptly from deep 
water, for the oceanic 
rise whence they spring 
is an elevation only 
when compared with 
the enormously deep 
abysses surrounding it. The coasts are usually steep and uniform, with 
occasional narrow’ strips of beach, but having few openings where ships 
may find shelter. The whole group is purely volcanic, and contains the 
loftiest summits of any oceanic islands, the cones of Mauna Loa and 
Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, soaring to the majestic height of close on 14,000 
feet. Valleys and deep gorges, eroded by the ample rainfall, intersect the 
slopes, and w 7 ide areas even of the more level ground are covered with the 
lava outpoured in successive eruptions. The subterranean forces are 
extinct in the western section of the islands, but in the eastern they 
are still fiercely active and present the most colossal workings of volcanic 
energy known on the surface of the Earth. Much of the surface 
water sinks through the porous soil, forming springs at lower levels ; 
and small streams vivify the surface in every island. The scenery is 


?Z*N. 

i so* w. ■ : iss’W 

: k .„m 9 M tpe tso 

yo 

c^} AUAl HlUs ' 


w 

: :• .'>;*>:>> 

y. 

ipp 

OAHU 

Molokai • 

MHNBE^D 1 

’.*• **• • •*.* • *. '.*«*• • • *.*.*.*• v*** *•*. *.*• . f ^ . * • *. *.*•*••.*•*. •* 


1 1 ' 

HAWAII. ; W'-B 

Sue* 


Fig. 328 . — The Hawaiian Islands. 


Hawaii 66 1 

varied ; in parts wild, rugged and bare ; elsewhere softened by rich 
forests, the picturesque valleys adorned with a rich variety of ferns ; 
and the low slopes and coast-lands set with groves of coco-nut palms, 
bread-fruit trees, and screw pines. The flora is extensive, and about 
half the species are peculiar to the islands. Amongst characteristic 
trees are the koa, the candle-nut tree, and the ohia (mountain or wild 
apple) ; the latter forms, especially in Maui, large natural orchards, 
yielding refreshing fruit. There are no indigenous mammals larger than 
the rat, unless, indeed, the dog and pig may be so considered, no snakes, 
and few insects ; birds are better represented, and fish abound. Horses, 
cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals have been introduced, and are 
now numerous. 

Climate. — The climate is remarkably moderate ; owing partly to the 
influence of the oceanic currents the temperature is about io° lower 
than that of other countries in the same latitude. The mean tempera- 
ture ranges between 52 0 in winter and 91 0 in summer, the mean for 
the year being about 74 0 F. Only two seasons are recognised, and 
the greatest rainfall takes place in winter. In the higher parts the air is 
bracing. The climate is, on the whole, healthy. Leprosy is, however, 
endemic. 

People, History and Government. — The people are fair for 
Polynesians, well built, good-tempered, and fairly industrious. The race, 
however, appears to be slowly dying out here as in the other Pacific 
islands. Captain Cook visited Hawaii (which he described by the name of 
Owhyhee) in 1778, but there is evidence that the islands were previously 
known to the Spaniards. On Cook’s return to the islands in 1779 he was 
murdered by the natives on account of a misunderstanding. During the 
latter part of the eighteenth century, Kamehameha I. brought all the islands 
under his personal sway. The familiar Polynesian system of Tabu, by 
which persons, places, or things were interdicted or declared sacred, was 
the great lever for the exercise of authority. The son and successor of the 
founder of the monarchy broke the Tabu, disavowed the old idols, and 
encouraged the American missionaries who settled in the islands in 1820. 
In 1840 a constitutional government was established under Kamehameha 
III. and recognised by European Powers. In 1893 a dispute occurred 
between Queen Liliuokalani and her ministers which led to the establish- 
ment of a republic; and in 1898 the islands were annexed by the United 
States as a territory. A telegraph cable unites the islands with America. 

The position of Hawaii “ at the cross-roads of the North Pacific" on 
the line of vessels trading between the ports of western North America, 
on the one side, and those of Japan, China and Australia on the other, 
has greatly promoted its commercial development. Regular lines of 
steamers touch at Honolulu from San Francisco, Vancouver, Yokohama, 
Hongkong, Sydney and Auckland. Good roads have been constructed, 
and more than 100 miles of railway. The soil is in great part fertile, and 


662 The International Geography 

almost all tropical and subtropical products flourish. Agriculture is the 
principal industry. Sugar is the staple product, and accounts for all but 
a small proportion of the exports. Coffee, rice, hides and bananas are 
next in importance. The chief imports are provisions and manufactured 
goods, and practically the whole of the trade is with the United States. 

Honolulu , the capital, is situated on the south coast of Oahu Island, and 
contains an extraordinarily cosmopolitan population. It has several 
handsome public buildings. South-west of the town is the picturesque 
promontory of Diamond Head, and at its base Kapiolani Park. 

Islands. — Hawaii, the largest and most southerly of the group, is 
occupied in the central part by a plateau from which rise the extinct 
volcano of Mauna Kea (13,800 feet), the active crater of Mauna Loa 
(13,650 feet), from the rim of which fields of bare lava slope outwards and 
downwards for about 4,000 feet, and Hualalai (8,300 feet), which was last 
active in 1811. The chief crater is, however, not at the summit, but at 
Kilauea, about eighteen miles distant on the eastern slope, at an altitude of 
about 4,000 feet. This is about nine miles in circumference, the depth 
varying from 700 to 1,100 feet, with the rise and fall of the molten mass. 
The greater part of the surface is covered with lava solidified in rugged 
masses, but openings occur in the crust in which the intensely heated 
liquid lava rises and falls, sometimes thrown high up into the air, where it 
is caught by the wind and drawn out into long threads, like spun glass, 
called by the natives “ Pele’s hair,” from one of their old goddesses. The 
island contains many interesting buildings connected with the ancient 
worship and the former kings. 

Maui is an island formed of two lofty peninsulas connected by a low 
isthmus. In East Maui is the extinct volcano of Mauna Haleakla, 
" Temple,” or “ House of the Sun,” about 10,000 feet high, with the largest 
crater in the world, about twenty miles in circumference. Molokai is a 
small mountainous island ; on its northern coast the leper asylum of 
Hawaii is situated. Oahu, on which the capital stands, is picturesque with 
the fertile plain of Ewa in the centre. Kauai, sometimes called the 
garden island, is the most northerly of the main group, and in parts well 
adapted for agriculture. 


STATISTICS OF HAWAII. 


1884. 1896. 1900. 

Area of Hawaii (square miles) . . . . . . 6,640 . . 6,640 . . 6,640 

Population of Hawaii 80,578 .. 109,020 .. 154,001 

Density of Population, per square mile .. 12 .. 16 .. 24 

Population of Honolulu 20,487 .. 29,920 .. 39 » 3°5 


Population (1900) : Hawaiians, 29,834 ; Japanese, 58,500 ; Chinese, 25,742 ; White, 28,533. 


Imports 

Exports 


ANNUAL TRADE OF HAWAII ( in pounds sterling). 


• • 


1891-95. 

1,156,500 

1,852,400 


663 


Pacific Islands 


THE PRINCIPAL ISLAND GROUPS OF THE PACIFIC. 



Area 

(square miles). 

Approximate 

Population. 

Protectorate. 

I.— MELANESIAN CHAIN : 

New Caledonia and Loyalty Islands 

7,630 

60,000 

French 

New Hebrides 


5 . 3 oo 

75,000 

Brit. & Fr. 

Santa Cruz 


360 

5,000 

Native ' 

Solomon Islands 


12,000 

70,000 

British 

Bougainville Island . . 


5,000 

20,000 

German 

II.— Micronesian Chain : 

Fiji 


7,754 

118,000 

British 

Tonga Islands 


374 

19,250 


Samoa 


1,700 

39,000 

Ger. & U.S. 

Ellice Group 


M 

2,400 

British 

Gilbert Group 


166 

35,200 

99 

Marshall Islands 


158 

15,000 

German 

Caroline Islands 


370 

40,000 

99 

Pelew Islands 


190 

3,000 

99 

Marianne Islands 


420 

10,200 

99 

III — South Tropical Chain : 

Cook Islands . . 


142 

8,400 

British 

Tubuai Islands 


no 

880 

French 

Society Islands 


630 

16,300 

99 

Low Archipelago and Gambier 


390 

5,470 

99 

IV.— Scattered Groups : 

Marquesas Group 


480 

4,450 

99 

Pitcairn Island 


2 

130 

British 

Easter Island 


55 

150 

Chilean 

Juan Fernandez Group 


150 



Phoenix Islands 


16 

60 

British 

Manihiki Group 


12 

1,000 

99 

Tokelau 


12 

520 

99 

Galapagos 


2,950 

200 

Ecuadorian 

V.— North Tropical Chain : 

Hawaii 

• 9 

6,700 

154,000 

United States 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. Agassiz. “The Coral Reefs of the Tropical Pacific.” 4 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1903. 
A. Kramer. “ Die Samoa-Inseln.” Vol. I. Stuttgart, 1902. 

F. H. H. Guillemard. “ Malaysia and Pacific Archipelagoes ” in Stanford's Compendium . 
London, 1894. 

A. G. Findlay. “ Directory for the Navigation of the South Pacific Ocean.” 5th edit 
London. 1884. 

H. B. Guppy. “ The Solomon Islands. ’ 2 vols. London, 1887. 

“ Observations of a Naturalist in the Pacific.” 2 vols. London, 1903, 

1906. 

R. L. Stevenson. “ Letters from the Pacific.” London, 1897. 

“ Handbook to Fiji ” (official). Suva, 1802. 

C. F. Gordon Cumming. “The Kingdom of Hawaii.” 2 vols. London, 1883. 

A. Marcuse. “ Die Hawaiischen Inseln.” Berlin, 1894. 


BOOK IV. : NORTH AMERICA 


CHAPTER XXXVII.— THE CONTINENT OF 

NORTH AMERICA. 

By William Morris Davis, 

Professor of Physical Geography in Harvard University. 

Resemblances between North and South America. — The 

number of continents interrupting the great ocean is so small that it is 
difficult to determine what are essential and what are unessential con- 
tinental features. The overgrowm land area of Eurasia and the small 
continent of Australia are so unlike in structure and form that no just 
comparison can be drawn between them without straining the slight 
resemblance of parts that are imagined to correspond with one another. 
If all the continents were as much alike as North and South America, the 
problem would be much simpler. Here distinct resemblances with an 
assured basis in geological history may be discovered ; and perhaps for 
this reason the repeated features of these two land masses are often taken 
as the essential features of continental form. 

In a very general way, the two Americas each have a greater belt of 
mountainous highlands along their western side ; and two lesser highlands 
on the north-east and south-east. The greater highlands include many 
volcanic cones and lava sheets, and intermont basins ; and the drainage 
of the latter frequently fails to reach the sea. Eruptive and mountain- 
making disturbances have here been in operation in relatively recent 
geological periods. The lesser highlands owe their deformed structures 
to ancient disturbances, although their present altitude above sea-level 
may have been gained by uplift at a comparatively modern date in the 
Earth’s history. North-east of each of the north-eastern highlands lies an 
archipelago ; but the islands of the two archipelagoes are very unlike in 
size and origin. Between the western and eastern highlands lies an 
extensive belt of plains at a moderate altitude above the sea-level, and 
with ill-defined divides between the chief river systems. The Mackenzie 
and Orinoco flow northward, the St. Lawrence and Amazon flow eastward, 
and the Mississippi and La Plata flow southward. 

Contrasts between North and South America. — Although 
differing in a host of minor details, these large resemblances serve to 
establish true continental homologies ; but their value would be lost if 
the comparison were pressed too far. The most important points of con- 

664 


North America 


665 

trast result from the situation of North America chiefly in the north tem- 
perate zone, while South America has its greatest width in the torrid zone. 
The Arctic archipelago includes one of the two great glacial sheets now 
existing ; and its shores are bound by the ice foot every winter. The 
West Indies rise through warm ocean currents into the warm trade winds; 
their largest island bears elevated coral reefs, and living coral reefs border 
many of their shores. The freezing waters of Baffin and Hudson bays 
and the cold Labrador current that they give forth have no likeness in the 
“caldrons” of the Carribean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, or in the warm 
current that flows from them. Under the severe climate of the far north 
the lichens and mosses of the “barren lands” west of Hudson Bay, and 
the coniferous forests of the inhospitable uplands of Labrador have little 
likeness to the grassy llanos of the Orinoco and luxuriant tropical forests 
of Guiana. The direct and indirect results of glaciation, so pronounced in 
North America, include features so important as the Great Lakes of the St. 
Lawrence system, for which the Amazon, under the equatorial rain belt, 
has no parallel. Tropical North America, with mangroves and coral reefs 
along its shores, malaria on its coastal lowlands, and an agreeable climate 
on its plateaux, forms a striking contrast to the narrowing southern ex- 
tremity of South America, whose inclement climate illustrates the real 
character of the misnamed “ south temperate zone.” 

Resemblances between North America and Eurasia. — A com- 
parison may be drawn between North America and Eurasia in which 
climatic as well as structural and topographical features have certain 
striking resemblances ; but here the repetition is like that of the two 
hands, Eurasia being on the right and North America on the left of the 
axis of symmetry. The correspondence extends to so many structural 
features that it has been an embarrassment to the science of geology, by 
giving some basis for the belief that all the world was made on the pattern 
which north-eastern North America so largely duplicates from Europe. 
The Laurentian highlands correspond to Scandinavia and Finland ; com- 
posed of very ancient and greatly denuded rocks, highest and deeply 
fjorded on the Atlantic side, decreasing in altitude inland, and lately (as 
the Earth views time) depressed and submerged in Hudson Bay and the 
Gulf of Bothnia. Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces, with the 
adjacent shallow ocean waters on the fishing grounds of the Banks, may be 
paired with Great Britain and Ireland, and the shallow waters of the con- 
tinental shelf there adjoining. The St. Lawrence system, from its broad 
gulf to the great lakes is represented by a more submerged belt from the 
North Sea through the Baltic to the Gulf of Finland ; while the extensive 

lakes further north in Canada are represented by the larger lakes of north- 

» 

western Russia. The Appalachians, with their basins of deformed coal 
measures stretching from Nova Scotia to Alabama, may be likened to an 
ancient coal-bearing mountain system of similar date, which extends from 
Wales across Belgium and far eastward into Germany. From the 


666 The International Geography 

Laurentian and Scandinavian highlands, extensive ice sheets have spread 
over the adjacent lands in geologically recent times ; advancing chiefly 
south and south-westward in North America, and south and south-eastward 
in Europe ; leaving the land dotted with lakes, and creating new landscapes 
in the heavy drift deposits left on the peripheral areas (Figs. 52 and 329). 
The fertile prairies of the Ohio and upper Mississippi basin and further north 
to Winnipeg, underlain by widespread Palaeozoic formations, correspond 
to the Russian plains of horizontal Palaeozoic strata. The treeless plains 
formed largely by Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments, slowly ascending 
towards the base of the Rocky Mountains, match the Asiatic steppes of 
Tertiary deposits, slowly ascending towards the great mountain chains of 
central Asia. In both these regions of great horizontal extent and small 
vertical relief, the rainfall decreases with distance from the Atlantic, and 
the innermost districts are sub-arid or desert. Not until the massive 
mountain chains of central Asia are reached can we find the homologue of 
the western mountainous highlands of North America. 

East Coast. — The coast lines of North America offer many illus- 
trations of the manner in which relatively slight movements of elevation 
or depression of a continental mass cause important changes in its 
boundary, and introduce peculiar controls over the occupations of 
its inhabitants. From New England north and west nearly to the 
mouth of the Mackenzie river, the land now stands somewhat lower 
than its average position during a considerable part of Tertiary 
time ; hence the coast is generally bold and rocky, many deep bays 
indent the land, outlying islands stand off shore, and the submerged 
lowlands broaden the continental shelf. The Gulf of Maine with its 
branch into the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of St. Lawrence heading in a 
great estuary that leads tide water seven hundred miles inland, Hudson 
Bay and the many channels between the Arctic islands must all be 
regarded as occupying “drowned lowlands.” It is true that in geologically 
recent times a movement of uplift has carried wave-cut cliffs, wave-built 
beaches, and bay-floor sediments above the present sea-level around a 
great part of this continental border, thus partly restoring to the lands 
what they had previously lost ; but as the shore line is still fringed with 
bays, inlets, and fjords, the uplift cannot have been so great as the depres- 
sion that preceded it. The outlying area of Greenland is a great plateau 
of ice and snow, burying a rugged land, whose shore line is fjorded like 
that of its neighbours. 

From New York city southward, the dominating continental movement 
of recent times has been upward ; for the coastal plain of the Atlantic 
States and of the Gulf of Mexico (see Figs. 353 and 360), demonstrates 
elevation as clearly as the bays and fjords further north demonstrate 
depression. Here the coast is low and flat, fringed with sand reefs built 
by wave action on the shallow sea bottom. The elevation is complicated 
with recent depressions of slight amount, by which certain open valleys 


North America 


667 

along the coast from New Jersey to North Carolina have been transformed 
into shallow arms of the sea ; but this depression is evidently of less 
extent than the general uplift that preceded it, for the arms of the sea 
seldom reach to the inner border of the coastal plain. In spite of the 
depression, the continent retains some of the breadth gained by elevation, 
a welcome addition to the land surface in a latitude of mild climate, fully 
compensating for the submergence of certain lowlands further north, 
where the sea water is probably as valuable in providing fishing grounds 
and harbours as the lost lowlands would be for farming under the colder 
air of those higher latitudes. 

West Indies. — Although the West Indies were in an earlier para- 
graph associated with South America, they may here be briefly described 
with the northern continent. They offer three distinct types of land forms. 
The larger islands, trending east and west, are the crest of great ridges 
that divide the adjoining seas into well separated compartments, and these 
ridges are best regarded as the submarine beginnings of an Antillean 
mountain system. Many of the Lesser Antilles, arranged in a curved line 
that recalls the island loops bordering eastern Asia, are of volcanic origin. 
The Bahamas are low islands of organic growth, formed in large part 
of wind-blown coral sand, of flat surface, and now partly submerged by 
recent depression. They have steep submarine slopes to the north-east, 
where the land rapidly descends to great depths beneath the Atlantic. 

West Coast. — The western coast of North America repeats certain 
features of the eastern coast, but with diminished breadth. North of 
latitude 48°, there is the ragged outline that results from recent sub- 
mergence ; but the measure of submergence appears to lessen along the 
western side of Alaska, where the great delta of the Yukon would imply 
that the land has been more stable than further south-east. The Aleutian 
Island chain, chiefly volcanic, is the first of the series of loops fringing 
the eastern border of Asia. For this reason, as well as for certain other 
features of resemblance, the frozen lowlands of north-west Alaska may be 
rather closely associated with those of north-eastern Asia, the two being 
separated only by the narrow and shallow waters of Bering Strait. Along 
the coast of southern Alaska and British Columbia, submergence has led 
the sea far into the valleys of the mountainous highlands. Some of the 
inner longitudinal valleys, beyond the outer ranges, are now under water, 
forming “ canals ” of great value for coastwise navigation ; the enclosing 
range stands forth in a chain of hilly and mountainous islands. The land 
hereabout commonly plunges at so steep an angle into the sea that level 
ground is wanting along the shore, except where rivers have built their 
deltas forward in protected bay heads. 

Further south, the western coast of the United States and of Mexico 
exhibits signs of comparatively recent elevation, of increasing distinctness 
southward. Elevated beaches are described in Washington and California. 
Strips of coastal plains occur along the Mexican coast, but they nowhere 


668 The International Geography 

attain the breadth of those bordering the Atlantic, and moreover, dis- 
orderly movements have disturbed many of the littoral structures of 
California in comparatively recent times ; these movements being associ- 
ated with the modern periods of growth of the western mountain system, 
and having no analogy along the Atlantic coast. Notable among illus- 
trations of these littoral disturbances are the islands that lie off the coast 
of southern California, separated by deep-water channels from the main- 
land, and having the appearance of disordered and dissected blocks of the 
Earth’s crust, here rising above the level of the sea. Appropriate to a 
region of recent disturbance, the continental shelf is of very moderate 
development, averaging not more than ten miles in breadth along the 
coast of California: It is trenched at numerous points by “ submerged 

valleys,” which are taken to indicate that for a relatively brief period the 
continental border stood higher than at present, but the submergence by 
which the present relative attitude of land and sea were gained did not 
suffice to produce a coast of very irregular outline, and this downward 
movement may be regarded as only an episode in a more general move- 
ment of irregular elevation. 

On the coast thus fashioned, the attack of the sea has cut cliffs on the 
headlands, and has formed concave shores of sweeping curvature in the 
re-entrants ; well protected harbours are therefore relatively rare. The chief 
re-entrant of the southern coast is the Gulf of California ; this seems to be 
a trough of local depression, while the enclosing peninsula of Lower 
California is a mountain range of local and irregular elevation. The 
Valley of California between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range is 
another trough of local depression ; but here the trough is filled with land 
waste washed from the adjoining mountains, and forming a fluviatile plain. 
The sea enters a short distance inland from San Francisco, here making 
the only strong re-entrant for a long distance along the Pacific border ; it 
has naturally become the site of the metropolis of western North America. 

Laurentian Highlands. — The chief subdivisions of North America 
may now be reviewed in a general way. The Laurentian Highlands, with 
outliers in the Adirondack Mountains of New York and in the rugged 
uplands of northern Wisconsin and north-eastern Minnesota, consist of very 
ancient rocks. Their coarsely crystalline texture shows that the rocks now 
visible once lay far under ground ; for only deep within the crust can such 
rock texture be produced. Their greatly deformed structure indicates 
that the rock masses which formerly rose above the present surface once 
possessed a vigorous mountain form ; for mountains are the only form 
appropriate to such structures at the period of their deformation. The 
comparatively even surface of the highlands of to-day must therefore be 
regarded as the denuded platform of an ancient mountain system ; for only 
by great denudation can the former mountain cover of the existing textures 
and structures have been removed. But all this must have happened in the 
dawn of geological time, for the ancient mountains were worn low early 


North America 


669 

enough for some of the oldest fossiliferous strata to be laid upon their flanks 
when their borders were submerged beneath an ancient sea. The Laurentian 
Highlands may therefore be viewed as part of a very ancient land ; one of 
the earliest and most extensive lands of the globe. 

Since the time when all this happened the geological history of the 
region has been uneventful. It has probably suffered repeated move- 
ments of elevation and depression, with corresponding alternations of denu- 
dation and deposition ; but as all the flanking Palaeozoic strata are still 
essentially horizontal, no disorderly crushing and no great uplifts and disloca- 
tions can have taken place since their deposition. During certain periods 
of moderate elevation, valleys were eroded in the borders of the highlands ; 
and these, now partly drowned, determine the bays and fjords of the coast. 

Glacial Action. — Most notable of all events since the great denudation 
of early time is the glaciation of the Laurentian region in a very modern stage 
of the Earth’s history ; a time 
when these highlands resem- 
bled the Greenland of to-day. 

The ice sheets crept far south 
and west overland, and the 
results of their invasions on 
the bordering regions are of 
great geographical import- 
ance. The highlands them- 
selves, scoured under the ice 
sheets, present a succession of 
rocky mounds and irregular 
hollows, drained by disorderly 
and undeveloped streams. 

Here we find ragged lakes, 
often having more than one 
outlet ; forested swamps and 
grassy marshes traversed by sluggish streams ; split rivers including large 
“ islands ” tens of miles in length, between the divided channels ; stretches 
of smooth streams in open valleys alternating with falls and rapids in rocky 
gorges. This great region, barren in the north-west, forested in the south- 
east, is an irredeemable wilderness. 

A short distance outside the highland border, where the Palaeozoic 
strata lie upon the floor of the older rocks, broad plains alternate with large 
lakes that occupy depressions in the weaker layers ; ten or more important 
water bodies lie in a curve from Lake Ontario to Great Bear Lake. The 
history of these lakes has gained an almost dramatic interest in recent years, 
for it has been shown that they are the residuals of much greater lakes that 
for a time occupied the lacustrine belt when the present outlets were closed 
by the retreating ice sheet of the last glacial invasion. The expanded 
waters of the glacial-marginal lakes carried silt from the melting ice, and 



670 The International Geography 

the lake floors now laid bare form smooth prairies of fine deep soil, yielding 
great crops of wheat if not too far north. Their fertility coupled with 
modern means of transportation have seriously affected the commerce in 
the food supply of the world. The lakes still remaining afford a marvellous 
system of inland waterways. 

South and west of the lake belt, glacial action has been on the whole 
constructive, instead of destructive. For tens of miles together, not a ledge 
of rock is to be seen ; the surface is heavily sheeted with glacial drift, the 
greater part of which has a fine and fertile soil. Although commonly 
treated as if pertinent to geology, it cannot be questioned by those who 
know the appearance of this vast drift-covered prairie region that glacial 
action has many geographical consequences. 

Appalachians. — The Appalachian highland, extending from New- 
foundland to Alabama (and probably reappearing west of the Mississippi in 

Arkansas and Indian Territory) is 
one of those old mountain ranges, 
made in the earlier and middle 
ages of the Earth’s history ; so long 
ago that the original mountains 
have been for the most part worn 
down to lowlands ; their present 
moderate height is due to the local 
success of the most enduring rocks 
in resisting complete denudation, 
or to a relatively modern uplift of 
the region to upland height ; or to 
both causes combined. Being so 
old, the Appalachians have none 
of the bold and irregular forms of 
younger and more vigorous moun- 
tains, where lofty peaks rise be- 
tween deep passes. Ridges with 
even crest lines and broad uplands separated by open and populous 
valleys are the prevailing forms. Only the culminating parts of the 
system, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Black Moun- 
tains of North Carolina, retain distinctly conical or peak-like forms, and 
even here, forests clothe most of the mountain slopes, only occasional 
summits rise above the tree line, and bare, angular crags are seldom seen. 
The middle part of the system, known as the Allegheny Mountains in 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, is of moderate elevation, and is intersected by 
many and broad valleys. Immigration into the Ohio valley was here less 
obstructed by the mountain ridges than by the Allegheny plateau which 
lies west of them. 

Trends in a north-east and south-west direction predominate in the 
Appalachians, as may be seen in the land arms and fjords of Newfound- 



FlG. 330 . — Configuration of North America. 


North America 


67 1 

land and Nova Scotia, as well as in the ridges and the valleys of the 
Alleghenies in Pennsylvania and Virginia. The boundaries of the system 
are of interest in connection with its physical history. From New York 
to Newfoundland the Appalachian belt of New England and the Provinces 
dips under the sea on the east and north-east ; its structures do not end, they 
simply descend beneath the sea and are lost to sight on account of a recent 
continental depression. As the uplands slant down to lowlands near 
the coast they are occupied by a large population, especially in the 
harbour cities where manufacturing and commerce are active. Further 
inland the population is almost limited to the open valleys. From New 
York to Alabama, the Appalachian structures decrease in height to the 
south-east and south, and disappear under the coastal plain of the Atlantic 
and Gulf States ; the inner margin of the plain roughly marks the shore 
line of an earlier period of continental depression. Here a rural popula- 
tion occupies the broader valleys and the lower uplands ; the chief cities 
being associated with the inner border of the coastal plain, where rapids 
in the outflowing rivers afford water power ; and again with the outer 
border of the plain where the bays and the estuaries give harbourage to 
seagoing vessels. Only on the north-west is a true termination of the 
mountain system discovered. Here the deformations that give so distinct 
a trend to the upland ridges and valleys of the Appalachians die out. The 
Laurentian uplands and the Adirondacks, consisting of ancient rocks long 
undisturbed, adjoin the Appalachians of the Provinces and of New 
England ; the Allegheny plateau, of nearly horizontal sedimentary strata, 
adjoins the Appalachians of the middle and southern States. 

The Allegheny plateau is known as the Catskill Mountains in New 
York, and the Cumberland tableland in Tennessee and Alabama. Between 
these two extremes much of its hilly surface is known as the Allegheny 
Mountains, although this term should properly be restricted to the long, 
even-crested ridges that lie next to the south-east from Pennsylvania to 
Tennessee. Taking the plateau altogether, it descends by a strong escarp- 
ment into the valleys of the Alleghenies on the south-east, while it 
gradually decreases in altitude towards the prairies of the middle Ohio 
and Mississippi on the west. Throughout this plateau, as well as among 
the Pennsylvania ridges on the east and under certain of the prairies 
further west, lie the great stores of coal on which the industrial prosperity 
of the eastern United States largely depends. 

Rocky Mountain System. — The western highlands of North America, 
or the Rocky Mountain system in general, is widest in latitude 40° ; and 
thence narrows to its end in the Alaskan range about latitude 63°, and to 
its termination near the great Mexican volcanoes in latitude 18 0 . Its eastern 
boundary is generally well defined by a sudden descent to the Great Plains. 
Its western border touches the sea for nearly all its length. Within its 
area there is a great variety of structure and form. The Selkirk Range, 
crossed by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the broad St. Elias Alps in 


672 The International Geography 

Alaska, are truly Alpine in form, with great snow-fields and long glaciers. 
The Cascade Range in Washington and Oregon and the southern ranges of 
Mexico are crowned with great volcanic cones. Extensive plateaux of 
horizontal structure are found in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, bearing 
dissected volcanic cones and lava flows on the uplands, and trenched by 
deep canyons, of which that of the Colorado is the most famous. Vast 
lava plateaux occupy intermont basins in Idaho and Washington, where 
they are cut down in the canyons of the Columbia and Snake rivers ; that 
of the Snake being less known but hardly less marvellous than that of the 
Colorado. Many ranges of moderate dimensions inclose intermont 
depressions that are now occupied by aggraded or waste-filled plains; the 
plateau of Mexico being only an extensive development of these basins 
between the eastern and western ranges of the Sierra Madre. 

As is the rule among mountains, the individual ridges generally result 
from the erosion of valleys in broadly uplifted ranges, rather than from 
direct and local uplift. Many of the separate ridges of the Rocky Moun- 
tain ranges in Canada and Montana are thus produced ; the view from 
their summits disclosing a “ sea of mountains,” ridge following ridge to the 
horizon, like waves on the ocean. The peaks frequently attain, but seldom 
exceed, a height of 12,000 or 14,000 feet. Greater elevations are found 
in the far north-west where Mounts St. Elias and Logan exceed 
18,000 feet on either side of the Alaskan boundary, and in the far south, 
where the Mexican volcanoes rise above the snow line to similar but 
slightly less altitudes. 

In certain parts of the western highlands, dislocation is more 
directly responsible for the existing relief of the land ; and this as 
well as the great general altitude of the region places it in strong 
contrast with the lesser eastern highlands. Certain of the mountain ridges 
and ranges are the immediate result of the uplift of the crust-blocks whose 
initial form has not yet been wholly effaced by the carving of valleys on their 
flanks. The Sierra Nevada is, in a large way, a great tilted block, or series 
of blocks, the eastern face being short and steep, the western slope being 
long and relatively gentle ; both faces are now scored by deep valleys 
through which the mountain waste is carried out to form the adjacent 
plains. The lofty plateaux of Arizona are bounded by great cliffs, the 
edges of the huge plateau-blocks, that have been uplifted to altitudes 
differing by a thousand feet or more, and now made rugged by 
gnawing streams. Further east, basins among the mountains of Colorado, 
Wyoming and Montana, are the obverse of the ranges that have been 
uplifted around them, the basins being heavily aggraded with the 
mountain waste. It is believed that lakes occupied some of these basins 
for a time, but that stage is now past ; the outflowing rivers have 
cut down the enclosing ranges in deep gorges, still so narrow as to be 
impassable except to carefully constructed railroads. It is in the basins 
that most of the population gathers in the mountain region. 


North America 


6 7 3 

South of latitude i8°, the mountains of Central America are largely 
volcanic, with little relation to the features of the Rocky Mountain system. 
Where ridges appear, they generally have east and west trends, and thus 
seem to be associated with the Antillean Mountain system, of which the 
greater part is submerged in the Caribbean Sea and made known only by 
soundings as submarine ridges. 

The Great Plains.— -The Great Plains slope eastward from the base 
of the Rocky Mountains. They are broadest between latitudes 35 0 and 55 0 . 
Further north, they are narrowed by the convergence of the lacustrine 
belt on the east and the mountains on the west ; further south, they merge 
into the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico ; beyond southern Texas their 
width is measured only in tens of miles. Over their widest expanse they 
present a vast surface of moderate yet varied relief. They are frequently 
interrupted by embossed mesas and escarpments, or by incised valleys ; 
yet the name of “ plains” is well applied, for the view from every little 
eminence is almost as boundless as upon the sea. On the east, the plains 
merge into the prairies ; on the west they are interrupted by foot-hills and 
outlying ridges near the base of the mountains. A mountain group in 
Dakota known as the Black Hills, named from the dark forests that 
crown it, diversifies the treeless plains and introduces mining and 
lumbering in the midst of open cattle ranges. The Ouachita ridges extend- 
ing westward from Arkansas, break in upon the plains about latitude 35 0 ) 
further south they are known in Texas as the “ Llano estacado with bold 
and ragged escarpments on nearly all sides. 

Like the vast plains of eastern Europe and western Asia, the Great 
Plains of North America stretch over so great a distance on theEarth ’s 
convex surface that they are more varied in climate than in form. Far 
north, they are frozen and barren. Between latitudes 5°° an d 6o°, they 
are forested, the temperature here not being low enough to prevent tree 
growth and not high enough to cause active evaporation and leave the 
surface arid. From 55 0 southward into Mexico, the plains are treeless for 
the most part, this being a direct result of their dryness, which in turn is 
due almost as largely to their summer warmth as to their light rainfall. 
In Mexico and Yucatan, where the rainfall increases under the trade winds, 
the lowlands have a tropical flora of increasing richness southward ; in 
contrast to the mild climate of the plateaux, the narrow coastal plains are 

here known as the “ tierra caliente.” 

Climate.— The varied climates of North America afford many com- 
binations of the geometrical zones of temperature, wind, and rainfall, 
appropriate to the globular form of the Earth, with the irregular or 
arbitrary arrangement of these climatic factors caused by the non- 

geometrical outline and relief of the lands. 

Zonal arrangement is seen in the decrease of temperature and rainfall 
from almost equatorial conditions at the Isthmus of Panama, to almost polar 
conditions bordering the Arctic Sea. It is displayed with equal distinctness 


674 The International Geography 

in the easterly winds of the torrid belt that cover the peninsular and 
insular lands on the south, and in the stormy westerly winds that prevail 
over a broad belt of middle and higher latitudes. The irregular distribu- 
tion of the climatic factors is seen in the far northward summer migration 

of the heat equator to the 
deserts of Arizona and western 
Mexico as compared with the 
moderate migration on the 
oceans, and in the great annual 
temperature range with ex- 
treme winter cold on the 
central plains of Canada, in 
contrast to the moderate 
ranges prevailing over the 
oceans in similar latitudes. 
It is found again in the plen- 
tiful rainfall of the western 
mountain slopes in temperate latitudes, while the intermont basins and the 
eastern slopes are dry, and in the abundant rainfall of the eastern slopes in 
the trade wind belt, where the western slopes are relatively arid. Nothing 
can be more striking than the contrast between the moderate change of 
seasons along the Pacific coast from Alaska to California, and the violent 
changes from winter to summer in the interior and along the middle 
Atlantic border. These unlike conditions are dependent partly on the 
arrangement of ocean currents as guided by continental barriers, and 
partly on the distribution of temperatures by the prevailing winds. The 
British Islands have, under the benign influence of the North Atlantic drift, 
the most abnormally mild climate for their latitude in the world ; Labrador 
in the same latitude has one 
of the most severe of climates. 

It is a frozen and snow- 
covered wilderness in winter ; 
it might have a comparatively 
high mean temperature in 
summer, but for the chill that 
is received when the wind 
blows inland from the cold ice- 
laden current along its coast. 

Following upon these great 
interior changes of tempera- 
ture, the prevailing winds ex- 
hibit something of a monsoon 
effect in certain regions. They frequently blow from the Gulf of Mexico up 
the Mississippi valley in summer, and down the valley to the Gulf in winter. 
Some indications of inflow and outflow may also be perceived in summer 




FlG. 331 . — North America. Isotherms for January. 

(After Buchan.) 


North America 


b 75 

and winter along the Arctic coast. There is furthermore a breaking of the 
wind belts merely from the occurrence of transverse land barriers. It is 
chiefly on account of the obstacle formed by 
the western highlands that a branch of the 
prevailing westerly winds turns towards 
the trades off the Pacific coast, especially in 
winter when the low continental tempera- 
ture discourages the entrance of winds 
from the ocean. Similarly, the trades give 
forth branches to the westerly winds east 
of the Mexican highlands, especially in 
summer when the high continental tempera- 
ture persuades the winds to blow inland. 

The ovals of high and low pressure, 
known as cyclonic and anticyclonic areas, 
which so markedly characterise the westerly 
winds of temperate latitudes, are not only well developed as they drift across 
North America, but they have been abundantly charted in the great series of 
official weather maps for the United States and a bordering belt of Canada. 
While the anticyclones are generally associated with fair weather, the 
cyclonic areas provide most of the heavy clouds and rainfall on their path. 
During the passage of these atmospheric disturbances across the interior 
plains, they determine the strong changes of weather for which the region 

is noted ; the vast extent of comparatively 
low open country permitting a free im- 
portation of air currents from frigid and 
torrid latitudes on either hand. 

Rainfall and Vegetation. — While 
the extremes of temperature are the con- 
trolling climatic factors in determining the 
vegetable products and human industries 
between the far north and south, variation 
of rainfall exercises the most important 
climatic control across the great breadth 
of the continent in middle latitudes. A 
vast extent of country in the interior, shut 
off by the mountains from the moist winds 
of the Pacific, is too dry for ordinary 
processes of agriculture, unless resort is 
had to irrigation. Where most arid, the 

Fig 334 . — Temperature and Rainfall surface is a desert, although seldom so 
Cutves for Winnipeg and New absolutely barren as the driest deserts of 
Orleans. the Old World. Where a light rainfall 

is received, a thin growth of grass that once supported vast herds of 
bisons now gives scanty pasture to ranging cattle. Trees are wanting 




Fig. 333 . — Temperature and Rainfall 
Curves for San Francisco and New 
York . 


676 The International Geography 

over a great space of broad plains and intermont basins west of the 
100th meridian ; but the mountain slopes are forested, especially as 
the Pacific is neared, the western descent of the Cascade Range being 

densely occupied by trees of 
great size. East of the 90th 
meridian, excepting for the 
prairies of the Mississippi 
and Winnipeg region, and 
the barren grounds of the 
far north, forests originally 
covered the entire country, 
for here the beneficent sub- 
mergence under the Caribbean 
and Mexican Mediterraneans 
of what would otherwise be 
an American Sahara permits 
a plentiful rainfall over the 
eastern part of the continent. When first explored, great tracts of forest 
were found to have been devastated by fire. Although the forests have 
now been extensively cut for timber and cleared for farming, the living 
trees at present are believed to be not greatly decreased below the number 
that were growing at the time of first settlement. 

Aboriginal People. — Four hundred years ago, North America was 
for the most part thinly populated by savage or barbarous peoples. In 
Mexico and Central America the inhabitants had developed an elaborate 
stone architecture, shown now in the temples whose ruins are often con- 
cealed under heavy forest growth. Further north, numerous earthworks 
and fortifications mark the sites of pre-Columbian settlements, as in the 
Ohio basin ; these are by some attributed to an extinct people ; by others, 
to the immediate ancestors of the wandering warlike tribes, to whom 
a memorial of Columbus’s faulty reckoning of longitude still clings in 
the name of “ Indians.” The early Americans had learned to do simple 
weaving, to make rough pottery, to carve shells, to hammer the native 
copper of Lake Superior, and to chip flints and polish stone imple 
ments in the neolithic fashion. They seem to have had no horses when 
first discovered, but the tribes of the open prairies and plains became 
expert horsemen in later times. In the western desert interior there 
are “ pueblos,” or villages, built for protection on isolated mesas, still occu- 
pied, and probably to be associated with the abandoned cliff dwellings 
of the neighbouring canyon walls. On the north-west coast there are 
tribes remarkable for their fantastic wood carvings. In the far north the 
Eskimos are made torpid, as far as development goes, by the extreme 
rigour of their surroundings. Striking differences of language prevailed 
among many of the tribes, especially those on the Pacific slope. 

History. — The early discovery of North America by the way of 



Fig. 335 . — The Mean Annual Rainfall of North 
America. {After Supan.) 


North America 


77 


Iceland seems to be authenticated in the “ Sagas,” but no traces of previous 
settlements were found by later comers. The Columbian discovery sooner 
or later led the Spaniards to found colonies from Florida southward, the 
French from Louisiana and Acadia (now Nova Scotia) northward, and the 
British along the middle Atlantic coast. Conquest, treaty and purchase 
have now placed the Anglo-Saxon element in possession of the continent 
from Mexico northward. The defeat of the French at Quebec in 1759 
brought to the British crown all the St. Lawrence region except some small 
“enclaves” on or near Newfoundland. The last quarter of the eighteenth 
century witnessed the stormy separation of the Atlantic colonies from the 
United Kingdom, and their union in the first of the great modern republics 
— the United States. Purchase in 1803, when the Emperor Napoleon was 
in need of money, brought Louisiana (the western basin of the Mississippi) 
to the United States, and 
in 1867 added the pre- 
viously Russian territory 
of Alaska to the Republic. 

Mexico and the other 
Central American States 
secured their indepen- 
dence from Spain in 
the first quarter of the 
nineteenth century, and 
adopted republican forms 
of government (Fig. 350). 

The attempt to bring 
Mexico again under Euro- 
pean control, at a time 
when the United States 
was distracted by civil 
war, fortunately met early failure. In the meantime, fed by a great number 
of European colonists, the several northern British colonies (except New- 
foundland) have united in the Dominion of Canada, which now stretches 
from the Atlantic and Pacific to the Arctic ; the territory of the United States 
has been extended west to the Pacific, partly by exploration, partly at the 
expense of Mexico ; and, as a result of the war of 1898, Cuba has been 
separated from Spain, and Porto Rico fallen to the share of the United 
States as one of the first non-Continental possessions which the future 
seems to have in store for it. 

The rapidity with which the northern New World has been turned to 
the uses of civilisation is an appropriate consequence of the century of 
steam, electricity, and the wholesale production of steel. Railways and 
telegraphs now unite the Pacific and Atlantic slopes of North America, 
and serve as political as well as commercial bonds between the east and 
west. Steamships and cables bring Europe and North America into the 



Fig. 336 . — Chief Railways of North America. 



The International Geography 


closest relations as to people and commerce. Even so small a matter as 
getting the time by one’s watch is now done in concert, not with the 
people of North America alone, but with those of western Europe as 
well, for the greater part of the northern New World is divided into 
“ time belts,” whose noon hour falls four, five, six, seven or eight hours 
earlier than noon at Greenwich. Isolated villages in the backwoods may 
still hold to the old-fashioned habit of keeping local time, but the larger 
communities which use the railways as the basis of nearly all activities, 
adopt Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific time, according to 
their position. 

STATISTICS. 

THE COUNTRIES OF NORTH AMERICA. 

Area in square miles. 

United States of America (including Alaska) .. 3,501,000 

Dominion of Canada 3,300,000 

Mexico .. 767,000 

Newfoundland (and Labrador) 161,000 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

N. S. Shaler. “Nature and Man in America.” New York and London, 1892. 

E. J. Payne. “ History of the New World called America.” Oxford. 2 vols. 1892, 1899. 

E. Deckert. “ Nordamerika ” (ed. by Sievers). 2nd ed. Leipzig and Vienna, 1904. 

H. H. Bancroft. Historical Works. 39 vols. San Francisco, 1883-90. 

F. Parkman. Historical Works. 12 vols. New York and London. 

I. C. Russell. “ Lakes of North America.” Boston and London, 1900. 

“Glaciers of North America.” Boston and London, 1901. 

P. Fountain. “ The Great Deserts and Forests of North America.” London, 1901. 


Population. 

75.560.000 

5.370.000 
13,500,000 

217,000 


CHAPTER XXXVIII.- COLONIAL NORTH 

AMERICA 


I.— THE DOMINION OF CANADA 

By J. B. Tyrrell, M.A., B.Sc., 

Formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada. 

Position and Boundaries. — British North America, including under 
this name Canada and Newfoundland, occupies the whole of the northern 
part of the continent of North America, except Alaska, which belongs to 
the United States. It lies between longitudes 53 0 and 141 0 W., and touches 
the 42nd parallel on the south. The total area is rather over three and 
a half million square miles, or slightly larger than the United States, including 
Alaska, and somewhat smaller than the whole of Europe. Its greatest 

length, on a line drawn from Cape Race, in Newfoundland, to Mount St. 

✓ 

Elias, on the boundary of Alaska, is 3,400 miles. 

Its only land boundary is with the United States, being separated from 
the territory of Alaska by the meridian of 141 0 W., and an undemarcated 
line parallel to the Pacific coast. The southern frontier, 3,260 miles in 
length, passes through the straits of Juan de Fuca and Haro on the west, 
along the parallel of 49 0 N. to the Lake of the Woods, east of which it 
takes a very irregular course, passes through the middle of Lakes Superior, 
Huron, Erie, and Ontario, then follows the highlands north of the State 
of Maine, and finally turns southward to the mouth of the St. Croix river 
on the Bay of Fundy. 

Coasts. — The eastern continental shore extends from the mouth of 
the St. Croix river in a very sinuous course northwards to Cape Chidley. 
The Gulf of St. Lawrence, which is its most conspicuous and important 
hydrographic feature, is a pear-shaped sea 500 miles long, cut off from 
the main Atlantic by the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Breton, 
and receiving on the west the great river St. Lawrence. The islands 
of Prince Edward and Anticosti lie within it. The northern coast of 
the mainland extends from Cape Chidley to Demarcation Point, on the 
border of Alaska, north of which is the immense Arctic archipelago, 
the islands for the most part being separated by rather shallow water. 
Hudson Bay, which is a great indentation on this northern coast, is one 
of the most important physical features of the Dominion of Canada, 
extending, as it does, southward until it reaches to within 300 miles of the 

679 


68o The International Geography 

north shore of Lake Superior. It thus divides the land-mass of Canada 
into two great parts, the smaller lying east and south-east, and the larger 
west of its shores. It is an inland sea, 1,300 miles in its greatest length, 
and 600 miles in maximum breadth, with an average depth in the 
centre of 60 fathoms. Its water, except in James’ Bay, is clear and 
salt like the Atlantic, with which it is connected by Hudson Strait. The 
Pacific Coast-line, beginning at the Strait of Juan de Fuca, runs north- 
westward to the southern extremity of Alaska, a distance of 530 miles. It 
has an extremely irregular outline, on account of the many fjords and 
off-lying islands. 

Configuration and Geology. — The land-surface of Canada, and 



FIG. 337 . — The Geological Structure of Canada. 


in fact of the whole of the North American continent, has been built up 
around a great V-shaped area of Archaean rocks, which extends from the 
northern and eastern shore of Labrador round the north of the Great 
Lakes, and thence north-westward to the Arctic Sea. In the centre of this 
V lies Hudson Bay, while around it are the fertile plains of eastern and 
western Canada. This area, which has been called the Laurentian 
plateau, has a gently undulating rocky surface, in which the existing 
streams have nowhere cut deep valleys. In the depressions are some 
considerable areas of fertile land, but as a rule the region cannot support 
a large agricultural population. The eastern and western borders of the 


Dominion of Canada 


681 


continent rise in two main systems of mountain chains, known respectively 
as the Appalachian and Cordilleran systems, the former dying out in eastern 
Canada and Newfoundland, while the latter, which forms the backbone 
of the continent, runs to its highest summits in north-western Yukon, 
where Mount St. Elias has an altitude of 18,010 feet, and Mount Logan a 
reputed altitude of 19,500 feet. Between the Laurentian plateau and the 
Appalachian Mountains lies the fertile plain of the Great Lakes and the 
St. Lawrence valley, which as yet contains the larger portion of the 
population of Canada, while between the Laurentian plateau and the 
Cordilleran chain lie the vast plains and prairies of western Canada. The 
country has been divided by the late Dr. G. M. Dawson into : — (1) Eastern 
lowlands and hills , almost entirely based on old and hard Palaeozoic rocks. 

(2) The Laurentian plateau. (3) The inland plains , principally based on the 
comparatively soft rocks of Mesozoic age, which still lie nearly as flat as 
when they were originally deposited. (4) The Cordilleran or western 
mountain region. 

Hydrography. — The mainland of Canada may be divided into four 
hydrographic basins. 

(1) In the Atlantic basin the principal stream is the St. Lawrence, 
which rises far in the interior of the continent, and after a course of 
2,100 miles, in which it chains the most magnificent series of fresh- 
water lakes in the world, empties by a wide and deep estuary into the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its basin has an area of half a million square miles. 
From Lake Erie, the Niagara river is broken by the Niagara Falls, 
where the whole drainage of the four upper lakes plunges 167 feet over a 
rocky ledge. 

(2) The drainage basin of Hudson Bay is the largest in the Dominion, 
and into it converge streams flowing from the east, south, and west. Of 
these the Saskatchewan- Nelson is the most important for length, drainage- 
area, and the fertility of the land it drains. 

(3) The principal stream in the Arctic drainage-area is the Mackenzie 
river, whose sources are mainly in the Rocky Mountains. The Finlay 
and Peace form the longest of the tributaries, though the Athabasca, rising 
farther south, is usually regarded as the main upper branch of the river. 
Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes — three of the largest of the 
many great bodies of water which lie along the edge of the Laurentian 
plateau — are tributary to the Mackenzie. 

(4) The Pacific area is in part drained by rapid streams which flow 
more or less directly into the ocean, among which the Fraser is the 
most important ; and in part by the Yukon which rises behind the Coast 
Range and flows more or less parallel with that range, northward through 
the Yukon district, and westward through Alaska, 644 miles being in 
Canada. 

Climate. — In so extensive a region the climate necessarily exhibits 
great diversities, but for the most part it may be said to be continental. 


682 The International Geography 


Dr. G. M. Dawson divides the whole country into three climatic areas. 

(i) The Eastern region characterised by great range of temperature and 

ample rainfall. This includes all the older 

provinces of Canada, with Newfoundland, 

and extends westward nearly to Winnipeg. 

It is naturally the great forest region. 

(2) The Inland region, adjoining the last 

and stretching westward to within a short 

distance of the Pacific Coast. This is 

characterised by very great range in 

temperature and moderate rainfall. It 

includes the great prairies and open 

plains, but is also in large part more 

or less wooded. (3) The Pacific Coast 

region, which does not include the 

whole Pacific slope, but only a narrow 

belt on the seaward side of the western 

Fig. 338 . — Temperature and Rainfall mountain range of the Cordillera. The 
of New Westminster and Montreal. .... • ,, r 

climate is oceanic, with small range of 

temperature, and great rainfall and humidity. 

The following table of mean temperature illustrates these climates : — 



Eastern. — Charlottetown, P. E. I. 
„ St. John, N.B. 

„ Halifax, N.S. 

„ Montreal, Que. 

„ Toronto, Ont. 

Inland. — Winnipeg, Man. 
Pacific. — Victoria, B.C. 


Summer. 

(July, August, 
September.) 
61-9 
585 
61 6 
648 
64*1 
597 
57'0 


Winter. 
(January, Feb- 
ruary, March.) 
198 
223 
247 

171 

246 

i*5 

410 


Range between 
Mean Summer 
and Winter. 
42-1 
36-2 
36-9 
477 
395 
58-2 
160 


Forests. — Speaking generally, British North America is a region of 
forest, and east of Winnipeg almost all of the land which is now under 
cultivation has been cleared of the heavy growth of timber which once 
covered it. Extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and with a width 
of from 200 to 300 miles, is the vast sub-Arctic forest which is composed 
largely of black and white spruce ( Abies nigra and A. alba) and larch 
( Larix Americana). These trees have essentially the same northern limit, 
the black spruce dwindling to a shrub before it disappears, while the 
others retain throughout their tree-like character. The northern limit of 
the forest, and the southern edge of the “ Barren Lands ” is not determined 
by winter cold, or mean annual temperature, but is controlled entirely by 
the length and warmth of the summer ; the northern limit of the forest 
closely follows the line of a mean summer temperature of 50° F. 

In eastern Canada this sub- Arctic forest merges on the south into a forest 
of deciduous trees, characterised by the great number and variety of its 
species, there being sixty-five species in Ontario alone. In western Canada 
the trees of the more southern forest continue chiefly coniferous in type, 


Dominion of Canada 


683 

but on account of the moistness of the climate many attain to gigantic size. 
In central Canada the coniferous forest is skirted by a belt fifty to a 
hundred miles wide of intermittent forest of aspen (Populus tremuloides), 
south of which are the open grassy plains, where the climate is too dry for 
the growth of continuous woods. 

Fauna. — One of the most interesting animals to be found on the con- 
tinent is the musk-ox ( Ovibos moschcitiis ), which lives, even in winter, on 
the Barren Lands and on the Arctic islands. Barren-ground caribou 
(. Rangifer grcenlandicus) roam in great herds over the same plains in 
summer, but in winter most of them go south within the edge of the 
forest. The five remaining species of deer, including the moose ( Alces 
Americanus ), and the waskasew , or American elk ( Cervus Canadensis) inhabit 
different parts of the woodland area to the south. Bison ( Bos Americanus) 
formerly ranged in countless herds over the plains and prairies east of the 
Rocky Mountains, but in the wild state they are now practically extinct. 
Prong-horned antelope are still fairly numerous on the plains, and moun- 
tain sheep and mountain goats are to be found in most of the more 
inaccessible parts of the Cordilleras. The sub-Arctic forest is the home of 
the most important fur-bearing animals, including the beaver, bear (brown 
and black), marten, musk rat, otter, fisher, fox (black, red, and white), mink, 
lynx, skunk, and wolverine. Most of the birds are migratory, breeding 
during the summer in the north, and going south as the winter sets in. 
Perhaps the most interesting bird is the Canada jay, or whiskey-jack 
(Perisorens Canadensis), which lives throughout the year in the sub-Arctic 
forest, and nests and hatches its young in February and March, during 
the severe cold of the winter season. The coastal waters, rivers and lakes 
abound in fish, among which the most important are the cod, salmon, 
herring and whitehsh. 

People. — When the country was discovered by 
occupied by a scattered native population, who were 
then called Indians. Their descendants are still 
scattered throughout the whole Dominion, those in the 
more thickly inhabited districts having adopted the 
habits and modes of life of the white people in the 
vicinity, while those in the more remote regions still 
live by hunting and fishing. The Indians now number 
about 100,000, or about one-fiftieth of the population. 

They are divided into a large number of tribes, 
which belong to about ten or eleven distinct linguistic 
stocks. Of these the Algonkian is much the largest 
and most important, for its people occupy the greater part of the sub- 
Arctic forest from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and they are, 
par excellence, the fur hunters of Canada. They travel chiefly on the lakes 
and streams, the birch-bark canoe being their peculiar boat, and the birch- 

bark tent, or wigwam, their home. The Crees, Ojibways, and Blackfoot 
45 


Europeans, it was 


9 1 


Fig. 339. — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of the Dominion 
of Canada. 


684 The International Geography 

belong to this stock. North of them, to the edge of the Barren Lands 
between Hudson Bay and the Pacific, are the tribes of the Tinne stock, who 
are for the most part deer hunters. Further north the Eskimo, or Innuits 
(Inwl), inhabit the whole northern coast from the Strait of Belle Isle to 
Alaska, including parts of the shores of Hudson Bay. They are strong 
and well-built, good hunters, endowed with remarkable perseverance, and 
capable of enduring great fatigue. They live chiefly on marine animals, 
which they kill with a spear or harpoon, but there is also an inland tribe 
on the banks of Kazan river, west of Hudson Bay, which subsist almost 
entirely on reindeer. The Iroquois were the ablest, both intellectually and 
physically, of all the North American Indians, and their Confederacy, 
known as the Six Nations, for a long time held the balance of power 
between the early English and French settlers. They now live in the 
settled parts of Ontario and Quebec. The Sioux, or Assiniboines, live on 

the western interior plains, while 
the Haida, Kwakioor, Tsimshiian, 
Salish, and Kootenay live on the 
coast or in the broken mountainous 
districts of British Columbia. 

Of the population of Canada in 
1891, 86 per cent, were born in 
Canada, and 10 per cent, in other 
parts of the British Empire. Of 
these 29 per cent, speak French, 
while almost all the rest speak 
English. Forty-one per cent, are 
Roman Catholics, while most of 
the remainder belong to various 
Protestant denominations. 

Fig. 340.— A typical Township Plan of 36 square In the unoccupied parts of the 
miles showwg Sections and Quarter-sections. western provinces and territories, 

land may be obtained either free or at a nominal cost by any one willing to 
settle upon and work it. This land is held as the property of the Dominion 
Government until allocated, and the Dominion Land Survey is charged 
with surveying the unoccupied country and marking it out into rectangular 
townships, each of six miles square divided by lines running north and 
south and east and west into thirty-six sections of one square mile each. 
Thus every piece of land is readily identified. 

Internal Communications. — The great rivers and lakes of Canada 
have furnished means of access from the coast to the interior from the 
dates of the very earliest settlements. This is especially true of the St. 
Lawrence, which is navigable to Montreal for ocean-going steamers 
drawing 27-^ feet of water. Thence steamers can ascend to the head 
of Lake Superior, the obstructions in the rivers being overcome by eight 
canals and fifty-four locks, which have a depth of fourteen feet or more. 



Canada — Nova Scotia 


685 


The Saskatchewan and its branches are continuously navigable for 
steamers of light draft for 1,200 miles ; the Mackenzie and its tributaries 
have 4,300 miles of navigable waters, broken at only three places by rapids 
or falls. In the Yukon basin there are about 2,600 miles of continuous 
navigation. 

An extensive system of railways now unites the Atlantic to the Pacific 
Ocean, serving the whole of the settled part of the country and opening up 
much of the interior to settlement. The total length of these railways in 
1902 was i8,7i4miles (see Fig. 336), and large schemes of railway extension 
have been proposed. 

Government. — The Dominion of Canada is a federation of self- 
governing colonies associated for common affairs. The Dominion 
Government consists of (1) a Governor-General appointed by the British 
Government to represent the Crown for a term of five years ; (2) a Senate 
of 81 members appointed by the Crown (on the advice of the Privy Council 
of Canada) for life ; (3) a House of Commons of 213 
members, elected for five years on a very liberal fran- 
chise, liable to be dissolved by the Governor-General 
on the advice of the Ministry ; (4) an Executive 
Ministry composed of 13 or more members, having 
seats in the two Houses of Parliament, and holding 
office only so long as it has the support of the majority 
of the members of the House of Commons; (5) a 
Dominion Judiciary composed of six judges, acting as 

a Court of Appeal from all the provincial courts, ^BearUigscf th^Doml 
though its decisions are subject to review on appeal nion of Canada. 
by the Judicial Committee of the Queen’s Privy Council in London. 

In each of the provinces there is a Lieutenant-Governor, appointed by 
the Governor-General in Council for a term of five years ; a Legislative 
Assembly composed of members elected for terms of four or five years ; 
and also in Nova Scotia and Quebec a Legislative Council or upper house 
appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council for life. There is also 
an Executive Council of from 5 to 12 members, who hold office as long as 
they are supported by a majority in the popular Assembly. A Judiciary 
in each of the provinces is appointed by the Governor-General in Council. 
Besides these there are in most of the provinces municipal or local 
councils, who have the control of their local affairs, and have the power to 
tax for the support of schools and the prosecution of public works of a 
local character. 

NOVA SCOTIA 

Position and Coasts. — Nova Scotia, the most south-easterly pro- 
vince of the Dominion of Canada, consists of a long and rather narrow 
peninsula, extending in a south-west and north-east direction, and the 
large island of Cape Breton, lying off its north-eastern end. It lies 




686 The International Geography 

between 59J 0 and 66° W. long., and 43^° and 47 0 N. lat., being thus in the 
same latitude as Switzerland and the south of France. Near the middle 
of its north-western side it is connected with New Brunswick by an 
isthmus which at one point is only 16 miles in width. 

The south-western portion of the peninsula has the Bay of Fundy and 
Chignecto Bay on the south, while the north-eastern end of the peninsula 
and Cape Breton Island are bounded on the north by Northumberland 
Strait and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Gut of Canso, only a mile and 
a half in width at its narrowest part, separates Cape Breton Island from 
the mainland, and the island itself is almost divided by an arm of the sea 
known as Great Bras d’Or. The Atlantic coast is bold and rocky, and is 
indented by many bays, almost all of which furnish safe anchorage for the 
largest ships. On the southern shore of the Bay of Fundy the coast is 
much less broken, and the northern shore forms a moderately regular coast 
from Bay Verte round the north point of Cape Breton. Pictou Harbour 
is the most important of the several good harbours on the north coast. 

Along the southern coast of the province, where the waves of the 
Atlantic Ocean have carved the shore into very irregular shapes, there are 
many small rocky islands. Sable Island lies 85 miles out in the open 
Atlantic. It is a chain of sand dunes, 20 miles long and a mile wide, 
resting on a more elevated part of the submarine banks* and forming a 
great danger to shipping. Lighthouse and life-boat men are the only 
inhabitants. 

Configuration. — The surface of the province is rather irregular, 
being formed of ridges, often diffuse and indefinite, which run more or 
less parallel to the long axis of the peninsula, and intervening plains and 
valleys. These ridges, which nowhere rise more than 1,200 feet above 
the sea, are formed, like those of Newfoundland, by the outcrops of 
harder rocks. The highest range, known as the Cobequid Mountains, runs 
from the Bay of Fundy eastward to the Gut of Canso. A high bold 
ridge of trap, known as North Mountains, forms the southern shore of 
the Bay of Fundy, extending from Brier Island to Cape Blomidon, on 
the south side of which, underlain by Triassic sandstone, is the Annapolis 
valley, the garden of the province. Farther south, where the country is 
underlain by Cambrian schists, quartzites, and intrusive granites, agricultural 
land is mainly confined to the river valleys. 

Climate. — The climate of this and the adjoining provinces of New 
Brunswick and Prince Edward Island is more humid and much more 
variable than that of central Canada, and fogs are common along the 
northern and eastern coasts, where the cold Arctic currents hug the shore. 

People and Industries. — Nova Scotia was probably the land dis- 
covered by Lief Ericsen, the Northman, in a.d. 1000, and it was redis- 
covered by Cabot in 1498, shortly after which its shores and harbours were 
resorted to by French and Portuguese fishermen. In 1605 the French 
founded the first European settlement on the shores of Annapolis basin, and 


Canada— Prince Edward Island 



for the next century, until the Peace of Utrecht was signed between France 
and the United Kingdom, Acadia (French, Acadie) remained in the hands 
of the French ; then under the name of Nova Scotia it became a British 
colony and entered the Dominion of Canada on its formation. Most of 
the present population have been born in the province, but their ancestors 
were immigrants from different parts of Great Britain. Living within the 
sound of the sea, and near a coast indented with many good harbours, 
they naturally turn to the ocean for their means of subsistence. The 
fisheries therefore, especially of cod and lobsters, form the most important 
industry in the province. More than 14,000 boats and vessels and 27,000 
men are engaged in this industry. 

In the northern part of the province coal mines are extensively worked, 
the total amount raised in 1901 being 4,200,000 tons, while in the southern 
portion of the province gold is mined. Iron and gypsum are the other 
chief mineral products. 

Halifax , the capital, is situated about the middle of the south-east coast, 
on a magnificent natural harbour, the nearest to Europe on this continent 
that is open and free of ice all the year round. It is an important coaling 
station for the British fleet, and is strongly fortified and garrisoned by 
Imperial troops. 


PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 


Position and Surface. — Prince Edward Island, the smallest province 
in the Dominion of Canada, lies within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, between 
latitude 46° and 47 0 N., being separated from New Brunswick and Nova 
Scotia by Northumberland Strait which is only ten miles wide at its 
narrowest point. The island is 145 miles long, with a breadth of from 5 to 
35 miles. Its coast is very irregular, projecting in long low points, and cut 
into deep bays, many of which have bars of sand stretching across them, 
though these bars are usually broken through sufficiently to allow vessels 
of light draught to enter. The island is underlain by soft red sandstones 
of Permo-Carboniferous and Triassic age, which weather down readily 
and evenly, and on this account the surface is without strongly marked 
prominences and nowhere rises more than 500 feet above the sea. 

Resources and People. — The soil, like the underlying rock, is red 
in colour, and is very fertile, so that agriculture occupies the attention 
of the people to a large extent. Potatoes and oats are the chief products, 
but cheese and butter are ilso now becoming important. Many fine 
horses are also reared. Next to agriculture fishing is the chief industry, 
the lobster-fishing being the most important, while the oyster-beds furnish 
more than half the oysters collected in Canada. The province is the 
most thickly peopled in the Dominion, the average density being 54 to the 
square mile. The people are mostly native born, but about half are of 
Scottish descent. The province joined the Dominion in 1873. Charlotte - 
town , the capital, is situated on an excellent harbour on the south coast. 


688 The International Geography 

NEW BRUNSWICK 

Position and Surface. — New Brunswick is roughly rectangular in 
shape with a greatest length from north to south of 205 miles. Exclusive 
of islands it lies between 45 0 and 48° N., being thus in the same latitude as 
central France, or southern Hungary. It has land boundaries with the 
province of Quebec on the north, the State of Maine on the west, and 
the province of Nova Scotia at the isthmus of Chignecto in the east. Its 
coasts face the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. There are 
many good harbours, though the east coast is for the most part low, with 
outlying sandy shoals. Bay Chaleur, to the north, is 85 miles long, and 
free of rock and shoals, while the Bay of Fundy on the south is noted as 
having the highest tides in the world, the spring tides at the head of the 
bay rising 50 feet. 

The central tract, underlain by rocks of Carboniferous age, is a 
low-lying plain, seldom rising more than a few hundred feet above the 
sea, and sloping gently towards the east coast. Both it, and much of 
the higher country in the north-west portion of the province, underlain 
by Silurian rocks, are well adapted for agriculture, but as yet only a small 
portion is cultivated. The country underlain by disturbed and altered 
crystalline and Cambrian rocks along the south coast, and stretching 
diagonally north-eastward through the province, is much more rugged and 
broken, the latter belt rising into numerous high peaks ; Bald Mountain, 
the highest, reaches 2,470 feet. The whole country, both highlands and 
lowlands, is almost everywhere covered with a forest of spruce ( Picea alba). 

Rivers. — New Brunswick is a land of many and beautiful rivers, 
which flow either southward into the Bay of Fundy or eastward into the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence ; several of them are navigable by river steamers. 
The St. John, 450 miles long, rises in the State of Maine, and at its mouth 
it flows through a rocky gap only 400 feet in width, where, at ebb tide, 
there is a heavy fall towards the harbour, while at flood tide there is a fall 
in the opposite direction. Four times a day, at half tide, ships can pass 
in or out through the narrow gap. Above this reversible fall the river is 
navigable for river craft for 212 miles to Grand Falls. 

People and Resources. — The province was originally settled by the 
French, but the present inhabitants are chiefly descendants of British 
emigrants. Hitherto the forests have been the chief sources of wealth to 
the people. Pine was formerly abundant, but has now become very scarce, 
the forests being almost entirely composed of spruce. Only the larger 
trees are cut, while the smaller ones are carefully preserved, so that 
in this way any district can be economically “ cut over ” every ten or 
fifteen years. Fishing is the industry of second importance, though it is 
chiefly carried out along the shore, but few vessels being engaged in deep- 
sea fishing. A considerable number of people are engaged in agriculture, 
all the ordinary products of temperate climates being produced. 


Canada — Quebec 



Towns. — St. John , the largest and most important commercial city 
in the province, is situated on a rocky peninsula where the St. John 
river flows into the Bay of Fundy. It has an excellent harbour, open 
all the year round, for in winter it is kept clear of ice by the tides, which 
here rise 25 feet. It is thus busy in winter when the St. Lawrence is 
frozen. In the days of wooden ships St. John was a famous ship-building 
town, and even now a very large number of vessels are owned in the 
city. Fredericton , the capital of the province, is situated on the St. John 
river, 86 miles from its mouth, and the tide ascends the river to a short 
distance above it. Moncton , on the Petitcodiac river, is a considerable 
manufacturing centre. 


QUEBEC 


Position and Boundaries. — The province of Quebec lies between 
59 0 and 79^° W., and between 45 0 and 53 0 N. It is bounded on the 
west by the province of Ontario and a short section of the east coast of 
Hudson Bay ; on the south by the States of New York, Vermont, New 
Hampshire, and Maine, and the province of New Brunswick ; on the east 
by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and that portion of Labrador attached to New- 
foundland ; and on the north by the district of Ungava. Its total area is 
about one-sixth less than the combined areas of France and Germany. 

Its coast line, with the exception of 100 miles on Hudson Bay, is entirely 
confined to the Gulf and Estuary of the St. Lawrence. The north shore, 
from the Strait of Belle Isle westward, is bold, rocky, and quite bare of 
trees as far as Cape Whittle, beyond which it becomes slightly lower ; trees 
appear in some of the valleys, and in a few places small patches of land 
have been brought under cultivation. Close to the shore are many bare 
rocky islands. The south shore of the estuary is formed of bold, rocky 
hills, most of which are covered with forest. 

Of the islands included in the province the Magdalens, a cluster of 
rocky knolls, often connected by bars of sand, very dangerous to shipping, 
rise in the centre of the southern half of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 
Anticosti, which lies in the mouth of the estuary of the St. Lawrence, is 
140 miles long, but has no good harbours, and is almost uninhabited. 

Configuration. — The province is naturally divided into three parts. 

(1) The Laurentian Plateau is an undulating rocky country north 
of the St. Lawrence, lying between 500 and 2,000 feet above the sea, 
chiefly underlain by granites, gneisses, and other rocks of Laurentian 
age, while here and there are areas underlain by highly altered sediments 
of Huronian age. In the vicinity of lakes St. John and Mistassini 
small outliers of comparatively unaltered Cambrian and Silurian rocks are 
also included. The region has all been severely glaciated and there is 
little residuary soil remaining anywhere. The summits of the low, 
rounded hills are bare, while the depressions are either occupied by 
irregular lakes of beautifully clear water, or are filled with stony clay, 


690 The International Geography 

which is usually covered with a scattered and stunted forest of spruce and 
larch, and a deep bed of moss. On the better-drained land, along the 
streams and lakes there are often extensive forests of large pine and spruce. 
Seen from the valley of the St. Lawrence the edge of this plateau has the 
appearance of a range of low rounded mountains, to which the name 
Laurentide Mountains has been applied. Among the highest points are 
Les Eboulements, 2,547 feet, and Trembling Mountain, 2,380 feet. 

The streams flowing from the small lakes form a succession of quiet, 
lake-like reaches of water separated by short, rapid chutes or falls. This 
feature, which is characteristic of most of the streams throughout the 
great Archaean continental nucleus, has rendered it possible to travel very 
extensively in canoes or small boats, which with their cargoes may be 
carried on “ portages” over narrow rocky ridges, and past intervening falls. 
Most of the streams flowing southward to the St. Lawrence are of this 
type until they reach the edge of the plateau, or “ Fall line,” where they 
plunge in one or more heavy falls to the plains below. Montmorency Fall, 
near Quebec, 224 feet high, is a fine example of these cataracts. 

(2) The St. Lawrence Plain has an area within the province of about 
10,000 square miles. It is a long and comparatively narrow belt between 
the foot of the Laurentian Plateau and the highlands south of the river. 
Beginning a short distance below the city of Quebec it gradually rises, until, 
at the west end of the province, it has a maximum elevation of between 300 
and 400 feet above the sea. It is underlain by more or less flat-lying Silu- 
rian limestones and sandstones. Towards the close of the Glacial Epoch, 
when the land was much lower than it is at present, the estuary of the St. 
Lawrence extended far beyond the site of the present city of Montreal, and 
a varying thickness of sand and clay was deposited in it. Since the land 
has been again uplifted these sands and clays form the fertile soil on which 
the agricultural prosperity of the province depends. On this plain a few 
hills of trappaean rock, such as Mount Royal behind Montreal, rise above 
the general level. 

(3) The Highlands south of the St. Lawrence form the northern con- 
tinuation of the Appalachian Chain which extends northward through the 
eastern United States. They are known as the Notre-Dame Mountains in 
the southern portion of the province, and the Shickshocks in the Gaspe 
peninsula, the highest points in the latter portion of the range rising to 
nearly 4,000 feet. They are formed of parallel ridges of rock, usually 
standing at high angles, and varying in age from Archaean up to Devonian. 
Much of the country is thickly forested. South of the St. Lawrence, lakes 
are not numerous and all the principal streams run in the moderately high 
country beyond the Notre-Dame and Shickshock Mountains and flow 
northward through these mountains in deep, narrow channels. 

Climate. — The climate is continental. The winters are clear, with 
a mean temperature of 14 0 F., while the summers are warm and bright, 
with a mean temperature of 6o° F. The average precipitation is about 


Canada— Quebec 6gi 

36 inches per annum. In the southern portion of the province all the 
ordinary cereals usually grown in temperate climates come to perfection. 

History and People. — The discovery of Quebec dates from 1534, 
when Jacques Cartier entered the St. Lawrence river, but it was not until 
1608, when the city of Quebec was founded as a fur-trading station, that 
any successful attempt was made at settlement. From that time onwards 
for a century and a half, settlers from France spread over the country, most 
of whom were engaged in the double occupation of collecting rich furs 
from the Indian hunters, and clearing and tilling the fertile soil. In 1760, 
during the Seven Years’ War, the country fell into the hands of the British 
through the capture of Quebec by Wolfe. In 1774 the French, who at 
that time numbered 70,000, were assured by the “ Quebec Act ” the right 
to be governed by their own civil laws, which right they still enjoy. 
Eighty-five per cent, of the people of Quebec province are of French 
race and Roman Catholic religion, and the French language is used 
officially as well as English. 

Resources. — Most of the population are engaged in agriculture ; oats ? 
barley, wheat, maize, hay and tobacco are the chief products, while 
fruits, such as apples, pears and plums, are extensively grown. Horses 
and cattle are also raised in large numbers, and much attention is paid 
to the making of cheese and butter. The timber industry is next in 
importance to agriculture, white pine, spruce and larch being the principal 
woods brought into the market. Fishing is important in the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence. Gold is found in alluvial deposits on the Chaudiere river. 
Asbestos is largely mined in the country south of the St. Lawrence, while 
copper, iron, mica and graphite are also worked to some extent. 

Towns. — Montreal , founded in 1642, is situated on an island at the 
junction of the Ottawa and the 
St. Lawrence rivers at the head 
of ocean navigation, any vessel 
that can enter the harbour of 
New York or Boston being able 
to steam up to its wharves. The 
extensive system of inland navi- 
gation, which reaches into the 
very heart of the continent, 
begins above the city, and the 
St. Lawrence is crossed by its 
first bridge. It is the principal 
seaport, and the largest city in 
the Dominion, and is the main 
eastern terminus of the Grand 
Trunk and Canadian Pacific rail- 
ways. It is an important manufacturing centre. The population is more 
than half of French extraction. 

46 



6 g2 The International Geography 

Quebec, one of the oldest cities on the continent, was founded by 
Champlain in 1608. The present city is situated partly on a bold pro- 
montory on the north side of the 
St. Lawrence, and partly at the 
foot of the cliffs close to the river 
bank. In front of it is a mag- 
nificent basin, in which the largest 
ships afloat can ride in safety. It 
is the capital of the province, has 
beautiful parliament buildings, an 
important Roman Catholic uni- 
versity, and its citadel, situated on 
the summit of the rocky cliff over- 
looking the river, has often been 
spoken of as the “ Gibraltar of 
America.” The population is 
mostly of French descent, and 
French is more spoken than English. Hull, on the Ottawa river, and 
Sherbrooke, near Montreal but south of the St. Lawrence, are also thriving 
manufacturing towns. 



ONTARIO 

Position and Boundaries. — The province of Ontario lies between 
42 0 and 52 0 N., and 74 0 and 95 0 W. It is bounded on the south and south- 
west by the States of New York, Michigan, and Minnesota ; on the east by 
the province of Quebec, and on the north and north-west by the district 
of Keewatin. Its total area is somewhat larger than either France or 
Germany, and its greatest length from east to west is about 1,000 miles. 

The province lies almost entirely inland, for the only place where it 
reaches the sea is on the shallow coast of Hudson Bay, with no harbours 
that will accommodate large ocean-going vessels. But most of its 
southern border lies along the Great Lakes, which, with their connecting 
rivers, give it a shore line, acces- 
sible for about eight months of the 
year, of 1,700 miles. The steamer 
traffic on the great lakes may be 
judged from the fact that a greater 
tonnage passes through the “ Soo ” 
canals, which avoid the rapids at 
Sault St. Marie between Lake Huron 
and Lake Superior, than through 
the Suez Canal. The Canadian 
shores of Lakes Ontario, Erie, and 
part of Huron are low and moderately regular. The northern shore of 
Lake Huron lies along the edge of the Laurentian Plateau, and is fringed 



Canada — Ontario 


6 93 

with a vast number of small rocky islands ; the northern shore of Lake 
Superior is very bold, with deep bays and comparatively few islands, all 
of which are rugged and picturesque. 

Configuration. — The surface contour is but slightly accentuated, 
most of it being less than 1,200 feet above the sea, while very few, if any, 
points rise to a height of 2,000 feet. It is divided naturally into four main 
subdivisions. (1) A relatively small area sloping gently northward towards 
Hudson Bay, and underlain by flat-lying Silurian and Devonian limestones. 
This is very largely covered with swamp or morass, and much of it is 
thinly wooded with small spruce and larch. Except a few fur-traders and 
missionaries it has no white inhabitants. (2) The Laurentian Plateau, 
a continuation westward of the same region in the province of Quebec, 
forms by far the largest part of the province, though most of it is yet 
a wilderness. It is almost entirely underlain by Laurentian and Huronian 
rocks intricately folded and squeezed together, the former being essentially 
granitic in type. The Huronian rocks consist of sandstones and clays 
associated with traps and other igneous and intrusive rocks, and are of 
especial importance on account of the rich minerals associated with them. 
Where the character of the rock varies greatly within comparatively short 
distances, as near the north shore of Lake Superior, there are high hills 
and deep valleys, but in other places the surface is mamillated with many 
low rounded hills and shallow rock-bound basins filled with clear water 
or mossy swamps. Usually the summits of the hills are almost naked 
rock, supporting but a stunted forest growth, the valuable forests of spruce 
and pine being confined to the richer and moderately well-drained valleys ; 
but near the great lakes the rock is often covered by extensive deposits 
of sand and clay, laid down in the beds of these lakes when, towards the 
close of the Glacial Epoch, their waters stood at much higher levels than 
at present, and on these lacustral deposits grow some of the finest pine 
forests in Canada. The southern end of the Laurentian Plateau crosses the 
Ottawa river at the Chats Rapids and strikes southwards to the Thousand 
Islands on the St. Lawrence. (3) East of this boundary comes the 
western extension of the St. Lawrence Plain underlain by flat-lying 
Cambro-Silurian rocks, over most of which is a Pleistocene deposit of 
marine sands and clays. As yet it is not very thickly settled except along 
the banks of the rivers. (4) From the Thousand Islands the southern edge 
of the Laurentian Plateau strikes westward to Matchedash Bay, at the 
south-eastern extremity of Georgian Bay, and south of this line is the 
district known as the Ontario peninsula which is the most fertile and 
thickly peopled portion of Canada. It is underlain by flat-lying Silurian 
and Devonian rocks, chiefly limestones, over which there is almost every- 
where spread a covering of till or glacial detritus from the old northern 
ice-sheets ; this till forms some of the richest soil to be found on the 
continent. In places the till is again overlaid by lacustral deposits formed 
in the beds of the great post-glacial lakes. This district is divided by 


694 The International Geography 

the Niagara escarpment, a bold cliff of Silurian shales and limestones, 
which crosses the Niagara river at Queenston, skirts the south shore of 
Lake Ontario to Hamilton, and thence strikes northward to the Bruce 
Peninsula, between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, finally forming the 
backbone of Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. 

Smaller Lakes and Rivers. — Lake Nipigon, with an area of 1,450 
square miles, is probably the largest of the many lakes occupying depres- 
sions in the Laurentian Plateau, while the Lake of the Woods (Fig. 47), on 
the extreme western edge of the province, is of about equal size. Along 
the edge of the Laurentian Plateau a narrow chain of lakes has been 
formed, among which are those of Balsam and Scugog. In the Ontario 
peninsula, north of the Niagara escarpment, there are a few very pictu- 
resque lakes, Lake Simcoe being the largest, and well known as a summer 
resort. 

The streams of Ontario province belong to three different drainage- 
areas — (1) those flowing southward into the great lakes ; (2) northward 
into Hudson Bay, these being the longest in the province ; and (3) west- 
ward into Lake Winnipeg. 

History and Resources. — Ontario was first settled in 1776, after the 
close of the American Revolution, by United Empire Loyalists, men who 
had left the United States, and their property there, for the love of the 
United Kingdom and British institutions. That patriotism was strength- 
ened in 1812 when the armies of the United States invaded the country 
and were repulsed on every side after heavy loss. In 1791 the district 
was erected into a province, and since that time the population has grown 
quietly, mainly in the peninsula. Four-fifths of the inhabitants are 
Canadian born. 

A large number are engaged in agriculture, farming being the most 
important industry in the province. Wheat, oats, barley, maize, potatoes 
and hay are the principal crops. Stock-raising is also extensively carried 
on, and wool is of some importance. Cheese-making and dairying are also 
great and growing industries. Fruit is extensively grown, the principal 
kinds being apples, pears, peaches, plums and grapes. The chief fruit 
districts are in the peninsula near the shores of the great lakes. Lumber- 
ing is next in importance to agriculture, the timber-lands being leased for 
this purpose by the Government to private companies or individuals. The 
fisheries are confined to the great lakes where about 3,000 men are 
employed. 

With the exception of petroleum, the mineral industries of the province 
are yet in their infancy. Nickel ores occur in extensive deposits near 
Sudbury on the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and an almost 
unlimited supply of the metal could be obtained if there were a sufficient 
demand. Copper is usually associated with the nickel in these ores. Gold 
is found in the Huronian rocks of the western portion of the province, and 
it is not improbable that many rich gold mines will soon be worked there. 


Canada — Manitoba 695 

Natural gas exists at several places in the southern portion of the peninsula. 
Salt and gypsum are also produced in considerable quantity. 

Towns. — Ottawa , the capital of the Dominion, is beautifully situated 
on the south bank of the Ottawa river just below the Chaudiere Falls. 
The Dominion Government buildings are of imposing character and finely 
situated. Ottawa has the most important lumber interests of any city in 
Canada. Several railways pass through it, and the Rideau Canal joins 
it to Kingston on Lake Ontario. Toronto is both the commercial and 
political capital of the province. It is built on a series of low terraces on 
the north shore of Lake Ontario between the mouths of the Don and 
Humber rivers, and in front of it is an excellent harbour about 3^ square 
miles in extent, formed by a long sandy island which projects westward 
from the foot of the cliffs at Scarboro’ Heights. It was founded by 
Governor Simcoe in 1793, on the site of an old French fort that had been 
built forty-four years before. It is the seat of numerous manufactories, 
several large industrial institutions, and being an important railway ter- 
minus is the principal distributing centre of the province. It is also a 
banking centre, many of the largest financial institutions in the Dominion 
making it their headquarters. Hamilton , situated at the head of a sheltered 
bay at the west end of Lake Ontario, is a manufacturing town. London 
is situated on the Thames river, in the centre of one of the finest farming 
districts in the province. Kingston , at the east end of Lake Ontario* is 
the oldest city in the province, and besides other educational institutions 
it contains a military college. 


MANITOBA 

Position and Surface. — The province of Manitoba lies in the very 
centre of the continent, being almost equidistant from the Atlantic and 
Pacific coasts, and from the Arctic Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In 
outline it is almost square, with sides about 270 miles in length. It 
extends along the 49th parallel of latitude, which is here the boundary 
with the United States (Minnesota and North Dakota) from the Lake 
of the Woods westward to the meridian of ioi°, which forms the western 
boundary. On the east it is bordered by Ontario, and the North-West 
Territories lie on the north and west. 

The province falls naturally into three principal divisions, running in 
a general north-westerly and south-easterly direction. (1) The Laurentian 
Plateau, which lies east of the east shore of Lake Winnipeg, with its 
characteristic undulating rocky surface, dotted with small lakes, and 
traversed by many crooked, irregular streams. It is chiefly underlain 
by Laurentian rocks of granitic type. (2) The Lacustral Plain, or First 
Prairie Steppe, which includes rather more than half of the province, 
occupies part of the basin of an ancient glacial or post-glacial lake, 
which has been called Lake Agassiz. The thick beds of clay and silt 
deposited in that lake now form the rich wheat-producing soil of the 



The International Geography 


Red River valley. It is almost entirely underlain by flat-lying Silurian 
and Devonian limestones, and in its southern portion the original in- 
equalities of the rocky surface have been almost entirely levelled up 
by the lacustral deposits, while further north the rocky surface was 
more irregular, and was not so completely covered with clay, having 
long wide ridges and hollows, the most important of the latter being 
now occupied by Lakes Winnipeg, Winnipegosis, and Manitoba. Much 
of the country south of these lakes is open grassy prairie, while 
farther north it is more or less thickly wooded with spruce and poplar. 
(3) The Manitoba Escarpment borders the lacustral plain on the west, 
rising from 800 to 1,400 feet above the plain at its base. West of 
this escarpment comes the Second Prairie Steppe, in which the relief is 
more strongly pronounced, the rivers often flowing in valleys which they 
have cut to a depth of several hundred feet, while many of the stony hills 
are rough and steep. Much of the soil is of excellent quality, and in the 
southern portion of the province will grow large crops of wheat ; further 
north and on the higher tracts abundant crops of oats, barley, and the 
more hardy cereals and roots can be grown. This plateau is underlain 
by soft shales and sandstones of Cretaceous age. 

Winnipeg river, a large stream, broken up by many rapids and falls, 
flows into Lake Winnipeg from the Laurentian plateau on the east. The 
Red River of the North rises in the United States and flows northward 
to empty into the south end of the same lake, while its tributary, the 
Assiniboine, drains much of the western portion of the province. 

History and Towns. — The retired employes and dependents of 
the North-West and Hudson’s Bay Fur-trading Companies formed the 
nucleus of the present population of the province, originally called the 
u Red River Settlement." In 1870 the population was about 12,000, while 
in 1901 it had risen to 255,000. Almost all the inhabitants, who include 
many immigrants from the United States as well as from Europe, derive 
their support, directly or indirectly, from agriculture. The principal 
crops are wheat, oats, barley, potatoes and flax, and of these the exports 
consist mainly of wheat, the arrangements for collecting and transporting 
which are highly organised. In the more northern parts of the province 
many farmers devote themselves to raising cattle, and to the making of 
cheese and butter. White-fish of the finest quality are caught in the large 
lakes of the province, and of late years the fishing industry has assumed 
considerable proportions. 

Winnipeg , the capital, and chief city of the province, is situated on the 
level lacustral plain, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. 
It is the distributing point and commercial focus of the whole of the 
Canadian North-West, one of the most important stations on the Canadian 
Pacific Railway, and a railway centre for lines from the United States as 
well. Brandon and Portage la Prairie are prosperous towns in the centre 
of rich wheat-growing districts on the Canadian Pacific line. 


Canada— British Columbia 



BRITISH COLUMBIA 

Position and Area. — British Columbia, stretching from the Rocky 
Mountains to the sea, is the largest province in the Dominion, having an 
area three times as large as the United Kingdom. Its greatest length, 
measured in a north-westerly direction, is 1,250 miles. It is bounded 
on the south by the United States, the parallel of 49 0 separating it from 
Montana, Idaho and Washington. On the west the Pacific Ocean, and 
farther north a narrow strip of the United States territory of Alaska, are 
the boundaries. On the east and north it is bordered by the North-West 
Territories, which separate it from the eastern provinces. 

Coasts. — Viewed as a whole the coast has a general trend in a north- 
westerly direction, but in detail it is very irregular, reaching back into 
deep, narrow fjords, and fringed by a maze of islands of all sizes. The 
fjords and straits are submerged valleys both in line with and transverse to 
the general direction of the mountain ranges. Of the fjords, Dr. G. M. 
Dawson writes : “ Their width is usually from one to three miles, their shores 
rocky and abrupt, and rising towards the heads of the longer fjords into 
mountains from 6,000 to 8,000 feet in height. The water is deep, usually 
much too deep for anchorage, but at the head of each arm a delta-flat, 
formed by an entering river, is commonly found. Many good harbours 
exist along the coast, but the two best and most important of those on the 
mainland are Burrard Inlet, upon which the city of Vancouver is built, 
and Port Simpson, near the northern end of the coast of the province.” 
Vancouver Island is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Juan 
de Fuca on the south, and the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte 
Sound on the north-east, these two being connected by narrow channels 
which at Seymour Narrows are less than half a mile in width. It has a 
length of 285 miles, and a greatest width of 80 miles. 

Mountains. — British Columbia is essentially a country of mountains. 
In the portion of the province north of latitude 54 0 , the breadth of the 
Cordillera or mountain belt, from south-west to north-east, is about 400 
miles. The mountains, as a rule, run in a north-westerly and south- 
westerly direction, and the two most conspicuous and important ranges 
run along opposite sides of the rhomb, the Rocky Mountains proper along 
the eastern side, and the Coast Range along its western side. At the 
international boundary the Rocky Mountains have an average width of 
about 60 miles, and many of the peaks reach heights of 10,000 feet, 
being snow-capped and abounding in fine glaciers. Further north the 
range decreases both in width and height, until in the vicinity of Peace 
river, in latitude 56°, it is only 20 miles wide, and but few of its peaks 
rise above 5,000 or 6,000 feet. This range is composed of stratified 
limestone, quartzites, and other rocks from Cambrian to Cretaceous ; 
granites and other crystalline rocks are almost entirely absent. The 
Rocky Mountain range is bounded on the west by the great Columbia- 


698 The International Geography 

Kootenay valley, which in its course north-westward is occupied succes- 
sively by the upper portions of the Kootenay, Columbia, Fraser, Parsnip, 
Findlay, and other rivers, which usually break through its western border 
to the sea. South-west of this great valley are the Selkirk and Gold ranges. 
The gold and silver recently discovered in southern British Columbia 
occur in these mountains. Between the Gold and the Coast ranges, the 
interior plateau attains an average width of ioo miles. To the south, it 
does not much exceed, on the average, a height of 3,000 feet, but it 
gradually decreases to 2,000 about latitude 54 0 , beyond which it is cut 
off by transverse ranges of mountains. In places it is so deeply dissected 
by streams and atmospheric agencies that it has lost all semblance of a 
plain, but in other places there are extensive almost level tracts, among 
which is much land suitable for ranching and agriculture. 

The Coast Range begins about latitude 49 0 , and runs north-westward, 
near the coast, for about 900 miles, with an average width of about 100 
miles. Many of its summits rise to heights of 7,000 and 8,000 feet, while 
its submerged valleys form deep fjords. Its seaward slopes, clothed 
with magnificent forests, rising to snow-capped peaks form some of 
the grandest scenery in the world. The mountains forming the back- 
bone of Vancouver and Queen Charlotte islands are a subsidiary and 
partly submerged chain of the main range. The Coast Range is chiefly 
composed of granitic and highly altered sedimentary rocks. 

Hydrography. — In conformity with the structural lines of the 
country, the numerous lakes are long and narrow, lying either between 
the mountain ranges, or in the bottoms of the deeper parts of river 
valleys, which have been obstructed in some way. The Peace and 
Liard rivers rise in the north-eastern part of the province, and drain 
a large area eastward into the Mackenzie river. A small area in the 
extreme northern portion is drained by the headwaters of the Yukon. 
The remaining rivers flow towards the Pacific coast in very irregular 
channels, running between and across the ranges, and often doubling 
back parallel to their upper courses. Of these the principal is the 
Fraser, which rises on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, close 
to the source of the Athabasca, and flows at first north-westward, and 
then southward, to empty into the Strait of Georgia, having a total length 
of about 750 miles. The upper waters of the Columbia river flow through 
the province, the river being twice crossed by the Canadian Pacific 
Railway. The Skeena and the Stikine are both large rivers, navigable for 
small steamers in their lower courses. 

Climate. — The climate varies from temperate insular on the coast and 
islands, to extreme continental on the high interior uplands. The total 
annual precipitation in the valleys of the interior is about 15 inches ; at 
Victoria it is 40 inches, while in some parts of the coast to the north it 
exceeds 100 inches. It is thus, in some parts of the interior, possible 
to grow crops only with the aid of irrigation, while along portions 


Canada — British Columbia 699 

of the coast the excessive humidity practically precludes agriculture 
(see Fig. 338). 

History and People.— The coast of British Columbia was discovered 
and partly explored by Spanish voyagers, and by Cook in the course of his 
last voyage in 1778. In 1793 Alexander Mackenzie first crossed the interior 
on his journey from Lake Athabasca to the Pacific Ocean, and early in the 
nineteenth century David Thompson explored and opened up trade routes 
into the country from the upper waters of the Saskatchewan and 
Athabasca rivers. In 1849 Vancouver Island was granted a Governor, and 
in 1856 it elected its first legislative body. The discovery of gold in 1857 
brought a rush of population to the province, and in 1866 Vancouver 
Island and the mainland were united under the name British Columbia. 
In 1871 it entered the federal union of the Dominion, one condition of 
federation being the construction of a railway to the eastern provinces. 

Mines. — The wealth of the people depends very largely on mineral 
products. Gold was first discovered in auriferous sands and gravels on 
the Thompson and Fraser rivers and their tributaries in 1857 and 1858, 
and in the early “6o’s” stories of the rich finds in the remote Cariboo 
district were common throughout the English-speaking world. Until 
recently this gold was almost entirely obtained from placer diggings, but 
rich gold-bearing lodes have been found in the West Kootenay district, 
which has consequently been made accessible by railways and steam- 
boats, so that the dwindling placer mines of the Cariboo district are 
thrown in the shade by the rich and rapidly developing lode mines of 
the south. In 1897, silver derived almost entirely from the silver-lead 
mines of the West Kootenay district, jumped to the first place among 
the mineral products, the total silver product exceeding in value that 
of gold. The amount of lead produced is very considerable, and some 
copper also is obtained. The coal mines of Vancouver Island have long 
held an important place on the Pacific coast, as they not only supply the 
province itself, but lead the market in the coast cities of the adjoining 
republic. Large coal-fields also exist in Queen Charlotte Islands, and 
in the interior, notably in the Crow’s Nest Pass of the Rocky Mountains, 
through which a railway has been carried to the Kootenay gold and 
silver mining districts. 

Resources and Towns. — Throughout the province there is a vast 
extent of country covered with forest, chiefly of conifers, among which the 
most valuable tree is the Douglas fir. Along the coast, and on Vancouver 
Island, there are many saw-mills which are supplied with this fir from the 
adjacent forests, and from which lumber is largely exported. The fisheries 
are another important source of wealth to the people. Salmon abound 
in many of the streams, and are caught and put up in cans for export in 
enormous quantities. Halibut, herring, rock-cod, &c., are also caught off 
the coast. The pelagic sealing fleet is also largely owned in this province. 

There is much good agricultural land in the southern portion of the 


700 The International Geography 

interior plateau, on the deltas, and in the valleys of the principal rivers 
where, in addition to cereal crops, fruit of many kinds is now beginning 
to be successfully cultivated. Difficulties of transport have heretofore 
limited farming, but stock-raising is an industry of considerable import- 
ance in the southern part of the interior. 

Victoria , the capital of the province, is situated on a good harbour at the 
south end of Vancouver Island. The provincial Parliament House is one of 
the finest buildings in Canada. Three miles to the west is the great naval 
harbour Esquimalt, the principal station for the North Pacific Squadron 
of the British fleet. Vancouver , the western terminus of the Canadian 
Pacific Railway, is situated on the south shore of Burrard Inlet, one of the 

best harbours on the Pacific coast, 
and the point of departure of 
regular lines of steamers to Japan 
and New Zealand. ' New West- 
minster, the first capital of the main- 
land province, a short distance up 
the Fraser river, was founded in 
1858. Rossland, on the gold-fields 
near the Columbia river, has sprung 
into existence as a city second in 
population only to Vancouver and 
Victoria, and provided with railway communication with the United States. 
In all the towns of the province there is a large Chinese element, most of 
the domestic servants and many labourers being Chinamen. Japanese 
immigrants are also met with ; but in spite of the mixture of races British 
Columbia is perhaps the most English of all the provinces of Canada in the 
life of the people as well as in the climate. 

THE TERRITORIES 

Territories. — Outside of the organised provinces of the Dominion 
there are vast areas which have long been known as the North-East and 
North-West Territories. Recently these have been divided into districts, 
some of which are provided with representative government, while others, 
whose only inhabitants are a few scattered Indian hunters, are governed 
by the Dominion Parliament at Ottawa. These districts are nine in number. 

Ungava. — The district of Ungava comprises the northern portion of 
the Labrador peninsula, north of the province of Quebec, except the 
eastern strip of coast which for 700 miles is under the jurisdiction of 
Newfoundland. The western side of the peninsula is the rocky eastern 
shore of Hudson Bay, indented by many deep narrow bays, and skirted 
by a large number of rocky islands. The interior is a gently undulating 
plateau underlain by Archaean and highly altered Cambrian rocks. The 
main watershed is about the middle of the southern boundary of the district 



Fig 345- — Vancouver and Victoria , B.C. 


Canada— The Territories 


701 


and from there the rivers flow northward, westward, and eastward, and 
also southward through the province of Quebec. On the long Hamilton 
river, which flows south-eastward to the Atlantic, are the Grand, or McLean 
Falls, where the stream plunges 300 feet over a cliff into a narrow rocky 
gorge. The country is more or less sparsely wooded as far north as the 
south end of Ungava Bay. 

Keewatin. — The south-western and western sides of Hudson Bay, 
and the country adjoining, are comprised within the great district of 
Keewatin. Its coast on Hudson Bay is exceedingly low and flat south 
of 6i° N. lat., while north of that latitude it becomes much more bold and 
rocky. The lagoon at the mouth of the Churchill river is the only good 
harbour on the more southern portion of this coast, and it remains unfrozen 
on the average for five months in the year. Most of the country is under- 
lain by Archaean rocks. South of 6o° N. the district is generally forested, 
scattered woods of small black spruce and larch growing on swampy 
tracts. North of 6o° N. it is almost entirely treeless, often forming an 
undulating stony plain, thinly covered with short grasses and sedges. Count- 
less herds of a small variety of reindeer roam over these plains. These are 
almost the only living creatures in this country, the fur-bearing animals 
being confined to the forests further south. The district is entirely beyond 
the limits of settlement, and, as in Ungava, except a few white fur-traders 
the only inhabitants are Indians and Eskimo. 

The Organised Districts. — Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, 
lie between Manitoba and part of Keewatin on the east, and British 
Columbia on the west, and between latitudes 49 0 and 55 0 . They are spoken 
of as the organised districts, for they have a Lieutenant-Governor, an 
elected Parliament, and an Executive Council to attend to their local 
affairs, while at the same time they have representatives in both Houses of 
the Dominion Parliament in Ottawa. 

At its north-eastern corner the district of Saskatchewan touches the 
hummocky Laurentian plateau, and is underlain by rocks of Laurentian 
and Huronian age. South-west of this is a narrow strip underlain by 
Silurian limestones, while the whole remaining portion, to the foot of the 
steep cliffs of the Rocky Mountains, is underlain by soft clays and sand- 
stones of Cretaceous and Tertiary age, often covered by a thick mantle of 
drift. The rise from the Archaean plateau to the foot of the mountains 
averages 5J feet to the mile. This rise is not regular, though it indicates 
the general slope of the country, but is most pronounced along the line of 
the Manitoba escarpment which marks approximately the eastern edge of 
the Cretaceous rocks, and along the Missouri Coteau, which separates the 
second from the third or highest prairie steppe. 

The Saskatchewan river, with its tributaries, drains the greater part of 
these districts. Most of its branches rise on the eastern slopes of the 
Rocky Mountains, some of the more northern ones being fed by glaciers, 
and, flowing eastward, unite into one great stream which empties into the 


702 The International Geography 

north end of Lake Winnipeg. At the mouth of the river is a heavy rapid, 
with a descent of seventy feet, but above this the main stream is navigable 
for river-steamers for 900 miles, while the south branch is navigable for 
400 miles above its confluence. A small area in the south is drained 
southward towards the Missouri, while north of latitude 54 0 most of the 
country is drained northward either to the Mackenzie or to the Churchill 
rivers. The surface is very generally dotted with small lakes and ponds, 
usually shallow, which lie in hollows in the general covering of drift. 
Many of these are without outlet, and some are quite saline, chiefly from 
the presence of sulphate of soda. 

The whole of Assiniboia, and large tracts in the south of Saskatchewan 
and Alberta are treeless, except in the deep valleys, consisting of grassy 
plains or prairies, which usually extend to the horizon on every side. Or 
the level plain may be varied here and there by sandy or stony hills, 
appearing as high ridges in the distance, but on closer approach dwindling 
to grassy downs. A few plateau-like elevations, such as the Cypress and 
Hand Hills, rise 1,000 feet or more above the surrounding plain. The 
total area of this prairie country north of 49 0 N., including the prairie 
portion of Manitoba, is about 193,000 square miles. North of the treeless 
prairies comes a belt of varying width, consisting of open grassy glades 
alternating with groves of poplar, north of which again is the coniferous 
forest, composed chiefly of spruce and larch. 

People and Towns. — The inhabitants are partly Indians, while the 
remainder are immigrants from many parts of Europe and the eastern 
provinces of the Dominion. The attention of the people is almost entirely 
devoted to agriculture and raising live stock. In the more eastern parts 
of Assiniboia and in the partly wooded country near the banks of the 
Saskatchewan river, wheat, barley, and oats are grown to great perfec- 
tion. In the drier country farther south and west, most of the people 
are engaged in the raising of cattle, horses and sheep. Extensive beds 
of coal and lignite underlie large areas, ensuring an abundant supply of 
fuel. 

Regina , the capital of the North-West Territories, stands on a level 
plain on the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway and is the head-quarters 
of the North-West Mounted Police, who keep order over the whole region 
Calgary , also on the railway, in the southern portion of Alberta, is the 
centre of the ranching country, and its handsome stone-built houses con- 
trast with the wooden or iron dwellings common in newly-settled districts. 
A branch line runs north to Edmonton, on the Saskatchewan. 

North-Western Districts. — The four districts of Athabasca, Mac» 
kenzie, Yukon, and Franklin, together make up a full third of the Dominion 
of Canada. With the exception of Yukon, all of these districts are without 
white inhabitants, except a few fur-traders who have gone out into the 
wilderness to barter with the Indian hunters. The Indian population is 
estimated at about 32,000. Athabasca and Mackenzie are essentially 


Canada— The Territories 


7°3 


similar in character. Their eastern half lies on the north-western extension 
of the Archaean plateau. Their western half is underlain by stratified 
limestones, shales, and sandstones, varying in age from Devonian up to 
Miocene. The north-eastern corner of Mackenzie lies within the area of the 
Barren Lands, beyond the limit of the growth of trees, while most of the 
remainder is covered with a forest of stunted spruce and larch, of no 
commercial value. In the south-western part of Athabasca there are open 
poplar woods, with some rather large tracts of open grassy prairie. Some 
portions of the country west of Athabasca have a height of 3,000 feet, 
while east of that river there are elevations of about 1,700 feet. From there 
the country has a gentle and fairly regular slope northward through 
Mackenzie to the Arctic Sea. The most conspicuous breaks in the general 
level of this plain are the cliffs on the north shore of Great Slave 
Lake, and the Copper Mountains, near the Coppermine river. The 
Athabasca-Mackenzie river traverses the whole length of the district. 
The furs secured by the Indians throughout the forests of this northern 
country are its principal source of wealth. Fish abound in the lakes and 
streams and furnish valuable supplies of food for the traders and Indians. 
Franklin consists of the islands of the Arctic Archipelago, varying in 
size from Baffin Land down to small reefs. These are underlain 
generally by rocks ranging in age from Archaean up to Carboniferous, the 
latter containing some good seams of coal, while in a few places Mesozoic 
and Tertiary rocks have been recognised. The greater part of the surface 
is not very high, and in general character is similar to the Barren Lands 
of the continent. Here the musk ox, polar bear, and reindeer have, as yet, 
a safe retreat. A few Eskimo are now the only inhabitants. 

Yukon. — Yukon Territory lies between the northern limit of British 
Columbia and the Arctic Sea, and between the summit of the Rocky 
Mountains on the east, and the boundary of Alaska on the west. In 
general character it is a northern extension of the mountainous region of 
British Columbia, though the ranges are not so distinct or regular. The 
streams which drain it are nearly all tributary to one great river, the 
Yukon, which is navigable by river steamers for 2,400 miles from one 
of its sources in Teslin Lake to the Bering Sea. Since 1897 discoveries 
of rich deposits of placer gold on the tributaries of the Yukon have 
attracted a large number of prospectors and miners from all parts of the 
world to this remote region, where the gold of the Klondike river has 
led to the growth of the town of Dawson. The gold produced in 1900 and 
1901 averaged £4,000,000 per annum in value. Access to Dawson is had 
by rail from the United States port of Skagway in Alaska over the moun- 
tains to the navigable upper waters of the Yukon. Yukon Territory, in 
consequence of its position in relation to the Pacific and the ameliorating 
effects of the prevalent westerly winds, is by no means so rigorous in its 


704 The International Geography 


climate as those parts of the continent further to the east. Except in the 
extreme north, the lowlands are generally wooded, and hardy crops may 
be grown with some chance of success almost to the Arctic Circle. 


STATISTICS. 


AREA AND POPULATION OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 


Provinces. 

Novia Scotia 

Prince Edward Island .. 

New Brunswick 

Quebec 

Ontario 

Manitoba 

British Columbia . . 

Territories. 

Assiniboia .. 

Saskatchewan 

Alberta 

Keewatin 

Athabasca 

Mackenzie 

Yukon 

Ungava 

Franklin 

Great Lakes of St. Lawrence . . 


Area in 

square miles. 1881. 


Population. 

i$ 9 i. 

20,600 

. . 440,572 

• • 

450,396 

2,000 

28,200 

. . 108,891 

• • 

109,078 

.. 321,233 

• • 

321,263 

347.350 

1,359,027 

t • 

1,488,535 

222,000 

. . 1,926,922 

• • 

2,114,321 

73960 

. . 62,260 

• • 

152,506 

383,300 

• • 49,459 

• • 

98,173 

89 , 535 ^ 

107,092 


f 

• • 

66,799 j 

100.000 

756.000 

251.300 
563,200 

198.300 

* . . 5 6 , 44 6h 

• • 

32,168- 

456, oco 
Unknown. 
47,400 

• • u 

< 

• • 



Totals 


• . 3 . 653,950 . . 4,324,810 


4,833,239 


1901. 

459.574 

103,259 

331,120 

1,648,898 

2,182,947 

255,211 

178,657 

67,385 ' 
25,679 
65,876 
8.546 
6,615 

5,2i6 

27,218 

5 ,H 3 


5 , 371,315 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS. 


Montreal 

1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

• • 155,237 

216,650 

267,730 

Toronto 

96,196 

181 220 

208,040 

Quebec. . 

. . 62,449 

63,090 

68,840 

Ottawa . . 

3 L 307 

44,154 

59.928 

Hamilton 

35 , 96 o 

48,980 

52,634 

Winnipeg 

7,985 

25,642 

42,340 

Halifax. . 

.. 36,100 

38,556 

40,832 


St. John, N.B. .. 

1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

41,353 

39,179 

40,711 

London, Ont. .. 

26,206 

3 L 977 

37.981 

Vancouver, B.C. 

— 

13,685 

26,133 

St. Henri . . 

6,415 

13.413 

21,192 

Victoria, B.C. .. 

5,925 

16,841 

20,816 

Kingston 

14,091 

19,263 

17.961 

Brantford 

9,6i6 

12,753 

16,619 


AREA AND ELEVATION ABOVE SEA OF THE LARGEST LAKES. 


Superior 
Huron 
Great Bear 
Great Slave 
Erie 

Winnipeg 


Exports 

Imports 


Area in 

Elevation 


Area in 

Elevation 

square miles. 

in feet. 

Ontario . . 

square miles. 

in feet. 

. 31,200 

. . 6005 

. . 7,240 

• • 245-5 

. 23,800 

580 

Athabasca 

. . 2,850 

. . 690 

. 11,400 

340 

Winnipegosis 

. . 2,000 

.. 828 

. 10,100 

9,960 
. 9,400 

520 

Manitoba 

.. 1,710 

. . 810 

572 
.. 710 

Nepigon 

i, 45 o 

.. 850 

AVERAGE ANNUAL TRADE (in founds sterling). 



1871-75- 

16.500.000 

23.500.000 


1881-85. 

19.200.000 

23.300.000 


1891-95. 

22.500.000 

24.400.000 


II.— NEWFOUNDLAND 

By J. B. Tyrrell, M.A., B.Sc., 

Formerly of the Geological Survey of Canada. 


Coast and Surface. — The large island of Newfoundland, lying across 
the mouth of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, extends from 46^° to 51J 0 N. lat., 
separated from the mainland of Labrador by the Strait of Belle Isle, 
12 miles wide, and from Cape Breton by Cabot Strait 60 miles wide. 


Newfoundland 


7°5 


It is roughly triangular in outline, each of its three sides being between 
300 and 400 miles in length ; but while the north-western shore is 
moderately straight, the southern and north-eastern shores are indented 
by many deep bays, and fringed with a great number of rocky islands, 
which form many magnificent harbours. The coast is for the most 
part bold and rocky, and its total length is about 2,000 miles. The 
large bays usually run in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, 
and their shores are broken by many smaller bays. The bays of Notre- 
Dame and Bonavista on the north-east coast are marvellously fretted by 
little peninsulas and fringed with small islands. Heart’s Content, on the 
north side of Trinity Bay, is the landing-place of the Atlantic cables. 
Burin Peninsula, with a length of 82 miles, lies between the great bays 
of Fortune and Placentia, while the peninsula of Avalon, in the south-east, 
on which the larger part of the population is settled, is almost cut off from 
the rest of the island by Placentia Bay on the south and Trinity Bay on 
the north, the neck of the peninsula being only three miles wide in its 
narrowest part. St. Mary’s Bay and Conception Bay make great indenta- 
tions into this peninsula. 

The interior of Newfoundland is underlain chiefly by Archaean and 
early Palaeozoic rocks, arranged in long folds in a general north-easterly 
and south-westerly direction, parallel to the north-west coast, the older and 
harder rocks forming the ridges, while the softer and later rocks occupy 
the depressions. The Long Range, on the west side, is the highest and 
most important of the ridges, varying in height from 1,000 to 2,000 feet. 
The undulating surfaces of the rocky hills are dotted with an immense 
number of small ponds and lakes, from which flow many brooks to form 
the larger streams, the most important of which are the Exploits and 
Sanchau, discharging on the north-east coast, and the Humber river, dis- 
charging into the head of the Bay of Islands on the west coast. The tops 
of the rocky hills and ridges are for the most part scantily wooded or 
barren, while the river valleys and the land at the head of the deep bays 
are usually thickly wooded with large and valuable timber, chiefly white 
pine, spruce, larch and birch. 

Climate. — The Arctic current, bearing extensive fields of ice and 
many icebergs, flows southward past the east side of the island, and tends 
to lower the temperature in summer, but very extreme temperatures are 
unknown, the thermometer rarely falling below zero F. or rising above 
85° F. Dense fogs often hang over the south and east shores, but these 
do not extend many miles inland, and the weather in the interior is usually 
clear and bright. 

Resources and Industries. — Though there are large areas of good 
agricultural land in the interior, it has as yet been almost entirely 
neglected, for the surrounding ocean contains such an abundance of fish 
and seals that the catching and curing of them occupies almost the entire 
attention of the people. Early in March steamers and sailing vessels 


706 The International Geography 


put to sea heavily manned, and seek the ice-floes drifting down from the 
north, on which the seals have brought forth their young. The sealing 
season lasts from March 16th to April 16th. After the sealing is over the 
season for cod-fishing begins, and lasts from June to November. The vast 

submarine plateau which extends 
around the south and east shores 
of Newfoundland, known as the 
Grand Banks, and covered with a 
depth of from 10 to 160 fathoms 
of water, is the greatest fishing- 
ground for cod in the world, and 
ships of many nations congregate 
there to gather the rich harvest 
from the sea ; and the bold and 
well-trained sailors from New- 
foundland, being nearest to the 
Grand Banks, and provided with 
a plentiful supply of bait (capelin, 
squid, &c.), which swarm on their 
shores, come in for a full share 
of this harvest. The fish, when 
caught, are cleaned, salted and 
dried in the sun on stages, which 



FlG. 346 . — Newfoundland and the Grand Banks. 
The French shore is shown by a double line. 


may be seen almost everywhere. Herring, capelin, and other fish are caught 
in considerable quantity along the shore. Salmon are caught in the rivers, 
and of late years a considerable industry has grown up in the catching and 
canning of lobsters. Almost 90 per cent of the exports of Newfoundland 
consist of the products of the fisheries, more than half being dried codfish. 

Iron pyrites, copper and iron ore are the principal minerals at present 
worked, the first-named being exported to England for the manufacture of 
sulphuric acid. Coal is reported to exist in considerable quantity, chiefly 
on the west side of the island, and lead and nickel are also said to occur. 
The timber is cut to some extent for local use. 

Population and History. — Newfoundland was discovered by John 
Cabot in 1497, at which time it was inhabited by the 
Beothuks, or Red Indians, a tribe whose exact affinities 
are now unknown, for the last survivor is supposed to 
have died in the early part of the nineteenth century. 

The fame of the cod-fishing off its shores soon spread 
through the maritime nations of Europe, and many 
ships from France, Spain, Portugal and England re- 
sorted every year to the Grand Banks, using the many FlG - 347 Ba f& e 
harbours of the island as bases of operations. In 1582 of hewfoun lan 

an English Governor was appointed, and during the next fifty years several 
futile attempts were made at colonisation. Then for more than a century 



St. Pierre and Miquelon 707 

and a half colonisation was discouraged, the English merchants, who were 
amassing large fortunes by cod-fishing, not wishing to have to compete with 
inhabitants of Newfoundland. It was not till 1791 that a Supreme Court 
of Judiciary was erected in the island. At present there is a Governor 
appointed by the Crown, a Legislative Council, appointed for life by the 

Governor in Council, and a Legislative Assembly 

elected for four years by the whole people. The 
executive is in the hands of a Ministry having the 
confidence of the Assembly. For administrative pur- 
poses the coast of Labrador is considered as part of 
the colony of Newfoundland. , * 

The usual means of communication between one 
place and another has been by boats along the coast, Fig ^.—Average p 0 p. 
but a railway now crosses the island from St. John’s ulation of a square 
to Port aux Basques, passing through the most fertile miLof^cafoundiand. 

and well-wooded districts, and it is expected not only to open much of the 
interior to settlement, but also to form a part of a line of rapid communi- 
cation between Europe and America. 

Towns. — St. John's , so called because the harbour was first entered 
by John Cabot on St. John’s Day, is the capital. It is situated on the east 
side of Avalon Peninsula, at the head of a magnificent land-locked harbour 
a mile long and half a mile wide, which is entered through a deep, rocky 
passage only 200 yards wide at its narrowest part. In it the largest ships 
can ride in safety. It is the centre of the fishing trade of the island, and 
may become one of the most important ports on the Atlantic seaboard, 
when the railway across the island is connected by fast steamers with the 
Canadian railway system, for it is nearer Europe than any other port in 
America, being only 1,675 miles from Cape Clear on the west coast of 
Ireland. Harbour Grace , the next town in size, stands on Concepcion Bay. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Newfoundland (square miles) 

„ Labrador (square miles) 

Population of Newfoundland 

Density of Population of Newfoundland (per square mile) 

Population of Labrador 

„ St. John’s 

„ Harbour Grace 

ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

Imports 

Exports 


1891. 

1901. 

42,200 

42,200 

119,000 

119,000 

197,934 

217,037 

47 

5*2 

4.106 

3,947 

29,007 

29,594 

6,466 

5,184 

1881-85. 

1891-95. 

1,630,000 . . 

1,400,000 

1,574,000 . . 

1,350,000 


III.— ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON 


By M. Zimme>rmann. x 

St. Pierre and Miquelon. — The two little islands of St. Pierre and 
Miquelon with a permanent population of a few thousand persons, remain 

1 Translated from the French by the Editor. 


708 The International Geography 

in the possession of France as the only relics of the magnificent colonial 
empire she founded in North America. They lie close to the south of 
Newfoundland and, small as they are, only 93 square miles, they possess 
a real importance to the mother country on account of their proximity to 
the Grand Banks where large fleets of French fishing-boats are engaged in 
the capture of cod. The islands form the basis of the fish trade with 
France, and the exports of fish from the port of St. Pierre , on the island of 
the same name, are steadily increasing, their value in 1894 exceeding 
five million dollars. Miquelon, although the larger island, has very 
few inhabitants, and the rainy climate with its frequent fogs does not 
encourage immigration. In connection with these islands France retains 
certain fishing rights on the west coast of Newfoundland, which on that 
account is termed the French Shore (Fig. 346). 

STATISTICS (1892). 

Area in square miles. Population. Density of Population. 

• St. Pierre .... 10 . . 5 . 7 °° . . 57 <> 

Miquelon .... 83 .. 550 .. 7 

IV. — BERMUDA 

By the Editor. 

Position and General Character. — A solitary bank rising abruptly 
from the depths of the North Atlantic in 32 0 N. and 65° W. bears a group of 
small islands of remarkable formation known as the Bermudas. Farther 

north than any other coral islands, 
they are of coral formation ; a 
consequence of the warm water 
carried northward by the great 
oceanic whirl of which the Gulf 
Stream forms part. The islands 
occupy a space of only twenty 
miles by five, but are surrounded, 
especially on the north and west, 
by a growing reef through which 

Fig. 349. — Bermuda Islands and reefs. The a few intricate channels admit 
map includes 30 miles by 20. vessels. Unlike other atolls the 

Bermudas are in parts hilly, the heights, which rise to 260 feet, being formed 
of blown coral sand, cemented by the action of rain into solidrock ; they 
are in fact petrified dunes. The sweeping curve of the hook-shaped main 
island brings it so close to the smaller members of the group that many of 
them are reached by bridges or causeways. The situation is as remarkable 
as the formation. From Bermuda as a centre a radius of 800 miles would 
sweep the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Cape Hatteras ; 
and a radius of 1,000 miles would sweep the east coast of Florida and the 
whole line of the Antilles from Cuba to Antigua. This gives the little 



Bermuda 


709 


group remarkable strategic value. Another element of importance is 
the climate, which is remarkably mild and equable. The temperature 
has never been known to fall below 40° ; the monthly mean of February, 
the coldest month, is nearly 63° ; that of August, the hottest month, does 
not exceed 8o°. Hence in spite of poor soil the islands have become 
noted for the growth of early vegetables of excellent quality, and for 
many subtropical products ; the staple crops for export to New York were 
in 1896, onions, early potatoes, and lily-bulbs. There is no lake nor stream 
in the islands, and the wells yield somewhat brackish water, so that the 
inhabitants rely mainly on rain-water caught and stored in cisterns. 

History, Government and People. — The group was discovered in 
I 5 I 5 by a Spanish navigator, Bermudez, and from the usual pronunciation 
of his name it became known as the Bermoothes, a form perpetuated by 
Shakespeare when he laid the scene of “The Tempest" there. In 1609 
the shipwreck of Sir George Somers gave them the alternative name of 
Somers’ Islands, and also led directly to the first settlement and colonisa- 
tion from Virginia and England. Bermuda is now a British colony under 
a Governor, who is assisted by an Executive and a Legislative Council 
nominated by him, with an elected Legislative Assembly as a Lower House. 
Of the population little over one-third is white, the rest being negroes and 
coloured people as in the West Indies. The main occupation is market 
gardening, but the increasing use of Bermuda as a winter resort for wealthy 
Americans is also important. Steamers ply regularly to New York. A 
telegraph cable connects the islands with Nova Scotia, and may be pro- 
longed southward to the West Indies. Bermuda is an important British 
naval station for the North American squadron on account of its central 
position ; the approaches to the channels are accordingly fortified, and 
a garrison of about 1,500 British troops is permanently stationed in this 
Malta of the western North Atlantic. The chief town is Hamilton , situated 
on the main island. 


STATISTICS. 



1885. 


1895. 

Area of Bermuda (square miles) 


• • 

20 

Population.. 

. . 15,036 

• • 

15.794 

Density of population per square mile . . 

75i 

• • 

789 

Population of Hamilton (the capital) . . 

.. .. 2,100 

• • 

1,296 

STANDARD 

BOOKS. 



S. E. Dawson. “ Canada and Newfoundland. 

” In Stanford's Compendium. 

London. 


1897. 

* British Association Handbook to Canada." Toronto, 1897. 

Sir T. G. Bourinot. “Canada under British Rule," 1760-1900. London, 1900. 

G. K. Parkin. “ The Great Dominion ” London, 1895. 

M. Harvey. “ Newfoundland in 1897.” London, 1897. 

A. Heilprin. “ Bermuda Islands.” Philadelphia, 1889. 

The publications of the Canadian Geological Survey contain many valuable 
reports on exploration in all parts of the Dominion. 


CHAPTER XXXIX THE UNITED STATES OF 

AMERICA 


By William Morris Davis, 

Professor of Physical Geography in Hari'ard University. 

I.— HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY 

Discovery and Settlement. — The New World is fortunate in lying 
with its lesser highlands towards the narrow Atlantic which separates it 
from western Europe, the home of active and inventive Caucasians, and 
in presenting its greater highlands to the broad Pacific, which separates it 
from eastern Asia, the home of the unprogressive Mongolians ; for to this 
accident of position — if such it be — the discovery and colonisation of the 
New World by the best race of the Old World may be ascribed. A 
century of discovery along the eastern coast led to a century of colonisa- 
tion, this to a century of rapid colonial growth, and this again to a 
century of independence and expansion for the middle colonies of the 
Atlantic border. At the close of these four centuries the United States 
has become one of the foremost nations of the world in extent, variety, and 
value of territory, and in number, intelligence, and wealth of population. 

The English colonies of the Atlantic coast between the St. Lawrence 
and Florida were established at first with relation to the harbours that gave 
protection to the vessels by which intercourse with the mother country 
was maintained. From the harbour settlements as centres, large areas of 
land were claimed under the authority of royal grants ; thus the coast was 
subdivided among a dozen colonies, some of which laid claim to an 
indefinite extent of inland country. Progress into the interior was in most 
cases opposed by the aboriginal Americans, of tribal organisation, to whom 
the name of "Indians” was given by the early discoverers as if to set a 
lasting mark on their faulty reckoning of longitude. Idealised in romance, 
too often abused in the rough realities of frontier life, the Indian was a 
rude savage. He probably lived as closely to his ideas of virtue and duty 
as the colonists did to theirs, and when fairly treated, as by the Quakers 
under Penn, he was peaceful ; but the ideas of natives and of new-comers 
were usually unlike, even irreconcilable. Each one often accused the 
other of injustice, and the intercourse between them was constantly 
interrupted by petty warfare, resulting in an aggressive advance of the 
whites into the lands of the Indians. The progress of the backwoodsman 
among the Alleghenies in the eighteenth century, of the frontiersman on 
the prairies, plains and mountains, and of the Indian agent, acting for the 

7TO 


The United States 


711 


government under profitable contracts in the nineteenth century, does not 
make a glorious history to review, so far as it deals with native tribes. 

Hardly less fortunate than the narrowness of the Atlantic is the north- 
ward trend of its coast lines, as a result of which the inland progress of the 
early English colonists, and of the later immigrants from many countries, 
carried them westward across North America within the limits of a single 
climatic belt, instead of northward across many. The belt thus naturally 
marked out includes the greatest area of the best land on the continent. The 
early boundaries of the belt lay near the St. Lawrence on the north, where 
the French had planted colonies, and near the Gulf of Mexico on the 
south, where Florida was colonised by the Spaniards. From these 
beginnings a great expansion was accomplished in the century of inde- 
pendence ; and the new territory, at first in charge of governors appointed 
at Washington, was gradually, part by part, brought into the fellowship 
of States, until at present only New Mexico, Arizona, a remnant of Indian 
Territory, and the re- 
mote Alaskan province 
are still outstanding. 

The Declaration of 
Independence on the 
4th of July, 1776, was 
the natural result of 
unjust legislation on 
the part of the British 
government imposing 
burdens upon the colo- 
nies without offering 
equivalent privileges to 
them, and Great Britain , 
was compelled to recognise the independence of the colonies in 1783* 
Florida was bought from Spain in 1819, Louisiana (the western half of the 
Mississippi basin) was bought from France in 1803, Oregon was acquired 
by right of exploration, the south-west from Texas to California was gained 
from Mexico between 1845 and 1853, after a manner which the Americans 
had aptly inherited from their ancestors in Europe, and Alaska was bought 
from Russia in 1867. Finally, Hawaii was annexed, the Philippine Islands 
and Porto Rico were ceded by Spain, and the protection of Tutuila in 
Samoa was assumed in 1899. 

The States and the United States. — Since the formation of the 
Union, and particularly since its cementation after the Civil War of 
1861-65, the geographer may turn his attention from the single States to 
the United States, and this is now done even in the descriptive pages of 
school geographies, the best of which divide the United States into 
physical districts, and refer to the separate States chiefly as a means of 
giving location to the physical features and their industrial consequences. 



E 3 J 1 3 Original Statu —Boundaries of Ditto —Modem State Boundaries 

Fig. 350. — The expansion of the United States. 


712 The International Geography 

The individual State is still a unit for the politician and the lawyer, but 
it is a fraction for the geographer, and very often an improper fraction. 
The Ohio and Mississippi rivers are exceptional in serving as natural 
boundaries for many States ; but even the great Mississippi does not 
divide States at its head or at its mouth. The Appalachian mountain- 
system is most irregularly partitioned among the older States. The 
western States are generally bounded by lines dependent on the form and 
rotation of the globe, after a method that has become habitual when 
civilised man wishes to divide thinly settled and unsurveyed territory. 
The strong front range of the Rocky Mountains, rising abruptly from the 
plains, forms no State boundary, but is crossed by the borders of Montana, 
Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Commerce is free to cross State 
limits, while the principle of protection regulates the trade of other 
nations with the United States as a whole. Many manufacturing and 
mining companies are incorporated in one State where local laws give 
them some advantage, carry on their business in another State, and 
perhaps have their financial office in a third. Railroads truly must have 
charters from every State that they cross ; but this is merely a legal 
technicality, of no consequence to the passengers or the freight that are 
carried over the tracks. Several lines of transatlantic steamers, nominally 
bound for New York City, land their passengers in New Jersey ; and but 
for the accident of a State boundary that runs through New York 
harbour, Jersey City would have probably been included in the Greater 
New York, recently formed by consolidating several cities with the 
metropolis. State capitals are often of less importance than the com- 
mercial cities, whose growth follows physical controls. Many business 
men in border cities reside in the adjoining State, and cross the boundary 
to and from their work every day : Philadelphia has suburbs across the 
Delaware in New Jersey ; St. Louis across the Mississippi in Illinois; and 
Kansas City itself spreads across the line between Missouri and Kansas. 

Government. — The republican form of government adopted by the 

United States is in many ways paralleled by the 

governments of the individual States. There is a 

national constitution, under which each State has 

its individual constitution. The Union, like the 

separate States, has the three usual divisions of 

governmental functions — legislative, executive, and 

judicial. The President of the whole country has 

Fl ?; \~ The Fl °f the his Cabinet of the heads of departments ; the 
United States — the Stripes . 

representing the 13 original Governor of a State has similar councillors. A 
States ^ and the Stars the Supreme Court sits at Washington, and district 

federal courts sit in different parts of the country 
to act upon questions in which the interests of citizens of more than one 
State are involved. Each State has a similar judiciary for the decision 
of local matters. The Congress of the United States consists of the Senate 



The United States 


7 J 3 


and the House of Representatives ; the Legislatures of the States are 
similarly divided. The national Senate includes two members from each 
State — not a satisfactory method of representation to-day, since Nevada 
(whose population is decreasing), Rhode Island, and Delaware are placed 
on an equality with New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. The represen- 
tatives are chosen on the basis of population. The laws passed by Congress 
are uniform for the whole country. Within limits thus defined, the several 
States frame laws for themselves, often of great diversity in different parts 
of the country. Many laws regarding slavery formerly obtained in the 
southern States ; liquor laws, restricting or prohibiting the sale of intoxi- 
cating liquors, have been passed in several northern States. The right to 
vote has been extended to women in some of the western States, where 
conservative traditions have less hold than in the east. With the desire to 
increase their population, other States have been over-liberal regarding 
divorce laws ; and the desert State of Nevada has even gone to the offensive 
extreme of permitting prize fights, as if in the vain hope of staying its 
recent loss of numbers. 

People. — The remoteness of the United States from formidable neigh- 
bours has fortunately not required the withdrawal of many persons from 
industrial pursuits into the army and navy ; and as long as the territory 
under the national government remains compact it is probable that the 
burden of an elaborate, expensive, and unproductive military and naval 
establishment may be avoided. There is little need for forts and soldiers 
within the country itself. It is true that individual differences have been 
too often settled by violence rather than by appeal to the courts ; but 
when the rapidity of settlement and the heterogeneous nature of the 
population are considered, and when it is remembered that even during 
the century of independence a large part of the population has had 
personal experience of the rude conditions of frontier life, the prevalence 
of good order becomes the striking feature of the country. This must be 
ascribed chiefly to the plentiful and profitable occupation that the vast 
extent of new land gave to all comers during nearly all the century of 
independence ; for even with a decennial increase of from five to ten 
millions there has been land enough and to spare. Another beneficent 
effect of plentiful occupation has been the rapid assimilation of immigrants, 
whereby the foreigners from many lands have soon been Americanised. 
A failure of this process is seen to a greater or less degree in large cities, 
in certain mining regions, and in some parts of the north-west where the 
settlement of immigrants, derived largely from a single European country, 
causes the retention of at least a foreign language if not of other customs 
foreign to the United States. But in spite of these deficiencies, the leading 
fact remains that, as a whole, the great population has become naturalised 
to its new continental home with a success that recalls the spread of 
thistles in Argentina and rabbits in Australia ; and although uncompli- 
mentary, the comparison is based on sound biological principles. 


714 The International Geography 


Religious freedom and public education have contributed largely to 
the good results which plentiful and profitable occupation have chiefly 
controlled. There is no established church, and the several larger 
religious bodies are so strong that no one is likely to overpower the others. 
Illiteracy is rare, except among the negroes and poor whites of the south. 
Besides the public schools, for which provision is made with constantly 
increasing liberality, there are State colleges in most of the States, and 
there are only too many sectarian colleges, especially in the north and east 
of the plains, established as if for the religious safety of the young of the 
several denominations. Large gifts have been made to educational 
institutions by wealthy men ; and the strongest universities of the country, 
Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins, 
Chicago, and Stanford, have thus been supported in great part. Public 
libraries are numerous ; they are frequently the gifts of successful men to 
the homes of their boyhood. The establishment of scientific Government 
Bureaus has greatly contributed to the development of the national 

resources. Notable among these is the Geological 
Survey, now engaged in mapping the entire national 
domain ; and the liberal method of disposing of its 
publications at a nominal price, in order that they 
shall be widely used, deserves imitation elsewhere. 
The Weather Bureau of the United States is unique 
in the area covered, and in the promptness of pub- 
lication of its daily maps. 

With the aid of education, and the incentive of 



FlG. 352 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 

mile of the United industrial opportunity, the people of the northern 
States ’ States have been remarkably fertile in mechanical 


inventions, to say nothing of the application of perverted ingenuity to the 
development of “ rings ” in politics and “ corners ” in the markets, and of 
monopolies and over-profitable trusts in corporations. 

Towards the close of the nineteenth century certain unfavourable 
reactions followed the rapid growth in population and wealth. Immi- 
grants of a less desirable class than the early comers have made 
their appearance in increasing numbers, chiefly from eastern and southern 
Europe. Many of them remain in crowded seaports instead of entering 
further into the country. Disputes between incorporated employers and 
the employed have become more and more serious in their nature. The 
multiplication of factories and the competition among manufacturers 
compels such economy in production as to reduce wages, and for this 
reason more than any other, new markets for manufactured products are 
now eagerly looked for. If the twentieth century witnesses a territorial 
expansion beyond the present boundaries, the change will be made largely 
on commercial grounds ; for with nearly all the valuable public lands now 
disposed of to incorporated or to individual owners, and with a rapidly 
increasing excess of production over consumption, the demand for new 


The United States 715 

opportunities on the part of the “ business men’' may prove stronger than 
the resistance of those conservatives who feel that a republic of wide- 
spread territory is not compatible with the Declaration of Independence 
and the principles of the Constitution. That such a result should have 
already come within the range of possibility only emphasises the marvel- 
lous changes of the United States during the century of independence. 

Trade. — The foreign trade of the United States is mainly carried on 
by the seaports of New York (through which almost one-half of the trade 
of the country passes), Boston (which comes next with only one-tenth), 
New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. It is carried 
on mainly under foreign flags, only one-ninth of the value of the export 
and import trade being done in vessels belonging to the United States. 
On the other hand, no foreign vessels are allowed to engage in coasting trade 
from one port of the United States to another. The value of the exports 
considerably exceeds that of the imports. The former consist mainly of 
agricultural produce — wheat, animals, preserved meat, &c., from the 
prairie States, and raw cotton from the south Atlantic and the Gulf coastal 
plains ; these together make up two-thirds of the exports. Manufactures 
are exported nearly to the value of one-third, most of the products of 
mines and forests being required for home use. The imports are mainly of 
products which cannot be produced in the United States, or not in suffi- 
cient quantity for the demand, such as coffee, sugar (the largest import, 
amounting to one-seventh of the value of the whole), raw wool and silk, 
and certain manufactured goods. The import of such articles as can be 
manufactured in the United States is discouraged by the imposition of a 
heavy tariff, which raises the price to the consumer, and so benefits the 
manufacturing class with less advantage to the farmers. Nearly half of 
the exports go to the United Kingdom ; Germany comes next in import- 
ance as a customer, and Canada, France, and Holland follow. The United 
Kingdom sends one-fifth of the total imports, Germany and France come 
next with one-fifth between them. The imports are drawn from a wider 
field than that over which the exports are distributed ; thus, while at least 
76 per cent, of the exports are sent to Europe, only 55 per cent, of the 
imports are drawn from that continent. The recent development of the 
total trade is shown in Fig. 71. 

II.— REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY 

THE APPALACHIAN BELT 

The Appalachian Belt. — The chief geographical features of the 
eastern United States cannot be appreciated until it is understood that a 
great part of the region has been uplifted by tectonic forces, worn down 
to a nearly level surface by erosion, and after being again more or less 
uplifted is now once more in process of dissection. The Appalachian 
47 


716 The International Geography 

Mountains were first formed by disturbances so long ago that once at 
least in later times the mountains have been worn down to an extensive 
lowland of moderate relief, close to the level of the sea ; and the mountains 
of to-day are either the occasional unconsumed remnants of the lost ranges, 
or the product of renewed uplift and dissection. Thus viewed, the Appa- 
lachian belt may be easily subdivided and described ; thus described, a 
close connection will be found between its geological history and its 
present form ; and again, between its present form and its control over 
human conditions. 

Divisions of the Appalachian Belt. — An eastern division of the 
Appalachian belt consists of ancient crystalline rocks, such as schists and 
gneisses, with many areas of granites and other igneous intrusions. A 
western division consists of a great series of Palaeozoic strata, chiefly 
derived from the waste of the older rocks on the east, and now greatly 
tilted and folded. Both of these divisions were well worn down to low- 
lands over the greater part of their area during Mesozoic time ; but the 
hardest parts of the crystalline division survived in residual mountains, for 
which the generic name monadnock is coming into use, after a fine residual 
mountain of this name in south-western New Hampshire. The White 
Mountains of New Hampshire and the Black Mountains and other ranges 
in North Carolina seem to be groups of such monadnocks. 

If viewed in Cretaceous times, the Appalachian region would have been 
seen as a broad, gently rolling lowland, here and there surmounted by 
monadnocks, singly or in groups. Since then the lowland has been raised 
into an upland, bearing the monadnocks on its back. The quiet streams 
of the lowland were thus revived into new vigour, and new valleys have 
consequently been incised beneath the upland surface. Unlike the earlier 
mountain-making disturbances, the later uplift was of a gentle nature, 
producing a broad swell, whose arch-line follows the Appalachian trend, 
and whose side slopes fall off slowly to the south-east and north-west. 
Much of the Appalachian system is therefore not mountainous to-day ; near 
the sea it may even include extensive areas of low land. The broadly 
uplifted portion has regained the appearance of mountains chiefly by the 
excavation of valleys along the belts of weak rocks, or along the paths of 
its larger streams. The mountains and ridges of to-day must therefore be 
regarded as forms of circumdenudation, like those of the Scottish High- 
lands, in contrast to mountains of direct uplift, such as occur in certain 
parts of the western United States. 

Following principles of wide application, it may be briefly stated that 
the valleys worn by the larger streams in the uplifted lowland are now 
deep where the lowland was raised highest, and shallow where the least 
uplift occurred. Again, the valleys are broad where the rocks are rela- 
tively weak ; here, indeed, lowlands of a later generation have been 
developed, above which the local belts of harder rocks stand as residual 
hills and ridges of the second order. Where the rocks are resistant the 


The United States 


7 iy 


valleys are still narrow, time enough not yet having elapsed since the 
uplift to permit the valleys to grow wide. The varied combinations of 
these controlling factors give rational explanations to a great variety of 
geographical forms. 

The Older Appalachian Belt. — The eastern or crystalline division 
of the Appalachians — the Older Appalachian Belt, as it may be called 
(OA in Fig. 353) — consists so largely of resistant rocks that its uplands 
preserve the altitude given to them by uplift over large areas, and the 
valleys worn out by the streams are relatively narrow. The western or 
stratified division — the Newer Appalachian Belt(N A in Fig. 353) — includes 
a much larger proportion of easily weathered rocks ; hence its valleys 
are well worn down, and its narrow ridges occur only where the harder 
strata are found. The even crest lines of the ridges, a striking feature of 
the Newer Appalachians in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Tennessee, are 
analogous to the even uplands of the Older Appalachians. The breadth 
of the older and newer belts is very variable. The older belt is narrow 
and low between New York and Washington, and broad and high in 
New England and North Carolina. The newer belt is represented chiefly 
by a broad valley north of Albany ; it is still broader, with many ridges 
and valleys in Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

After thus recognising the division of the Appalachians into two chief 
longitudinal belts, there are certain contrasts between the northern and 
southern part of the system that deserve attention. North of New York 
City, a comparatively recent depression of the Appalachian region, in- 
creasing towards Newfoundland, has drowned the borders of this geo- 
graphical province beneath the waters of the Atlantic, bringing the sea 
against the resistant rocks of the once deep-seated mountain structures. 
South of New York, an elevation of the region, increasing towards Ala- 
bama, has revealed the unconsolidated deposits of a former sea bottom in 
the coastal plain of the southern States. Few simpler examples of the 
manner in which crustal movements determine geographical forms can be 
found than this, and few in which the arrangement of geographical forms 
has a more direct influence on the conditions of human life. 

The Atlantic Shore Line. — The shore line of the northern Appa- 
lachians is extremely irregular ; many long arms of the sea enter between 
low rocky headlands and outlying islands ; comparatively deep water is 
carried into the re-entrants of the coast, making numerous and excellent 
harbours ; but the rugged hill country follows almost immediately inland, 
discouraging agriculture. Mount Washington, the highest of the White 
Mountains, and many other monadnocks are in sight from the sea. 

The shore line of the southern coastal plain is usually fringed with sand 
reefs, broken by tidal inlets and enclosing shallow lagoons. The sea is 
shallow, deepening very gradually towards the outer edge of the con- 
tinental shelf, where the rapid descent to the true ocean basin begins, a 
hundred miles or more from shore. The land is very flat, ascending slowly 


718 The International Geography 

inland ; no hills surmount its surface. It is traversed by rivers whose 
courses have been extended forward from the former shore line at the 
inner border of the coastal plain, but the river valleys are eroded only to 
a very moderate depth ; not until the inner border of the plain is ap- 
proached is the surface so well dissected as to be called hilly. Agriculture 
is promoted on the more fertile parts of the plain, and upon the deep soils 
of the smooth uplands of the Older Appalachian Belt, next inland. When 
it is remembered that the rugged surface of New England was settled by 
religious refugees, whose convictions were as rugged as the country they 
peopled, and that the southern States were settled by colonists whose 
motives were generally commercial rather than religious, a long sequence 
of historical consequences may be traced from the association of unlike 
people on unlike lands. 

The movements of the land whereby the configuration of the shore line 
has been effected must be pursued one step further. A slight depression 
has followed the elevation of the coastal plain from New Jersey to North 
Carolina ; thus the broadened valley floors of the chief rivers have been 
submerged, forming bays and estuaries, from that of the Delaware to that 
of Pamlico Sound. On the other hand, a recent movement of elevation has 
partly counteracted the previous movement of depression in New England, 
for the littoral districts of Maine and New Hampshire contain smooth plains 
of marine clays that interlock with the rocky arms of the land. 

The order of settlement, the arrangement of State boundaries and the 
occupation of inhabitants in this region had been profoundly affected by 
the physical features, thus briefly sketched. The early colonists in tide- 
water Virginia found protected harbourage in the many branching bays of 
the Chesapeake and lower Potomac ; for many years communication 
between them was more easily carried on by water than overland through 
the forests. Although the drowning of these former valley lowlands has 
been a loss to agriculture, there is some compensation for the loss in the 
valuable fishing grounds which they afford. Their importance in deter- 
mining political units is manifest. The largest bays of the coastal plain 
divided the colonies of Virginia and Maryland. Another bay led to the 
establishment of Pennsylvania and Delaware, leaving New Jersey on its 
eastern side. The south-pointing peninsular areas defined by the bays 
determined the small area of the three colonies that occupied them, in 
contrast to Virginia and Pennsylvania, which at the time of the Revolution, 
claimed all the land westward to the Pacific. 

The Atlantic Coastal Plain. — Various features of the coastal plain, 
constantly reflected in the distribution and occupation of the people, may 
well serve as types for this class of land forms. The outer border of the 
plain, fronted by shallow water and fringed with sand reefs from New 
Jersey to North Carolina, attracts no commercial settlements, but is in- 
creasingly frequented as a holiday resort : Atlantic City on an off-shore reef 
in southern New Jersey is the largest town of this kind (Fig. 354). Along 


The United States 


719 



FIG. 353 . — Physical Divisions of the United States. 





720 The International Geography 

the North Carolina shores, the sand reefs, locally known as “banks,” have 
a peculiar concave outline to the sea, meeting in sharp points or cusps, 
forming Capes Hatteras, Fear, and Look-out. These are believed to 
be due to the interaction of several large back-set eddies of the long- 
shore waters, which seem to turn in local circuits between the Gulf Stream 
and the continent. The cusps are the most perfect examples of such shore 
forms anywhere known. The “ banks ” are occupied by small communities 
of isolated people, known as “ bankers." A small breed of horses, known 
as “ banker ponies," here run wild, subsisting on the coarse grass that 
grows on the sandy soil ; in the absence of brooks, the ponies find fresh 
water by pawing away the sand in the depressions between the dunes. 

The islands along the coast of South Carolina are peculiar in being 
interrupted by numerous tidal inlets, a direct result of the increased strength 
of the tides in the “Carolina bight" of the Atlantic coast. Here the off- 
shore islands are not entirely composed of sand reefs, but in part resemble 
detached portions of the mainland ; their soil is rich and produces the 


the coast line, like Norfolk, Va., Wilmington, N.C., Charleston, S.C., 
and Savannah, Ga. ; others are at the inner border of the plain like 
Trenton, N.J., Philadelphia, Pa., Baltimore, Md., Washington, D.C., and 
Richmond, Va., these cities being at or near the head of tide water. 
Others, like Raleigh, N.C., and Columbia, S.C., are at the “falls" of 
their respective rivers, above the reach of tide, but at the head of 
river navigation; the “falls" being formed where the streams, coming 
forward from the interior, pass from the resistant rocks of the older 
land to the unconsolidated strata of the coastal plain. If an observant 
traveller should traverse the coastal plain along any of the transverse 
inter-stream strips or “doabs," into which it is divided by the chief 
rivers, he would find that its soil, the surface expression of its loose tex- 
tured strata, is arranged in belts that trend nearly parallel to the Atlantic 
shore line ; cleared and farmed where marly or limey, barren and left to 
pine forests where sandy ; the forest, however, yielding large quantities of 
lumber and resinous products in the southern States. Southern Virginia 



famous “Sea Island cotton"; they 
are exposed to dangerous sea- 
floods, when on-shore hurricane 
winds conspire with a rising tide. 
The tidal waters behind the islands 
are much reduced in area by the 
growth of extended marshes, 
whose inner stretches produce 
abundant rice crops. 


Fig. 354. — Part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain , 


The important commercial cities 
of the coastal plain are generally 
situated on embayed valleys and 
estuarine rivers; some are near 


The United States 


721 


and North Carolina include extensive fruit and vegetable farms on the 
smoother parts of the coastal plain, from which the markets of the northern 
cities are now largely supplied. Part of the plain near the shore is so low 
and flat that the growth of vegetation builds up its surface, forming exten- 
sive swamps, of which Dismal Swamp, on the borders of Virginia and 
North Carolina is the largest example. Unlike many other swamps, these 
occupy the highest ground in their district, and streams run out of them, 
not into them ; where drained and cleared they have been transformed into 
good farming land. 

On passing inland, an increasing diversity of relief is found ; the low 
flat plain near the shore is gradually replaced by a surface in which the 
valley slopes of the intrenched streams have the appearance of hills ; but 
if our language would permit it, this district should be called a valley rather 
than a hilly country. The more resistant layers of the plain, generally half 
cemented sand-stones, sometimes come to surmount the less resistant and 
more denuded layers further inland, givinga belt-like arrangement in form 
as well as in soils. Thus a low upland encloses an inner lowland from Newark 
to Camden, N.J., important as a natural pathway between the chief Atlantic 
cities and characterised by many pits and potteries on its clayey substratum. 
Artesian water supply is a marked feature of the outer part of the 
coastal plain, where its importance increases with the growth of the popu- 
lation, and with the better understanding of the menace to public health 
in shallow surface wells and polluted streams. The larger shore resorts 
on the sand reefs are supplied in this way as well as the mainland. 
Certain towns in peninsular Maryland sink their artesian wells into water- 
bearing strata or “ aquifers," that reach the surface and gather their rainfall 
west of Chesapeake Bay. 

People of the Coastal Plain. — As the southern colonies grew 
on the coastal plain and the people pressed inland, they found an 
open country, easily occupied as far as the residual mountains of 
the Blue Ridge and its fellows in Virginia and North Carolina ; but 
these and the Allegheny Plateau were long-enduring obstacles to 
the settlement of the further interior. In North Carolina particularly, 
where the old Appalachians are broadest and most mountainous, 
movement from east to west was almost forbidden ; and to this day an 
unusually large share of the descendants of the early colonists remain on 
the coastal plain, on the piedmont slopes, or among the valleys of the inner 
mountains, with comparatively little gain by immigration from Europe. 
Nowhere else in the United States is so large a part of the population 
u native born " and “ born of native born." Local habits of speech and home- 
spun clothing are no rarities in villages among the mountains, which form 
a fitting geographical environment for conservative ways of life. 

New England. — On the New England coast, examples of geographical 
controls are no less distinct than further south. Here the distinction 
between upland and lowland depends chiefly on the distribution of strong 


722 The International Geography 

and weak rock structures in the Older Appalachian Belt. The strong struc- 
tures still preserve something of the upland surface gained by the uplift of 
the worn-down old Appalachians ; they are low only near the coast, where 
they were little uplifted. The weak structures are already worn down to 
lowlands again. In the present depressed attitude of the region, the 
stronger structures stand forward in headlands on the coast line, like that of 
Cape Ann, Mass. Gloucester , on a good harbour on this headland, sends out 
a large fleet of fishing vessels to the Newfoundland Banks : the headland 
granites are quarried at Rockport, and sent away in heavy-laden schooners to 
more southern ports. The valleys and lowlands are more or less drowned, 
forming embayments like Boston Harbour ; and Boston has outstripped 
the neighbouring settlements of Plymouth and Salem, its rivals in early 

times, in great part because 
it stands further inland, 
and therefore in better con- 
nection with the interior 
population of later growth. 
In New England many of 
the towns borrowed names 
from the mother country ; 
but the chief colony took 
the name of a monadnock 
a few miles south of Boston, 
and now 7 reserved as a 
metropolitan park, and 
known to the Indians in 
colonial days as “ Massa- 
chusetts ” or Great Hills, 
the first land to rise over 
the sea horizon on ap- 
proaching Boston from the 
east. 

The rugged uplands, gradually gaining height inland, were slow’lv settled, 
and still offer only hard conditions to their occupants, however w 7 ell the 
villages and cities in the valleys may thrive. After a trial of the higher 
uplands as dwelling places in the eighteenth century, many families moved 
out west to the prairies in the nineteenth century ; towards the close of the 
latter period, the “ hill towns ” of western Massachusetts exhibit a very 
general decrease of population. Here the Old Appalachian Belt is so broad 
that no river crosses it. Its gain of height (apart from the scattered or 
grouped monadnocks that rise above it) is so well maintained northward 
and westward, until reaching a sudden descent from its culmination into 
the Appalachian valley, that the crest line naturally suggested colonial and 
international boundaries; thus New York, led inland northward by the 
Hudson valley, acquired the land west of the Taconic and Green Mountains ; 



The United States 


723 


and Canada on the north would have been limited by the divide between 
the Atlantic waters of Maine and the branches of the St. Lawrence, had not 
such a boundary lain further north than was expected. Here in the north, 
the barrier of the Older Appalachian Belt, broad and rugged like that which 
separated the Carolina colonies from the interior wilderness, divided New 
England and its Puritan stock from Canada and its French population. 

It was to a lowland, etched out beneath the general level of the upland 
and then partially submerged in Narragansett Bay that Roger Williams and 
his independent followers removed from the Massachusetts Colony ; thus 
the city of Providence and the little Colony of Rhode Island were founded. 
Newport , on an island at the entrance to Narragansett Bay, has become a 
popular seaside resort on account of its agreeable climate. Parties of 
settlers around Boston finding themselves crowded, and like an over- 
stocked hive of bees, as a contemporary writer said, ready to swarm, 
crossed the hilly uplands in 1637, and entered the Connecticut valley low- 
land, a broad depression worn down on a belt of comparatively weak 
Triassic sandstones. Some of the towns thus founded remained members 
of their parent colony ; others asked for a new charter, and thus the small 
colony of Connecticut was formed ; it is crowded, like Rhode Island, 
between its larger neighbours. Its chief cities, Hartford and New Haven, 
lie in the lowland that attracted its early settlers. 

Further north the uplands are so extensive, the monadnocks are so 
numerous, and the valleys are often so deep-cut, that the population has 
grown slowly. Northern Maine is still a forested wilderness ; outlying 
settlements there are to this day called “ plantations,” in the sense of the 
word used by the early colonists, and not with the acquired meaning of 
“ an extensive farm,” usual in the southern States. Remnants of Indian 
tribes still remain here. Only the southern part of Maine is well peopled ; 
Portland having a fine harbour on the coast ; Augusta, the capital, and 
Bangor, a great lumber market, being situated at the head of tide on 
the estuarine waters of the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers. The coastal 
border is here almost too much dissected by the drowning of its valleys 
and lowlands ; for its village communities are thus isolated to disadvantage 
on islands and long slender land-arms ; local travel in small boats is not 
always easy on account of the tides, whose strong rise and fall often make 
landing troublesome, and whose rapid currents frequently overcome oars 
and sails. In the last thirty years a large “ summer population” has 
resorted to these islands, where the cool water gives the air a mild tem- 
perature. Mount Desert, already mentioned, containing a number of sum- 
mits over a thousand feet in height, the boldest land on the eastern coast 
of the United States, is the most famous of these summer settlements. 

New Hampshire has the advantage of a good harbour at Portsmouth , 
and of a fine river in the Merrimack ; but its uplands are thinly peopled, 
and its mountains are visited only by lumbermen and vacation tourists. 
Deforestation is already giving cause for alarm here and in Maine, especially 
48 


724 The International Geography 

since even the smaller trees are taken to feed the pulp mills, called into 
being by the many pages of the modern newspaper. The State of Ver- 
mont has no seaport and an over-large share of rugged highland. Its 
industries are rural rather than manufacturing or commercial ; its popula- 
tion is increasing slowly. 

In all the New England States building stone is an important product. 
Granite and similar crystalline rocks are quarried extensively, many 
quarries having the advantage of a situation on or near a navigable tide 
water. Marble and slate are found in the Green Mountain valleys. Sand- 
stone is taken in large quantities from the Connecticut valley for use in 
ornamental architecture. 

Glacial Action in New England. — The imprint of glacial action 
is strong in New England. The deep soils of the southern States, 
gradually passing into firm rock at depths of from thirty to fifty feet, are 
here replaced by an immediate change from the surface drift, of very 
variable thickness, to the glaciated surface of firm, unweathered rock. 
Many ledges on the upland hills have been left almost bare of soil ; a thin 
deposit of drift in the crevices, slightly increased by post-glacial weathering, 
suffices only to support tree growth. Elsewhere the uplands are blanketed 
over with unstratified drift or till, a compact deposit of rock scrapings 
from further north accumulated under the slowly moving ice sheet where 
more waste was brought than could be carried further forward. The till 
frequently assumes the form of rounded, oval hills, known as drumlins,, 
half a mile or more long, and from 100 to 300 feet high. These are 
sometimes so plentifully covered with boulders that they hardly serve even 
for pastures ; but more generally they are cleared and farmed. In certain 
districts drumlins are so plentiful as to give their pleasing expression to the 
landscape : southern New Hampshire, and eastern and central Massachu- 
setts contain them in great numbers; the islands of Boston Harbour (Fig. 
355) are nearly all drumlins, cliffed by the waves and furnishing drift 
for the construction of extensive beaches. 

In the valleys and on the lower ground near the coast, various forms of 
washed drift generally bury the ledges out of sight. Extensive terraces 
occupy the larger valleys ; their higher levels are rather too sandy for the 
best farming land ; their lower levels, flooded by the rivers, offer attractive 
meadows of which none is more beautiful than that of Deerfield, on a 
branch of the mid-Connecticut, the scene of early settlement and of 
disastrous struggles with the Indians'. It is chiefly in connection with the 
irregular distribution of the valley drift that the numerous small lakes of 
New England are to be explained. Their basins were first accounted for 
by glacial erosion, but at present it is more generally believed that they 
mark the sites of lingering remnants of the melting ice sheet, while the 
evacuated space about them was filled with sands and gravels. The lakes 
form natural reservoirs for the water supply of the villages and cities ; 
the water being pure except in autumn, when, the temperature being 


The United States 


725 


uniform from surface to bottom, overturnings are easily caused by the 
winds, and the impurities gathered in the deep water during the summer are 
discharged. Ice from the lakes is an important winter harvest ; and at 
one time Wenham ice, from a small lake near Salem, was famous even 
in India. 

Water Power in New England. — The rivers, entrenching their 
courses in drift-clogged valleys have repeatedly lost their former channels 
and cut down upon rocky ledges ; thus dividing their courses into smooth- 
flowing reaches and hurried rapids and falls. The latter supply the great 
water power of New England, on which its vast manufacturing industries 
began. Fall River, on an eastern branch of Narragansett Bay, was at first 
satisfied with the power derived from a small stream ; now its myriad 
spindles are driven by steam. The mills here and in New Bedford, a 
little further east, profit from the high humidity of the atmosphere near the 
sea, an important factor in spinning cotton. The sites of Lowell, Lawrence 
and Manchester were occupied by farms seventy years ago. Enterprising 
capitalists and engineers took control of the great water powers of the 
Merrimack, and to-day the river, supplemented by steam in dry seasons, 
drives more cotton mill spindles than any other river in the world. 
Thousands of French Canadians now make their homes in these factory 
cities, working as operatives in the mills. 

In Maine the falls of the Saco gives rise to the paired cities of Saco and 
Biddeford ; those of the Androscoggin determine the sites of Lewiston and 
Auburn. It is noticeable that these manufacturing towns in Maine are near 
its south-western corner ; numerous water-powers in other parts of the 
State are too remote from the chief markets of the United States to be 
utilised to their full value at present. In Connecticut, on the other hand, 
near the great commercial centre of New York City, hardly a single 
waterfall is idle. Here a certain feature of water-powers of indirect 
glacial origin deserves notice. In the normal river, the trunk stream has, 
as a rule, graded its course so as to secure a steady flow ; it may even be 
navigable. Rapids and falls are found only on the upper waters, where the 
smaller branches, working in districts of greater altitude and frequently on 
rocks of greater resistance, have not yet been able to wear down their 
channels to an even slope. Although falls are here abundant, the volume 
of water is deficient, and the prevailing ruggedness of the head-water hills 
is disadvantageous to large settlements. But the falls on rivers of drift- 
terraced valleys are placed at haphazard, as well on the lower trunk stream 
as near the head, and the glacial period is so recent that even the trunk 
rivers have not yet extinguished their falls. Manufacturing cities situated 
at falls near the river mouths have the great advantage of large water 
volume and of neighbourhood to the sea in a low and comparatively open 
country ; repeated illustrations of the benefits of these favouring circum- 
stances might be named. The lakes are also of practical value as natural 
reservoirs by which the volume of the lower stream is rendered relatively 



The International Geography 


constant. Many lakes are dammed at their outlets, and in a dry season the 
volume of the failing river is maintained by opening the flood gates. In 
the absence of important agricultural resources, New England has turned 
so largely to manufacturing that even its abundant water powers do not 
suffice for its needs. With little or no water power, Worcester and Provi- 
dence produce machines and tools. Lynn and Brockton are “ shoe towns.” 
Waterbary makes brass ware and clocks, and Danbury makes hats. The 
goods from these active centres find a market, though with increasing 
competition, in all parts of the country. 

• Cape Cod and the Outlying Islands. — The most extensive moraines 
of the New England region are those that mark some of the furthest 
advances of the ice sheet on the southern coast and on the outlying islands 
of Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. A foundation of Creta- 
ceous and Tertiary strata, similar to those of the coastal plain of New 
Jersey and beyond, but much deformed and denuded before the last ice 
advance, constitutes the preglacial structures from Long Island to Cape 
Cod. Belts of morainic hills with numerous boulders increase the relief by 
a hundred feet or more, giving a pleasing undulation to the surface. Broad 
plains of washed gravels extend southward from the moraines to the sea, 
now more or less cut back in the cliffs, as on the east side or “back” of 
Cape Cod ; or fronted with long sand reefs, as along the southern border 
of Long Island (Fig. 356). In the eighteenth century, when the traveller 
from Boston to New York went more comfortably by sailing packet 
than by land, even the outermost island of Nantucket was not the 
out-of-the-way place that it is to-day ; and for some time after overland 
travel was established a thrifty Quaker stock and an active whaling 
industry made the island prosperous ; but when whales became scarce 
and when rock-oil replaced whale-oil, the trade and population of 
Nantucket dwindled, its wharves decayed, some of its houses were carried 
away to the mainland, and it was almost in danger of being deserted, until 
in recent years when its value as a quiet summer resort was recognised. 
Provincetown, a land’s end village on Cape Cod, is peculiar in containing 
a colony of Portuguese, the families of fishermen and sailors. Here on a 
great wave-built spit, covered with sand dunes, the Pilgrims first landed ; 
but seeing the morainic hills of Manomet across Cape Cod Bay, they sailed 
on and founded Plymouth, where the famous rock on its shore is only a 
glacier boulder of modest size, too small to be chipped off for keepsakes 
by the many descendants of the Pilgrims. 

Gateways to the Interior. — The narrowing of the Older Appalachian 
belt between New York City and Washington, due to ancient subsidence- 
of a part of the ranges, has been of great importance in determining points 
of entrance of immigration towards the vast Mississippi basin ; for nearly 
all the many thousand emigrants from Europe have reached the interior 
by gateways through this least formidable part of the mountains. There 
can be little doubt that the important commercial cities of New York, 


The United States 


727 


Philadelphia, and Baltimore owe their growth to the easier access thus 
allowed to the interior of the country behind them. Ports like Providence, 
Boston, Salem and Portland, further north, and ports like Norfolk, 
Wilmington, Charleston and Savannah, further south, chiefly serve local 
needs ; they cannot compete in international traffic with the three inter- 
mediate cities, of which Boston and Norfolk are the only important rivals. 
The pre-eminence of New York among the middle ports is dependent 
partly on its good harbour, partly on being nearer Europe than the ports 
further south, and much more on the navigable waters of the Hudson that 
reach inland almost across the Appalachian Belt. 

‘The Newer Appalachian Belt. — The last point may be better 
appreciated after a fuller account of the Newer Appalachian Belt (N A 
in Fig. 353), whose inter-ridge lowlands are worn down on the weaker 
Palaeozoic strata. They extend from the Gulf of St. Lawrence (beyond the 
territory of the United States) along a curved path past New York to Alabama, 
and there disappear under the overlapping strata of the Gulf coastal 
plain. In the north the newer belt is limited on the inland side by the 
Laurentian plateau of Canada, and by an outlying area of similar structure 
and more rugged form, known as the Adirondack Mountains, in northern 
New York. From Albany to Alabama, the inland boundary of the ridge-and- 
valley belt is formed by the escarpment of the Allegheny plateau. In New 
York the ridges are few and the lowland is broad and open, but from New 
Jersey to Alabama, long, narrow, even-crested mountains of curious zigzag 
pattern, 1,000 to 3,000 feet high, formed on the outcropping edges of 
resistant sandstone layers, are very numerous. They divide the lowlands 
into many compartments, with difficulty connected by roads over the 
mountains, but open to one another where rivers have cut transverse 
notches or water gaps. The ridges are highest in Virginia, where some of 
the crests rise to 4,000 feet ; and here most of the valleys between them 
are so narrow and deep as to be of small value for settlement. Much of 
the better timber has been cut from the ridges, but they are still left to 
forest growth, for their slopes are cloaked with coarse, slow-creeping 
blocks of sandstone, the waste of the ridge-making strata. 

The valley floors between the ridges are sometimes underlain by lime- 
stone, especially along the eastern border of the Newer Appalachian Belt ; 
here the rich soils are occupied by some of the best farms in the country, 
albeit they have not the unlimited expanse of those on the western prairie. 
Harrisburg , the capital of Pennsylvania is in the midst of these thrifty 
surroundings. Beds of anthracite coal and plentiful deposits of iron ores 
among the ridges of Pennsylvania have contributed greatly to the wealth 
the Keystone State — so called from being the middle one of the thirteen 
colonies in the time of the Revolution. Mining industries have here 
attracted colonies of European labourers, where foreign languages are 
often more prevalent than English. The iron ores of the southern part of 
the belt, near the coal-fields of the plateau on the west, have been an 


728 The International Geography 

important factor in the development of the “ New South ” since the Civil 
War ; the centre of the iron industry in Alabama having ambitiously taken 
the name of Birmingham. 

The continuity of lowland along the eastern side of the Newer Appa- 
lachian Belt has given this part of its floor the general name of the Great 
Appalachian Valley ; it is locally known as the Hudson Valley in New York, 
the Kittatinny Valley in New Jersey, the Cumberland Valley in southern 
Pennsylvania, the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and the Valley of East Ten- 
nessee. The Great Valley is peculiar in being drained by a number of inde- 
pendent rivers that find exit through the deep gorges cut in the uplands on 
the east or west. Exceptions to this rule are seen in the longitudinal escape 
of the St. Lawrence with its branch from Lake Champlain in the north- 
east, and of the Coosa in the south-west ; both of these rivers run out 
lengthwise at the extremities of the valley. The Hudson, Delaware, 
Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Potomac and James all rise in the valley, or on 
the plateau to the west of it, and reach the Atlantic through steep-sided, 
narrow gorges in the uplands of the Older Appalachian Belt. The New- 
Kanawha and the Tennessee rise in the Older Appalachians of North 
Carolina, and escape westward through deep gorges in the Allegheny 
plateau to the Mississippi system and the Gulf. It is interesting to note 
that the six Atlantic rivers all cross the Old Appalachian Belt in or near its 
low and narrow middle part ; their valleys serving as so many entrances to 
the interior, and thus emphasising the contrast already noted between the 
lower middle and the higher terminal districts of the Atlantic highlands. 

Transverse Valleys in the Old Appalachian Belt. — The physical 
relation between the lengthwise lowlands of the Great Valley and the 
transverse gorges by which its rivers escape has been generally misunder- 
stood. The broad lowland and the narrow gorges are the work of erosion 
in the same period of Tertiary time. The rivers had much the same pattern 
as to-day when all this region had about the altitude of its uplands and ridge 
crest. Since then the excavation of the broad inner valley and the incision 
of the narrow gorges have gone on together : indeed, the incision of the 
gorges on the transverse course of the several rivers in the harder rocks 
of the Older Appalachian Belt was the essential antecedent to the deepening 
of their channels in the weaker rocks of the newer belt ; but while the 
gorges have widened very slowly in the harder rocks, the weaker strata of 
the inner belt have, as it were, melted away under the weather, and the inner 
valley has become as broad as the belt of weak strata that guide it. Since 
the general form thus described was developed, a moderate uplift of the 
region has again set the rivers at work, and they have cut narrow trenches 
in the valley floors. 

The Hudson and St. Lawrence are unlike all the other rivers of the 
Great Valley in having their valleys partly flooded by sea water, in con- 
sequence of the moderate depression of the northern lands already men- 
tioned in describing the bays of the New England coast. The lower St. 


The United States 


729 


Lawrence is thus broadly expanded into a funnel-shaped bay, misnamed a 
gulf ; but the drowned Hudson is closely hemmed in by the steep walls of 
the highlands. It thus retains the appearance of a river, although its 
volume is by no means an appropriate measure of the rainfall on its basin. 
It is a deep navigable waterway, open to large vessels to the head of tide 
at Albany and Troy, 150 miles from New York. It is the only deep-water 
passage through the Atlantic highlands ; and on this fact chiefly depends 
the metropolitan rank of New York City among the Atlantic seaports. The 
northward extension of New York Colony and State, from its first settle- 



FlG. 356 . — The Site of New York City. 


ment at the mouth of the Hudson, repeats the northward extension of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania from the colonies on their lower bays. Just as the latter 
colonies claimed possession of long belts of territory westward to the 
Pacific, and thus confined Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey to small 
areas, so the former claimed control of all the land west of the northern 
Older Appalachians, and thus determined the small dimensions of the New 
England States. Had the Potomac been drowned, not only in its course 
across the coastal plain as far inland as Washington, but through its gorge 
in the Blue Ridge to Harper’s Ferry, Norfolk might have tried to rival 
New York City ; yet, even then, the upper Potomac would have had no 





73° The International Geography 

branch valley comparable to that of the Mohawk, by which, as will be 
shown further on, New York City has so greatly benefited. 

New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. — The relation of 
New York City to the interior of the United States has determined its relation 
to Europe. Commercialism is here supreme. The banker, the broker, the 
importer, and the railway director are the leaders of business activity. 
Standing as the chief port of entry for commerce and immigration, the 
city has gathered colonies of all the peoples of Europe. Germans, French, 
Italians, and many other nationalities here group themselves together, pre- 
serving their foreign ways even to the second generation ; much concern 
is felt by the sociologist over so congested a population. The government 
of the city is one of the most difficult of political problems, and it has by 
no means been made easier by the recent consolidation of Brooklyn and 
other independent municipalities in “ Greater New York.” The profes- 
sional politician and the “ boss ” accomplish their selfish ends by most 
elaborate and successful management of the people. The narrow island 
between North (Hudson) and East rivers has become inconveniently 
crowded ; elevated railroads, running to the northern suburbs, make the 
streets resound with their many trains, although the New Yorkers seem to 
accept the noise as a proper part of the bustle of their great city. A huge 
suspension bridge connecting New York and Brooklyn very imperfectly 
accommodates the crowds that throng it morning and evening. 

Philadelphia has been favoured in another manner. It began with the 

thrift of the Quaker 
followers of William 
Penn ; it has profited 
from the presence of 
many industrious Ger- 
man immigrants on the 
rich farming lands of 
the Great Valley, near 
at hand ; it has had a 
commercial advantage 
in being the southern- 
most Atlantic port in 
the non - slaveholding 
States. ' Furthermore it 
has had great physical 
advantage from abun- 
dant open ground on 
which to expand, so 
that the proportion of houses to families is very large; from the 
water power of the Schuylkill, whereby it has come to be a great 
manufacturing city ; and from the small altitude and width of the Older 
Appalachian Belt in the background, so that the communication with 



Fig. 357 . — The Site of Philadelphia. 


The United States 


73 1 


the interior of Pennsylvania has been comparatively easy. The uplands 
are narrow here because of the strong overlap of the coastal plain. 
They are low, because they have been but little uplifted since they were 
worn down in Cretaceous times ; but more than this, they happen here to 
include a tract of weak Triassic sandstones and shales (like those of the 
Connecticut valley and the Bay of Fundy), which occupies a large part of 
their small breadth, and indeed obliquely traverses them from east to west. 
The sandstones and shales are now worn down to a lowland, like the Great 
Valley next adjoining on the west. Nowhere else are the Older Appalachians 
so inconspicuous as here. Indeed, if traced by the empirical guide of 
height instead of by their geological composition and their physical cha- 
racteristics, they might be overlooked, as has often happened in geo- 
graphical descriptions. Extensive railroad systems connect Philadelphia 
with the coal-fields of Pennsylvania, and with the Ohio Valley ; but so 
great is the importance of New York, that all these roads now continue 
their trains past Philadelphia to the metropolitan city (see Fig. 336). 

Baltimore is practically the civic representative of Maryland. In con- 
trast to Philadelphia, it is the northernmost commercial city of the south. 
It is physically the result of the far inland reach of Chesapeake Bay, and of 
the access to the further interior afforded by the valleys of the Potomac 
and Susquehanna rivers. The bay brings in ocean-going vessels and 
develops international trade, as well as supporting an active fishing 
industry ; oysters being included under fisheries on commercial rather 
than zoological grounds. The Potomac valley leads a great railroad from 
the harbour city towards the Ohio region ; but the difficulties encountered 
in crossing the Allegheny Plateau and the comparatively small population 
on the way, have made 
this line less successful 
financially than the chief 
railroads further north. 

Educationally, Baltimore 
has in Johns Hopkins, the 
southernmost university 
of wide resort, as Boston 
has (in its suburb of 
Cambridge) Harvard, the 
northernmost great uni- 
versity ; the latter is an 
outgrowth of an early 
colonial beginning ini636. 

It is noteworthy that 
the three great commercial cities just described are not the capitals of their 
States. The State governments have their seats in Albany on the Hudson, 
Harrisburg on the Susquehanna, and Annapolis on Chesapeake Bay. 
Washington , whose situation on the lower drowned Potomac corresponds 



73^ The International Geography 

to that of Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay, is purely a governmental city. 
The great water power of the Potomac, where it runs from the Old 
Appalachian Belt to the Coastal Plain, is not yet utilised for manufactures. 

THE ALLEGHENY PLATEAU 

The Allegheny Plateau (A P in Fig. 353) is the westernmost division 
of the Atlantic highlands. It retains much of the forest which originally 
covered nearly all the region east of the Mississippi and south of the Ohio. 
Its altitude ranges from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. It extends as far south-west as 
the mountain belt, and like it disappears under the coastal plain of the 
Gulf. It is terminated on the east by a strong escarpment, known as 
Allegheny or Cumberland Mountain in different parts of its front ; but on 
the west or north-west it as a rule decreases in height gradually, and thus 
merges into the prairie region of the Ohio basin. On the north-east, the 
plateau is known as the Catskill Mountains, overlooking the Hudson and 
Mohawk valleys. Throughout this extensive region, the same great series 
of Palaeozoic strata that is broken, tilted, and folded in the mountains of 
the Newer Appalachian Belt, lies nearly horizontal. Productive coal-beds 
underlie most of the surface. The well defined north-east and south-west 
trends that prevail in the uplands, ridges and valleys of the Appalachians, 
are here exchanged for a systemless maze of digitate spurs dissected by 
repeatedly branching valleys. The greater part of the region is drained by 
branches of the Ohio, of which the most interesting is the Kanawha, whose 
canyon, 1,000 to 1,500 feet deep, is the strongest river valley in the eastern 
part of the country. The Kanawha is furthermore remarkable in having 
maintained its course to the Ohio against an arching uplift of the plateau 
in late geological times, whereby the district traversed by its middle waters 
was elevated about 1,000 feet more than that about its upper waters ; but 
in spite of this discouragement, the river cut down its channel and held 
to its former path ; thus acquiring a right to membership in the interesting 
class of antecedent rivers. There is not another river in the whole 
Appalachian region that so well preserves its ancient course. 

The Southern Plateau. — Beginningon the south-west, as it emerges 
from the southern coastal plain, the features of the Southern Plateau may 
be called coarse-textured, inasmuch as tablelands that measure several 
miles across rise between broad-floored valleys. Here the uplands are 
known as the Cumberland Plateau or Tableland, for the most part a forested 
wilderness. Although containing great stores of coal, there has been little 
mining until within recent years, in the return of prosperity to the southern 
States after the civil war. The plateau is peculiar in falling off on the 
north-west by an escarpment almost as strong, but much less straight than 
that by which it is limited on the south-east. The surface thus descends 
as if by a great step to a platform of less elevation, underlain by limestones ; 
here occur the numerous caverns of Tennessee and Kentucky, of which the 
Mammoth cave is the most famous. Further to the north-west the platform 


The United States 


733 


is underlain by sandstone, furnishing an infertile soil, and discouraging an 
impoverished population, in remarkable contrast with the fortunate occu- 
pants of the limestone lowlands next beyond, the famous Blue Grass 
country of Kentucky and the less known but equally fertile Nashville basin 
of Tennessee (B G and N in Fig. 353). Looking back from the extensive 
farms of the limestone lowlands, one sees a wooded bluff, several hundred 
feet in height, known as the Highland Rim. It was from a point on that 
part of the rim known as Muldraughs hill that Daniel Boone, late in the 
eighteenth century, first saw the beautiful lowland that his followers 
settled, and thus founded what afterwards came to be the State of Ken- 
tucky. 

The Middle Plateau. — The middle part of the plateau, in eastern 
Kentucky and West Virginia, reaches altitudes of 3,000 and 4,000 feet, so 
that its dissected uplands fully deserve the name of mountains, by which 
they are locally known ; and the people appropriately call themselves 
“mountaineers.” As in Tennessee, the region is a great forested wilder- 
ness. The separate uplands are seldom broad enough to support more 
than a small community ; often not more than a single family, who find 
life hard and lonesome. Farming is unprofitable, for most of the surface 
consists of steep hillside slopes, belted around with contouring sandstone 
ledges ; if the forest were cleared and the ground ploughed, much of the 
soil would soon be washed away. Roads are rough and steep, badly 
washed by heavy rains ; to keep them in good condition would cost large 
sums of money, far beyond the means of the county treasuries. The 
valleys are deep, and their narrow floors are exposed to destructive floods 
that rise suddenly in wet weather. Bridges are an expensive luxury that 
only the more important highways can maintain : when streams cannot be 
forded in time of high water, travel is for a time suspended. The railroad 
that follows the deep canyon of the Kanawha through the plateau brings 
the lower lands on the east and west into close connection, but it has little 
effect on the people among the hills. Even the branch lines that carry out 
coal and lumber leave the greater part of the plateau country untouched 
and untamed. The people still live in primitive log houses ; hand looms 
are no rarities ; wild game is almost as important a food supply as garden 
produce ; the rifle is as familiar as the spade. Feuds are kept up for years 
between rival families, and personal differences are settled by an appeal to 
arms rather than to the courts. 

The Northern Plateau. — A less altitude prevails in the plateau within 
the limits of Pennsylvania, where 2,000 feet will measure most of the 
upland heights. Here a greater degree of settlement has accompanied the 
fuller development of the great natural resources of the region, both of 
these advances being promoted by the neighbourhood of the great manu- 
facturing communities, at first in the north-east, and afterwards in the north- 
west as well, where a ready market is found for the bituminous coal, the 
rock oil or petroleum, and the lumber of the plateau. Railroads are nume- 


734 The International Geography 

rous and monopolistic corporations dominate the politics of the State, 
Pittsburg has attained an altogether unusual population for a city in the 
plateau district; it was favoured at first by its situation at the junction of 
the head branches (Allegheny and Monongahela) of the Ohio, down whose 
ample current so many early settlers of the western prairies found easy 
transportation ; later by the marvellous development of industries and rail- 
roads in the second half of the nineteenth century. It is now one of the 
greatest manufacturing centres in the United States ; the ironworks in and 
near the city are the admiration of the technical world. 

The north-east extremity of the plateau, known as the Catskill Mountains, 
contains summits as high as those of West Virginia. No mineral products 
of value, other than too abundant building stone, are found here ; hence 
the mountains remain thinly populated, and are chiefly noted as a summer 
resort for the crowded population of New York City. Further west, along 
the southern borders of New York State, the plateau is less elevated, and 
its rolling uplands and open valleys contain an agricultural population. 
It happens that this portion of the plateau contains no coal, and com- 
paratively little rock oil ; the productive fields being almost entirely south 
of the Pennsylvania boundary. 

Outliers of the Laurentian Highlands. — The rugged Adiron- 
dack Mountains of northern New York, and the highlands of northern 
Wisconsin and Michigan are outlying representatives of the Laurentian 
highlands of Canada. They consist of extremely ancient rocks, for the 
most part thoroughly indurated and very resistant. Although their 
structures are greatly disordered, their relief is of moderate measure ; 
in the Adirondacks, the highest summit, Mount Marcy, is but little more 
than 5,000 feet above sea-level, with valleys one or two thousand feet deep 
around it ; in northern Wisconsin, the altitude of the highlands is not so 
great, and their local dissection is much more gentle. Both of these are 
forested wildernesses, unattractive to the farmer, but tempting to the 
lumberman. The ancient rocks contain valuable stores of iron ore, less 
important in the Adirondacks than in upper Michigan, where they are 
extensively mined and shipped down the Lakes to furnaces near the coal 
regions. The uplands bordering on Lake Superior are peculiar in contain- 
ing deposits of native copper, unknown elsewhere in the world. The 
Adirondacks are separated from the Laurentian region by an ancient 
trough that has been filled with Palaeozoic rock layers and re-excavated in 
comparatively modern geological times. It is followed by the St. Law- 
ence river, an important waterway, but so young on its present course 
that in spite of its great volume, many rapids still interrupt its channel. 
The Wisconsin-Michigan uplands (O L in Fig. 353), are separated from 
the Laurentian plateau in Canada by the broad and deep trough of Lake 
Superior of uncertain origin, but of great value as a member of the vast 
system of inland waterways by which the wheat of the north-w r est, the 
ores of the uplands, and the lumber from the forests are carried to the 


The United States 


735 

more populous States. The outlet of Lake Superior is interrupted by 
rapids ; hence its name, the Sault (pronounced Soo ) Ste. Marie. These are 
passed by a canal that has been constructed around them on the southern 
side (see Fig. 344) ; the tonnage passing through this canal rivals in 
quantity, although not in value, that of the Suez canal. 

The Adirondack region, and to a less degree the highlands of Wis- 
consin also, serve as camping and hunting grounds in the summer vacation 
season, when civilised man seems to enjoy a temporary return to the 
wilder ways of his remote ancestors. 

THE OHIO REGIONS AND PRAIRIES 

The Ohio Region. — The region north of the Ohio and east of the 
Mississippi is one of the most valuable parts of the United States. The 
surface is of moderate relief, nearly everywhere open to occupation. The 
soil is rich, the climate encouraging. Into this magnificent territory has 
poured a tide of immigration during the nineteenth century with which the 
history of the world has no parallel. The struggles for the acquisition of 
the land were practically completed before the century opened ; struggles 
in which the stronger invaders repeated too often the harsh treatment that 
a higher race inflicts upon a lower, but which nevertheless lead forward to 
progress in the end. The northern Atlantic States, as well as the countries 
of north-west Europe, furnished hundreds of thousands of able-bodied 
workers under whose hands the Ohio basin region has grown to marvellous 
productiveness, activity, and wealth, fully warranting the opinion of Lewis 
Evans of Philadelphia in 1750, when he urged Great Britain to gain 
possession of this “ great extent of good land in a happy climate,” arguing 
that whatever nation wins it must inevitably gain the balance of power on 
the continent. 

The Ohio Region as an Ancient Coastal Plain. — The physical 
features of the Ohio region are best explained by regarding it as an ancient 
coastal plain, skirting the older Laurentian lands of Canada and their out- 
liers in the Adirondacks and the Wisconsin highlands. Travelling 
southward from the rugged Laurentian highlands of Canada on the 
meridian of Niagara, a traveller would see the rugged country merge into 
the fertile lowland of Ontario, partly submerged under the lake of that 
name ; all this low ground being an “ inner lowland ” worn down on the 
weak under layers of the ancient coastal plain. Crossing to Niagara, the 
ascent of a bluff or escarpment of strong limestone, two or three hundred 
feet in height, makes a distinct break in the general smoothness of the 
lowland and leads to a broad upland, which then gradually slopes south- 
ward to the trough of Lake Erie, a second lowland underlain by weak 
strata, and in turn enclosed by the hills that form the northern border of 
the Allegheny plateau. Thus two inner lowlands and two uplands form 
belts along the border of the Laurentian country ; and the rest of the Ohio 
region may be described in terms of these elementary forms. 


73^ The International Geography 

The Mohawk Valley. — Following the fading Niagara escarpment 
eastward beyond its disappearance near Rochester, one sees the two low- 
lands of Ontario and Erie blend into one, forming the rich farming country 
of western New York ; then narrowing as the Adirondacks come forward 
from Canada and thus define the Mohawk valley between their southern 
slope and the escarpment of the Helderbergs, which here forms the north- 
eastern extremity of the Allegheny plateau. It is the confluence of the 
Mohawk valley with the navigable tidewater of the Hudson that opened 
the Great West to the port of New York City. At first an Indian trail, then 
the path of the frontier settlers driving their waggons up the valley road, 
next the course of the famous Erie canal whose construction in the first 
half of the nineteenth century was a fit achievement for the Empire State, 
now followed by important railroad lines, the Mohawk valley was always 
a leading line of movement between the east and west. There can be 
little question that the port that stands in closest connection with its 
eastern end shall long be pre-eminent on the Atlantic coast. It is true 
that Philadelphia stands nearer the Ohio region, and that the great railway 
leading thence to Pittsburg and beyond has the advantage of least distance ; 
but its way leads over the Allegheny plateau where gradients are heavy. 
It is true that a shorter railway has been constructed from New York to 
Buffalo than that which follows up the Hudson and the Mohawk ; but the 
shorter line crosses the Allegheny plateau where it is broader than in 
Pennsylvania, and it has had to pay dearly for its defiance of natural 
pathways ; indeed, had English investors known more of the form of the 
land when this venturesome road was projected, they would not have 
become so largely its owners. Binghampton and Elmira are the only 
considerable cities on its way among the hills ; while the Hudson valley, 
the Mohawk valley, and the southern border of the Ontario lowland include 
a much greater population in Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Albany, Troy , 
Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Auburn and Rochester. 

The Great Lakes and the Prairies. — In tracing the Ohio region 
westward, it is interesting to note the relation of its belted lowlands and 
uplands to the basins of the Great Lakes and to the path of the inter- 
national boundary. The northern border belts of the Ohio region are 
neither straight nor persistent ; they vary greatly from the type section on 
the Niagara meridian. The basins of the Great Lakes exhibit a close 
relation to the lowland belts. Ontario, Georgian Bay and Green Bay (on 
the west side of Lake Michigan) occupy depressed parts of the inner low- 
land ; Erie, Huron and Michigan occupy corresponding parts of the 
second lowland. Between the lakes, the lowlands offer excellent farming 
districts. The upland of the Niagara limestone, between the two lowland 
belts, with its bluff looking across the inner lowland towards the rugged 
old Laurentian land, may be traced with varying strength even beyond the 
Mississippi ; it is of moderate height, and is not rugged enough to dis- 
courage settlement. Its course (N on Fig. 353) leads north-west across 


The United States 


737 

the Province of Ontario to the belt of islands that divides Georgian Bay 
and Lake Huron ; westward through the eastern arm of upper Michigan 
State ; southward through eastern Wisconsin in the ridge that divides 
Green Bay from Lake Michigan ; and then curves through northern 
Illinois into north-eastern Iowa. Artesian wells afford an abundant water 
supply in this ancient coastal plain south of the Wisconsin highlands. The 
Allegheny upland, bounding the lowlands in southern New York, fades 
away westward in Ohio ; an isolated upland, coal-bearing and forested like 
the Allegheny plateau, but subdued in form, occupies lower Michigan 
between Lakes Huron and Michigan. The lumber from this region has 
led to the growth of the city of Grand Rapids , where household furniture is 
largely made. 

It is but natural that the international boundary should have followed 
the manifest line of the lakes and rivers, rather than the more irregular and 
less distinct line that marks the inner border of the ancient coastal plain ; 
and if by thus departing from one physical guide for another the United 
States have lost peninsular Ontario, they have gained the great mineral 
deposits of the upper Michigan highlands. It should be remarked that 
Lake Superior is unlike the other lakes in being unrelated to the belts of 
the ancient coastal plain. Its basin is an anomaly, a puzzle to the 
geomorphologist, who has not yet been able to give a good account of it. 
The basin must be of recent origin, for if ancient, it would long ago have 
been filled with sediments and converted into a plain. 

The hills of the Allegheny plateau are not seen in Ohio west of Cleve- 
land ; and with their disappearance a broad expanse of country opens 
towards the Mississippi, originally wooded in the east, a treeless prairie 
further west. This great extension of the Erie lowland is now divided 
into the States of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Little wonder that the early 
farmers of the rugged New England hills sent their sons out to this 
wonderful farming land of deep and rich soil. Little wonder that such 
of the European immigrants as did not stop in the Atlantic cities passed 
the uplands of the Allegheny plateau before settling upon their new 
homes. Little wonder that those who found so bountiful a welcome on 
the prairies, became Americanised in the first generation ; never has so 
composite a population been so rapidly unified. With free movement, 
with rapidly growing population, with wonderful increase in wealth, one 
here sees few of the old-fashioned ways of living that still remain in the 
enclosed valleys of the Atlantic highlands. The rough cabin or log house 
was usually replaced by a well-built frame cottage within the life of the 
first settler ; and his sons and grandsons, leaders in the growing com- 
munities, often occupy mansions of some pretension, albeit their architecture 
seldom follows classic lines. 

The rivers at first served as important lines of travel and transportation. 
The growth of Cincinnati was for many years as much dependent on the 
trade that followed the Ohio river as on the rich farming country that 


738 The International Geography 

surrounded it. Canals were cut between the headwater branches of the 
Ohio and Mississippi and the waters of the Great Lakes ; the lakes them- 
selves, consecrated to peace after the war of 1812, lie with extended shore 
lines along the northern border of the great fertile country, and a whole 
series of important cities has been built on their southern side — Buffalo, 
Erie, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee. But important as the 
rivers have been and as the lakes are still, it is to the marvellous develop- 
ment of railroads on the level prairies that the industrial and commercial 
activity of the region is most largely due. Distance is their only obstacle, 
and that they overcome by building single tracks ; they have few cuttings 
or embankments, they cross each other on the level, and gather in tangled 
ganglia in many prairie centres like Columbus, Indianapolis, and Spring- 
field. An open country, occupied by a few Indians a century ago, has 
suddenly become populous and rich, and the manufacturer and the rail- 
road magnate take the place of the feudal baron of Europe. 

Glacial action in the Ohio region. — Various geographical features 
have already been traced backward to their origin in past geological 
processes, and forward to their control over human distribution and 
occupations. This phase of geographical study nowhere receives more 
striking illustration than in those elements of form that have resulted 
directly or indirectly from the action of the ice sheets of the glacial period. 
It has been too generally the custom to set such subjects aside, as if they 
belonged only in the province of the geologist ; but in the Ohio region as 
in New England events without number, great and small, from trifling 
matters of individual action to momentous problems of national importance, 
have turned on the geographical results of ice action. Once recognised, 
their meaning cannot be neglected. The soils on which the richness of 
the Ohio region depends are almost wholly of glacial origin. Smooth 
sheets of till were spread out under the invading ice sheet where it could 
drag along no further the rock waste that it brought from nearer its 
source ; still smoother sheets of silt were deposited in various marginal 
lakes, large and small. Sheets of loess, ascribed to wind action by many 
observers, to turbid fluviatile waters by others, are found in the south- 
western part of the district, and reappear in greater force beyond the 
Mississippi. Far from being a destructive agency, the ice sheets and their 
associated processes were here largely constructive ; they buried the pre- 
existent topography, extinguished the pre-glacial drainage, and made the 
surface over anew. The soil of the till plains is more or less stony ; that 
of the silt and loess plains is almost impalpably fine. All are rich soils, 
for they consist in greatest part of pulverised rock, not exhausted by 
vegetable growth while weathering, but worn mechanically from its parent 
ledges under the desert ice sheets and in the ice-fed rivers. 

The plains of till, silt, and loess are so extensive and continuous, that 
rock ledges are unknown for many miles together ; pre-glacial hills and 
valleys are completely buried over large areas ; it is only in the sides of 


The United States 


739 

young valleys, recently cut through the glacial deposits, that the ledges are 
exposed. The geologist hardly knows where to draw the boundaries of 
rock formations ; he has to trust largely to the samples brought up from 
the wells and deep borings that have been made in search of oil and gas. 
The absence of trees on the prairies has been ascribed by some to the 
fineness of the soil ; by others, to Indian fires. It appears probable that 
both these causes have had effect. The climate of the region is certainly 
favourable, for trees flourish when planted. On the other hand, trees are 
absent from the western plains because of lack of rainfall ; and the blend- 
ing of plain and prairie west of the Mississippi has sometimes given rise to 
the wrong idea that their treelessness was due to a common cause. 

It may now be understood how strikingly the soil and the surface of 
the prairies north of the Ohio differ from those further south, as in the 
Blue Grass region of Kentucky. There the soil is of local origin and varies 
with the nature of the rock beneath ; hence the sharp contrast between 
the fertility of the Blue Grass district and the barrenness of the adjoining 
sandstone uplands already mentioned. In the glaciated region, local and 
distant materials are well mixed ; there is generally an excess of local 
material, but it seldom prevails in such quantity as to make the soil very 
much better or worse than the average. The hills of south-eastern Ohio, 
outside of the glaciated district, should be regarded as a part of the 
dissected Allegheny plateau ; but whatever hills there once were in north- 
western Ohio are now buried under the drift. One part of the State has 
many coal mines, the other has extensive farms. In the same way southern 
Indiana and Illinois, beyond the border of the drift, exhibit local details 
of topographic form dependent on rock structure, and accompanied by 
relatively sudden changes in the character and value of the soils, similar to 
those found south of the Ohio river in Kentucky ; the central and northern 
parts of these States are smoothly drift covered for scores of miles. 

Corn (Indian corn, or maize) is the characteristic crop of the drift region 
from Ohio to Nebraska. Its growth is favoured by hot summer weather. 
Travelling by rail, one may pass miles and scores of miles of corn-fields, 
waving green in early summer, dull brown or gray in early autumn. 
Other grains are also raised in abundance. Great herds of cattle are 
pastured on the drift prairies, rivalling the product of the western plains. 
Roads very generally follow the north-and-south or east-and-west lines by 
which the land was originally divided for sale from the government to the 
people. Road-making is generally done by a scraping machine, which 
throws the soil from a ditch on either side to an arch in the middle ; in 
wet weather they have many sloughs, where waggon wheels sink hub-deep. 
In the villages and cities vitrified brick is coming to be largely used for 
paving, in the absence of good road metal. Barbed wire is now almost 
universally used for fencing on the treeless prairies. 

The broad surface of the drift plains is here and there interrupted by 
looped belts of low hills, convex southward ; these are the terminal 


740 The International Geography 

moraines of the ice lobes into which the front of the glacial sheet was 
divided ; each trough of low ground on the north allowed the ice to move 
faster and further forward, while each district of higher ground, like the 
Allegheny Plateau of eastern Ohio, the uplands of lower Michigan, and the 
highlands of Wisconsin, retarded the advance. Although of moderate 
relief, the morainic belts are usually the only hills visible over hundreds of 
miles of prairie, hence they commonly serve to define the subdivides 
between river headwaters, although not ranking as equals in this respect 
with the upland belts of the ancient coastal plain. The moraines have a 
moderately rolling surface, they are sometimes strewn with boulders ; their 
hollows contain numerous ponds and marshes. 

Effect of Glacial Action on Drainage. — Rivers running from the 
glaciated area bore with them an abundant load of waste, and thus built 
up their valley floors into broad flood plains ; but since the disappearance 
of the ice and the decrease of the waste furnished to them, the rivers have 
trenched the valley flood plains, forming terraces, and sometimes pro- 
ducing falls and rapids where the entrenching streams have cut down 
upon buried ledges ; but the water power thus provided is much less than 
in New England, on account of the small relief of the region and the slow 
descent of the valley floors. The lakes which gathered on the land that 
sloped towards the retreating ice sheets marked their shore lines with 
beaches, many of which are so well preserved that they are used as 
naturally graded roads. The outlets of these glacial lakes were at the 
lowest passes across the height of land on the south. Strong rivers ran from 
the greater lakes, scouring out broad channels, now abandoned except by 
the waters of such small side streams as happen to enter them. A well- 
defined channel of this kind is incised to a slight depth across the drift- 
covered surface of northern Indiana, where the waters of the expanded 
Lake Erie (when its present outlet was obstructed by ice) ran out by the 
Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. Another channel discharged the 
expanded waters of Lake Michigan to the headwaters of the Illinois river 
across the south-western border of the lake basin ; there an Indian portage 
was naturally found when white settlers entered the region ; a military 
outpost, Fort Dearborn, was established on this travelled path early in the 
nineteenth century, and there Chicago has since grown. The old channel 
of overflow has been a little deepened, a current of water is drawn through 
it from the lake to the Mississippi system, and the drainage of the city is 
thus to be disposed of in the future. 

Chicago is the epitome and climax of the prairie and lake region. 
Its lofty buildings disclose a boundless prairie to the west and south, and a 
boundless blue lake to the east. No other city in America is the focal 
point of so many lines and systems of railroads. No other lake port has so 
valuable a commerce. No other city in the world has grown to so huge a 
population in so short a time — an empty prairie in 1830 ; more than a 
million of population at the close of the century. From an idle military 


The United States 


74i 


post, Chicago has risen in seventy years — the span of a single lifetime — to 
a sensationally active market for traffic in cattle, grain, and lumber ; as the 
centre of trade for a vast region, it feeds the east and furnishes the west. 
The immediate site, of the city had few advantages for the seat of a great 
population. The ground was so low and flat as to be poorly drained, and 
after the growth of the city had been well begun, the buildings and streets 
had to be raised to a higher level than that of the natural prairie. The lake 
shore was open to storms, and the little river that alone gave protection to 
shipping had to be enlarged like a canal before it could admit many 
vessels. To counterbalance these disadvantages, Chicago stands in the 
midst of a vast prairie region, at a point where all overland travel from 
the east must turn round the southern end of Lake Michigan on the way 
to the great North-West ; and to 
this fact of general relations much 
more than to any immediate local 
advantage has the great city owed 
its growth. Rapid growth has not 
been altogether an advantage, for 
a city that has increased in popu- 
lation so fast as Chicago cannot 
have exercised a careful selection 
in the choice of its new members. 

Like other great cities, it exhibits 
many of the unattractive sides of 
human nature, but from about the 
time of the Columbian Exhibition 
of 1893, various signs of better 
growth have appeared. The in- 
numerable railroads all originally 
crossed each other's tracks on the 
level, but the correction of this 
difficulty is now actively in pro- 



FlG. 359 . — The Site of Chicago. 


gress. The immense wealth gathered in the city has found new application 
in the establishment of a university and a museum, whose development 
has advanced by wondrous strides. Already the centre of population has 
passed the meridian of Chicago. However important the harbour cities 
may be in relation to Europe, the great interior City on the Lake promises 
soon to outrank them in all domestic relations. 

Niagara and the Great Lakes. — A whole series of events reaching 
from the close of the glacial period past the present into the future, 
associate Niagara river, the Great Lakes, and the city of Chicago in a 
most curious history. The lakes, except Superior, occupy lowlands or 
depressions which, as has been pointed out, are closely dependent upon 
the structure of the ancient coastal plain between the Laurentian high- 
lands of Canada and the Ohio prairies. Although the problem of the 




742 The International Geography 

origin of the lakes is still unsolved, their history during the retreat of the 
latest ice-sheet has been well deciphered during the last twenty years, and 
now offers a consecutive story of extraordinary interest and importance to 
the geographer. As the ice withdrew from its last great advance numerous 
small disconnected water bodies were formed along its margin ; but as 
the retreat of the ice continued, the many small lakes coalesced into a few 
lakes of much larger size ; and ultimately perhaps all these were reduced 
to a single sheet of water of very irregular outline, escaping to the 
Mississippi by a single outlet at the site of Chicago. This outlet was 
probably maintained while the ice still lay heavily on the lands to the 
north-east ; but as the ice front withdrew, lower outlets w r ere offered, first 
eastward by the Mohawk to the Hudson, then north-east by the St. 

Lawrence as to-day. As the change from the southern to the eastern 

drainage was approaching, a considerable river ran along the trough 

defined by the northern slope of the Allegheny Plateau in central New 

York, and the southern slope of the ice front ; this being known by the 
channels cut across the spurs of the plateau in the neighbourhood of 
Syracuse, where they are conspicuous features. Later on, when the 
eastern discharge was fully established, and the Chicago outlet was 
abandoned, the great marginal lake was divided into a larger western and 
a smaller eastern part by the Niagara upland between the Erie and the 
Ontario basins ; the latter overflowing down the Mohawk while the ice 
still filled the St. Lawrence valley, and afterwards sinking to a lower level 
when the St. Lawrence valley was opened. Several lines of discharge for 
a time flowed northward across the Niagara upland, and fell down its 
north-facing bluff into the lowland beneath ; but of these only the Niagara 
river has survived ; its fall has now been worn back nearly seven miles 
from its original position. 

During all these remarkable changes the land was slowly rising in the 
north-east, as if relieved of the weight of the ice by which it had been for 
a time depressed ; this being known by the gentle north-eastward ascent 
of the earlier lake-shore lines. The change of level thus brought about had 
much influence in determining the location of the successive lake outlets. 
As the ice sheet uncovered the lowlands of south-western Ontario, a line of 
discharge was opened eastward from Georgian Bay at a lower level than 
the roundabout flow through Lake Erie ; and for a time the upper lakes 
were allowed to discharge directly eastward. During this interval only 
Lake Erie fed Niagara, and the part of the gorge then cut by the reduced 
river is much narrower than that of earlier and later dates. As the land 
rose in the north-east, the path of the discharge eastward from Georgian 
Bay became too high for the lake outlet ; hence the waters of the upper 
lakes again ran round through Erie, Niagara was restored to the full 
volume which it has since maintained, and the gorge was cut to full width 
again. A consequence of the variation in the width of the gorge is seen 
in the position of the two great railroad bridges by which it is crossed ; 


The United States 


743 


they are close together, spanning the narrow portion of the gorge that was 
cut while the volume of the Niagara was diminished by the diversion of 
the upper lake waters to the more direct outlet across the Ontario district. 

The rise of land in the north-east not only turned the discharge of the 
upper lakes back to Erie and Niagara, it raised all the lake waters on their 
south-western shores ; thus a number of little valleys were flooded into 
bays, furnishing harbours such as that which determined the location of 
Toledo at the south-west end of Lake Erie. By a similar movement, the 
water at the southern end of Lake Michigan has been raised again from 
the level that it must have had while the land was lower in the north-east 
and the eastward outlet was maintained from Georgian Bay ; thus the 
Michigan waters have returned very nearly to the level of the earlier time, 
when the northern end of the lake was blocked by ice, and the outlet ran 
south-westward past the site of Chicago. Not only so ; the rising of the 
land in the north-east and resulting change of water levels still continues, 
and at a rate rapid enough to be discovered in the brief period during 
which accurate measurements have been made of the lake waters. An 
examination of a number of authentic records by Gilbert has shown that 
there is a tilting of 0*42 feet in a hundred miles in a century. If continued, 
the backing up of the waters on the southern end of Lake Michigan will 
be much faster than their lowering on account of the work of Niagara in 
wearing down its falls ; and in two or three thousand years all the lakes 
but Ontario will again be tributary to the Mississippi river. 

The Upper Mississippi River. — No one can say where the source 
of the Mississippi River lay in pre-glacial times. Its present head in Lake 
Itasca is not determined by the long and slow adjustments characteristic 
of river sources in mountainous regions, such as the Older Appalachian 
Belt of North Carolina, but by the accidental position of a small lake in 
a morainic region. Its upper course strays across a comparatively open 
country, guided as much by the irregular deposits of drift as by the 
form of the underlying rock. It has incised a narrow and shallow valley, 
but is still too young to have worn down its many falls and rapids. 
Settlements have sprung up at many of the water powers thus determined. 
The most important of these is Minneapolis , at the lowest and the largest 
of the falls, those of St. Anthony, now famous for driving extensive flour- 
mills, where much of the wheat of the north-west is ground. Between the 
neighbouring cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul the narrow valley of the 
young Mississippi joins a broader valley now occupied by the Minnesota 
river, but formed by the large overflow of the glacial Lake Agassiz. The 
broader valley is thenceforward followed southward, St. Paul standing on 
its border at the head of navigation ; and thus the “ twin cities,” too close 
together for the needs of the region, are forced into an over-active rivalry. 
Lake Pepin, a short distance below St. Paul, is an expansion of the 
Mississippi caused by an abundant deposit of drift that was washed into 
the valley by the Chippewa river from the north-east, probably at a time 


744 The International Geography 

when the volume of the latter was enlarged by contributions from the 
melting ice sheet. Further on, the river generally possesses a flood plain 
a few miles in width, bounded by strong bluffs which ascend to the rolling 
prairie ; here the valley probably follows the course of the pre-glacial 
Mississippi ; but occasionally the river trough is much narrower, as if the 
pre-glacial course had been obstructed by drift, and a new course had been 
carved in post-glacial time. Masterful as the river is, it cannot pretend to 
great antiquity. It is the modern representative of an ancient river, but it 
departs in many ways from the habit of its predecessor. A number of 
thriving cities of moderate size — Dubuque, Davenport , Burlington, Quincy 
— are built on the valley floor or border ; their first advantage coming 
from the great north-and-south waterway ; but to-day the river is of little 
importance as compared to the railroads running east and west. Indeed, 
the river is now more of an impediment from having to, be bridged, than 
an advantage as a public highway. 

The Ohio River. — The Ohio and its northern branches resemble 
the upper Mississippi system in many ways. Its trunk stream is now old 
enough to have opened a good flood plain between the enclosing hills. The 
head waters rise on drift barriers, by which the pre-glacial drainage system 
has been greatly modified. Many valleys that formerly discharged to Lake 
Erie are now blocked by moraines, and turn part of their waters to the 
Ohio. There is growing reason for the belief that a number of streams 
from as far south as the West Virginia plateau originally ran northward 
across Ohio to Lake Erie ; that an ice blockade of their lower (northern) 
courses in an early epoch of the glacial period caused them to rise in lakes 
and overflow westward across the hills at the lowest passes they could 
find ; and that in this accidental way the upper and middle Ohio valley 
was developed. If so, this river, by which so many settlers found their 
way to the prairies, is an indirect consequence of glacial action, like the 
water powers on which the manufactures of New England at first 
depended. Only the southern branches of the river can lay claim to great 
antiquity. Cincinnati and Louisville are the chief cities on the middle 
Ohio ; both profiting more largely to-day from the rich agricultural districts 
behind them, and from the railroads that lead across country, than from 
the rivers to whose advantages their location was originally due. Coal 
and lumber is still floated down the river from the hills of the Allegheny 
Plateau ; but the large river steamboats and their voyages from Pittsburg 
to the Mississippi are almost things of the past. Small river-boats to-day 
have a share of local traffic, but the railroads absorb nearly all the long- 
distance transportation. 

All these rivers are subject to severe floods, those of the Ohio being 
especially disastrous ; many of its branches, especially in the plateau 
district, gather rainfall rapidly from their steep valley sides. No lakes are 
present to equalise their discharge, the Ohio being strongly contrasted 
with the St. Lawrence in this respect. A destructive rise of from forty to 


The United States 745 

sixty feet, submerging the whole valley floor, and drowning the streets of 
many a village, must be expected once if not oftener in a decade. 

The Climate of the Ohio Region. — Cold winters and hot summers, 
with an equable distribution of rainfall through the year, are the leading 
features in the climate of the Ohio region. The hot summers are so 
productive that the cold of the winters is easily survived. The position 
of the region between the warm Gulf of Mexico on the far south, and the 
open plains of Canada on the far north-west, gives an unpleasant violence 
to its weather changes. The light southerly winds that prevail in front 
of cyclonic areas in midsummer cause excessive temperatures with high 
humidity under a hazy sky ; prostration from sunstroke is of common 
occurrence in the cities during these spells of true “sirocco” weather. 
The Atlantic cities are subject to the same affliction, but seldom of so great 
severity as on the prairies. As the cyclonic centre passes eastward, the 
wind shifts to west or north-west, the sky clears to a bright blue, and the 
temperature falls to a moderate degree. Violent thunderstorms and 
tornadoes often mark the transition from one weather type to another. In 
contrast with these excessive heats of summer and their cool waves are 
the mild southerly winds of winter and their cold waves ; the latter are 
piercing blasts that sweep suddenly down from the Canadian plains, 
reducing the temperature to zero or lower, and causing sudden frost after 
the thaw of the southerly winds. Like the warm waves of summer, the 
cold waves of winter reach the Atlantic coast, even as far south as Florida, 
but with diminished intensity as they move forward from their remote 
northern source. 

THE SOUTHERN COASTAL PLAIN 

The Southern Coastal Plain. — The account already given of the 
Atlantic Coastal Plain as far south as the Carolinas prepares the way for 
following its extension westward, where it wraps around the southern 
Appalachians and turns into the Mississippi embayment. The mountains 
gradually decrease in height, although preserving their disordered 
structures in full strength, and thus disappear below the covering strata of 
the coastal plain in northern Georgia and Alabama. With the burial of 
the mountains, the granite and marble quarries of the older belt, and the 
coal and iron mines of the newer belt, give way to the agricultural 
industries of the plain. The plain is well dissected and hilly in the interior, 
with local relief of from two to four hundred feet ; it gradually descends 
towards the coast, and there falls to broad prairies, recently emerged from 
the waters of the Gulf, still flat and marshy. Pine forests cover much of 
the region, yielding valuable lumber as well as resinous products. The 
population is generally rural or gathered in small villages ; even the largest 
cities are of moderate size. Middle Alabama offers the only peculiar 
feature that deserves special description ; this is a belted arrangement of 
form, such as has been described for New Jersey. An inner lowland 


746 The International Geography 

borders the older land of the Appalachians ; an upland known as 
Chunnenugga Ridge encloses the inner lowland ; and the outer slope of 
the “ ridge” descends to the flat coastal prairies. The inner lowland has 

been worn down on a weak, loose-textured lime- 
stone ; its flat surface is covered by a rich soil, 
and here is the chief cotton belt of the State with 
the largest cities of the agricultural district. 
Being without good road metal, the roads are 
often impassable in the spring ; the traveller 
must then mount a horse and take to the fields. 
The “ridge” stands up because its strata are 
more resistant than those of the inner lowdand ; 
being sandy for the most part, their soils are 
relatively infertile. The coastal prairies are low, 
because they have never been uplifted high; they 
are smooth because they cannot be dissected 
while standing near sea-level. Mobile , at the head 
of a bay formed by drowning the lower valley 
of Alabama river, the result of a slight depres- 
sion of the region, is the chief port of the Gulf coast, east of the Mississippi. 

Slavery. — The Southern Coastal Plain is chiefly responsible for the 
grievous affliction of slavery that so long blighted the southern States and 
poisoned the whole country. The settlements of the whole Atlantic coast 
were at first to blame for the iniquity, for slaves were originally held in 
New England as well as in Virginia and the Carolinas ; but in the north 
slave labour was of so little profit that sordid motives did not deceive the 
awakening conscience of the people ; and before the system gained a 
strong hold it was uprooted. In the south, on the other hand, slave labour 
on the plantations became extremely profitable ; and moreover, the heat of 
summer, it has often been asserted, was too severe for white labourers. 
The principles of the people very naturally followed their profitable 
practice, and slavery became an established institution. The population 
was thus divided into three chief classes, the white slaveholders, the land- 
owners and leaders, financially and politically, of the south, men of wealth, 
ability, and high position ; the poor whites or “ white trash,” in large part 
the descendants of very undesirable colonists of early days, owning no 
slaves and very little property, lazy, ignorant, and poverty-stricken, despised 
by both the other classes ; and the negro slaves, with no property or 
influence whatever. To these three classes a fourth may be added ; the 
sturdier people of the uplands, inland from the coastal plain, often owning 
no slaves, sometimes owning a few, not profiting enough by the system of 
slavery to be strongly attached to it, yet not sufficiently wealthy or politi- 
cally important to exert much influence, and too generally casting what 
influence they had with the more ardent slaveholders as against the people 
of the north. 



The United States 


747 

If the distribution of the wealthy and the influential slaveholders were 
charted, it would be found to be closely associated with the Southern 
Coastal Plain, and especially with the belts of richer soil. The piedmont 
border of the Appalachian belt, the inland Appalachian valley (the Shenan- 
doah valley of Virginia and the Valley of East Tennessee), the flood plain 
of the Mississippi and the isolated limestone basins of western Tennessee 
and northern Kentucky (the Blue Grass country) were also profitable slave- 
holding districts ; but the stronghold of the system was on the coastal 
plain. Better that the 
plain should never have 
grown a pound of cotton, 
better that its fertile 
strata should never have 
emerged from the waters 
of the sea, than' that 
slavery and its direful, 
long-lasting consequences 
should have come upon 
the United States. Now 
after a dreadful struggle, 
slavery is abolished and 
better conditions are 
ushered in. Considerable sums of public money are devoted by the several 
States to the education of the negroes, but always apart from the whites ; 
many schools are supported by contributions from the northern States ; 
some advance is made in the ownership and cultivation of land and in the 
practice of trades ; but political rights are practically withheld from the 
former slaves ; there is still a great body of poor and ignorant negroes 
-—often a majority of the population — set apart from the whites by all the 
prejudices that divide the races of mankind. The coastal plain has much 
to answer for, in so far as it led to this unhappy condition. 

Florida is an anomalous out-growth from the Southern Coastal Plain, 
a low up-arching of the sea floor, nowhere reaching more than a few 
hundred feet above sea-level. Much of its interior is underlain by lime- 
stones ; here numerous lakes are found as if occupying cavities dissolved 
out of the soluble rock, and many streams disappear in “ sinks,” emerging 
elsewhere in large springs. Nearer the coast the land is low and often 
marshy, especially in the south where the grassy Everglades form an 
impenetrable wilderness, and where the shore line is often bordered by 
mangrove swamps, especially on the western side. Remnants of Indian 
tribes are still found in this untamable country. The eastern coast is 
bordered by extensive sand reefs with remarkably even shore lines, 
enclosing long narrow lagoons. In Florida, as well as further north to 
Carolina, there are strata so rich in phosphatic deposits — largely derived from 
the bones of sea animals — as to be valuable as fertilizers ; they are already 
49 



Milt*. 

9 tyy 


fc.H. 


Fig. 361 — The Old Slave States and the present 
Distribution of Negroes. 


748 The International Geography 

excavated in shallow pits and exported in considerable quantity ; but this 
industry is only in its infancy, awaiting the further exhaustion of the soils in 
the northern farms for its full development. The southern extremity of 
Florida and the outlying islands are coral reefs ; in part slightly elevated 
and worn down again ; in part growing at sea-level ; thus resembling the 
extensive banks of the Bahamas to the south-east. 

The far southern reach of Florida between the Atlantic and the Gulf 
waters gives it an almost torrid climate. It has a plentiful rainfall, with a 
stronger maximum in summer than is found anywhere else in the United 
States. Tropical cyclones frequently pass the Florida coast in the late 
summer or early autumn, on their curved track between the West Indies 
and the North Atlantic. They sometimes cause disaster on the low coastal 
lands by brushing the sea- water ashore in storm tides, as well as by over- 
whelming the unwary mariner ; but their coming is generally announced 
by the Weather Bureau. The mild winters of Florida attract many 
invalids from the more severe climates of the northern States. The 
high mean temperature permits the cultivation of subtropical fruits, 
which are sent in large quantities to the northern markets ; but a cold 
wave occasionally sweeps down from the north-west in the late winter 
and freezes the orange trees and early vegetables ; hence fortunes have 
been lost as well as made in the orchards and farms of Florida. Key West y 
on an island off the south end of the peninsula, is the United States naval 
station for the Gulf. 

The Lower Mississippi. — During the deposition of the strata of 
the Southern Coastal Plain, a strong embayment occupied the place of 
the lower Mississippi. As the region was elevated, many rivers, formerly 
independent, were engrafted on a single trunk, and thus the “ father of 
waters ” was formed. The upper Mississippi deserves no higher rank than 
the Ohio and the Missouri ; indeed, in the matter of age, the Ohio head- 
waters in the Black Mountains of North Carolina and the Missouri head- 
waters in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, are 
much more venerable than the post-glacial parvenus of the upper Mis- 
sissippi in Minnesota ; but the lower Mississippi combining them all is 
truly a great river. The early French explorers of North America entered 
the interior by its two chief waterways, the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. 
Their presence is revealed by many names still in use, such as Quebec 
and Montreal, New Orleans and Baton Rouge, St. Louis and Louisiana. 
The defeat of the French at Quebec transferred all their possessions on 
the northern river to British control. The purchase of Louisiana brought 
a western empire into the possession of the United States. In both cases 
the upper basin of the river followed the fate of the mouth. 

Although bearing a heavy load of silt, the great volume of the Mis- 
sissippi enables it to establish a channel of very gentle slope. Its vigorous 
meanders, swinging now this way, now that, have alternately worn back 
the bluffs on the east and west so that the flood plain has gained a breadth 


The United States 749 

of from thirty to sixty miles over a length of 600 miles. The greater part of 
the plain slopes gently away from the river 
banks, and is therefore liable to be flooded at 
times of high water. Hardly a year passes but 
a moderate flood occurs in one part or another ; 
hardly a decade without a devastating inunda- 
tion. Near the river the plain is partly cleared 
and cultivated : its rich soil produces abundant 
crops of cotton and sugar cane. Further back 
upon the river a great part of the plain is 
not yet cleared. Southward, the flood plain 
continues into the delta, which is rapidly build- 
ing forward into the Gulf. The river there 
divides into a number of outgoing branches or 
distributaries, each of which is enclosed in its 
furthest advance by low and narrow banks of 
mud. Few deltas in the world more clearly 
exhibit in their digitate outline the intention of 
their river ; few are more indifferent to the 
desire of the waves to turn their front into a 
smooth convex curve. The mouths of the dis- 
tributaries are known as “passes” ; at one of 
them, jetties have been formed to confine the 
river breadth, increase its velocity, and thus 
cause it to scour out a deeper channel for the 
advantage of navigation. No large cities have 
grown upon the flood plain except New Orleans , FlG - 362.— rfo Mississippi Flood 

the chief city of the Gulf coast, the harbour 

city where internal and external commerce meet. Its population contains 
many Creoles — Americans of French ancestry — and many Italian immi- 
grants. St. Louis , although 
above the mouth of the Ohio, 
may be regarded as standing 
at the head of the great flood 
plain. In earlier years, when 
river transportation was at its 
best development, the two 
cities of the lower Mississippi 
were intimately connected ; a 
voyage on a Mississippi steam- 
boat was an experience sui 
generis , in the way of boat con- 
struction and navigation, as 
well as in the chance of meet- 
ing with planters and gamblers, and of seeing a cargo of “ slaves, cotton 







75° The International Geography 

and other merchandise.' 1 The trip may still be made ; there are still shift- 
ing sand bars on the “ crossings ” between the river curves, and there is still 

a great extent of unoccupied forest along 
the river banks ; but here, as well as 
further north, the rapid transportation 
of the railroad is largely replacing the 
slower movement of the river boat, 
except for local traffic supplied by the 
settlements on the flood plain itself. 
Between New Orleans and St. Louis, 
the chief settlements are at points where 
the swinging river touches the bluffs 
on one or other side of the plain. Hap- 
pening in this century to lie nearer the 
eastern side of the plain than the west- 
ern, Memphis , Tenth, Vicksburg , Miss., 
and Natchez and Baton Rouge, La., are 
on the eastern bluffs. Helena, Ark., is the only important city on the 
western bluff below St. Louis. To these must be added Cairo, III., at the 
junction of the Ohio and Mississippi. 

If engineering skill ever suffices to control the floods of the Mississippi, 
to restrain the shifting of its meandering channel, and to drain the “ back- 
swamps” of its flood plain, the whole surface may be cultivated. Already 
some steps have been taken toward this profitable end. A Mississippi 
River Commission has constructed elaborate maps of the river, and exten- 
sive dikes or “ levees ” are constructed along its banks. Another century 
may see great advance made from this beginning, and then the product of 
the Mississippi flood plain will be proportionate to its ^ast extent and its 
inexhaustible fertility. 

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI STATES 

The Trans-Mississippi States. — The tier of States from Minnesota 
to Louisiana immediately west of the Mississippi presents an epitomised 
review of what has already been described. Northern Minnesota is an 
extension of the Laurentian highlands, a region of ancient rocks worn 
down to moderate relief, rich in iron ores. It is abundantly strewn over 
with sheet drift and heaped moraines enclosing innumerable lakes. Its 
northward slope, with that of eastern North Dakota, drained by the Red 
River of the North, was the seat of the vast glacial-marginal Lake Agassiz, 
stretching far north into Canada against the retreating ice, and overflowing 
at a dip in the height of land on the south, where the channel now followed 
by the Minnesota river was cut. The shore lines of the lake and the 
deltas of inflowing rivers on the east and west are not less distinct than the 
channel of its outlet, although now abandoned by the waters that made 
them. As with the Laurentian glacial lakes, the shore lines of Lake 



The United States 


75i 


Agassiz now rise northward at a slight inclination, proving an elevation of 
the land in the north during and since the disappearance of the ice sheet. 
The lake-floor, a vast treeless prairie, one of the most nearly level tracts on 
the face of the Earth, has been occu- 
pied by great wheat farms ; the fine 
texture of its soil, the smoothness of 
its surface, and its freedom from forest 
growth have promoted its rapid settle- 
ment, while the rolling drift country 
on the east and west, with its stony 
moraines, its abundant forest growth, 
and its many lakes and swamps, is less 
generally occupied. Here as elsewhere 
in the north-west, Scandinavian immi- 
grants are numerous. 

Southern Minnesota, Iowa, and 
northern Missouri — and the adjoining 
parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, and 
Kansas — resemble the western prairie 
States of the Ohio region. The sur- 
face is underlain by nearly horizontal 
strata of ancient date, similar to those 
which stretch southward from the 
Wisconsin highland. There is the same general concealment of rock 
ledges, except in the banks of the post-glacial stream courses ; the same 
wide expanse of gently undulating plains of till, the same ornamenta- 
tion by belts of hilly moraines. Most of the surface is treeless prairie, 
very fertile and widely cultivated. Many villages and small cities have 
sprung up, but there are as yet no large cities. Railroads are almost as 
plentiful as east of the Mississippi. There is no part of the United States 
in which the succession of earlier and later drift sheets is so well displayed. 
In the northern part of this district the forms produced by the ice are 
hardly modified, except close to the sharp-cut stream lines ; the till plains 
are still undissected, lakes are still present in the moraines : here the drift is 
very young. In the southern part there are no lakes and the surface of the 
drift is well carved by numerous branching streams into an undulating sur- 
face : here the drift is comparatively old. The interval between the earliest 
and latest ice advances must have been much longer than between the latest 
advance and the present day. The fertile loess mantle that so generally 
cloaks the more southern drift is distinctly associated with one of the 
earlier advances ; the latest advance produced no loess, but gave forth 
energetic rivers that bore streams of gravel along the valleys far beyond 
the terminal moraines. 

Tornadoes of the Mississippi Basin. — The plains immediately 
to the west of the Mississippi vie with those immediately to the east of the 




752 The International Geography 

river in affording opportunity for the development of tornadoes during the 
spring and summer months. These violent and destructive whirlwinds 
are now shown to be almost limited to the south-eastern quadrant of large 
cyclonic or low pressure areas, in that part of the cyclonic track and in 
that season which provides strong contrasts of temperature and humidity 
in the inflowing winds. The same great cyclonic storm, a thousand miles 
in diameter, may be followed in its eastern progress all across North 
America, and far out upon the North Atlantic even to north-western 
Europe. The general circulation of its whirling indrafts is alike during 
its entire journey of five or ten thousand miles ; but only on passing 
the middle Mississippi basin in spring or summer are tornadoes frequently 
developed. They occur within thunderstorms, but by no means within 
every such local storm ; hence it may be inferred that their development 
depends on highly specialised conditions, such as warm and moist southerly 
winds in the lower atmosphere, and a probable overflow of cool and dry 
westerly winds aloft. The destructive tornado whirl, within which hangs 
a writhing funnel-shaped cloud, is seldom over a thousand yards in 
diameter. It travels rapidly, usually from south-west to north-east, avera- 
ging thirty miles an hour, while the velocity of the winds themselves must 
exceed a hundred miles per hour. The storm comes out of the cloudy 
west with little warning, lays waste its narrow path with a frightful roaring, 
and quickly disappears across the prairie. Trees and buildings are 
violently destroyed in a moment, if the full force of the whirl comes upon 
them. Little wonder that those who have witnessed but escaped a tornado’s 
fury are nervously apprehensive when dark clouds gather over the western 
horizon in sultry summer weather. 

The Missouri Highlands. — The Missouri river roughly follows 
the border of the drift area on the west of the Mississippi, as the Ohio 
does on the east. There is some reason for thinking that the course of 
the river was determined when an early ice sheet lay on the country to the 
north-east of it, thus increasing its resemblance to the Ohio. It is now a well 
established river, with a flood plain generally several miles wide, incised one 
or two hundred feet below the uplands on either side. Many towns, like 
Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri, occupy the bordering uplands where 
the swinging river impinges against the base of the bluff ; thus showing 
that here, as on the Ohio, river travel was important before the days of the 
railroad. Now many steamboats are rotting at their wharves. 

South of the Missouri, the land rises gradually to the Ozark Plateau (Oz 
in Fig. 353), a broad flat dome of Palaeozoic strata, in general less dissected, 
but singularly like the Allegheny plateau in many respects. The uplands 
include a number of ragged cuestas , that is, reliefs determined by the 
harder members of the plateau strata whose gently inclined position causes 
them to form escarpments of irregular front, two or three hundred feet in 
height on the outcrop side, but descending slowly to lower ground in the 
direction of their dip ; the belt of lower ground between the back slope of 


The United States 


753 


one cuesta and the escarpment of the next being the surface expression of 
the weaker strata that lie between the cuesta-makers. The chief river 
valleys are cut down beneath the level of the belts of lower ground, and 
are therefore doubly deep in their passage through the uplands of the 
cuestas. They are generally steep sided and narrow floored : some of 
them have singularly meandering courses, like that of the Osage. The 
population is gathered on the broader interstream uplands, and is almost 
exclusively engaged in agriculture. The chief exception to this statement 
is found in the St. Francois Mountains, eastward from the higher parts of 
the plateau, where iron mining flourishes ; this being the natural result of 
the emergence here of several ancient mountain summits that rise through 
the stratified rocks of the plateau from a buried Archaean land surface. 
Iron Mountain is one of these summits ; Pilot Knob, a landmark seen 
from afar, is another. The plateau slowly decreases in height and increases 
in ruggedness on approaching its border in northern Arkansas. Across its 
whole breadth, there is an increase in the abundance of natural tree 
growth, in contrast to the treeless prairies of Iowa ; the rugged southern 
part of the Ozark Plateau is abundantly forested and thinly inhabited. 

The Arkansas Highlands. — The lower country of central Ar- 
kansas, next beyond the southern border of the Ozark Plateau, is deter- 
mined by the upturning of the strata, which from the beginning of their 
overlap on the Archaean floor of northern Minnesota had been almost 
horizontal. The denuded folds of the crushed rocks form the Ouachita 
Mountains, occupying a belt that trends east and west across middle Ar- 
kansas, disappearing under the embayment of the Southern Coastal Plain 
to the eastward, and extending far into the dry country to the westward 
(Ou in Fig. 353). Here so many repetitions of the Appalachian structure 
and form have been found that the Appalachian mountain-making disturb- 
ance of Permian time is now recognised as extending far beyond the limits 
originally assigned to it in Alabama. The harder strata stand up as ridges 
of moderate height, turning in angular zigzags of true Appalachian habit ; 
the streams cut through the ridges in sharp water gaps ; the farming 
country lies in the basins and “ coves ” divided by the ridges. Certain 
sandstone layers in the ridges are of extremely fine texture and are exten- 
sively quarried for whetstones. 

The uneducated population of the South is at its worst in the “ piney 
woods” of central Arkansas. Whether because of inferior ancestry or 
because of the blight of slavery, the people of the country districts, white 
as well as black, are here miserably degraded. As so often elsewhere in 
the South, the shiftless farmers often buy seed for spring planting with 
money borrowed on the prospect of the autumn's harvest. They show 
little desire to improve their condition, and remain ignorant, badly housed, 
roughly clothed, and poorly fed from generation to generation. Some of 
the inertness of the people may be charged to the extreme heat of the 
summers ; but from whatever cause, their slow progress makes a sad 


754 


The International Geography 


contrast to the rapid emergence from frontier conditions in such States as 
Wisconsin and Iowa. Amid rural surroundings so deplorable, it is natural 
that the urban population should grow slowly, and that manufacturing and 
mercantile activity should be at the lowest ebb. Helena on the Mississippi 
and Little Rock on the Arkansas, the chief cities of the district, are only of 
local importance. 

The Red River Rafts— Southern Arkansas is overlapped by the 
coastal plain which continues through Louisiana to the shore of the Gulf 
of Mexico, repeating many of the conditions already described for the 
region east of the Mississippi. Much of the surface is still forested, 
and the population is almost entirely rural and agricultural. The flood 
plain of the Red River deserves mention among the physical features on 
account of the famous “ rafts” by which the river channel through it has 
been encumbered for distances of twenty or more miles. The rafts are 
formed by the accumulation of tree trunks that have been swept in time 
of flood from the forested flood plain further up the valley. The older 
trunks rot away at the lower end of the raft, while new ones gather at the 
upper end ; thus the raft slowly moves up stream. In recent years a 
navigable channel has been opened through the raft above Shreveport , 
and kept clear by patrolling “ snag-boats.” Appropriate to the slow pro- 
gress of the region, river transportation has not been so generally super- 
ceded by the railroads here as in the north. Partly on account of the 
obstruction of the river current by the raft, partly on account of the large 
amount of sediment brought down from the upper waters in the Llano 
Esiacado of Texas, the flood plain of the Red River is rapidly aggrading 
or building up the valley floor. The side streams in Louisiana, unable to 
aggrade their valleys at the same rapid rate, expand on approaching the 
main valley, and thus form a number of lakes of unusual origin. The 
coastal prairie offers little temptation to settlement. Its surface is so low, 
flat, and marshy as generally to be unfit for cultivation ; its shore possesses 
no good harbours, and is subject to storm floods from the sea. 

The Coastal Plain of Texas —The Southern Coastal Plain extends 
south-westward into Texas. Its shore line sweeps in a long concave curve 
from the fingered delta of the Mississippi to the rounded delta of the Rio 
Grande. For nearly all this distance the low margin of the plain is 
bordered by off-shore sand-reefs, built by wave action in the shallow waters 
of the Gulf. The reefs are of extraordinary continuity, by reason of the 
weakness of the tides. Padre Island, the reef that extends northward from 
the Rio Grande delta, measures nearly a hundred miles without a break, 
and in this respect is strikingly unlike the broken reefs and sea islands of 
South Carolina, where the much stronger tides maintain many openings 
leading from the mainland to the sea. Texas is so poorly provided with 
harbours that its chief port, Galveston , is situated on one of the off-shore 
sand reefs, where it was devastated by a hurricane and simultaneous sea- 
flood in 1900. The other ports are on shallow bays (valleys in the 


The United States 755 

coastal plain, slightly drowned), accessible only to vessels of moderate 
draught through narrow inlets of the sand-reef. 

The coastal prairie is treeless except along the watercourses ; it forms a 
vast grazing country. Further inland, the surface rises slowly, is dissected 
into a hilly expression, and is more generally wooded. Then follows the 
black prairie of smoother surface and more fertile soil, a great cotton district, 
like that enclosed by the Chunnenugga Ridge of Alabama. Here are the 
chief interior cities, including Austin , the capital. Finally, the long slope 
of the Grand Prairie, a Cretaceous cuesta of large dimensions, ascends to 
uplands of considerable altitude before descending by a ragged escarp- 
ment to the “ central denuded region,” a farming district of ancient rocks 
and diversified structure, form, and resources. The Cretaceous cuesta is 
traversed by valleys that lead rivers outward from the interior denuded 
region ; but between the valleys its upland surface is relatively continuous, 
a great uniform expanse. Here already the rainfall is becoming deficient, 
foreshadowing the aridity of western Texas. The “ Northers” of the 
Texas coast are winds that sweep down from the Great Plains, when a 
cyclonic area lies on the Gulf : in winter they are cold waves. 

THE GREAT PLAINS 

The Great Plains. — A vast sub-arid region, extending from the 
trans-Mississippi tier of States to the base of the Rocky Mountains, is 
known as the Great Plains. The eastern boundary of this division is 
indefinite ; the dry plains merge into the more fertile prairies in the 
eastern part of the second tier of States west of the Mississippi. The 
plains are more varied in form than the name implies, and are indeed hilly 
enough over large districts to be called rugged. Even where most nearly 
level, they generally roll in broad swells, whose variation of height is 
frequently to be measured in scores of feet. Moreover, most of the rivers 
of the plains have incised their valleys to depths of fifties or hundreds of 
feet below the interstream surfaces ; and the branch streams, gnawing 
headwards, produce a broken country on either side of the main valleys 
that is anything but plain. A dry climate excludes growth of trees, 
except along the streams, or on the higher hills and escarpments ; and the 
name of the region is more an expression of the almost boundless view 
disclosed from every eminence than an indication of its precise form. 

The dryness of the plains predestines them to a small population. To- 
day, with the advantages of many railroads, the traveller is impressed with 
the great amount of unoccupied space. Yet from this vast region, once 
deemed almost a desert, cattle are now shipped in great numbers to the 
more eastern cities, although they require a much greater grazing area than 
on the prairies. The Coteau of the Missouri in North and South Dakota, 
where the Great Plains enter the United States from Canada, is a broad 
upland, that descends with some approach to abruptness on its eastern side 
50 


756 The International Geography 

into the lower ground drained by James River : it is the topographical 
expression of a series of Cretaceous strata which extend far west and south 
under the plains, and which here crop out to the eastward ; it may be 
taken as marking the transition from the moister climate and more plen- 
tiful grass covering of the prairies further east, and the dryer climate and 
scanty grass covering further west. The upland is belted over with many 
moraines of rolling, hummocky, boulder-strewn surface, not high enough 
to be formidable, but uneven enough to be fatiguing to the drover, 
teamster, or horseman, and too stony to yield easily to the plough. In the 
absence of landmarks, one may easily be lost among the morainic hills 
and hollows. The abandoned channels of large glacial rivers are charac- 
teristic features of the drift-covered uplands ; one may sometimes ascend 
the gentle grade of their broad floor between well-marked banks, and at 
last emerge on the top of a morainic belt, with a broad stretch of lower 
ground beyond ; here the channel heads against the air, and here the 
source of its extinct river in the edge of the ice sheet must be inferred. 
The blizzard finds its best development on the broad Coteau. It is a 
violent cold-wave wind, at a temperature near zero F. or lower, drifting 
clouds of fine snow by which all landmarks are hidden. A guide of rope 
is needed in going a few hundred feet from a house to a barn in one of 
these freezing, blinding storms. Travellers on foot should be roped 
together, as if climbing Alpine peaks. 

Beyond the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains in Montana, there is a 
great space of comparatively even plains, interrupted only by occasional 
eminences and by the sharply incised valleys of the larger rivers and their 
short branches. The eminences are of various types. The Little Rocky 
Mountains, near the Canadian boundary, are local upheavals of the under- 
lying strata in a dome-like structure, now much denuded. The Bear Paw 
Mountains, also far north, are a group of peaks formed by the dissection of 
an ancient volcano. The Highwood and the Crazy Mountains, between 
the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, owe their altitude to the network of 
igneous dykes and stocks which have locally indurated the enclosing 
strata. Various ridges, buttes, and mesas are the consequence of the 
better resistance to erosion of dykes and lava sheets, than of the weak 
strata of the plains. Taken altogether, these embossed forms prove that 
the surrounding plain is not smooth because it retains the form of the sea 
floor in which its strata were laid down (like the coastal prairies of Texas), 
but because it has been well worn down from whatever initial upper 
surface it once possessed. It is a true plain of denudation, with the rem- 
nant hills and mountains here and there to serve, like once overwhelmed 
nilometers, as minimum measures of the height to which the entire 
surface once rose. As a plain of denudation, the region must have been 
worn down so low that the rivers wandered idly upon its surface. The 
sharply intrenched valleys of to-day prove that the denuded plains have 
been broadly uplifted, with an inclination eastward, and this only long 


The United States 


757 


enough ago to allow vigorous rivers to erode narrow valleys. There are 
few better examples of composite topography than this. 

Hills of the Great Plains. — The hills and mountains that rise over 
the plains bear trees on their upper slopes. The plains are absolutely 
treeless, but offer good grazing ranges, and are now stocked with 
wandering herds of cattle. Although the winters are cold, the snowfall is 
very light ; the cattle are left unsheltered on the open ranges all the year 
round, to get along as well as they can ; they generally endure their winter 
privations, but severe losses occur during blizzards. Sheep cannot survive 
without protection and food. There is a tendency among the ranchmen to 
carry the name of “ Prairie ” far west to the thinly grassed upland plains, 
but thus used, the word is a deceptive misnomer. The uplands are out of 
reach of irrigation, but the valley floors, half a mile or more in width, are 
often watered by canals from the rivers : here cultivated fields produce 
good harvests. All the settlements are on the rivers : Bismarck, where the 
Northern Pacific railroad crosses the Missouri, Fort Benton, an early 
military station at the head of navigation of the Missouri, and Great Falls, 
where the revived river has developed a number of cataracts on a series of 
resistant sandstone layers, are examples ; the latter uses its water power in 
various industrial works, as well as in driving street cars and in furnishing 
electric light. The homes of the cattlemen are likewise in the valleys, out 
of sight of one another and widely separated by the unoccupied plains. 
Important Indian reservations lie near the mountains, where the Red Man 
still remains in large numbers. The denuded plains extend along the 
Rocky Mountain border far south into Colorado, repeating the features 
above described except that the residual hills are comparatively rare. 
Here the upland surface is often strewn over with sheets of river-washed 
gravels, derived from the mountains, and of practical importance as water- 
bearing deposits. As in Montana, the rivers are now intrenched in valleys 
beneath the upland surface. 

The Black Hills, in South Dakota and Wyoming, occupy an oval 
upheaved area, measuring about a hundred miles in its longer north 
and south diameter (BH in Fig 353). It is a dome-like mountain uplift 
on a scale intermediate between that of the Little Rocky Mountains of 
eastern Montana and of various members of the Rocky Mountains proper. 
Although the covering strata of the dome-like uplift have been greatly 
denuded, the hills surmount the plains by one or two thousand feet, and thus 
induce a local increase of rainfall. The Black Hills are, therefore, well 
forested, and their dark appearance, when seen in the distance, has given 
them their name. They supply much lumber to the ranches on the sur- 
rounding plains. The denudation of the originally arching strata has worn 
them back to concentric rimming ridges, and has revealed their foundation 
rocks of very ancient origin : and as these bear gold and silver, mining has 
come to be an important industry in the hills. Two railways have pushed 
their lines from the prairie States across the eastern plains to the Black 


75 8 The International Geography 

Hills, and now compete for freights from the mines as well as from the 
cattle ranges on the way. Here, as so often elsewhere, strong buttes 
mark the site of heavy “ necks ” of volcanic rocks and testify to the great 
and general denudation that the hills and plains have suffered. Mato 
Teepee, north-west of the hills, is the most remarkable of these forms, a 
great bare rock-shaft of columnar structure, six hundred feet in height, 
without a rival in the world. 

The Bad Lands — the mauvaises terrcs pour traverser of the early 
French voyageurs — are named from their excessively rough and barren 
surface, the result of minute and detailed dissection by wet-weather 
streams. They are found in many parts of the western arid country, 
nowhere in better or greater development than along the branches of the 
Missouri north and south of the Black Hills. The fine-textured strata 
thus carved are in many cases of lacustrine or fluviatile origin and of 
Tertiary age ; the result of accumulation in broad basins formed by slight 
warpings of the Great Plains. A wonderful series of mammalian fossils 
has been entombed in them. The dry climate of the plains allows only a 
scanty covering of vegetation ; the fine texture and imperfect consolidation 
of the lacustrine strata promotes their denudation. Similar strata in a 
moister climate would be so well covered by vegetation that little work 
would be done by small streams and rills ; most of the waste would wash 
evenly from the slopes to the larger valleys, or would creep slowly down 
hill in soil-cap motion, and the forms of the surface would be smoothly 
rounded. It is curious to note that in such cases, the vegetation sup- 
ported under the greater rainfall largely counteracts the work that the 
rainfall would do alone ; it is in dry regions that the direct work of small 
streams is best displayed, even though their action is intermittent. 

The Sand Hills. — North of the Platte River a large extent of the 
Great Plains in Nebraska is occupied by low sand hills, or dunes, heaped by 
the wind from incoherent sandy strata. There is a scanty growth of grass 
in the hollows between the hills, and here, as well as elsewhere on the 
plains, great herds of buffalo wandered in the first half of the nineteenth 
century. But explorers and emigrants looked on the region as a desert, 
for it gave them little support during the slow progress of their waggons 
or “ prairie schooners" across its monotonous waste. Yet to-day a railroad 
traverses this “ desert" on its way to the Black Hills, and carries many 
cattle from ranches among the sand hills to eastern markets. 

The loose texture of the strata of the plains exert an influence on the 
behaviour of its rivers as well as on the form of its bad lands and its sand 
hills. The rivers are so abundantly supplied with the waste of the land 
that they need a relatively strong slope on which to gain a velocity that 
will enable them to wash along their load. Hence, in spite of the con- 
siderable altitude of the plains — 3,000 or 4,000 feet over vast areas — the 
valleys are of moderate depth, and the local relief is, therefore, less than it 
would be if the strata were more thoroughly indurated, and the valleys 


The United States 


759 

more deeply cut. The Platte illustrates this principle in a striking manner, 
for its broad channel is little sunk below the adjoining plains. Its visible 
volume decreases by sinking underground from a good supply near the 
mountains to a comparatively slender stream wandering on a broad bed 
of sands in the sand-hill region. Only in occasional floods is the channel 
filled from bank to bank. 

The Plains of Kansas ascend westward in a series of broad benches 
that are separated by east-facing bluffs of moderate height and ragged 
outline. These are similar to the belted uplands or cuestas of southern 
Missouri : each bench is underlain by a relatively resistant stratum, whose 
outcrop forms its limiting escarpment. The flood-plained valleys of the 
larger streams have little relation to the cuestas, but traverses them 
irregularly. While the eastern part of this region generally has a sufficient 
rainfall, the western part of Kansas reaches an arid region whose settle- 
ment has been attended by much misfortune. The practice of borrowing 
money with which to stock a new farm was here organised by loan 
companies; and it happened that between 1880 and 1890, when this 
business was at its height, the rainfall on the Great Plains was heavier 
than usual, and for a time all went well. Many enthusiasts believed that 
the climate had been favourably changed by the cultivation of the ground. 
Then in one of the times of decreasing rainfall, common to all semi-arid 
regions, crops failed, the disappointed settlers left their farms, and the 
eastern investor found himself the owner of a distant patch of worthless 
ground on the boundless plains. The legitimate use of borrowed capital 
in eastern Kansas and Nebraska, as well as on the prairies, has been 
beneficial both to borrowers and lenders in many cases where the farms 
were favourably situated, but the plains are still desolate ; little settlements 
here and there in the valleys only emphasise the emptiness of the uplands. 

Omaha , in Nebraska, and Kansas City , on the border of Missouri and 
Kansas, both on the Missouri river, are the chief cities of the western 
prairies, near the eastern borders of the plains. They have grown rapidly 
during the latter decades of the century, with the extension of railroads 
across the plains and the growth of cattle ranching. They are rivals as 
railroad centres and as cattle markets. 

The Llano Estacado. — The Ouachita mountain range of middle 
Arkansas extends westward into Indian Territory and Oklahoma, interrupt- 
ing the plains for several hundred miles, but disappearing beneath them 
before reaching the Rocky Mountains. This region is not yet well 
studied owing to its having been long set apart as a home for various 
tribes of Indians when they were removed from their original homes. It 
is followed on the south-west by the Llano Estacado , an even-topped 
plateau in northern Texas, confluent with the Great Plains in the north- 
west, gnawed on the north-east, east, and south by the head waters of 
many rivers that flow to the Mississippi and the Gulf, and divided from 
the mountains on the west by the valley of Pecos river. As a source of 


760 The International Geography 

sediment for fertile flood plains in a moister climate near the coast, the 
Llano is well placed ; but its upland surface is too arid for profitable 
occupation, unless by wandering herds, and for these the scarcity of water 
is a formidable difficulty. In summer the plateau is intensely hot by day, 
and it is probably from this region and its fellows beyond the Mexican 
boundary that the “hot- winds” of Kansas and Nebraska are derived. 
These south-west* winds are veritable scourges, for with a temperature of 
95 0 or more and an extremely low humidity, they blight the fields over 
which they pass. They frequently affect narrow belts in the direction of 
their progress, as if their excessive heat was limited to a small current in 
the general movement of the winds. Fortunately they are of rare 
occurrence in their greater severity. It has been suggested that, like 
similar winds observed in northern India, the high temperature of these 
fiery blasts is immediately derived from compression during their descent 
from a considerable altitude ; but it is manifest that they must have been 
previously heated when near the ground. 

Denver is the only important city on the Great Plains. Thirty years ago 
it was reached only by stage-coach ; now it is the focus of many railroads, 
some coming from the Mississippi valley, others entering the Rocky 
Mountains which rise a dozen miles away. There was originally nothing 
in the immediate surroundings of Denver to give it eminence over a score 
of other frontier settlements. It is built on Cherry Creek, which, like 
many another stream in the dry country, is a bed of sand and gravel during 
much of the year, but which occasionally rises in furious floods from 
cloud-burst rains. The neighbouring plains for a hundred miles are 
occupied partly as cattle ranges, partly as irrigated farms. The mountains 
beyond have mining towns here and there. The successful growth of 
Denver depends partly on the long distance by which the Rocky Mountains 
are separated from the cities of the Mississippi valley, partly on the 
contrast between the Plains and the Mountains ; for even in the days of 
railroads, centres of trade must not be too far from their constituents. 


THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 

The Rocky Mountains. — The Great Plains are terminated abruptly 
* on the west by the front range of the Rocky Mountains, which rises from a 
base of 4,000 or 6,000 feet to summits of 10,000 or 14,000 feet. Many other 
ranges of similar height fellow further west ; each has its local name, as 
the Teton Range in Wyoming, south of the Yellowstone Park, one of the 
grandest mountain groups in the west ; the Sawatch Range beyond the 
upper waters of the Arkansas in Colorado, with its chief peaks, Harvard, 
Yale, and Princeton, named after eastern colleges; the Uinta Range in 
Utah, exceptional in having an east and west trend nearly at right angles 
to its fellows ; the Wahsatch Range in Utah, overlooking the arid basin 
of Great Salt Lake on the west. Although often of bold and vigorous 


The United States 


761 

form, “ needles'’ and “horns” are comparatively rare. Talus-covered 
flanks of uniform slope are extensively developed. The upper slopes 
stand high above the tree line, yet they gather only small snowfields and 
bear no glaciers except in northern Montana. The moraines of extinct 
glaciers are, however, abundant in many valleys. The middle and lower 
slopes are generally forested, except in the far south. 

Geology of the Rocky Mountains. — The geological series in 
the mountain ranges extends from the ancient crystalline rocks through 
the Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic to the early Tertiaries. Well-defined 
Devonian horizons usually have small thickness. The Carboniferous is 
a heavy marine limestone with no trace of coal. Workable beds of coal, 
chiefly lignite, occur in the upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary. The 
long maintained conformability of the rock series, sometimes without a 
break from Cambrian to Cretaceous, gives an interesting contradiction 
to the early doctrine that a great break is always to be found between the 
Palaeozoic and Mesozoic. The prevailing absence of metamorphosed sedi- 
ments is a notable peculiarity. Igneous rocks are common in the form 
of intrusive sills and laccoliths, and in the Yellowstone region there are 
extrusive flows and agglomerates of great thickness and extent. 

The structure of many ranges is anticlinal. The axis of the front range, 
south of the Missouri, is largely composed of granite, from which the 
bedded formations dip away with much regularity on either flank. The 
Uinta Range is still arched over by Carboniferous strata for much of its 
length. The Wahsatch is peculiar in being of synclinal structure, with an 
east to west axis at right angles to the range, and broken across by a great 
fracture that marks the eastern border of the Great Basin and exposes a 
vast natural section on the western slope of the mountains. North of the 
Missouri river, and extending into Canada, the front range also assumes a 
synclinal structure, with a great overthrust fault near its eastern base : 
here the lower Palaeozoic formations are extremely heavy, while further 
south, where the anticlinal structure prevails, they are comparatively thin. 
Massive laccoliths form the resistant centres of some mountain groups in 
western Colorado ; they are greatly denuded and elaborately carved, 
forming some of the most picturesque scenery of the region. 

On passing from the modern, undisturbed strata of the Great Plains to 
the ancient, disordered structures of the Rocky Mountains, the pastoral 
industries of the one region give place to the mining industries of 
the other. Important deposits of gold, silver and copper have been 
profitably worked at Cripple Creek , Leadville and Butte ; hundreds of less 
valuable deposits have led to moderate returns or to unknown losses ; 
countless “ prospects ” have been tested by pick and shovel in all parts of 
the mountains, high and low. Modern methods of drilling rocks and 
treating ore are so rapid that already many mining districts are nearly or 
quite worked out ; their excitable population, with the feverish accom- 
paniments of saloons and gambling houses, have moved away to some 


7 62 The International Geography 

newer “camp.” In spite of the scant half century of exploitation, deserted 
villages are no rarities. 

Intermont Basins. — Many basins are found among the mountains, 
where broad surfaces of moderate relief attract the ranchman to raise 
cattle and wheat. Here railroads make their way between the ranges, and 
permanent settlements spring up. To this steadier class of population, as 
well as to the speculative and excitable miner, the future welfare of the 
region will be due. The basins are in all cases due to a deformation or 
warping of the mountain structure ; they serve as gathering grounds for 
the rock-waste swept down from many centripetal valleys : deposits of 
gravel and sand a thousand feet or more thick having been formed in this 
way. The outflowing river of each basin escapes through the enclosing 
range in a gorge or canyon, usually so narrow and steep-sided as to be 
useless for roads, and passable only with great difficulty by railroads. In 
many cases the river has worn its canyon so deep that the floor of the 
basin is now dissected into bench land and flood plain : the latter is 
irrigable and serves for wheat land, the former is dry and serves only for 
pasture. In some cases the strata of the older basins, tilted by later 
disturbances and now more or less denuded, form low ridges lateral to 
the ranges that once supplied their sediments. 

The intermont basins present at first sight every appearance of having 
been formerly occupied by lakes. In some cases the appearance is con- 
firmed by the occurrence of fine silts appropriate to lacustrine conditions 
of deposition ; but it often happens that layers of coarse texture and 
irregular stratification form a large part of the basin deposits, and hence it 
must be concluded that in such cases the warping of the basin did not 
proceed much faster than the filling of its floor and the cutting of its 
outlet, and that the deposits are fluviatile and not lacustrine. This con- 
elusion is particularly fitting for those basins in which the floor is not 
level, but inclines from the margins to the river of discharge, after the 
fashion of piedmont slopes of mountain waste, the world over. Even if 
lakes were formed at brief times of more rapid warping, their depth was 
probably small and their duration short. 

The San Luis Valley, an oval depression about sixty miles long, 
between two ranges in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, 
is a good example of an intermont basin. The surface round the margin 
has a gentle slope towards the centre, and here the deposits are stony 
and gravelly ; here the streams run out from the mountains in good 
volume. The central area is “ as flat as a billiard table ” ; here the 
materials are sands and silts, and here the smaller streams wither away 
in the dry air. The stronger streams unite to form the Rio Grande, which 
makes its exit southward by a dark gorge through the mountains. Here, 
as in New Mexico generally, there are many traces of Mexican occupation 
in names and people. The Big Horn Basin, enclosed by a range and 
drained by a river of the same name in Wyoming, once resembled the 


The United States 


7 6 3 

San Luis Valley in having a smooth floor, but now it is dissected to a depth 
of two or three hundred feet by the centripetal and the exit streams. The 
Green River Basin, in western Wyoming, drained by the Green river in a 
deep canyon through the Uinta Range, is now dissected so as to convert 
its once even floor into a labyrinth of bad lands, with local reliefs up 
to a thousand feet. The “ Parks ” that occur west of the front range in 
Colorado are intermont basins of greater height than usual — 6,000 or 7,000 
feet — with rainfall enough to support here and there a park-like growth of 
pine trees. 

The Yellowstone Park. — An extensive intermont basin in north- 
western Wyoming has a plateau-like surface, built up by heavy lava beds ; 
the numerous geysers which occur in it have led to the reservation of the 
region as the Yellowstone National Park. There are picturesque mountains 
bordering the basin ; a few dissected volcanoes, like Mount Washburn, 
surmount the lava beds ; but as a whole the scenery is relatively mono- 
tonous. The broad plateau is clothed with a pine forest through which 
the stage roads wind from one group of geysers to another. The geysers 
are associated with hot springs, around which siliceous deposits of great 
beauty have been formed. Yellowstone lake and Yellowstone canyon are 
grateful variations from the sameness of the forested lava plateau. This 
“park,” which is nearly as large as Yorkshire, will always be preserved in 
a state of nature and serve as a refuge for native animals. 

The Colorado Plateaux. — South of the Uinta Range in Utah, New 
Mexico, and Arizona, there is an extensive region of great altitude (over 
6,000 feet) that is traversed by the Colorado river and its few branches in 
deep canyons. A heavy series of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic strata, lying 
nearly horizontal, has been greatly denuded, so that the stronger 
layers now form great platforms ending in rugged cliffs and escarpments, 
while the weaker layers are worn back until they are hidden under the 
talus of the cliffs. In the north-western part of this area, great fractures 
divide the country into blocks, ten or twenty miles wide ; and the adjacent 
blocks are moved unevenly, so that the edges of the higher blocks, now 
more or less battered by the weather, form cliffs one or two thousand feet 
high. Volcanic action has been plentiful. The deep-seated intrusions of 
cistern-like form, known as laccoliths, were first recognised in the Henry 
Mountains, a group of rugged forms in a greatly denuded region west of 
the Colorado river. Lofty volcanic cones, like San Francisco mountain, 
and extensive lava flows are scattered about near the Colorado canyon ; 
some of the former are more or less dissected by radial valleys, others are 
symmetrical cinder cones hardly affected by erosion ; some of the latter 
form mesas surmounting a more denuded surface, others are of modern 
date, still black and unweathered, occasionally forming stony cascades over 
the fault cliffs. This volcanic centre constitutes a striking exception to 
the rule that volcanic action is limited to continental margins and to the 
ocean floors. It is owing to a comparatively recent uplift of this denuded 


764. The International Geography 

region, after the cliffed platforms had been carved, that the larger rivers 
have incised their extraordinary canyons, 3,000 to 5,000 feet in depth. 

The highest plateaux receive sufficient rainfall to be forested ; the less 
lofty uplands are barren deserts, unattractive to the ranchman or the 
miner, however wonderful to the geographer and geologist. Where the 
plateaux have been most vigorously dissected into a labyrinth of branching 
spurs, a few tribes of warlike Indians still remain unsubdued. Where 
isolated mesas offer natural protection, several tribes of gentler nature 
have made their homes. Shallow caves under overhanging cliffs contain 
the abandoned stone dwellings of a people who probably chose these 
singular sites for the safety that they gave from attack. A few settlers are 
found in valleys or basins where water can be had to irrigate their fields. 
Some lumbermen have attacked the forests on certain of the volcanoes near 
a railroad line that crosses the desolate plateaux. Government surveyors 
have traversed and studied the region, and it would almost seem that the 
greatest gain to be derived from this almost uninhabitable country will 
be its teachings as to the origin of land-forms by wholesale denudation. 

The Columbia Plateaux. — A great extent of country drained by the 
Columbia and Snake rivers in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, is built up 
of vast lava sheets, which have converted a broad depression between the 
Rocky and the Cascade Mountains into an extensive plateau. The shore 
line of the lava flood may often be traced, entering the mountain valleys 
in level embayments, indented by the mountain spurs which advance into 
it like promontories. Isolated hills and mountains occasionally rise above 
the lava plain like outlying islands. The lava floods must have taken place 
at different dates ; tor while some are smooth, unweathered, and barren, 
as if very recent, others are more or less upheaved and dislocated, and 
dissected even by small streams. The Blue Mountains in south-eastern 
Washington are only an uplifted and deeply dissected part of the lava 
plateau ; here the canyon of Snake River has a depth of 4,000 feet with 
intricately carved walls. At certain points the stream has laid bare some of 
the underlying mountains ; one of these, composed of resistant quartzite, 
is cut down 2,500 feet by the river, although capped by 1,500 feet of 
bedded lavas. Elsewhere the dissection is of gentler nature ; from every 
interstream swell of the surface a vast expanse of treeless undulations 
stretches away to a horizon almost as level as that of the sea. Gray sage 
brush is found, everywhere ; scattered tufts of grass suffice for ranging 
horses and cattle. Near the Rocky Mountains, where the rainfall is some- 
what greater than over the centre of the plateau, there is a plentiful soil on 
the uplands, partly supplied by local weathering, partly wind-borne from 
further west ; here is one of the newer wheat districts of the great interior 
country. Although the land is not at first sight inviting to the farmer, it 
repays his labour abundantly without the need of irrigation. Spokane , 
where two transcontinental railway lines come together, is the growing 
metropolis of this region. 


The United States 


7 65 

One of the most remarkable features of the lava plateau is the former 
path of the Columbia river, known as the “ Grand Coulee,” carved when 
its northern detour was obstructed by ice streams that descended from the 
mountains on the north and west in the glacial period. Although now 
nearly dry, the Grand Coulee may be traced for over a hundred miles across 
the plateau ; here narrow and deep-cut in the uplifted lava beds, there 
broader and shallower in a lower upland ; generally with an even floor , 
but at one place broken by the cliffs of a former cataract that must have 
greatly exceeded Niagara in height, breadth and variety of form. The 
pools that were excavated by the plunge of the extinct cataract contain 
clear blue lakes, but the cliffs are dry and bare. 

The Basin Ranges. — West of the Wahsatch Range and the Colorado 
plateaux, south of the Columbia plateaux, and east and south of the Sierra 
Nevada, there is an arid region embracing all of Nevada, part of Utah and 
Arizona and the south-eastern corner of California, and extending into 
Mexico. Only one important river, the Colorado, reaches the sea from 
this desert empire. Nearly all the scanty rainfall dries away in the 
dessicating atmosphere. The region is diversified by many independent 
mountain ranges of north and south trend and of varied structure. Some 
bear trees on their upper slopes ; others are barren to their crests. In the 
north-west, adjoining the lava plains of Oregon, some of the ridges are 
notable for the very recent date of their uplift, their form being as yet 
hardly modified by erosion from the original shape of their tilted blocks. 
In the middle of the region the ridges are elaborately carved by valleys 
and branch valleys. In the south-west some of the ridges appear to be 
nearly worn away, only low residual knobs remaining. 

The confluent depressions between the isolated ranges are floored with 
long piedmont slopes of stony and gravelly waste that has been washed 
from the mountain valleys. Two approaching slopes unite in forming an 
intermont trough whose floor may stand at altitudes of 4,000 or 6,000 feet 
in Utah and northern Nevada, thus rivalling the height of many plateaux.; 
yet it differs from a typical plateau in the prevailing absence of valleys, 
for the waste slopes are built up by the streams that issue heavily charged 
with detritus from the mountain gorges. Thus the depressions are filling 
up while the mountains are wearing down. In the south-west the floor of 
the depressions is of moderate altitude ; indeed, in south-eastern California 
the arid floor of the Coahuila desert descends 300 feet beneath sea-level. 
This depression represents the head of the Gulf of California, now isolated 
by the delta of the Colorado and evaporated to dryness. An outflowing 
branch or distributary of the Colorado occasionally turns northwards on 
the delta at times of high water, and flows into the desert basin, forming a 
short-lived lake. In south-western Arizona some of the gently inclined 
piedmont slopes are rock-floored, bearing only a thin veneer of waste here 
and there ; the streams, issuing from the mountains after a shower, find no 
channels, but spread out in a sheet a mile or more broad and one or 


7 66 The International Geography 


two feet deep, washing the gravel veneers forward down the inclined 
rock floor ; this peculiar style of drainage has been termed a “ sheet 
flood/’ 

Nearly all the streams from the mountains wither away on the dreary 
piedmont waste slopes. Sage brush is the prevailing vegetation ; spiny 
yuccas and thorny cactus occur in the arid and warm south-west. The 
larger streams unite to form shallow salt lakes in the lowest part of the 
intermont troughs. Others form shallow water sheets, a few inches deep, 
in the wet season, where smooth plains of barren sun-baked mud, or 
" playas,” remain in the dry months. There are few parts of the country 
less inviting to settlement than the region of the Basin Ranges, yet here, 
as on the Colorado plateaux, the scientific explorer has reaped a rich 
harvest. Comparable with the record of a past glacial climate in the 
region of the Laurentian lakes is the record of a past humid climate in the 
arid basins of Utah and Nevada. The basin of Great Salt Lake in Utah 

and that of several indepen- 
dent lakes in north-western 
Nevada each formerly held 
large lakes that rose nearly a 
thousand feet on the adjoining 
mountain flanks, and there 
marked their shore lines in 
cliffs, bars and deltas. The 
records have been deciphered 
and are elaborately described 
in monographs of the United 
States Geological Survey. No 
other ancient lake basins have 
been so well studied. 

People and Towns of 
the Basin Ranges. — The 
settlements of the Basin Range region may be grouped under three classes : 
the Mormons originally about Salt Lake in Utah, the mining towns in the 
mountains, and scattered ranches of Mormons and Gentiles, where streams 
can be used for irrigation. The Mormons exhibit in their polygamous 
and superstitious creed an example of religious atavism. Their converts 
have been gathered from the eastern United States and from western 
Europe. Their history includes many deeds of violence and cruelty, yet 
much may be said in their favour. Their settlements in Utah were estab- 
lished half a century ago without the intemperance of every kind that has 
characterised the frontier towns of those who would in a census be classed 
as "Christians.” Their desert home has been transformed into a productive 
farming country by persevering industry and thrift. Polygamy, now for- 
mally abandoned, was never practised by more than 4 per cent, of the mar- 
riageable men j the Mormons should be classed as merely one more of the 



FiG. 366 . — The Ancient Beds of Lake Bonneville 
(in Utah) and Lake Lahontan (in Nevada). The 
Map measures 550 by 420 miles. 


The United States 767 

many superstitious sects of the so-called civilised nations. Salt Lake City 
on the shore of the lake is the centre of Mormon activity. 

The most famous mining town of the Basin Ranges is Virginia City in 
north-western Nevada. Many millions of gold and silver have been taken 
from the Comstock Lode, above which the city was built, and many other 
millions have been spent in efforts to prolong the life of the mines there 
opened. The discovery of the lode about i860, at a time when the yield 
of gold in California was decreasing, caused the greatest “ rush ” known in 
the history of western mining. Thousands of persons hurried over the 
Sierra Nevada, in the hope of locating a paying claim ; other thousands 
followed to open saloons, gambling resorts, and “ opera houses," and thus, 
like parasites, to live upon the miners. The rapid growth of Virginia City 
and a few other mining “ camps" was the excuse for the admission of 
Nevada as a State in 1864 ; a most unfortunate political necessity, for in 
spite of its enormous area, exceeding that of many eastern States com- 
bined, its population has fallen under 50,000, less than that of many cities 
of the second class. Virginia City is now reduced to a mere shadow of its 
short-lived greatness. The population of the State must always be scanty, 
scattered, and isolated. 

THE PACIFIC SLOPE 

The Pacific Ranges, broadly separated from the Rocky Mountains, 
include the lofty Sierra Nevada of California, the Cascade Mountains of 
Oregon and Washington, and several smaller coast ranges. The highest 
summits are in the granitic southern part of the Sierra Nevada, where 
Mount Whitney nearly reaches 15,000 feet. The Sierra is precipitous on 
the east, descending abruptly into the Basin Range region and shedding 
great slopes of stony waste, varied about Mono lake by superb moraines of 
extinct glaciers. The descent on the west is much more gradual ; here many 
of the interstream highlands have the appearance of somewhat uneven 
inclined planes, separated by deep-cut canyons. All these features suggest 
that the range as a whole may be regarded as a huge block, uplifted on 
the east long enough ago to be deeply scored by the streams from its crest. 
Among the valleys the Yo-Semite is phenomenally deep, with precipitous 
walls of granite. The Hetch-hetchy valley is of similar form, but of 
smaller dimensions, a little further north. The range is crossed only by 
Pitt river, which rises on the western part of the Columbia plateau, 
trenches through the range and joins the Sacramento system. Great flows 
of lava and sheets of volcanic conglomerates lie on the western slope of 
the range about its middle, the date of their eruption being earlier than 
that of the valley cutting. Further north volcanic cones and recent lava 
flows become more abundant. 

The higher summits of the Cascade Range are all volcanic cones, more 
or less dissected by radiating valleys, the chief being Mounts Rainier, St. 
Helens, and Hood. They bear heavy snowfields and glaciers. Mount 


7^8 The International Geography 

Shasta, in northern California, is an isolated volcano, west of the higher 
ranges, one of the most symmetrical and least dissected of the larger cones. 
Crater lake in southern Oregon occupies a huge caldera ; once a lofty cone, 
furrowed by radial valleys, the upper part has been removed by engulf- 
ment, leaving a great cavity, with precipitous inner walls, four miles in 
diameter and one mile deep. The lost summit of the cone has been chris- 
tened Mount Mazama by a club of mountain climbers of that name, who 
have done much to make the caldera better known. The Columbia and 
Klamath rivers break through the mountains in deep gorges on their way 
from the lava plateaux to the sea. 

The Coast Ranges are of moderate altitude, well dissected by numerous 
valleys, and frequently descending directly to the ocean shore in pre- 
cipitous cliffs and headlands. Many signs of change of level are found 
in raised beaches and submerged valleys ; but owing to the general 
parallelism of the ridges and the coast line, and to the absence of recent 
strong depression, the shore has few strong re-entrants. The range is not 
rich in metalliferous deposits, save at New Almaden, where there has been 
a large yield of mercury. 

The broad troughs between the Coast Ranges and the higher moun- 
tains further inland are floored with waste from the mountain valleys. In 
California the waste-strewn floor makes a plain of great extent, the flat 
fans of detritus that are spread out before every mountain valley being 
admirably adapted to the distribution of water by irrigating canals. The 
intermont trough is much less distinctly developed on the path of the 
Klamath river, where the adjacent ranges approach one another in a node 
of irregular relief. Further north it reappears, and is partly occupied by 
the branching waters of Puget Sound. Here recent studies lead to the 
conclusion that the waste-built lowlands adjoining the sound are glacial or 
aqueo-glacial deposits, while the trunk and branches of the sound are the 
spaces once occupied by many confluent ice streams that came down from 
the mountains in the glacial period. The many degrees of latitude that are 
traversed in passing along the Pacific slope from the desert lowlands 
between the Basin Ranges of south-eastern California over the great 
valley of California to the forested valley of Puget Sound, explain the 
climatic contrasts between the arid and humid extremes of this belt. They 
resemble each other only in their relatively small seasonal changes, one 
being persistently warm and dry, the other persistently cool and wet. 

People and Towns of the Pacific Coast.— The settlement of the 
Valley of California by Spanish Americans was well advanced before the 
discovery of gold caused the inrush of fortune-seekers from the eastern 
United States and Europe in 1849 and 1850. Spanish names still prepon- 
derate, as in Sacramento, the capital, San Francisco, the great Pacific port 
at the only break in the California coast range, Los Angelos and San Diego 
on the coast further south. The old Spanish mission churches are the only 
antiquities of the State having European associations. In those early days 


The United States 


7 6 9 


cattle raising on the great valley plain was the main industry, and hides 
were the chief article of export. With the acquisition of the territory by 
the United States and the incursion of gold seekers, a new order of things 
was inaugurated ; a rough and violent order at first when “ vigilance com- 
mittees ” put their prompt measures in the place of the slower procedure 
of the law courts. 

The newcomers made their way thither by long voyages in sailing ships 
round Cape Horn, by shorter voyages with a land passage across the 
malarial isthmus of Darien, and by a difficult and dangerous overland 
journey in white-covered waggons or “ prairie-schooners.” The hardships 
of the overland passage across plains, mountains, and desert basins, are 
long to be remembered ; Indian ambuscade, thirst in the dry country, and 
cold storms in the Sierra overcame many a pioneer emigrant. The sur- 
vivors are justly proud of their record as “ ’49-ers.” Gold was taken from 
quartz veins in the metamorphic rocks of the lower Sierras, and from 
“ placers ” or gravel deposits in the 
foot hills ; but in the ten years from 
1850 to i860 the great increase of 
population and the exhaustion of 
many mines and “ diggings ” turned 
attention to the fertility of the great 
valley plain, the cattle ranches were 
replaced by farms, and California 
became a great wheat-raising State. 

The second decade was marked by 
the construction of a trans-conti- 
nental railroad, completed in 1866, 
and California then ceased to be 
a distant part of the Union. In 
later years the number of railroads 
across the continent (Fig. 336) has increased to five — not counting the 
Canadian Pacific Railway — each line now being largely dependent 
on carrying cattle and farm products by the way, as well as on through 
passengers and freights. Beautiful winter resorts attract thousands of 
people to the tempered Pacific coast from the violent climate of the 
interior. The irrigated plains of southern California are now occupied by 
extensive vineyards and fruit ranches, from which eastern markets are 
largely supplied. At the same time the more northern railroads have pro- 
moted the growth of Portland , Tacoma, and Seattle on the harbours of the 
far north-west ; the great forests on the littoral slopes of Oregon and 
Washington are being sawed into lumber for the distant plains and 
prairies. The purchase of Alaska and more recently the discovery of the 
Klondike gold-field, has encouraged traffic along the north-western coast. 
Trans-Pacific commerce has in the meantime grown apace, and with it 
came an incursion of Chinamen, patient and industrious workers, living on 



Fig. 367 . — The Site of San Francisco. 


770 The International Geography 

a fraction of what would be required for an ambitious American, not 
making the United States their home, but hoping to return to China alive 
or dead ; a useful element in a country where serfdom prevailed, but not 
desirable citizens for a free republic. The manifest lesson to be drawn 
from the great intelligence and prosperity of the people in the north- 
eastern quarter of the United States is that all immigrants must make this 
country a permanent home for themselves and their children ; that they 
must accept the rights and duties of citizenship as well as the responsi- 
bility of self-support and self-improvement ; and that from the unified 
mass thus formed no barrier of race, religion or foreign fealty shall 
obstruct the rise of leaders, to guide the people in the further develop- 
ment of the United States. 

Alaska. — The north-western extremity of North America, constituting 
the territory of Alaska, 580,000 square miles in area (about one-sixth of the 
area of United States) was bought from Russia for $7,200,000 in 1867. It 
has a small native population of various Indian tribes, and a growing white 
population bent on the development of its resources. The compact land 
body, approaching within 54 miles of Asia, and bounded on the east by the 
141st meridian, has an arm 500 miles long extending south-east along the 
coast, and including a narrow strip of mainland as well as the countless 
islands of the Alexander Archipelago. Sitka , the territorial capital, is 
situated on Baranof Island in this group. There is a second arm, 1,500 
miles in length, composed of the volcanic Aleutian Islands, looping across 
the northern Pacific from Alaska Peninsula towards Kamchatka. The 
coast line is extremely irregular on the south, measuring in total 18,000 
miles, or more than that of all the United States. 

The southern coast is bold and mountainous. Mount St. Elias, practi- 
cally on the frontier at the base of the south-eastern arm, rises higher 
than 18,000 feet. The heavy snowfall forms immense glaciers, descending 
to the sea, the largest being the Malaspina glacier, fed by snow-fields on 
the St. Elias range. Muir glacier, further south-east, is annually visited 
by many tourists. The temperature on the mountain flanks is moderate 
and equable, favouring the growth of heavy forests along the coast as far 
as Kadiac Island, at the base of the Aleutian chain. The interior is little 
known, except along the course of the Yukon, one of the great rivers of the 
world. Its climate is drier than on the coast, and the seasonal changes of 
temperature are greater ; extreme cold is felt in winter, and the ground is 
frozen to a depth estimated at 100 feet. Here the vegetation is chiefly a 
dense cover of moss. On the north coast, far within the Arctic circle, 
layers of ice are seen beneath the surface soil. 

The economic products of Alaska come at present chiefly from the seal 
fisheries of the Pribilof Islands (north of the Aleutian chain), and from the 
gold-fields of the Yukon valley and the coast of Bering Sea. The seals 
have been reduced from their originally countless numbers by too reck- 
less destruction, but if their capture is properly restricted they must 


The United States 


771 

yield a large revenue to the Government as well as a profit to the sealers 
for many years to come. Gold deposits of moderate value have been 
worked for about thirty years past at various points on the Alexander 
Archipelago. In the autumn of 1896 the Klondike field in the Canadian 
Yukon District was discovered, and when the news of its richness reached 
the United States in the following spring, there was a “ rush" of would-be 
miners that recalls early Californian days. 

Alaska is of especial interest as the first outlying territorial addition to 
the United States. Its purchase provoked much criticism, and even 
ridicule, yet as a financial investment it has been profitable. Its adminis- 
tration has been thus far comparatively simple, for its population has been 
far too small for any question to arise as to its accession to Statehood. 
Quite different political problems must arise in the more populous detached 
territories in a genial climate which have recently been brought under the 
sway of the United States. 


STATISTICS. 

AREA AND POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Area. Population. Date of Admission. 





sq. miles. 

1880. 

1890. 

1900. 

Territory. 

State. 

Alabama.. 



52,250 

1,262,505 

1 , 513,017 

1,828,697 

1817 

1819 

Ala. 

Arizona . . 



113,020 

40,440 

59620 

122,931 

1863 

— 

Ariz 

Arkansas 

• • 

• • 

53,850 

802,525 

1,128,179 

1,311.564 

1819 

1836 

Ark. 

California 

• • 

• » 

158,360 

864,694 

1,208,130 

1,485.053 

— 

1850 

Cal. 

Colorado 

• • 

• • 

103,925 

194,327 

412,198 

539,700 

1861 

1876 

Col. 

Connecticut 

• • 

• • 

4,990 

622,700 

746,258 

908,420 

Original State. 

Conn. 

Delaware 

• • 

• • 

2,360 

146,608 

168,493 

184,735 

M 

ft 

Del. 

District of Columbia 

• • 

70 

117,624 

230,392 

278,718 

1791 

— 

D. C. 

Florida . . 



58,680 

269,493 

391,422 

528,542 

1822 

1845 

Fla. 

Georgia .. 

• • 

• • 

59,475 

1,542,180 

1 , 837,353 

2,216,331 

Original State. 

Ga. 

Idaho 



81,800 

32,610 

84,385 

161,772 

1863 

1890 

Id. 

Illinois . . 



56,650 

3 , 077,871 

3,826,351 

4,821,550 

1809 

1818 

111. 

Indiana . . 



36,350 

1 , 978,301 

2,192,404 

2,516,462 

1800 

1816 

Ind. 

Indian Territory 

• • 

3 L 400 

— 

— 

392,060 

— 

— 

I. T. 

Iowa 



56,025 

1,624,615 

1,911,896 

2,231,853 

1838 

1845 

Iowa. 

Kansas . . 



82,080 

990,096 

1,427,096 

1 , 470,495 

1854 

1861 

Kane. 

Kentucky 

• • 

• • 

40,400 

1,648,690 

1,858,635 

2 , 147,174 

— 

1792 

Ky. 

Louisiana 

• • 

• • 

48,720 

939,946 

1,118,587 

1,381,625 

1805 

1812 

La. 

Maine 



33,040 

648,936 

661,086 

694,466 

— 

1820 

Me. 

Maryland 

• • 

• » 

12,210 

8.315 

934,943 

1,042,390 

1,188,044 

Original State. 

Md. 

Massachusetts 

• • 

• • 

1,783,085 

2,238,943 

2,805,346 

ft 

ft 

Maas. 

Michigan 

• • 

• • 

58,915 

1 , 636,937 

2,093,889 

2,420,982 

1805 

1837 

Mich. 

Minnesota 

• • 

• • 

83,365 

78 o ,773 

1,301,826 

1 , 751,394 

1849 

1858 

Minn. 

Mississippi 

• • 

• • 

46,810 

I,i 3 i ,597 

1,289,600 

1 , 551.270 

1798 

1817 

Miss. 

Missouri. . 

• • 

• • 

69,415 

2,168,380 

2,679,184 

3,106,665 

1812 

1821 

Mo. 

Montana 

• • 

• • 

146,080 

39 A 59 

132,159 

243,329 

1864 

1889 

Mont. 

Nebraska 

• • 

• • 

77 , 5 io 

452,402 

1,058,910 

1,066,300 

1854 

1867 

Nebr. 

Nevada . . 



110,700 

62,266 

45 , 76 1 1 

42,335 

1861 

1864 

Nev. 

New Hampshire 

• • 

9,305 

346,991 

376,530 

411,588 

Original State. 

N. H. 

New Jersey 

t • 

• • 

8,175 

1,131,116 

1 , 444-933 

1,883,669 

ft 

ft 

N. J. 

New Mexico 

• • 

• • 

122,580 

119,565 

153.593 

195,310 

1850 

— 

N. M. 

New York 

• • 

• • 

49,220 

5,082,871 

5 , 997,853 

7,268,894 

Original State. 

N. Y. 

North Carolina 

• • 

52,250 

1 , 399,750 

1 , 617,947 

1,893,810 

ft 

M 

N. C. 

North Dakota 

• • 

t • 

70,795 

135 , 177 2 

182,719 

3 I 9 A 46 

1861 

1889 

N. Dak. 

Ohio 



41,000 

3,198,062 

3,672,316 

4 , 157,545 

— 

1802 

O. 

Oklahoma 

• • 

• • 

39,030 

— 

61,834 

398,331 

1890 

— 

Ok. T. 

Oregon .. 

• • 

• • 

96,030 

174,768 

313,767 

413,536 

1848 

1859 

Ore. 

Pennsylvania 

• » 

• • 

45,215 

4,282,891 

5,258,014 

6,302,115 

Original State. 

Pa. 

Rhode Island 

• • 

• • 

1,250 

276,531 

345,506 

428,556 

t ) 

ft 

R. L 

South Carolina.. 

• • 

30,570 

995,577 

I,i 5 i,i 49 

1 , 340,316 

ft 

ft 

S.C. 


* Decrease- 


3 Including South Dakota. 


772 


The International Geography 


AREA AND POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES — {continued). 



Area. 

Population. 


Date of Admission. 


sq. miles. 1880. 1890. 

1900. Territory. State. 

South Dakota . . 

77.650 

See N. Dakota. 328.808 

401,570 

1861 1889 

S. Dak 

Tennessee 

42,050 

1 . 542,359 1,767.518 

2,020,616 

— 1796 

Tenn. 

Texas 

265,780 

1 , 591,749 2,235.523 

3,048,710 

— 1845 

Tex. 

Utah 

84.970 

143,963 207,905 

276,749 

1850 1896 

U. 

Vermont 

9.565 

332,286 332,422 

343,641 

— 1791 

vt 

Virginia 

42.450 

1,512,565 1,655,980 

1,854,184 

Original State. 

Va. 

Washington 

69,180 

75 ,h 6 349,390 

518,103 

1853 1889 

Wash. 

West Virginia . . 

24,780 

618,457 762,794 

958,800 

— 1863 

W. Va. 

Wisconsin 

56,040 

1 , 315.497 1,686,880 

2,069,042 

1836 1848 

Wis. 

Wyoming 

97,890 

20,789 60,705 

92,531 

1868 1890 

Wy. 

United States . . 3,022,600 

50,155.783 62,622,250 

76,085,794 



• 


POPULATION BY BIRTH. 





1890. 

1900. 



England 

. . 909,092 




Wales.. 





Scotland 





Ireland 

. . 1,871,509 




United Kingdom 




2,788,304 


Germany 



0* •• 

2,666,990 


Canada and Newfoundland 

. . . . 980,938 


1,181,255 


Sweden and Norway. . 

« • 

• 0 • 800,706 • • 

00 00 

910,025 


Russia and Poland 



00 00 

807,606 


Italy 




484,207 


Austria-Hungary 




579,042 


China 




81,827 


Other Foreign Countries 




857,388 


Total Foreign Born . . 




10,356,644 

Coloured, Native Born 

• • 

00 00 00 00 7 , 470,040 0 0 

00 00 

8,840,388 

White, Native Born . . 




57,888,762 

Total Population of United States (excluding Alaska) 62,622,250 


77 , 085,794 


POPULATION OF THE LARGER CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 


New York. N.Y. . . 

1890. 

1 , 515.301 

1900. 

3,437,2021 

Worcester, Mass. 

• • 

1890. 

84*655 

1900, 

118,421 

Chicago, 111 

1,099,850 

1.698,575 

Syracuse, N.Y. . . 

• • 

88,143 

108,374 

Philadelphia, Pa. . . 

1,046,964 

1,293,697 

New Haven, Conn. 

• 0 

81,298 

108,027 

Brooklyn, N.Y. 

806,343 

— 

Paterson, N.J. .. 

• 0 

78,347 

105,171 

St. Lcuis, Mo. 

45 L 770 

575,238 

Fall River, Mass. 

0 0 

74,398 

104,863 

Boston, Mass. 

448,477 

560,892 

St. Joseph, Mo. . . 

0 0 

52,324 

102,979 

Baltimore, Md. 

434.439 

508,957 

Omaha, Neb. 

0 0 

140,452 

102,555 

Cleveland, O. 

261.353 

381,768 

Los Angeles. Cal. 

0 0 

50,395 

102,479 

Buffalo, N.Y. 

255.669 

352.387 

Memphis, Tenn.. . 

0 0 

64.495 

102,320 

San Francisco, Cal.. 

298,997 

342,782 

Scranton, Pa. 

0 0 

75,215 

102,026 

94,969 

Cincinnati, 0 . 

296,908 

325,902 

Lowell, Mass. 
Albany, N.Y. 

0 0 

77,696 

Pittsburg, Pa. 

238,617 

321.616 

0 0 

94.923 

94 .I 5 I 

New Orleans, La. . . 

242,039 

287,104 

Cambridge, Mass. 

0 0 

70,028 

91,886 

Detroit, Mich. 

205,876 

285.704 

Portland, Ore. . . 

0 0 

46.385 

90,426 

Milwaukee, Wis. . . 

204,468 

285,315 

Atlanta, Ga. 

0 0 

65,533 

89,872 

Washington, D.C. . . 

230,392 

278,718 

Grand Rapids, Mich. . . 

60,278 

87.565 

Newark. N.J. 

181,830 

246,070 

Dayton, O. 

0 0 

61,220 

81,388 

85,333 

Jersey City, N.J. . . 

163,003 

206,433 

Richmond, Va. . . 

0 0 

85,050 

Louisville. Ky. 

161,129 

204,731 

Nashville, Tenn.. . 

0 0 

76, 168 

80,865 

Minneapolis, Minn.. 

164,738 

202,718 

Seattle. Wash. . . 

0 0 

42,837 

80,671 

Providence, R. I. .. 

132,146 

175,597 

Hartford, Conn... 

0 0 

53,230 

79,850 

Indianapolis. I nd. .. 

105,436 

169,164 

Reading, Pa. * 

0 0 

58,661 

78,961 

Kansas City, Mo. . . 

132,716 

163.752 

Wilmington, Del. 

0 0 

8 i, 43 i 

76,508 

St. Paul, Minn. 

133.156 

163,065 

Camden, N.J. 

0 0 

58,313 

75,935 

Rochester, N.Y. 

133.896 

162,608 

Trenton, N.Y. . . 

0 0 

57,458 

73,307 

Denver, Col 

106,713 

133.859 

Bridgeport, Conn. 

0 0 

48,866 

70,996 

Toledo, O 

8 i ,434 

131,822 

Lynn, Mass. 

0 0 

55,727 

68,513 

Allegheny, Pa. 

105,287 

129,896 

Lawrence, Mass. 
Des Moines, Iowa 

0 0 

44,654 

62,559 

Columbus, 0 . 

88,150 

125,560 

0 0 

50,093 

62,139 

LAND UNDER CROPS IN 1901. 
Crop . . Indian Corn. Wheat. Oats. Cotton. 

Barley. Potatoes. 2 

Acres .. 91,350,000 

49,896,000 28,541,000 27,532,000 

4,296,000 

2,611,000 


1 Includes Brooklyn. 2 In 1900. 


The United States 


773 


CHIEF WHEAT-GROWING STATES, 1901. 

State . . . , Kansas. Minnesota. N. Dakota. S. Dakota. Nebraska. United States. 

Million bushels .. 991 801 59 3 517 4 20 74^'5 

CHIEF COTTON-GROWING STATES, 1899. 

State Texas. Georgia. Mississipi. Alabama. S. Carolina. United States. 

Bales of Raw Cotton 2,438,000 1,346,000 1,204,000 1,005,000 831,000 9,143.000 

CHIEF MINERAL PRODUCTIONS IN 1901. 

Product . . . . Bituminous Coal. 1 Anthracite. Pig Iron. Gold. Silver. 

Amount — tons .. 201,630,000 60,242,000 15,878,0002 — — 

Value — £ .. .. 47,300,000 22,500,000 48,400,000 15,730,000 14,270,000 

GROWTH OF RAILWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES. 

Date . . 1830. 1850. 1870. 1890. 1900 - 

Miles open 23 9,02i 52,922 169,698 194.334 

ANNUAL TRADE OF UNITED STATES (in pounds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95- 

Imports 115,600,000 .. 133,400,000 .. 157,000,000 

Exports 97,200,000 . . 154,900,000 . . 174,500,000 


DESTINATION AND ORIGIN OF FOREIGN TRADE. 
(Percentage of total in 1896.) 


Country. 



Exports to. Imports from. 

Total Trade. 

United Kingdom 




231 

364 

Germany 




145 

131 

France 

• • 

• * 

5'4 

89 

6*8 

British North America . . 



5 7 

5 3 

5'6 

Brazil 




90 

4 4 

Netherlands 



4-8 

17 

3'5 

Belgium 




17 

. 26 

Italy 




25 

22 

Mexico 




23 

2’2 

Japan 

• • 

• • 

i '3 

3 i 

21 

China 




. 2'6 

r8 

Other Countries 

• • 

• • 

. . 146 

253 

193 

Total 

• • 

• • 

. . 100 0 

1000 

1000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. Bryce. “The American Commonwealth." 2 vols. London, 1893-95. 

“ Reports of the Eleventh Census, 1890." ca. 20 vols. Washington. 

“Reports of U.S. Bureau of Ethnology." Volumes published at frequent intervals. 
Washington. 

‘‘Reports of U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey." Annual. Also special mem- 
oirs on different districts. Washington. 

“National Geographic Monographs " tby various authors). Washington. 

Elisee Reclus. “ Nouvelle Geographie Universelle." Vol. xvi. Paris, 1892, and Eng- 
lish translation, London. 

N. S. Shaler (Editor). “The United States of America by various Writers." 2 vols. 
London, 1894. 

F. Ratzel. “ Die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika." 2nd edit. 2 vols. Munich, 1893. 
H. Gannett. “The United States" in Stanford's Compendium. London, 1898. 

J. D. Whitney. “ The United States." 2 vols. Boston, 1889 and 1894. 

J. Lane Allen. “The Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky.” New York, 1900. 

Burroughs, Muir, and others. “Alaska." 2 vols. New York, 1002. 

A. P. Brigham. “Geographical Influences in American History. ’ Boston, 1903. 
Ellen C. Semple. “American History and its Geographical Conditions." Boston, 1903. 
A. H. Brooks. “The Geography and Geology of Alaska.” Washington, 1906. 


1 For development of coal production (Anthracite and Bituminous) see curve in Fig. 70. 
a In 1902 the production exceeded 17,800,000 tons. 


CHAPTER XL.— MEXICO 


By Angelo Heilprin, 

Professor of Geology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia . 

Position and Extent. — The Republic of Mexico (Spanish, Mejico), 
which bounds the United States on the south, lies between latitudes 32-J 0 
and 14^-° N., and the meridians 86£° and 117 0 W. of Greenwich. In 
its north and south extent it thus lies almost equally within and without 
the tropics. The boundary line with the United States, which was deter- 
mined by treaties in 1848 and 1853, has a length of 1,833 miles, of which 
1,136 are constituted by the Rio Grande, from the mouth of that stream 
in the Gulf of Mexico upwards. The boundary with Guatemala, which 
was finally adjusted by treaty in 1895, fixes the southern point of the 
republic almost at the mouth of the Zuchiate river. The area of the 
country, inclusive of a few small outlying islands, is some 767,000 square 
miles, or approximately three times that of Austria-Hungary. Mexico has 
two peninsular parts — the peninsula of Lower California (officially, Baja 
California) and Yucatan, the latter properly comprising the two States of 
Yucatan and Campeche. The great Gulf of California, which separates 
the main mass of the republic from Lower California and receives at its 
northern extremity the Colorado River from the United States, occupies 
seemingly the position of a sunken block of the Earth’s crust which broke 
continuity between what is now the peninsular apex and the protruding 
coastline of the State of Jalisco. 

Configuration. — Mexico is pre-eminently a region of mountain eleva- 
tions, but this is not always to be recognised in the interior on account 
of the development of a broad elevated tableland whose flat or gently 
undulating surface, rising from the depression of the Rio Grande to 
graduated altitudes of 6,000, 7,000, and 8,000 feet, or even more, masks 
the configuration of the land. Much of this plateau has been formed 
through a progressive and long-continued accumulation of detrital material, 
representing in part the distributed products resulting from mountain 
destruction and in greater part the discharges from an almost endless 
number of volcanic openings. These have, as it were, filled the original 
valleys to their lips, and it is thus upon the new surface that the more 
recent or existing valleys have been imposed. In this conception, the 
great central plateau of Mexico is not of tectonic construction, but merely 
a filled-up series of troughs, not wholly unlike the snow-accumulated 
tableland of Greenland, through whose margins alone the buried moun- 

774 


Mexico 


775 


tains protrude their summit-peaks. In Mexico, too, especially in the loftier 
parts of the plateau, buried mountains rear their summits as “islands” above 
the enveloping mass ; elsewhere they make continuous ridges or chains, 
whose crest-lines may be as much as 10,000 feet above the sea. The east 
and west flanks of the plateau clearly reveal their mountain origin, and 
in their sudden plunge to the lowlands the Sierra Madre Oriental and the 
Sierra Madre Occidental — as the two main lines of bulwarks and their 
ramifications are vaguely designated — present some of the most marked 
physical features, and at the same time some of the sublimest views of 
nature, that are to be met with on the Earth’s surface. What relation the 
Mexican Cordilleras bear to the main Rocky Mountain system of North 
America has not yet been definitely determined, but that they do not con- 
stitute that integral part which was at one time assumed, is certain ; and 
it remains for further investigation to ascertain the relationship, if any 
such exists, with the South American Andes. 

Volcanoes. — The volcanoes of Mexico are very numerous, and they 
constitute the highest relief of the land. The loftiest of these are : 
Citlaltepetl, the “ Star Mountain ” — commonly known as the Peak of 
Orizaba — (18,250 feet), ranking, with the possible exception of Mount 
Logan, as the highest summit of the North American continent ; Popo- 
catepetl, the “ Smoking Mountain ” (17,520 feet) ; Ixtaccihuatl, the “ White 
Woman ” (16,960 feet); Nevado de Toluca (14,950 feet) ; Malinche (Mat- 
lalcueyatl, 13,460 feet) ; Cofre de Perote (Nauhcampatepetl, 13,400 feet) ; 
Nevado de Colima (14,210 feet) ; Volcan de Colima (12,990 feet) ; Cerro de 
Apisco (12,700 feet); and Tancitaro (12,650 feet). The first two of these, 
both resting with one foot on the plateau, might properly be considered 
as dormant cones, since they continue to exhale from perfectly preserved 
craters aqueous and sulphurous vapours ; they are amongst the most 
beautifully formed of volcanic mountains. Ixtaccihuatl is manifestly 
a broken-down and dismantled volcano, having to-day the contour of 
some of the silenced volcanic peaks of the equatorial Andes, such as 
Antisana ; similar wrecks are the Nevado de Toluca (in whose crater 
is one of the most elevated lakes of the globe) and the Cofre de Perote. 
Colima is the most active volcano of the land, its eruptions having been 
almost unremitting for many years. Its position off the plateau, on the Pacific 
slope, allies it with Jorullo — a mountain of onlyVesuvian proportions, made 
famous by Humboldt’s recital of its terrific constructive eruption of 1759-63. 
Heated columns of air, with a temperature of 167° F., still rise from the 
crater-walls of this forest-clad mountain. Some efforts have been made 
by geographers and geologists to prove that the principal volcanic cones 
are situated on one or more main lines of fissure which traverse the region 
in an extended east and west course ; and it has even been contended that 
the southern edge of the plateau was coincident with one of these lines, 
but this still remains to be demonstrated. The snow-line in the region of 
the higher summits being found but little below 15,000 feet, only three 


776 The International Geography 

of the peaks — Orizaba, Popocatepetl, and Ixtaccihuatl — are perpetually 
snow-clad, although the names of two other summits — Nevado de Toluca 
and Nevado de Colima — signify ice-mountain. The writer has seen the 
Nevado de Toluca entirely destitute of either snow or ice. Only on 
Ixtaccihuatl does the ice-cap acquire a development sufficient to form true 
glaciers. 

Rivers and Lakes. — Mexico is singularly deficient in large permanent 
streams, and the Mexican rivers offer but little opportunity to navigation. 
Apart from the Rio Grande, which at times becomes almost dry between 
El Paso and Presidio del Norte in consequence of irrigation tappings in 
New Mexico, the most important waterways are the Rio Conchos in the 
north, the Rio Lerma, or Santiago, and Rio de las Balsas (Mescala) — both 
flowing to the Pacific — in the south, and the Grijalva and Usumacinta. 
in the State of Chiapas, east of the isthmus of Tehuantepec. About fifteen 
miles from the city of Guadalajara the Lerma is precipitated over the 
magnificent fall of Juanacatlan, the “ Niagara of Mexico.” Nearly all 
parts of the country are gashed by deep troughs or excavated water- 
channels ( barrancas ), many of which are waterless during the dry season ; 
but, after the rains, are wild with the tumult of tumbling waters, to whose 
revivifying influence a luxurious vegetation responds. 

There are no really large lakes in the republic, that of Chapla on the 
Lerma, in the state of Jalisco, being the largest ; but Cuitzeo and Patzcuaro, 

in the State of Michoacan, are ex- 
tremely picturesque. Six lacustrine 
basins, covering considerable area, 
but with very insignificant depth, 
occupy much of the valley of the 
City of Mexico, or the true plain 
of Anahuac, but their waters are 
merely relics of the much larger 
extent which they formerly occu- 
pied. At the time of the Spanish 
conquest, the City of Mexico was 
a city of islands, being completely 
surrounded by the waters of Lake 
Texcoco. At the time of Hum- 
boldt’s visit the western borders of that lake occupied a position about one 
mile to the eastward of the city limits ; now, except in time of floods, this 
distance is about doubled. The depth of water in the lake at the present 
day, under normal conditions, hardly exceeds two feet over a large 
part of its area. The Mexican capital has at various times been 
inundated by the flooding of these lakes, and on account of the sewage 
of the city discharging into a lake without outlet epidemic malarial and 
gastric fevers have been common, and their ravages have only been checked 
by the benefits of a climate of 7,000 feet elevation. As it is, the death-rate 



Mexico 


777 


in the Mexican capital, 40 per 1,000, is the highest of any city in the 
civilised world. The problem of drainage has thus become so serious that 
the greatest drainage system and one of the most remarkable engineering 
enterprises in the world was commenced in 1866 and completed in 1898. 
This desague, as the work is called, comprises a canal forty-three miles in 
length and a tunnel somewhat exceeding six miles, the latter discharging 
into the valley of Tequixquiac, due north of Lake Zumpango. 

Climate. — The tropical position of Mexico, combined with its high 
elevation, necessarily ensures to the land a variety of climatic conditions. 
What is ordinarily considered to be a stifling tropical temperature charac- 
terises the lowland region — at least, its southern half — for the greater part 
of the year, the maximum temperature at Merida (Yucatan), Mazatlan, 
and Colima, not infrequently reaches 105° F. Ordinarily the summer heat 
is not more oppressive than in the southern or central United States, and 
along the immediate ocean border it is tempered by indraughts of cool 
sea-air. Over the greater part of the plateau-surface a mild temperate 
climate prevails, the temperature in summer rarely rising above 88° or 90°, 
or in winter falling much below the freezing point. Snow in the Mexican 
capital is an extreme rarity, but it is not absolutely unknown. 

In a general way the Mexicans recognise three superimposed zones of 
climate : the hot zone, or tierra caliente, extending from sea-level to about 

3.000 feet of elevation ; the temperate zone, tierra templada, between 3,000 
and 5,000 feet ; and the cold zone, tierra fria , comprising the land above 

7.000 feet. Manifestly this zonal distribution of climate, in a region whose 
meridianal extent is upwards of 1,200 miles, differs considerably for the 
northern and southern sections of the country. Two well-marked seasonal 
conditions characterise much or most of the region. The rainy season, 
which occurs between May or June and October or November, brings joy 
to the landscape of Mexico, when the slumbering forces of vegetable and 
animal nature are again called into activity. During the height of the 
rainy season torrential rain falls almost daily, especially between the hours 
from two to four in the afternoon. In the dry season little or no rain falls. 
The highest rainfall appears to be at about Monterey, in the State of Nuevo 
Leon, where an annual average of about 130 inches has been established ; 
in the region about the City of Mexico, which represents the conditions 
of a large part of the plateau, the annual precipitation is about 25 inches. 
At Jalapa, situated (at an elevation of 4,400 feet) on the coastal slope of the 
Gulf of Mexico, the number of rainy days per year has been known to 
exceed 200. The conditions of rainfall throughout much of the land have 
unquestionably been greatly modified since the period of the Spanish 
conquest, as a result of extensive deforestation. 

Flora and Fauna. — The Mexican flora naturally combines most 
diverse features. Dense and exuberant tropical jungles cover much of 
the low-lying tracts and the basal 2,000 to 3,000 feet of the mountain 
declivities. The forest is still in greater part virgin, and access to it 


778 The International Geography 

is obtained chiefly along the highways and the different waterways that 
irregularly thread through it. Among the dominant arboreal types of this 
tract may be mentioned the palms, figs (rubber-trees), caesalpinias, and other 
acacias, the rosewood, and mahogany ; the huge fig-trees are especially 
remarkable with their buttressed trunks. Hardly less imposing are the 
giant mangroves at various points on the coast of Yucatan. The zone 
between 4,500 and 6,000 feet, characterised by a superb growth of ever- 
green oaks, of melastomas, and in its lower part of an almost bewildering 
variety of orchidaceous plants, may be said to constitute the transition 
tract between the distinctively tropical and temperate floras ; above, it 
is succeeded by the ordinary types of oaks and by the pine, spruce and 
fir among conifers. The latter ascend the high volcanoes to about 13,000 
feet, forming magnificent forests at elevations of 9,000 to 10,000 feet. The 
“ zones of vegetation/’ so called, can be made out with fair regularity, but 
the overlaps are remarkable for their vertical displacements. Thus, on the 
limestone ridges of the Yautepec, south of the central plateau, palms grow 
luxuriantly up to 7,500 feet ; per contra, the pine is not infrequently met 
with down to an elevation of 3,000 feet or less. The most striking exhibi- 
tions of cactus growth — in which Mexico stands pre-eminent — are found 
on the lower plains of Yucatan and in the arboreal masses, which, at an 
elevation of some 6,000 feet, clothe the mountains south of Tehuacan. 

Mexico enjoys a wealth of tropical and subtropical fruits, such as the 
orange, pine-apple, banana, coco-nut, pomegranate, anona, sapote, mango, 
and papaw, and loses correspondingly in the quality or flavour of most 
fruits of temperate climes. Among the special products of cultivation, 
indigenous or introduced, are the sugar-cane, cacao, coffee, vanilla, and 
agave, or American aloe. The last named, in Yucatan chiefly, furnishes 
the sisal hemp or fibre, while in major Mexico, an allied species yields the 
fermented national beverage known as pulque — the curse of beggardom, 
and the wealth of the endless pulquerias where it is sold. 

The fauna of Mexico is necessarily a mixture of the faunas of South 
America and of the United States, the lowlands representing the elements 
of the former and the highlands of the latter. Zoog^graphically it is a 
transition tract. The larger or more distinctive quadrupeds include the tapir, 
jaguar ( tigre , with a range extending nearly or quite to the Texan frontier), 
ocelot, puma or cougar, coyote (prairie-wolf), peccary (ranging to Arkansas), 
ant-eater, and armadillo. Several species of monkey find a congenial home 
southward of the 19th parallel, but at least one form, as in the sapotales 
or sapote forests of the northern coast of Yucatan, reaches the 21st parallel. 
The birds are of great variety. Standing at the edge of the great plateau 
the traveller may be beguiled by the tones of the robin or mocking-bird, 
and three hours later by foot-walk his feathered companions will be the 
toucan, chattering parrots, the humming-bird, and cassique, or hangnest. 
Alligators, and perhaps even the American crocodile, are abundant in some 
of the lowland streams, as well as in bays and estuaries, and ordinarily they 


Mexico 


779 


are much more in evidence than the ophidians, large and small, which 
belong to the forest tract. Non-venomous water-snakes are singularly 
numerous in some of the plateau lakes. As special faunal elements should 
be mentioned the remarkable tailed amphibian axolotl, and from among 
insects, the travelling or foraging ants and nest-constructing termites. 

People. — The inhabitants of Mexico resolve themselves into three 
categories : native Indians, of some 40 to 50 tribes ; Spaniards, or the 
descendants of the conquerors of Mexico, together with representatives 
of other European races ; and the mixed people resulting from a union 
of these two, who are often spoken of simply as Mexicans. Probably 
about 19 per cent, of the people are of European descent, 38 per cent, 
are native Indians, and 43 per cent, mixed races 
(Mexicans). It would appear that the native popu- 
lation has been steadily decreasing since the be- 
ginning of the nineteenth century. The Mexican 
Indians, with certain exceptions (Apaches, Comanches, 

Seris), are of a less warlike disposition than the 
Indians of the farther north, and, on the whole, may 
be said to be a hard-working, moral, and sober people, 

distinctly inclined to the arts of peace. Little or no Fig. 369.— Average pop- 

. ,. . , . . j 1 illation of a square 

prejudice exists against them as a race, and where mi i e 0 j Mexico. 

by station or education they have advanced to a 

special grade of civilisation, they are accepted in marriage among the 

highest families of Spanish blood. They are kindly, courteous and 

dignified in mien and disposition, easily recognising the position which 

they occupy, and law-abiding to a most generous extent. 

The most important of the hundred modern languages of Mexico are 
the Mexican (Nahuatl Aztec), Comanche - Shoshone, Mixteco - Zapoteca, 
Maya-Quiche and Otomi. The Nahua tribe of the Mexica (Mexicans) 
derives its name from Mexitl , a word of obscure origin and meaning, but 
often assumed to be synonymous with Huitzilopochtli, the Mexican God 
of War. That Mexica and Azteca (the people from Aztlan, “ the land of 
the white heron ”) define the same people — a people migrating in from the 
north — admits of no doubt ; hence, we may assume that Mexicans and 
Aztecs (including the Toltecs, who appear to have been only Mexicans 
from the region about Tula, and not an earlier independent migratory 
horde) represent in part the people who were ruled by the various kings 
and monarchs styled Motecuzoma, Moctezuma or Montezuma. 

To what period of construction belong the monumental ruins that are 
scatL >d through southern Mexico — in Uxmal and Chichen-Itza in Yucatan, 
of Palenque in the State of Chiapas, or of Mitla in the State of Oaxaca — 
still remains to be determined, although recent research does not seem 
to demand an antiquity exceeding 700 to 1,000 years. 

History and Government. — When conquered by Cortez in 1521 
Mexico was called the Province of New Spain : it remained a 
51 



780- The International Geography 

dependency of the Spanish crown for precisely three centuries, and was 
ruled successively by Governors, Audencias, and Viceroys. On September 
27, 1821, the Spanish power in Mexico finally terminated, after a struggle 
of eleven years. An Empire was proclaimed early in 1822 ; but this was 

followed by the proclamation of a Republican 
Constitution in 1824. A generally stormy period 
led up to the war with the United States (April, 
1846, to September, 1847). After some deter- 
mined resistance on the part of the Mexicans, 
Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, as the represen- 
tative of Napoleon III. of France, was placed upon 
the throne of Mexico in 1864, and thus was consti- 
tuted the second Empire. After the fall of the empire and the execution of 
the emperor in 1867 the Republic was re-established and became prosperous. 

Mexico is now organised as a Federal Republic, composed of twenty- 
seven States, two territories, and one federal district, whose political 
organisation is almost identical with that of the United States. The powers 
of the government are vested in the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial 
bodies, the first-named consisting of a House of Representatives and of 
a Senate, representation in which is brought about by the suffrages of the 
people. The Executive or President is elected by electors popularly chosen 
and holds office for four years ; there is no provision forbidding re-election. 

Industries. — Mexico is one of the richest mining countries of the 
world, her mineral resources, which are as yet only partially developed, 
comprising gold, silver, platinum, copper, lead, iron and mercury. The 
annual output of silver is now claimed to be in value nearly £12,000,000, 
and of gold about £1,000,000. The main silver mines are comprised in 
the mining districts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Catorce. An extensive 
industry is carried on in opals (principally from the region of Queretaro), 
and in the so-called u Mexican onyx/’ a beautifully shaded stalagmitic 
calcite which occurs in interbedded layers in the State of Puebla. 

There are extensive manufactures of cotton and woollen goods (cloths, 
blankets, shawls), of leather (saddles and accessory trappings, shoes), and 
of felt and straw (hats) ; the pottery of Guadalajara is famous. 

The cultivation of coffee is destined to become one of the foremost 
industries of the land, the lower tracts of the tierra caliente being particularly 
favourable to its growth. The coffee of Cordoba ranks but little inferior 
to the best coffee of the New World. Agriculture, although extensively 
practised, has in many districts hardly passed a primitive or experimental 
stage, and it is no uncommon thing to see the ancient forked or hooked stick 
serving for the plough-share. An equally primitive condition of the road- 
ways and of transportation equipments prevails, transport over large areas 
being still almost exclusively by donkeys. During late years there 
has been an astonishing development of railroad enterprises, the length 
of roads operated by steam being, in 1901, over 9,500 miles. Two trunk 




Mexico 


781 

lines — the Mexican Central and the Mexican National — connect the City 
of Mexico with the United States frontier. The Mexican Railway, con- 
necting the capital with Vera Cruz, was officially opened in 1873, and 
remains one of the most remarkable pieces of railroad construction. 

Towns. — Mexico (Fig. 368), the ancient Tenochtitlan, capital of the 
Federal District and of the Republic of Mexico, is situated at an elevation of 
7,350 feet above the sea-level. It combines the sumptuousness of a little 
Paris with the beggardom of Naples, the activity of a city of the north with 
the full inactivity of cities of the south. Here w T as established, in 1536, the 
pioneer printing-press of America, and, in 1693, the first newspaper 
[Mercurio Volant e) of the New World. Schools, colleges, hospitals, and 
asylums flourish in abundance. The National Museum contains a most 
important collection of American antiquities — a treasure-house to the 
archaeologist and ethnologist. The School of Fine Arts, or Academy of 
San Carlos, occupies the site where Fray Pedro de Gante, in 1524, founded 
the first school in the New World. The architectural features of the city 
are predominantly Spanish, the “ palaces 0 of the wealthier classes down to 
the dingy shops of the poorer tradespeople, together with the arcades, 
municipal buildings, and churches, having fully accepted the controlling 
lines of Old Spain. The most striking edifice is the cathedral, the largest 
and most sumptuous church of America, erected on the site of the pyramidal 
temple of the titular god of the Aztecs. 

The most important ports or harbours of Mexico are, on the Pacific 
side, Mazatlan, San Bias, Manzanillo, and Acapulco ; and, on the Gulf 
coast, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Coatzacoalcos, Campeche, and Progreso (the 
last two in Yucatan). Acapulco has been described as the most beautiful 
Pacific port of all America, and, after Sydney, the finest harbour in the 
world. Vera Cruz , which has so long held supremacy as the eastern port, 
is destined to be supplanted by Tampico, the open coral-reef waters, in 
their exposure to the sudden and powerful north winds [el Norte), being 
unsuited for protracted anchorage. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Mexico in square miles 
Population of Mexico. . 

Density of population per square mile 

1879- 

. . . . 13 

1900. 

. . 767,005 

. . 13,545,462 

.. 18 

Population of — 
Mexico City 
Puebla . . 
Leon 

1879. 1900. 

241,110 .. 344,721 

68,634 . . 93.521 

— . . 58,426 

Population of — 
Guadalajara 
Monterey.. 

San Luis Potosi. . 

1900. 

. . . . 61,019 


ANNUAL TRADE 

{in pounds sterling). 


Imports . . 
Exports . . 

Average 1871-75. 

1881-85. 

» . 6, 1 70,000 . . 

. . 6,830,000 

1891-95. 

. . 7,600,000 

. . 7,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. H. Prescott. “History of the Conquest of Mexico.” London. 

H. H. Bancroft. “Resources and Development of Mexico.” San Francisco, 1894. 

M. Romero. “Geographical and Statistical Notes on Mexico.” New York and London, 1898. 
Prince R. Bonaparte and others. “ Le Mexique.” 2 vols. Paris, 1904. 


BOOK V.: 

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA 


CHAPTER XLI CENTRAL AMERICA 

By Dr. Carl Sapper, 

Coban. 

Central America. — The Central American republics — Guatemala, 
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica — and the colony of British 
Honduras, occupy the greater part of the area of the land bridge 
between the North and the South American continents. They are bounded 



on the north by the republic of Mexico, and on the south by the Colom- 
bian State of Panama, and lie between the Pacific Ocean and the 
Caribbean or Antillian Sea of the Atlantic. Both coasts are fairly 
uniform, forming only a few large bays, the Gulf of Honduras or Bay 

782 


Central America 


7 8 3 

of Amatique on the Caribbean, and the smaller gulfs of Fonseco, Nicoya, 
and Golfo Dulce on the Pacific side. 

Orography and Geology. — Central America is very mountainous, 
the greatest heights occurring among the mountains of Guatemala and 
Costa Rica, while the ranges between them are only of moderate elevation. 
The beautiful cones of numerous volcanoes rise in a long, broken row 
near the Pacific coast ; only where the land narrows in Costa Rica do 
they stretch across to the Atlantic side. The soft volcanic ashes which 
have accumulated are of great importance, forming plains in the mountain 
region, and, together with river deposits, along the coasts, where they 
materially increase the fertility of the soil. In the neighbourhood of the 
volcanic belt earthquakes are common and sometimes very severe, as the 
frequent destruction of towns testifies. Amongst the specially memorable 
catastrophes are those of Guatemala in 1773 and 1902, of San Salvador in 
1854 and 1873, of Jucuapa (Salvador) in 1878, of Cartago (Costa Rica) in 
1841 and 1851, of Rivas (Nicaragua) in 1844, and of Leon (Nicaragua) in 
1609. Earthquakes are rarer and less severe in the non-volcanic districts 
and least frequent on the Atlantic coast. They are very rarely felt in 
British Honduras. 

Surface of Guatemala. — In the northern republic of Guatemala 
it is easy to distinguish three orographic zones, the northern hilly 
plain of Peten, merging into the southern hilly district and northern 
plain of British Honduras ; then the mountain chain of Central 
Guatemala, which attains heights of 12,500 feet, and the massive 
range of South Guatemala, which reaches 11,900 feet in Cerro Cotzic, 
and is continued towards the east into Honduras and Salvador. 
On the southern ridge of the last-named range numerous volcanoes 
rise, the highest, as determined by the triangulations of the inter- 
continental railway commission in 1892, are Tajumulco, 13,814 feet, 
Tacana, 13,334 feet, and Acatenango, 12,992 feet. The Pacific coast plain 
stretches at the foot of the volcanoes. The plain of Peten is composed 
for the most part of horizontally stratified recent Tertiary limestones. 
The northern chain of the Central Guatemala system, which appears to 
have been upheaved in middle Tertiary times, is composed of strongly 
folded and up-tilted early Tertiary and Mesozoic strata including an Upper 
Cretaceous limestone, which plays a large part. The middle chain is 
Palaeozoic, including schists and Carboniferous limestones, and both chains 
are broken through by the transverse valley of the Rio Chixoy. The 
southern chain (Sierra de Las Minas and Del Mico) is of Archaean formation, 
principally mica-schist. Outbursts of granite, diorite, and serpentine 
pierce these ancient rocks. The cordillera in southern Guatemala is built 
up of recent eruptive rocks, partly andesite and partly basalt. Most of the 
volcanoes of Guatemala are extinct ; during historic times eruptions have, 
however, been recorded of Tacana, Cerro Quemado, Fuego and Pacaya. 

Surface of Salvador. — In the republic of Salvador the mountain 


784 The International Geography 

chains of recent eruptive rocks rarely exceed 5,000 feet in height, and 
are broken through by the transverse valley of the Rio Lempa. Steep- 
sided spurs of the Honduras Mountains in the north are separated from 
one another by deep-cut river valleys. The Pacific coast plain is rather 
narrow, and the main mountain ridge behind it contains most of the 
volcanoes, none of which reach 8,000 feet. During historical times the 
volcanoes Santa Ana, Quezaltepeque, San Miguel, Conchagua, and 
Conchaguita, have been active ; Izalco was formed in 1793 and has since 
been continually in eruption ; on the other hand, a new volcano which 
appeared in Lake Ilopango in 1880, has since nearly disappeared. The 
mountains of this republic have on the whole been little explored. 

Surface of Honduras. — In the south of Honduras the mountains 
of recent eruptive rock are separated into different groups by deeply- 

trenched valleys, and some considerable depressions of the crest. In 

« 

northern Honduras the mountains present the appearance of a chain, 
although eruptive flows play a considerable part in their structure : quartz 
porphyry in the southern, Mesozoic and granite in the northern, chain 
of Archaean rock. The latter reaches its greatest height in Congrehoy 

Peak, 8,040 feet. The mountainous Bay Islands, Roatan, Utila, and 

Bonaca are remnants of a former parallel chain. There are almost no 
volcanoes in Honduras except the extinct volcanic islands in the Gulf 
of Fonseca on the Pacific. 

Surface of Nicaragua. — A great alluvial plain, similar to that 
of British Honduras, stretches along the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, 
and behind it the extensive highlands of Segovia, Matagalpa and 
Chontales, composed of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic strata with granite 
and basalt intrusions, reaches a maximum height of 7,000 feet. Beyond 
it there is a broad and remarkable depression occupied by the Gulf 
of Fonseca in the north, and further south by the great lakes of 
Managua and Nicaragua and the valley of their effluent, the San Juan 
river. On the west this depression is bordered by the low mountains 
of the coast cordillera. Numerous volcanoes rise from the volcanic 
ashes and tuffs with which the depression is covered, and many of 
them are active. Omotepe, on an island in Lake Nicaragua, is one 
of these, and the eruption of Coseguina in 1835 is famous as one of 
the most tremendous and disastrous known to history. 

Surface of Costa Rica. — Two parallel mountain ranges run 
through Costa Rica, separated by the depression of Cartago ; on the 
northern range there are several active volcanoes, two of which, 
Turrialba and Irazu, exceed 11,000 feet in height. The southern chain 
has also numerous lofty mountains, but its highest peak (the volcano 
Chiriqui, 10,150 feet) lies beyond the southern border. The geological 
formations are similar to those of Nicaragua. 

Hydrography.- — The rivers of Central America flow partly to the 
Atlantic Ocean and partly to the Pacific, but a few find their way into 


Central America 


7 8 5 

lakes which have no outlet. The main watershed runs near the Pacific 
coast and thus • the rivers entering the Atlantic are longer, and some of 
them are navigable in places for light-draught boats. It was proposed 
(before the United States took up the Panama Canal) to utilise the San 
Juan river flowing from Lake Nicaragua to the Caribbean Sea in the 
formation of a ship canal, to join the two oceans through the great lake. 
The Usumacinta and its chief tributaries, the Chixoy and Rio de la Pasion 
in northern Guatemala are navigable, but rapids on the border of 
the Mexican province of Tabasco interrupt communication with the 
sea. There are numerous lakes, chief amongst them the great Lake 
Nicaragua, with an area of over 3,000 square miles, and Lake Managua, 
which discharges into it. Lake Yzabal (Golfo Dulce) in Guatemala and 
the numerous very beautiful mountain tarns and crater-lakes in most parts 
of Central America are distinctive features. Lakes without outlet are 
common in the limestone region of northern Guatemala, the largest being 
Lake Peten ; in the rainy season many shallow temporary lakes ( Akalches ) 
are formed in the hollows of the same region. Numerous lagoons of 
brackish water occur along both coasts. 

Climate. — Central America lying completely within the tropics in 8° 
to 18 0 N., where the trade winds prevail, the climate would necessarily 
be damp and hot were it not for the prominent mountain system, which 
influences both temperature and rainfall. While the mean annual tem- 
perature on the coast is about 8o° F., in Quezaltenango, at an elevation of 
7,700 feet, it is only 58°. The annual range is comparatively small ; the 
average temperature of the coolest month, December or January, is only 
from 6° to 12 0 below that of the hottest month, April or May. The 
direction and extent of the mountain ranges exercise the principal 
influence on the atmospheric humidity and rainfall. Where the east or 
north-east trades blow, the slopes facing the Atlantic are moister than 
those of the Pacific ; on the latter coast only the southern slopes of the 
highest elevations in Guatemala extract a heavy rainfall from the sea 
breezes. The driest regions are those which are protected by mountain 
ranges from both oceans. All Central America is subject to numerous 
thunderstorms during the summer rainy season ( [Invierno ), which reach a 
maximum shortly after each solstice. On the Atlantic coast the summer rainy 
season passes gradually into the trade wind rains, characterised by a mini- 
mum of thunderstorms but many rain showers of long duration, and leading 
to a winter rainy season with moderate precipitation, from February to April. 
On the Pacific slope a dry period ( Verano ) prevails from November to 
May. As an example of the influence of mountains on the distribution of 
rainfall it may be mentioned that the annual fall at Tual on the northern 
slope of the Central Guatemalan Chain (2,700 feet) is about 195 inches, in 
Coban on the top of the mountains (4,300 feet) 100 inches, and in Salama 
(3,050 feet) on the dry inland district of central Guatemala only 27 inches ; 
while in Guatemala city (4,850 feet) on the crest of the Southern 


786 The International Geography 


Cordillera the rainfall is 57 inches. The zone of maximum rainfall lies 
between 2,000 and 3,500 feet in elevation, above that precipitation 
often assumes the form of mist, and at heights above 10,000 feet, of snow. 

Flora and Fauna. — Corresponding to the climate, the moist Atlantic 
side of Central America is covered with luxuriant primeval forest, which in 
the interior is rich in valuable wood, including mahogany and logwood, 
as well as in palms, creepers, and in the higher parts, tree-ferns, and 
epiphyte orchids. On the high mountains, oaks, alders, pines and cypresses 
are found. In the dry parts of the interior of the Pacific slope thin pine 
and oak woods cover the mountains, while the plains form grassy 
savannas diversified by thorny bushes. The driest parts of all are 
characterised by succulent plants such as the agave. On the Atlantic 
coast extensive deposits of sand are covered with grass and scattered pine 
trees, and known as Pine Ridges in British Honduras and on the Mosquito 
coast. According to the temperature there are three distinct floral zones. 
(1) Tierra Caliente, or hot land up to 2,000 feet, the principal zone of cacao 
cultivation, of the india-rubber and mahogany trees and of the coco-nut 
palm. (2) Tierra Templada , or temperate land from 2,000 to 6,000 feet, 
containing the principal belt of coffee cultivation. (3) Tierra Fria, or cold 
land above 6,000 feet, the principal grain and potato growing region. 
Cultivation stops at 10,500 feet, and forests at 12,500. 

Animal life is also richer and more varied in the moist than in the dry 
regions. The principal mammals of Central America are the jaguar, the 
cougar, and smaller felidae, wild swine, deer, monkeys, squirrels, and 
opossums. Bird-life is particularly rich, and the most beautiful bird of 
Central America, perhaps of the whole Earth, is the quetzal, which is 
limited to the forests of the moist and cool region. Snakes, some of them 
very poisonous, abound in the moist and hot region. Alligators and turtles 
are found in the waters of the hot land, and everywhere insect life is 
superabundant. 

People and History. — In contrast with the luxuriance of plant and 

animal life in the moist, warm region, the human 
inhabitants flourish in the drier parts, where agri- 
culture presents fewest difficulties and the conditions 
of health are favourable. The hot forest districts are 
very thinly peopled or even uninhabited, while a con- 
siderable density of population is found in the driest 
parts of the country. The prevalence of malaria in 

„ the low ground, both moist and dry, leads similarly 

Fig. 372. Average pop- 0 J 

ulation of a square mile to a concentration of population on the highlands, 

of Central America. which are free from malarial fevers. Human habi- 
tations are found as high as 10,500 feet, but above that level the mountain 
slopes are uninhabited. On the low, hot plains of Peten, in Guatemala, 
there is only one person to two square miles, while in the high department 
of Totonicapan the density of population is 285 to the square mile. 



Central America 


787 

The aboriginal inhabitants at the beginning of the sixteenth century 
were much more numerous than now, and were divided into many small 
tribes, always at war with one another. The only considerable kingdom 
was that of the Quiche, which had already begun to decline when some of 
the rebellious vassals of the Quiche king sought the aid of the Spaniards 
against their sovereign. Craftily taking advantage of the disunion amongst 
the Indian tribes Pedro de Alvarado, in 1524 and 1525, took possession of 
the greater part of Guatemala and Salvador with a handful of Spaniards, 
whose horses £hd firearms were objects of peculiar terror. Some years 
later the Verapaz district was peacefully brought under Spanish control 
through Fray Bartolome de las Casas, the famous historian of the Spanish 
conquest of America. Costa Rica was occupied by the Spaniards from 
Panama in 1522, and Honduras was taken in 1523. Cortez himself made 
an extremely difficult campaign through northern Guatemala and into 
Honduras in 1524-25. The agricultural native tribes of Guatemala, who 
were in possession of an old and highly developed culture and possessed 
organised government, were easily overcome in war, but so stubbornly 
did they resist the introduction of new ideas and customs, that to the 
present day a large number of them have remained free from intermixture 
and preserved their ancient language. The other Indian tribes, who 
stoutly resisted the Spaniards in arms, were gradually overcome or 
absorbed, and thus it happens that over 880,000 aboriginal Indians now live 
in Guatemala, while only 70,000 exist in the rest of Central America. The 
number of Indian languages now spoken is about thirty, but most of the 
Indians also speak Spanish. The majority of the population now consists 
of Spanish-speaking Ladinos or Mestizos, i,e. t offspring of Europeans and 
Indians. There are perhaps 30,000 Whites, Creoles and immigrants, and 
a larger number of Negroes, Mulattoes, the offspring of Negroes and whites, 
and Zambos, the offspring of Negroes and Indians. 

In the seventeenth century the Mosquito Indians, who lived on the east 
coast, entered into friendly relations with the British Government, and by 
British intervention the Indians of the Mosquito coast, which now forms 
part of Nicaragua, retain special privileges. Logwood cutters from 
Jamaica settled on the coast of Yucatan in the seventeenth century, and 
the colonists, by defeating a Spanish attack in 1798, definitely established 
the colony of British Honduras. In the sixteenth century Central America 
and Chiapas formed one Spanish colony, the Captain-generalship of 
Guatemala, which became independent in 1823, when Chiapas was 
included in Mexico, and the rest formed the United States of Central 
America. In 1839 they broke up into five separate republics, and 
attempts at reunion, although frequently made, have hitherto come to 
nothing. In 1896 Nicaragua, Honduras and Salvador formed themselves 
by the Treaty of Ampala into the Republica Mayor de Centro am eric a, with 
common representation in foreign countries, but the agreement did not 
continue. Although there is complete religious freedom in all the 
52 


788 The International Geography 

Central American republics, by far the most of the people are Roman 
Catholics. 

Productions and Trade. — As yet minerals are only worked 
extensively in Honduras and the north of Nicaragua, where gold and 
silver are mined. There is a little gold-washing and some lead mines in 
Guatemala, and lignite deposits are known in several places, although not 
worked. There is scarcely any manufacturing industry except the 
weaving of silk, wool and cotton on a small scale. Altos in Guatemala 
has woollen factories, and a great annual market is held at Esquipulas, in 
the same republic. The export of mahogany and logwood, india-rubber 
and other forest products is considerable ; Balsam of Peru is sent out 
from Salvador, and a certain amount of vanilla and sarsaparilla are also 
exported. Most of the people live by agriculture and the collection of 
forest produce, the nature of the cultivation depending on the climate, as 
each particular branch is concentrated in a special zone. Cattle-breeding 
is mainly carried on in the dry regions of the savannas and the scattered 
oak and pine woods, which form natural pastures. Honduras and 
Nicaragua are specially favourable for cattle-rearing, while the highlands 
in the high district of Guatemala are important for sheep. The cultivation 
of the cochineal insect was once important, but has now ceased. The 
cultivation of the soil is even more influenced by climatic conditions, 
although the most important crops, maize and beans, which form the 
staple food of the people, flourish in every climate and at all altitudes up 
to 10,000 feet. Other cultivated plants are confined to the warm, moist 
land, like cacao ; to the warm, dry land, like indigo ; or to the warm and 
temperate belt, like coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, rice and cotton ; while 
others are confined to the cold land, like grain, potatoes and apples. 
Some products are insufficient for home use ; the cacao production 
barely suffices for the home demand and even flour must be imported 
from abroad. The only plantation product, except indigo from Salvador, 
which is exported in large quantities is coffee, which is of very fine quality, 
principally in Alta Verapaz and Costa Rica. Guatemala and Salvador 
have the largest coffee export, Costa Rica and Nicaragua produce about 
one-quarter as much, and in Honduras the export is only beginning. 

Means of Communication. — The most important seaports of 
Central America are : in Guatemala, on the Pacific coast, the open 
roadsteads, San Jose , CJiampereco and Ocds, which carry on a large 
trade in coffee ; and on the Atlantic, Livingston and Puerto Barrios , the 
latter a good natural harbour, but not well situated for trade. The chief 
harbours of Salvador are Acajutea, Triumfo and La Union j in Honduras, 
on the Atlantic coast, Puerto Cortez; and Amapala on the Pacific. 
Nicaragua has on the Atlantic side, Bluefields and San Juan del Norte 
( Greytown ) ; on the Pacific, Corinto and San Juan del Sur. The harbours of 
Costa Rica are on the Atlantic side, Puerto Limon ; on the Pacific coast, 
Punta Arenas, The means of communication in the interior are still 


Central America 


789 

somewhat undeveloped ; quite recently railways have been constructed or 
planned to the principal centres of coffee production, and lines joining the 
Atlantic and the Pacific seaports are open or under construction in Costa 
Rica, Honduras and Guatemala. Regular steamer communication is kept 
up on a number of the lakes. The system of roads, on which goods are 
conveyed in two- wheeled ox-carts, is still very imperfect, and in the moun- 
tainous parts of the interior only mules and other beasts of burden can be 
employed. The Indians still continue to carry loads on their backs in 
wooden vessels supported by a strap round their foreheads. 

Political Divisions. — Central America is divided into six republics 
and one colony, the principal divisions and towns of which can merely be 
enumerated. 

Guatemala is divided into twenty-two departments. The capital, 
Guatemala , an inland town, is the seat of an archbishop, of a university 
and other educational establishments. The other important places are 
Quezaltenango, Antigua Guatemala , which was formerly the chief town of 
Central America, Chiquimula , and Coban. 

Salvador is divided into fourteen departments; its capital, San 
Salvador, is the seat of a bishop and of a university, and stands near its 
port, Libertad. S. Ana, S. Vicente and S. Miguel, are the other towns. 

Honduras is divided into fifteen departments, Tegucigalpa is the 
present capital, but that rank was formerly held by Comayagua, which 
is still the seat of a bishop ; both towns stand on the high plateau. 

Nicaragua has thirteen departments. Its capital is Managua, on the 
lake of the same name, but Leon is a larger town and the seat of a bishop. 
Granada on Lake Nicaragua, Masaya and Chinandega are also large towns, 
and Grey town, at the mouth of the San Juan river, will become important 
when the projected Nicaragua Canal is carried out. 

Costa Rica contains seven provinces. Its capital, S. Jose de Costa Rica , 
high up on the mountains, is the seat of a bishop, and Cart ago, the former 
capital, is also an important town. 

Panama. — Formerly a province of Colombia. See p. 828. 

British Honduras . 1 — The Crown colony of British Honduras, for- 
merly dependent on Jamaica, was given a separate organ- 
isation in 1884. It is divided from Mexico by the river 
Hondo, and by the river Sarstoon from Guatemala in the 
south. The western boundary is an arbitrary line. The 
coast is bordered by a maze of small islands and coral 
reefs, rendering navigation difficult. The principal river 
is the Belize, crossing the centre of the colony, and sepa- 
rating the hilly southern part, where the Cockscomb Viti^Hondta^ 
Mountains reach 4,000 feet, from the flat northern por- 
tion, a great part of which is occupied by swamps and lagoons, or shallow 
lakes. 



1 By the Editor. 


79° The International Geography 

Practically the whole area is under forest, and forest products, which 
attracted the “ Baymen ” in the seventeenth century, continue to be the 
staple exports of the colony. Mahogany and logwood trees are felled in 
the forests of the interior, and floated down to the coast, the quantity of 
the roughly hewn logs sent out each year largely depends on the amount 
of water in the rivers available for floating them. Coco-nuts and bananas 
are largely grown for the American market. 

The population contains only one per cent, of Europeans ; but, for the 
tropics, British Honduras is considered not unhealthy, many of the whites 
being descended from early immigrants. Besides the usual mixed races 
there are Caribs in the south, the remnant of those deported from the 
West Indies. Belize, the one town, is named after Wallace, an old 
buccaneer. It has no harbour, steamers having to anchor a mile or more 
from the river-mouth and work their cargo from lighters. 


STATISTICS (Approximate). 



Area in 
sq. miles. 

Population. 

Density of pop. 
per sq. mile. 

Largest 

Town. 

Population. 

Guatemala 

42,400 

1,365,000 

32 

Guatemala 

65,000 

Salvador . . 

8,100 

780,000 

96 

San Salvador 

25,000 

British Honduras 

7,5oo 

31,000 

4 

Belize 

7,000 

Honduras 

46,300 

382,000 

8 

Tegucigalpa 

12,600 

Nicaragua 

47,800 

313,000 

7 

Leon 

34,000 

Costa Rica 

20,800 

263,000 

13 

S. Jose 

19,000 

Central America 

172,900 

3,134,000 

160 




STANDARD BOOKS. 

T. Belt. “The Naturalist in Nicaragua.” London, 1874. 

A. R. Colquhoun. “ The Key of the Pacific — the Nicaragua Canal.” London, 1896. 

T. R. Gibbs. “ British Honduras.” London, 1883. 

D. Gonzalez. “ Geografia de Centro-America.” San Salvador, 1877. 

C. Sapper. “ Das Nordliche Mittel-Amerika.” Brunswick, 1897. 

. “ Mittelamerikanische Reisen und Studien aus den Jahren 1888 bis 1900.” 

Brunswick, 1902. 

A. H. Keane. “Central and South America. Vol. II. Central America and West 

Indies” [ Stanford's Compendium']. London, 1901. 

C. N. Bell. “Tangweera” [on the Indians of the Mosquito Coast], London, 1899. 

T. Brigham. “ Guatemala, the Land of the Quetzal.” London, 1887, 


CHAPTER XLII.— THE WEST INDIES 


I.— GENERAL FEATURES 


By J. Rodway, 

Georgetown , Demerara. 

Position and Structure. — The West Indian Islands extend as a 
natural breakwater in front of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, 
from 27 0 N. off the coast of Florida to io° N. near the shores of Venezuela. 
They contain colonies of the Danes, French, Dutch, territories of the 
United States, and independent republics, but the United Kingdom holds 
the greater number of the islands. The islands vary in size from Cuba, 



which is one-third larger than Ireland, to tiny rocks and keys (or cays) just 
rising above the sea. They differ also in geological structure ; some pro- 
bably once formed part of the continent, some are composed of volcanic 
rock, others only of coral. Most of them have central ridges of mountains, 
and many signs of active volcanoes may be seen in the Caribbees, where 
eruptions and earthquakes are still experienced at intervals. Taken as a 
whole the islands appear to form a great mountain chain, similar to the 

791 


792 The International Geography 

Andes, but deeply submerged. Rushing mountain torrents are common 
in all the islands ; their gullies, at one time nothing more than beds of 
sand and pebbles, are at another full and overflowing. 

Rising from the deep blue sea, covered with rich green forests, and 
bathed in the splendour of tropical sunlight the rocky islands are 
exceedingly beautiful. In sailing or steaming along from one to another 
they look like ocean gems ; here a mountain enwrapped in clouds, there a 
held of yellow-green canes, again a little town embosomed in precipices. 

Climate and Vegetation. — The climate is purely tropical. The 
sea-level temperature over the whole of the West Indies exceeds 8o° F. on 
the average from May to October, and in the cooler months rarely falls 
below 75° F., the annual range being very small. Rainfall and local 
varieties of climate are dominated by the trade winds, which blow all the 
year round. From October to March the north-east trades blow strongly ; 
as summer advances they become rather weaker, and eddy, so as to blow 
from the east and south-east over the whole group, gradually returning to 
a north-easterly direction about September. One consequence of the 
steady easterly winds is that the windward or eastward coasts of the 
Caribbees are beaten on by a continual surf, while the leeward or western 
coasts have usually calm water, and deep, unsilted harbours. Ail the 
important towns of the Lesser Antilles lie on the west of the islands. The 
rainy season takes place towards the end of summer, October being the 
wettest month as a rule, and the dry season is at its height between 
December and April, when the northerly component predominates in the 
wind. From August to October hurricanes are frequently experienced. 
The local climates vary considerably in the various islands. The Bahamas 
are cooler and more healthy than the Caribbees, and in Jamaica the 
inhabitants have the cool mountain slopes to which they can retire when 
the coast is uncomfortably hot. 

Most of the land is fertile, and in some islands particularly rich, although 
in others, such as the Bahamas, it is almost barren. There are few wild 
animals, but birds and insects are plentiful, while the flora is particularly 
varied and interesting. All tropical fruits and vegetables can be grown, 
but the staple has hitherto- been sugar cane. Latterly the low price of 
sugar consequent on the bounties given by European countries to en- 
courage beet growing has reduced many of the West Indian islands to a 
very low condition, a state of things intensified in some of the islands by 
civil war and bad government. 

People. — Since the discovery of the West Indies by Columbus in 1492 
the original inhabitants have almost entirely disappeared, leaving only a 
few degenerate half-breed Caribs in St. Vincent. The great labour 
experiment of negro slavery was tried on a vast scale, and, whatever may 
have been the evils of that system, there is no doubt that it was successful 
from an economic point of view. It has resulted in peopling the islands 
with a tropical race which seems well fitted to carry out their development, 


Cuba 


793 


and may perhaps some day make an impression on the world. Without 
the negro these beautiful islands would possibly have been abandoned long 
ago, for since the emancipation of slaves the whites are becoming fewer 
and fewer every decade, except in Cuba and Porto Rico. Experiments 
have been made in bringing labourers from India and China with good 
results in Trinidad, but the general position of all the islands in 1899 may 
be considered as almost stagnant. Yet they were of great value in the 
past, when they were “ bones of contention ” between the four great 
nations which fought for them, and with them the sovereignty of America. 
Spain was put in the background by Holland, France, and the United 
Kingdom, and, after many changes, the existing partition of the islands 
was brought about. The future of the West Indies is bound up with the 
future of cane-sugar ; other tropical products seem likely (1898) always to 
remain of secondary importance. 

The islands are linked together by telegraph cables, which connect 
with North and South America. There are several lines of steamers run- 
ning regularly between the West Indies and Europe 


II.— CUBA 


By Robert T. Hill, 

Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey. 

Position and Coasts.— Cuba, the largest and richest of the West 
Indian Islands, lies just within the tropics ; its most northerly point 
is within 100 miles of Key West, its most southerly within 100 miles of 


Jamaica. The island is 720 miles 
Its area, including 1,300 keys 
(cays) or islets, is 45,000 square 
miles, of which 10 per cent, is 
cultivated, 4 per cent, forest-land, 
and the rest unreclaimed. Cuba 
has three natural divisions, the 
eastern mountains, the central 
plains with occasional hills, and 
the western central axial moun- 
tains bordered by sloping valleys. 
Excepting the swamp region, the 
island is thoroughly drained. The 
coast-line measures 2,000 miles ; 
with embayments and islets it is 
over 6,800 miles. Except on the 
south central side the coast 
of coral reef elevated 15 
high, is rugged, with 
narrow entrances are 


long, and from 25 to 100 miles wide. 



FlG 375 - — Havana Harbour — a typical natural 
harbour of Cuba. 


is abrupt, and bordered by a narrow bench 
feet above the sea. The eastern coast, 600 feet 
stair-like terraces. The land-locked harbours with 
adapted for commerce and defence. The keys, 


794 The International Geography 

which border one half the coast, are coral or mangrove islets growing up 
from shallow platforms ; lack of good water makes them uninhabitable. 

Configuration. — The higher eminences in the interior are true 
mountains of deformation, composed of disturbed sedimentary rocks with 
igneous intrusions. They occur in three independent groups in the eastern, 
western and central portions. The highest range, the Sierra Maestra, domi- 
nates both coasts of Santiago de Cuba. Its loftiest crest, Pico del Turquino, 
has an estimated height of 6,800 feet ; its lower slopes are terraced. 
The central high mountains are less angular than the Sierra Maestra, 
and their summits (the highest, El Potrerillo, 2,900 feet) have radiating 
slopes. They are composed of semi-crystalline limestones and shales, 
doubtfully considered Palaeozoic, flanked by disturbed Cretaceous and 
Tertiary beds. The Sierra de los Organos forms the island’s axis west of 
Havana, and is an elongated ridge of various geological formations. It 
culminates in the Pan Guajaibon, altitude 2,532 feet. Low hills and mesas 
of circumdenudation capped by Tertiary limestone, 3,000 feet of which 
once enveloped the island, form an extensive plateau north of the Sierra 
Maestra, with terraced cliffs towards the sea ; they include the Mesa Toar 
and Junki de Baracoa, sometimes mistaken for craters. The upper edge 
of this plateau is cut into knife-edged salients ; the lower stair-like benches 
are crossed by vertical canyons, through which the drainage finds outlets 
to the sea. In Matanzas and Havana provinces, the arch of the plateau, 
whose crest on the northern side presents a cliff topography, descends 
nearer sea-level, develops a longer but gentle slope toward the south 
coast, and ends in the Zapata Cienaga and the shallows between Cuba and 
the Isle of Pines. The brackish swamp, Zapata, occupies 600 square miles 
on the southern coast. The famous valleys of Cuba are either wide plains 
threaded by rivers reaching the sea, or amphitheatres within the limestone 
plateau. 

The rivers are voluminous in proportion to their catchment areas. The 
streams run through widely sloping valleys ; canyons are not developed 
until the coastal rim of harder limestone at the entrance of the pouch- 
shaped harbours is reached. Many streams flowing southward disappear in 
vast swamps. In limestone formations the drainage is mostly subterranean, 
and beautiful caverns abound, the largest underlying the eastern Cuchillas. 
There are also waterfalls, natural bridges, mineral springs, and baths, the 
usual accompaniments of such karst phenomena. 

Climate. — There are no extensive climatological records except for 
Havana, and these do not apply throughout Cuba. Rains are most 
abundant from May to October ; those brought by the trade-winds are 
heaviest and most frequent on the higher eastern slopes. At Havana the 
annual rainfall is about 52 inches, of which 32 inches fall in the wet season. 
The average number of rainy days in the year is 102. The air is usually 
charged with 85 per cent, of moisture. Snow has only once been recorded 
in Cuba, in 1856. At Havana the mean annual temperature is 77 0 F. ; in 


Cuba 


795 ' 


July and August the average is 82° F., fluctuating between 88° and 76° ; the 
highest temperature recorded there during ten years was ioo°. In 
December and January the thermometer averages 72 0 with a maximum 
of 78° and a tninimum of 50° ; but on the interior elevations the freezing 
point is reached in winter. The diurnal range of temperature averages io°. 
At Santiago the temperature is higher than on the northern and western 
coasts, and averages 8o°, with a difference between the warmest and coldest 
months of 6° F. The easterly trade-wind prevails, but from November to 
February cool north winds of short duration occur in western Cuba, where 
also a refreshing sea-breeze blows in the afternoon. The island is subject 
to hurricanes. 

Flora. — A voluptuous flora covers the surface and includes cha- 
racteristic forms of the West Indies, southern Florida, and the Central 
American seaboard. Many large trees of the Mexican Tierra Caliente 
reappear in western Cuba. Numerous palms, including the royal palm, 
occur, and the pine tree is associated with palms and mahoganies in Pinar 
del Rio and the Isle of Pines ; other woods are the lignum-vitae, the grana- 
dilla, coco-wood, out of which reed instruments are made, and Cedrela 
odorata, used for cigar boxes and linings of cabinet work ; fustic, logwood, 
and mahogany are largely exported from Santiago. There are still about 
13,000,000 acres of uncleared forest. Nutritious grasses are found ; the 
pine-apple, manioc, sweet potato, and Indian corn are indigenous. More 
than 3,350 native plants have been catalogued. 

Fauna. — The peculiar fauna includes only a few indigenous land 
mammals. One rodent, the agouti, is as large as our domestic rabbit ; 
another is the solenodon, whose family has other representatives only in 
Haiti and Madagascar. There is a species of iguana, but there are no 
poisonous snakes. The crocodile, on the Isle of Pines, is the species which 
occurs in southern Florida, Jamaica and Central America. There are few 
fresh-water fishes. A large lepidosteus, similar to the alligatorgar of the 
southern United States, occurs. Insect life abounds, and there are many 
arachnids. Land molluscs with gorgeous colouring are found. Birds are 
numerous, and the parrot is conspicuous ; there is only one indigenous 
humming bird. Collectively, the fauna proves the long isolation of Cuba 
from continental lands. 

History and People. — Beginning on the west, Cuba is divided into 
six provinces, Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Santa Clara, Puerto 
Principe, and Santiago. A century before the Anglo-Saxon settlement of 
the New World, Spaniards colonised Cuba and built Baracoa, Santiago, 
and Havana. A search for gold yielded little return except the ornaments 
of the soon exterminated natives. Pastoral pursuits developed ; the 
indigenous tobacco, and sugar-cane imported from the Canaries, were 
cultivated and African slavery introduced. Morro Punti and other 
fortresses were begun before 1600. The second century of occupation saw 
increased agricultural development and colonisation, and fear of English 


■796 The International Geography 

buccaneers and French and Dutch pirates resulted in the primitive fortifi- 
cations of the coastal cities. The wise administration of Las Casas and its 
after influences held Cuba loyal to Spain, even during the times (1794-1820) 
when the latter lost her mainland colonies and San Domingo. The 
Spanish decree of 1825 gave the Captains-general despotic authority, ended 
domestic peace, and initiated insurrections which only ended with the fall 
of Santiago in July, 1898. During the nineteenth century Spain made 
various pretences of extending Cuba’s political privileges, but all lacked 
the true essence of local self-government, and absolute power remained 
with the Spanish Captain-general. The Spanish government was devoted 
to the enrichment of officials and to retaining Cuba as a colony. The 
United States resolved in 1898 to put a stop to bad government in Cuba, 
and after a short war with Spain the island was taken under American 
protection on January 1, 1899. A constitution was adopted in 1901, and 
in 1902 Cuba became an independent republic. The people of Cuba are 
for the most part descended from the early Spanish settlers, reinforced by 
later immigrants from southern Europe, and affected in part by a con- 
siderable infusion of negro blood. It is impossible to obtain accurate 
statistics of the changes of population, because no reliable census was 
taken for many decades. About 32 per cent, of the population are black 
or coloured, using the latter word to mean a mixture of the black and 
white races. The Spanish language is in universal use, and almost all the 
people are Roman Catholics. There is a university at Havana, and there 
are now many schools. 

Resources. — The products of the island are sugar-cane of a superior 
quality, tobacco, coffee, bananas, Indian corn, oranges and pines in the 
order named. Cuba leads the world in sugar production, the amount of 
which in 1893-94 was 1,054,000 tons, all of which except 30,000 tons was 
exported. During the revolution the production sank to one-third, but in 
1900-01 it had risen again to 600,000 tons. The sugar lands are upland 
soils, and more fertile than those of the other West Indian islands ; the 
cane is planted only once in seven years ; no fertilisers are used ; the 
estates possess recent inventions for the cultivation of the cane, the 
extraction of its juices, and their conversion into the crystal. Thus sugar 
cultivation in Cuba has remained profitable in spite of the general depres- 
sion in the cane-sugar trade. 

Tobacco, while secondary to sugar, is far more profitable in proportion 
to acreage. This product grows well throughout the island, but the chief 
seat of its cultivation is the southern slopes of the Sierra de los Organos, in 
Pinar del Rio — the famous Vuelta Abajo region. Good tobaccos are 
exported from Trinidad , Cienfuegos and Santiago. There are large cigar 
factories in Havana, and great exports of baled tobacco from eastern Cuba 
are sent mostly to the United States. Coffee (introduced by the French 
from Martinique in 1727) was once extensively exported, but the trees have 
been replaced by sugar-cane or destroyed during revolutions. Bananas 


Cuba 


797 


have been an important export in eastern Cuba. Delicious oranges grow 
everywhere. Pine-apples are exported from western Cuba and the Isle of 
Pines. Besides the large estates there are many small farms devoted to 
fruit growing, market gardening and dairy products. 

On the fertile grazing lands of Santa Clara, Puerto Principe and 
Santiago, fine animals of Spanish stock are produced. Horses are bred 
throughout Cuba. The developed mineral resources are iron ores, 
asphaltum, manganese, copper and salt. A little gold and silver were 
mined in past centuries. Iron ore has proved the chief metallic resource ; 
the Sierra Maestra mines produce mixed brown and red hematite, contain- 
ing from 65 to 68 per cent, of pure iron. They occur in the white 
limestone that for 2,500 feet incrusts the seaward face of the por- 
phyritic and granitoid core of the mountains. The production in 1890 was 
362,068 tons, amounting to one-fourth the total importation of iron ores 
into the United States for the same period. Rich deposits of manganese 
occur in the Sierra Maestra range near Ponupo. Asphaltum of unusual 
richness is found near Villa Clara, beneath the waters of Cardenas Bay and 
in beds of late Cretaceous and early Eocene age. Copper occurs at many 
places ; from 1524 to 1867 it was mined at Cobre. Salt is made abundantly 
along the northern keys. There are natural salt pans along the margin of 
Cayo Romano, depressions twelve to sixteen inches deep, separated from 
the sea by coral banks over which the waves wash in stormy weather. 
Clays for brick and roofing tiles abound in the non-calcareous formations, 
especially in the eastern provinces. The universal building material is 
limestone and lime products, such as plaster and cement. 

Communications. — The larger part of the thousand miles of public 
railways is comprised in the United System of Havana, which extends west 
and east from Havana 
through the tobacco and 
sugar districts of the 
Vuelta Arriba and Vuelta 
Abajo and, within a day’s 
journey, reaches the prin- 
cipal cities west of Cien- 
fuegos and Sagua la 
Grande. The western 
terminus is Pinar del Rio, 

106 miles from Havana ; 
the eastern terminus is Villa Clara, 150 miles distant. One line runs south 
from Havana to Batabano and meets the south-coast steamers. On sugar- 
estates narrow-gauge railways are freely used in handling cane ; they 
communicate with the interior, in connection with coasting steamers and 
broad-gauge lines. Good highways are short and few ; and even common 
roads for wheeled vehicles hardly exist, except near larger towns. 

Trade. — Most of Cuba is accessible to maritime transportation. The 



‘ M 




mm 


Fig. 376 . — The Railways of Cuba. 


798 The International Geography 


chief harbours on the north coast are Bahia Honda, Cabanas, Havana, 
Matanzas, Sagua, Nuevitas, Gibara, Nipe, and Baracoa ; and on the south, 
Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba, Manzanillo, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. The 
shipping trade, both foreign and coastal, is extensive ; steamers coast the 
island, the north coast being served from Havana and the south from 
Batabano, the southern out-port of Havana. Although Cuba naturally 
commands the commerce of the American Mediterranean, trade and 
communication with the adjacent regions, other than Mexico, have not 
hitherto been encouraged. The essentials of Cuban commerce are : (1) a 
large balance of trade in favour of the island ; (2) preponderating con- 
sumption of the exports by the United States ; (3) the division of the 
imports between other countries ; and (4) the absence of trade with the 
neighbouring regions — except the United States — of which the island is 
the natural commercial centre. The trade of the United States with 
Cuba, which has recently been summarised by Mr. John Hyde, statistician, 
reached its high-water mark in 1892-93, when it amounted to £20,460,000, 
the ratio of imports, £15,741,000, to exports £4,721,000, being approxi- 
mately as ten to three. In 1901 the total was £14,200,000, of which the 
exports amounted to £5,300,000, showing a remarkable proportionate 
increase. 

STATISTICS (approximate). 


Area of Cuba, in square miles 45,000 

Population (1899) 1,572,845 

Density of population per square mile 36 


Havana (Habana) 
Santiago 
Puerto Principe 


POPULATION OF CHIEF TOWNS, 1902. 

275,000 Matanzas 36,374 

43,090 Cienfuegos 30,038 

25,102 Cardenas , . 21,940 


There are no trustworthy trade statistics on account of the long period of political disturbance 
in the island. 


III. — PORTO RICO 

By Robert T. Hill, 

Geologist , U.S. Geological Survey. 

Position and Configuration. — The island of Porto Rico lies in the 
same tropical latitude as Jamaica, and is separated from Cuba by the 
island of Haiti. Although discovered, by Columbus in 1493, and con- 
quered in 1508 by Ponce de Leon, it has never yet been systematically 
explored. The island is 95 miles long, 35 miles wide, and has a coast-line of 
360 miles. It presents a picturesque hilly landscape. Central mountains 
with broken slopes extend through its greatest length, and culminate in 
the Yunque of the Sierra Luquillo, 3,609 feet high. Remnants of the 
virgin forests are still found on the sierra heights. The slopes are gently 
Tolling divides, succeeded towards the littoral by well-drained plains. The 
undulating surface is adapted to pasture and the more ordinary kinds 
of cultivation, and is intersected by numerous perennial rivers. 


Porto Rico 


799 


According to Cleve, the Swedish naturalist, the northern hills are 
fragments of a thick series of limestone strata which have been cut 
through by water. They have little inclination, and dip seaward from 
the axis of the island at a low angle. The mountain summits are covered 
by the Antillean Tertiary limestone, a formation which is usually hard 
and yellowish-white. In the mountains of the interior an older formation 
of conglomerates and metamorphic rock, similar to the older rocks of 
Jamaica, is visible below the limestones. The rocks of the littoral are pro- 
bably elevated coral reefs. Great living reefs abound along the south coast. 
The numerous streams have contributed to the wealth of Porto Rico ; some 
are navigable for small vessels, but have troublesome bars across their mouths. 

Climate. — The mean monthly temperature hardly varies 6°, and the 
extreme limits observed are within 40° of each other. The hottest months 
are June, July, August and September ; the coolest, December, January 
and February. The average daily temperature is 8o° F., but a cooling 
north breeze prevails during the hottest days. The thermometer averages 
88° F. at noon, sinks to 8i° at night, and sometimes falls to 6i° F. The 
highlands are cooler, but snow never falls, and hail rarely. Disagreeable 
land winds are unusual ; but tropical hurricanes are frequent between July 
and October. The central mountains cause frequent showers on the 
northern side, while the southern district remains without rain for months. * 
The average annual rainfall for twenty-five years at San Juan is 54 inches, 
that at a station in the Yunque, 134 inches. The driest months are 
January and February, the wettest are October and November. 

Resources. — According to Cleve, mercury is found in the Rio Grande, 
and gold in loose pieces in the Sierra Luquillo and Corozal rivers ; placer 
gold was mined by early Spanish settlers. Specular iron is reported, 
notably on the Rio Cuyul, and magnetic iron ore from Gurabo and Ciales ; 
agate of good quality, malachite and other ornamental or precious 
minerals occur. 

Porto Rico contains many large trees ; in the higher parts the forests 
are open, and largely without parasitic vegetation. The species include 
several palms, two tree ferns, cedar, ebony, sandal-wood and many trees 
suitable for building purposes ; while there are numerous medicinal plants 
and others used for condiments, dyes and tanning. 

Agriculture is sufficiently diversified to produce food for the inhabitants 
besides large crops of sugar and coffee for export. The land is mainly 
divided into small independent holdings belonging to the peasantry of the 
interior. Small fruit farms are the most numerous, but there are many 
small and some large coffee estates, and a number of sugar estates, cattle 
farms and some tobacco plantations. 

The island contains no native mammals, except a single species of 
agouti, although introduced domestic species flourish. In the mountains 
there are many birds ; flamingos and other water-birds frequent the coast ; 
fish abound in the fresh water, and a gigantic tortoise is found. 


8oo The International Geography 

People and Government— Porto Rico for three centuries was 
only a penal station. The aborigines, of Arawak or Carib stock, were 
nearly exterminated in 1811 after an uprising against the Spanish. The 
present native people are of four classes : the Creoles, who call 
themselves Spaniards ; the lower class of white peasantry, or Gibaros ; 
the coloured people, or Mestizos; and the blacks. In 1615 a decree 
invited colonists to the island on most liberal terms. Lands were allotted 
gratis ; the settlers were free from direct taxes, and for a certain number 
of years from tithes, alcabala, and export duties, which then formed an 
impolitic feature of the Spanish system. With this decree the prosperity 
of Porto Rico began, and Spanish capitalists driven from San Domingo 
and the Spanish Main about the same period, helped to develop the 
resources. The negroes of Porto Rico are in a minority. When eman- 
cipation was given in 1873 industry survived, the planters continuing 
their agricultural operations without financial ruin or social disorgani- 
sation. 

For administrative purposes the island was divided into seven depart- 
ments, including seventy villages. These departments, named after their 
chief towns, each contain about 100,000 inhabitants. Three small islands 
adjacent to Porto Rico constitute parts of its political organisation. These 
are Mona on the west, and Culebra and Vieques on the east. 

Porto Rico was assumed as United States territory at the close of the 
Spanish- American war of 1898, when Cuba was taken under American 
protection. The Catholic bishopric of Porto Rico was founded in 1504, 
under Pope Julian II., and was the first established in the New World. 
Instruction is divided into primary, secondary and superior. There are 
eight superior schools for boys, four for girls, and many elementary classes 
and private schools, while in San Juan there is a college, with courses in 
medicine and law, and a normal school for both sexes. Eighty-seven per 
cent, of the people are, however, illiterate. 

Trade and Towns. — The industries are limited to the preparation 
of sugar and coffee for market, and the manufacture of tobacco, chocolate, 
wax, soap, matches, rum and straw hats ; but there are a few foundries for 
manufacturing iron machinery. The productions for export are sugar- 
cane, coffee, tobacco, cacao and cotton. Sugar-cane on the lower slopes 
and plains yields about 6,000 pounds to the acre. A peculiar variety of 
upland rice, together with yuachia and plantains, are staple foods of the 
labourers; bananas, maize, beans, yams, sweet potatoes, mangoes, pine- 
apples and other fruits are also of importance. 

The larger commercial towns, mostly seaports, are : San Juan, Ponce, 
Mayaguez, Aguadilla, Arecibo, Fajardo, Naguabo, Arroyo, and San German. 
The principal ports are San Juan on the north; Fajardo and Enshhada 
Honda on the east ; Ponce and Guanica on the south ; and Puerto Real 
de Cabo Rojo on the west. Playa is the best port. 

The island has communication by steamer with Europe, the other 


Haiti and Santo Domingo 801 

islands of the West Indies, and the two neighbouring continents; two 
lines of steamers circumnavigate it, stopping at the various ports. There 
are about 150 miles of railroad in operation, and as much under con- 
struction. * 

STATISTICS. 


Area of Porto Rico in square miles . . 3,668 

Population of Porto Rico in 1899 953> 2 43 

Density of population per square mile . . . . 260 

Population of Ponce 27,952 

„ San Juan 3 2 >°48 

COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION. 

White. Coloured. Negro. Total. 

589,426 .. .. 304.35 2 .. •• 59,390 .. .. 953, 2 43 


IV.— HAITI AND SANTO DOMINGO 

By J. Rodway, 

Georgetown , Demerara. 

Physical Features of Haiti. — The island of Santo Domingo, better 
known by its old Carib name of Haiti (rough land), or by the name 
Hispaniola bestowed on it by Columbus in 1492, is separated from Cuba 
by the Windward Passage, and from Porto Rico by the Mona Passage, 
both much frequented by vessels entering the Caribbean Sea. The 
outline of the coast is remarkable, and the island is nearly as large as 
Ireland, the length being about 400 miles and the greatest breadth 160. 
Four chains of mountains corrugate its surface, running nearly parallel to 
each other, separated by depressions, and all trending nearly east and 
west. The Monti Cristi range, parallel to the north coast, is succeeded 
by the great Cibao Chain, which forms the north-western peninsula and 
runs to the extreme east end of the island ; it bears the highest summit in 
the West Indies, Loma Tina (10,300 feet). Between these ranges lies the 
broad plain called by Columbus Vega real or the royal garden, a region of 
great fertility, traversed by large rivers. The southern range forms the 
south-western or Tiburon peninsula, and runs along the western half 
of the south coast. Gold, silver, copper and other minerals are found, 
while for the variety of its vegetable productions it is unexcelled by any of 
the other islands. 

History and People. — This magnificent island was the first to be 
colonised by Spain, and horrible persecutions and massacres of the natives 
took place, which led to the entire extinction of the aborigines within about 
fifty years. Haiti was then almost deserted for a time, save as a place of 
call. Plantations were neglected ; cattle, hogs and dogs ran wild and 
increased to a wonderful degree, until the French buccaneers settled in 
some of the western bays, and especially on the small island of Tortuga. 
They lived by hunting the wild cattle and by piracy, until gradually taking 


8 02 The International Geography 

possession of a great portion of Hispaniola, about one-third of the island 
was ultimately ceded to France by treaty in 1697. From that period the 
portion now known as Haiti became the most flourishing colony in the 
West Indies, until by the blunders of the first French Republic and then 
of Napoleon I. it was entirely lost. The Republic declared the rights of 
man and freed the slaves ; Napoleon, on the petition of the whites, 
rescinded this resolution, and ordered the negroes back into slavery. The 
result was a series of massacres, ending in the erection of a negro republic 
where no white man could hold any real property. Since 1810 there have 
been negro emperors, kings, and presidents, Haiti has been joined to 
Santo Domingo, which proclaimed its independence in 1821, and again 
separated, and the whole island has been almost ruined. There are, 
however, no reasons why it should not be very prosperous, save the want 
of good government and the virtual absence of white men. 

The Republic of Santo Domingo. — The eastern republic of 
Santo Domingo is divided into six provinces and six maritime districts, 
and is governed by a President and a Congress of twenty-four members, 
who are elected for two years. The exports are coffee, timber, tobacco, 
cacao and sugar. The capital is the old Spanish city of San Domingo on 
the south-east coast, and there is a port on the north named Puerto Plata 
of about the same size. The Spanish language is universally spoken ; but 
the people are almost entirely negroes and half-breeds. 

The Republic of Haiti. — The western portion of the island known 
as Haiti is smaller in area, but of greater importance than its sister republic, 
still retaining the superiority which existed while both were European 
colonies, and that due to its command of the great western gulf between 
the two long mountainous peninsulas. The government is administered 
by a President, Senate, and House of Representatives, but it is generally 
considered to be rather that of a military despotism than of a republic. 
The capital is Port-au-Prince , the towns of Cape Haifien, and Aux Cayes are 
also important. A patois derived from French is commonly spoken, but 
pure French is the tongue of the better classes. There are but few whites, 
and these labour under civil disabilities that may almost be compared with 
those formerly laid upon the coloured people under French rule. The 
exports are coffee, mahogany, logwood and cotton. 

There are several islands off the coast ; the largest is Gonave, 37 miles 
long by 9 wide, but on account of its being destitute of springs, it is 
hardly habitable. There is also the old rendezvous of the buccaneers, 
Tortuga, which is 22 miles long by 8 broad, and La Saona, nearly as 
large. 


STATISTICS ( estimates about 1890-91). 


Area 
sq. miles. 

Santo Domingo . . 18,045 


Haiti .. 


Popu- Density Imports Exports Popu- 
lation. of Pop. £ £ Capital. lation. 

610,000 34 537,000 585,000 Santo 15,000 

Domingo 

140 2.012,000 2,833000 Port au Prince 50,000 


10,204 1.400,000 


Jamaica 803 

V.— THE WEST INDIAN COLONIES 

By J. Rodway, 

Georgetown , Demerara. 

THE BAHAMAS 

Bahamas. — The Bahama Islands are the most northerly of the West 
Indies, comprising about 3,000 low coral islets, rocks and banks. The 
whole group is a British possession, and about twenty of the islands are 
inhabited. The most important are New Providence, Abaca, Harbour 
Island, Eleuthera, Inagua, Mayaguana, Ragged Island, Rum Cay, and the 
Biminis, all of which are ports of entry. Besides these there are the 
Great Bahama, Crooked Island, Cat Island and Watling Island (San 
Salvador), Columbus’s supposed landfall. Compared with the southern 
islands most of the Bahamas are little more than barren wastes, rising 
but a few feet above sea-level, in some places so low that salt lagoons 
penetrate to great distances beyond the shore. The most conspicuous 
plant is the agave, from which sisal hemp is obtained as an article of 
commerce. Some of the islands are covered with its rosettes of spiny 
leaves almost to the exclusion of other weeds. 

People and Industries. — Three-fourths of the population are black 
or coloured people ; but the English language is the only one spoken. 
The islands were originally taken possession of by the English at the first 
settlement of Virginia, but for a long period they were little more than 
harbouring places for pirates. The early colonists suffered from the raids 
of Spaniards and French, and in 1781 the islands were captured by the 
former, to be restored to Great Britain, however, at the peace of 1783. 

The main industries are sponge-fishing and salt-raking ; from natural 
ponds, where sea-water is continually flowing in and evaporating, the 
crystals of salt are raked into flat-bottomed punts and piled in heaps on 
the shore until ready for removal. Coral, shells and turtle-shell are also 
obtained by fishing and diving ; fruit and early vegetables are grown for 
the American market, and some of the islands yield guano. The capital 
and only town of 'importance is Nassau on the island of New Providence. 

JAMAICA 

Position, Surface and Productions. — About 100 miles west of 
Haiti, and 100 miles south of Cuba comes Jamaica, the largest of the 
British West Indies. From east to west its greatest length is about 150 
miles, and its breadth from north to south 50 miles. A range of mountains 
runs through the axis of the island from east to west with numerous 
projecting spurs ; the highest peak of the Blue Mountains rises to 7,400 
feet. Numerous small rivers flow from both sides of this range, but none 
are navigable. The name “Jamaica” comes from a native word meaning 


804 The International Geography 



“ land of springs.” The climate differs according to altitude, that of the 
lower levels being typically tropical, while the temperature on the hills is 
lower according to the height. There are extensive forests, and the moun- 
tain streams are broken by numerous falls and cataracts. 
All tropical productions can be grown to perfection, 
and the exports are more varied than those of the 
other British West Indies. The sugar plantations, once 
so famous, have now dwindled to an area of only 26,000 
acres, and although other products have been largely 
increased by the introduction of banana and orange 
Fig. 377 —The Badge planting for the American and British markets, the 
^ L lLL ' island has never regained the prosperity which it lost 
on the emancipation of the slaves. Its chief exports are now bananas, 
oranges, sugar, rum, coffee, ginger, pimento, logwood and cacao. 

People, History and Government. — The population consists 
mainly of black and coloured people, the whites numbering only 2\ 
per cent, of the whole, and the proportion of East 
Indians is about the same. The island was first 
settled in 1509 by the Spaniards, and was con- 
quered in 1655 by a British force sent out by Oliver 
Cromwell, since which time it has remained in the 
hands of Great Britain. Charles II. granted it a 
constitution in 1662, but in 1866 this was surrendered 
in favour of a Governor and Council, partly official 
and partly elective. The island is divided into 
three counties, Cornwall in the west, Middlesex in 
the centre, and Surrey in the east ; these are sub- 
divided into parishes the unit of local government being the Parochial 
Board. 

Resources and Towns. — There are few industries beyond the raising 
of agricultural produce. Jamaica rum has long been .famous throughout 
the world, and is unique in flavour. Jamaica coffee and ginger are also 
well known, while pimento is obtained almost exclusively from this island. 
Attempts have been made to introduce tobacco^rowing and cigar making, 
but hitherto with only moderate success. The capital is Kingston , which 
is well situated on a good harbour in the south-east of the island. The 
town was practically destroyed in 1907 by an earthquake, similar to that 
which submerged the greater part of the town of Port Royal on the opposite 
side of the harbour in 1692. The seat of government was formerly Spanish 
Town , which lies a few miles inland. A railway extends from Kingston 
to Montego Bay, in the north-west, 113 miles distant, another to Ewarton 
on the mountains, and a third to Port Antonio, on the north-east coast, 
a distance of 54 miles. The roads in the island are fairly good, but liable 
to injury by floods. From an economic point of view Jamaica is much 
behind Cuba and Porto Rico, but it may be safely predicted that it 



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FlG. 378 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
tnile of Jamaica. 


Danish West Indies 


805 

is destined to become prosperous in the near future as one of the fruit 
gardens for the United States, and as a winter resort for North Americans. 

Turks and Caicos Islands, the most southerly of the Bahamas, 
are under the jurisdiction of Jamaica. They consist of about twenty islands 
and cays, forming two groups. The Turks Islands were so called from 
the prevalence of the turk’s-head cactus, which gives a character to the 
barren soil. The most important of the group is Grand Turk, which is 
6J miles long by 2 wide. In South Caicos the small town, Cockburn 
Harbour , is a port of entry, and there is another port on Salt Cay. Most of 
the black and coloured people are descended from the slaves of loyalist 
refugees who left the southern States during the American War of 
Independence. Up to late years these people have been living a half 
savage life, but latterly, by the introduction of sponge-fishing, salt-raking 
and the cultivation of sisal hemp, some progress has been made. 

The Cayman Islands are also under the jurisdiction of Jamaica, 
from which they are distant about 180 miles to the west. Grand Cayman 
is 17 miles long by 7 broad, in some places rock-bound, and in others 
protected by coral reefs. The Morant Cays and Pedro Cays are small 
islands with a few inhabitants engaged in turtling and collecting guano. 

DANISH WEST INDIES 

Virgin Islands. — Immediately to the east of Porto Rico commences 
the line of the Lesser Antilles or Caribbees, which form a perfect bow 
with the convex part stretching into the Atlantic. The first group, going 
south, is that of the Virgin Islands, rising from the extensive bank which 
runs east from Porto Rico. Thirty-two of them belong to Great Britain 
and two to Denmark. 

The Danish Islands are St. Thomas and St. John in the Virgin group, 
and St. Croix. They were once under cultivation to a considerable extent, 
but they are now almost bare, only covered with a scrubby vegetation 
consisting mainly of lantana, or sage bush, 
from amidst which the ruins of plantations 
can here and there be discerned. But al- 
though once largely supplied with plan- 
tations, their old prosperity was perhaps 
more due to the fact that when the other 
nations ruling the West Indies were at war, 

Denmark remained strictly neutral. St. 

Thomas, with its commodious land-locked harbour, was a free port, 
and as such it reaped to the full its remarkable advantages of position. 
Pirates, privateers, men-of-war and merchant vessels of all nations 
met within its harbour in peace and safety, and obtained supplies 
from its traders. Of late years, however, St. Thomas has very much 
declined, and it is now little more than a port of call. The area of 
the island is 23 square miles, and its population 12,000, most of whom 



Fig. 370. — St. Thomas. 


806 The International Geography 

live in the capital, Charlotte Amalie , which is also the capital of the 
Danish West Indies. St. John has an area of 42 square miles, but a 
population of only 900. The island, in fact, is virtually ruined. Santa 
Cruz or St. Croix, is the largest of the Danish West Indies, with an area 
of 74 square miles. Once noted for its plantations, it has much diminished 
in the output of sugar, rum and molasses. The capital is Christiansted. 
Very little Danish is spoken either here or at St. Thomas, English being 
generally used ; the St. Thomas negro, however, is noted for having a 
smattering of several languages, which is a necessity from the island being 
the resort of so many nationalities. It has often been rumoured that the 
United States were about to buy these islands. 

DUTCH WEST INDIES 

Dutch Antilles. — In the group south-east of the Virgin Islands are 
the small Dutch possessions of Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Martin’s (an 
island half of which belongs to France). These are included under one 
government with Curasao, Buen Ayre, and Aruba, which are situated far 
* away, off the coast of Venezuela. The whole have an area of 400 square 
miles and less than 50,000 inhabitants. Saba consists of a single volcanic 
cone rising 1,500 feet above the sea. Steps lead from the shore to a height 
of 800 feet, where, within the ancient crater, the settlement has long been 
established. The inhabitants, who number nearly 2,000, grow fruit and 
vegetables, which they sell to other islands, and they are also expert boat- 
builders and fishermen. In St. Eustatius also, the main part of the island 
is a volcanic cone, but there is a stretch of fertile land on the lower slopes. 
It was once, like St. Thomas, a depot for privateering and smuggling 
adventurers, but it has now entirely lost its former trade. St. Martin’s has 
been divided between France and Holland since the year 1648. The 
Dutch portion is at the south of the island, and contains an area of 17 
square miles, with a population of nearly 4,000. A little sugar and salt are 
exported, but the colony is by no means flourishing. 

Dutch Leeward Islands. — The principal group of Dutch islands 
lies far within the bow of the Antilles and about 40 miles from the coast 
of Venezuela. Curasao is 36 miles long by 8 broad. Down to the end 
of the last century it was the chief depot of the smuggling trade with 
Spanish America, and was largely cultivated to supply fresh provisions to 
the numerous traders calling there, but now it is much depressed. The 
chief product is salt, but a little sugar and tobacco are grown, as well as 
the fruit used in flavouring the well-known liqueur named after the island. 
The small town of Willemstadt is the capital and the seat of government 
for the whole of the Dutch West Indies. The administration is carried 
on by a Governor and Colonial Council, and each island has a chief, all of 
whom are appointed by the sovereign. Willemstadt stands on a very safe 
harbour, which can be easily secured from outside enemies. Buen Ayre, 
or Bonaire, and Aruba are smaller islands lying respectively to the east 
and to the west of Curasao. 


British Leeward Islands 807 


LEEWARD ISLANDS 



British Leeward Islands. — This colony includes the Virgin 
Islands and the chain of British islands as far south as Dominica. It in- 
cludes, amongst others of the Virgin Islands, Anegada, Virgin Gorda, Tortola, 
Joost van Dyke, Peter's Island and Salt Island, with an aggregate area of 
about 60 square miles. The chief town is Road Town, Tortola. A small 
quantity of sugar is grown, but the few inhabitants mostly live by growing 
provisions, raising cattle and fishing, their surplus produce being taken to St. 
Thomas. Antigua, with its dependencies Barbuda and 
Redonda, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Kitt’s or St. Christo- 
pher’s, Nevis, The Dogs, and several smaller islands, also 
belong to the “ Leeward ” colony. These islands were 
federated under one Governor and Legislative Council 
in 1871 ; and although so numerous, their total area is 
only 700 square miles. Structurally, they form the peaks 
of two parallel volcanic mountain chains, that to the Fig - 380 .— Badge of 
west including Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Kitt’s, Nevis, the Leeward Islands - 
Redonda, and Montserrat, and that to the east Sombrero, Anguilla, St. 
Martin’s, St. Barts or St. Bartholomew’s, Barbuda, and Antigua. 

Antigua is 28 miles long by 20 broad ; its coast is deeply indented 
and broken into bays and peninsulas with high and rocky shores, in con- 
trast to the usual uniform outline of these islands. The whole island is 
beautifully diversified by hill and dale, and the highest elevation, the 
Shackerley Mountains, reaches 1,500. The chief productions are sugar 
and pine-apples, and there are many small estates in cultivation. Little 
more than one-twentieth of the population are whites. The island was 
settled by the British in 1632, and except for a short French occupation 
it has since remained under the same flag. English is commonly spoken. 
The chief town is St. John's, well situated on English Harbour. 

Barbuda and Redonda are dependencies of Antigua. Barbuda 
is very flat, with a large lagoon on its west side ; its exports are salt and 
phosphates. Redonda is a narrow islet, only one mile long, but is valuable 
for its mines of phosphate of alumina, of which about 7,000 tons are 
annually exported. 

Dominica, lying between the French islands of Guadeloupe and 
Martinique, is 29 miles long by 12 broad, with bold precipitous coasts and 
a picturesque mountainous interior. The loftiest summmit, Morne Dia- 
blotin, is 5,314 feet high, and from the mountains many rushing torrents 
descend, which vary much in size according to the rainfall. There are 
several hot sulphur springs. Good anchorage can be obtained to leeward, 
but there are no harbours. Roseau, or Charlotte Town, is the capital ; the 
only other town is Portsmouth, or Prince Rupert's Town . The colony was 
founded by the French, and a patois of that language is most commonly 
spoken. The Grand Soufriere is an active volcano, and in 1880 there was 


8o8 The International Geography 

an eruption which covered the houses of Roseau with ashes and scoriae 
to a depth of two or three inches. The chief exports are coffee, cacao, 
sugar and lime-juice. 

Montserrat is n miles long by 7 broad. It is so rugged and moun- 
tainous that only one-third of its small area can be cultivated, the re- 
mainder being covered with magnificent forests. The highest elevation is 
the Soufriere Hill, 3,000 feet. Plymouth , the chief town, stands on an open 
roadstead on the south-west coast and near the fertile part of the island. 
The chief product is sugar ; lime-juice is also of some importance for 
export. In 1896 a great hurricane, earthquake and flood devastated the 
island. The English language is universally used, and the island is said to 
be the most healthy of the Antilles. 

St. Kitt’s, or St. Christopher’s, 23 miles long by 5 broad, tapering in 
the south-east to a long narrow peninsula, consists of a single peak, Mount 
Misery, 3,700 feet high, with gentle slopes formed by old lava streams 
deeply furrowed by the floods of the rainy seasons. The slopes are very 
fertile, and the alternating forests and cane fields produce a most pleasing 
effect. There are hot springs in several places which emit sulphurous 
vapours. This is the oldest British settlement in the West Indies, having 
been founded in 1623 ; but on account of an amicable arrangement for its 
division between the British and French, it was for a long time a “ bone of 
contention” between the two nationalities. The chief town is Basseterre, at 
the junction of the long peninsula with the main island. The chief pro- 
ducts are sugar, molasses, and rum, arrowroot, coffee, cacao and tobacco. 

Nevis is joined to St. Kitt’s for administrative purposes, and is only 
separated naturally by a narrow strait. It is about eight miles in diameter, 

and consists of a single volcanic moun- 
tain rising from the sea to an elevation 
of 3,200 feet, with fertile land on the 
slopes. The only town is Charlestown, 
and its products are sugar and salt. 

Anguilla is also included in the 
same administration. It is 16 miles long 
by 3 broad, its name meaning “ eel,” 
having reference to its long narrow and 
curved form. Its exports are phosphate 
of lime and salt, and there is a small 
town called Rode Bay. The small islands called The Dogs are dependencies 
of Anguilla. 

FRENCH WEST INDIES 

By M. Zimmermann. 

The French West Indies. — The main group of the French West 
Indies occupies the portion of the Lesser Antilles between 14^ and i6^° N. ; 
it includes the islands of Martinique, Guadeloupe, Marie Galante, and 



Windward Islands 



Desirade of which only the two first are important ; and there are also the 
islands of St. Martin and St. Bartholomew in i8° N. These are all that 
remain to France of its flourishing West Indian settlements of the seven- 
teenth century. Guadeloupe is composed of a volcanic island, Grande 
Terre, and a coral island, Basse Terre, united by a narrow isthmus, while 
Martinique is purely volcanic. Both are exposed to hurricanes and earth- 
quakes, and the eruption of Mont Pelee on Martinique in 1902 wiped out 
the seaport town of St. Pierre and destroyed 30,000 people. Both islands 
are undergoing a serious economic crisis ; their former sources of wealth, 
sugar and rum, have been unable to compete with the products of the 
beet. The trade of Guadeloupe diminished by one-third between 1878 
and 1898, and Martinique is no better off. Efforts have been made to 
restore prosperity by the cultivation of cacao, tobacco, and especially pine- 
apples and bananas. The population is very dense on both islands ; the 
negroes and mulattoes have entirely taken the place of the old planters. 



WINDWARD ISLANDS 

British Windward Islands. — South of Martinique comes the 
federation of the Windward Islands, which includes 
St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, and the Grenadines. 

The total area of these islands slightly exceeds 500 
square miles, and of their population less than five 
per cent, are whites. 

St. Lucia is 24 miles long by 12 broad ; it is of 

volcanic formation, very picturesque from the fantastic 

shapes of the rocks. The soil is decomposed lava FlG - 382. — Badge of 
, r I* 1 \ 1 • i ... r the Windward Islands 

and very fertile. A volcanic crater with a fuming 

soufriere is among the sights of the island. The scenery is of peculiar 
beauty, and Castries on the north-west, with its two peaks 3,000 feet high, 
called the Pitons, can hardly be equalled in grandeur. The harbour 

of Castries is probably the finest 
in the West Indies, and has 
been adopted as a naval station. 
The people are mostly black 
and coloured, and speak a 
French patois similar to that of 
Dominica, but English is gene- 
rally understood. The island 
was settled mainly by the French, 
but it was taken and given up 
again several times by the British 

^ J . rr . before it finally came into their 

FlG. 383. — Castries Harbour. J 

possession in 1803. Castries, on 
its fine harbour, is the capital ; the town of Soufriere lies on a less impor- 
tant bay in the north-west. The exports are sugar, cacao, logwood and spices. 



8 io The International Geography 

St. Vincent is 18 miles long by n broad. A stretch of volcanic 
hills forms the backbone of the island, and extends here and there into 
spurs with rich valleys between them. The highest peak is the Morne a 
Garou, 4,000 feet ; the Soufriere, 3,000 feet, is an active volcano. In 1812 
a most disastrous eruption took place, which utterly ruined the greater 
part of the cultivation, and in 1902 eruptions did immense damage. 
Between the two mountains there is a lake nearly a mile in diameter, 
occupying the crater of an extinct volcano, and without either inlet or 
outflow. In early times the island was left in the hands of the Caribs, and 
was afterwards alternately French and British. The Caribs were, how- 
ever, so troublesome to the settlers that in 1796 the British authorities 
deported them, to the number of 5,000, to the island of Rattan, off the coast 
of Honduras. The chief exports are sugar, rum, cacao, spices and arrowroot. 
The capital, Kingstown, is situated on an extensive harbour in the south-west. 

The Grenadines, a line of small islands, extends between St. Vincent 
and Grenada. Bequia belongs to St. Vincent, and is long and narrow, 
with an area of six square miles ; being badly watered, however, it is 
not favourable to settlement. Carriacou, Union, and Mustique belong to 
Grenada. 

Grenada is 21 miles long and 12 broad, rugged and picturesque in 
scenery, and traversed from north to south by an irregular mass of volcanic 
mountains, the highest, Mount St. Catherine, rising to 2,750 feet. The 
island contains several small but picturesque crater lakes. The soil is a 
dark mould, very fertile, especially in the valleys. Unlike the other islands, 
it has ceased to grow sugar, which has been replaced by cacao, which 
forms a valuable export, as well as coffee, kola and spices ; the colony has 
been called “The Spice Island of the West.” Fruit and vegetables are 
also grown for the markets of Barbados and Trinidad. Grenada was 
ceded to Great Britain in 1783, after being in the hands of the French for 
over a century, and the Creole patois is commonly spoken. Of the popu- 
lation much less than one per cent, are whites. St. George's, the capital, 
stands on a fine harbour in the south-west. 

BARBADOS 

Barbados, the most easterly of the West Indies, is 21 miles long by 
14 broad, and lies 100 miles east of St. Vincent. It was partly federated 
with the Windward Islands until 1885, when it was entirely separated, 
and is now a distinct colony. The island is lower than most of the 
others, the highest elevation being only 1,145 feet. Surrounded by coral 
reefs, its formation is Tertiary sandstone and limestone, probably raised by 
volcanic agency. A kind of bitumen called manjak is now being mined 
and utilised, and a crude petroleum known as Barbados tar has long been 
collected and used as a medicine. There are numerous springs, some of 
which are impregnated with mineral substances, but no rivers. The soil 
is so fertile and so free from rocks that there is very little waste land in 


81 1 


Trinidad and Tobago 


the island. It was first settled by the British in 1625, and it enjoys the 
unique position of having never been in the possession of any other nation. 
The whites once preponderated, and by them Virginia and Jamaica were 
largely colonised. At present only about 10 per cent, of the inhabitants 
are white. The density of population, 1,120 per square mile, is perhaps 
unique for any separately governed colony or State. Barbados has never 
experienced the difficulty so conspicuous in the other colonies of want 
of labour ; even the emancipation caused but little distress. Sugar has 
always been the staple product, and now that the price is so low the 
island is passing through a period of depression hardly known before. 
The English language is universally spoken, and the Barbadian is proud 
of his connection with the mother country. His island is “ Little 
England,” and he is “ neither Carib nor Creole, but true Barbadian born.” 
The constitution is old and on the lines of the mother country ; the 
Governor represents the King, the Legislative Council the Lords, and 
the House of Assembly the Commons. Bridgetown , the capital, stands 
on the shore of an open roadstead named Carlisle Bay, in the south- 
west, and a railway runs thence round the south and east of the island. 


TRINIDAD 

Trinidad is only separated from the continent by narrow straits, and 
physically belongs to South America rather 
than to the West Indies, its mountains 
being the continuation of the Venezuelan 
system. Next to Jamaica it is the largest 
of the British West Indian Islands, being 
48 miles long by 35 broad. It is generally 
level, but three chains of hills run across 
it from east to west ; that in the north, 
the termination of the Venezuelan Coast 
Range, is the highest, reaching a maxi- 
mum of about 3,000 feet. The most re- 
markable feature is the Pitch Lake at La Brea, in the 
south-west, which was known from a very early period* 
for even the buccaneers caulked their ships with its 
asphalt or bitumen. The lake covers about ninety 
acres, and its product is a valuable article of export, 
being largely used for pavements. 

The climate is hot and damp, but agreeable, the 
Fig. 385 .—Badge of soil fertile and capable of growing all tropical 
Tnmdad. products. The forest, which covers a large part of 

the island, is valuable for its timbers, and, like that of the neigh- 
bouring mainland, is very interesting botanically. The island was 
discovered by Columbus in 1498, and was colonised to a small extent by 
the Spaniards, who continued to possess it till 1797, when it was con- 
53 




8 12 The International Geography 


quered by Great Britain. Remnants of Spanish laws still exist, and the 
Spanish language is spoken to some extent ; but on account of a French 
immigration, which took place in 1783 and following years, the Creole 
French patois is more prevalent. English is, however, generally under- 
stood. Together with the island of Tobago it forms a Crown colony ; it 

is administered by a Governor, Executive Council, 
and Legislative Council. The inhabitants consist of 
black and coloured people, with a small proportion 
of whites, East Indians who have been imported as 
labourers to the great benefit of the colony, and a 
few Chinese. 

The chief products are sugar, cacao, and asphalt, 
and, like the other sugar colonies, it is much de- 
pressed at present from the low price of its staple ; 
less so than others, however, for Trinidad cacao is an 
exceedingly valuable product. There are about eighty 
miles of railway open on the island connecting Port of Spain, the capital, in 
the north-west, with San Fernando , in the south-west, and with the interior. 

Tobago lies about 20 miles north-east of Trinidad, and is 26 miles 
long by 7^- broad. Its formation is volcanic, with conical hills and ridges 
rising to a height of 1,800 feet. It exports sugar, coco-nuts and live stock 
from the little town of Scarborough , on the south coast. 


FlG. 386 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Trinidad. 


STATISTICS OF BRITISH WEST INDIES. 

Jamaica 

and Turks Leeward Windward Trinidad and 


Colony. ] 

Bahamas. 

Islands. 

Islands. 

Islands. 

Barbados. 

Tobago. 

Area, square miles .. 

4,466 . . 

4,372 

. . 704 . . 

509 .. 

166 . . 

1,868 

Population, 1881 .. 

43,521 .. 

585,536 

. . 122,046 . . 

121,502 . . 

171,860 .. 

171,179 

>. 1891 .. 

47,565 •• 

644, 2 35 

.. 127,723 .. 

136,483 .. 

182,306 .. 

200,028 

„ 1901 . . 

54 358 .. 

771,900 

. . 127,440 . . 

162,800 . . 

195,600 .. 

279,700 

Density of pop. 1901 

12 .. 

177 

. . 181 . . 

320 .. 

1,180 .. 

150 

Annual exports 
Average, 1871-75 . . 

135,000 .. 

1,364,000 

. . 482,000 . . 

539,000 .. 

1,193,000 .. 

1,613,000 


„ 1881-85 .. 145,000 .. 1,445,000 .. 545,000 .. 508,000 .. 1,159,000 .. 2,503,000 

„ 1891-95 .. 127,000 .. 1,896,00c .. 457,000 .. 515,000 .. 911,000 .. 2,157,000 

Annual imports : — 

Average, 1871-75 .. 203,000 .. 1,654,000 .. 430,000 .. 419,000 .. 1,149,000 .. 1,381,000 

„ 1881-85 • • 207,000 . . 1,500,000 . . 463,000 . . 407,000 . . 1,097,000 . . 2,566,000 

„ 1891-95 .. 185,000 .. 2,094,000 .. 442,000 .. 446,000 .. 1,151,000 .. 2,195,000 


PRINCIPAL TOWNS. 


Town. 

Nassau 

Kingston 

St. John, Antigua 

St. George’s, Grenada 

Bridgetown . . 

Port of Spain . . 

Colony. 

Bahamas 

Jamaica 

Leeward Islands 
Windward Islands . 
Barbados 
Trinidad 

Population, 1881. 

. ca. 5,000 

. 38,566 

. ca. 10,000 

. ca. 5,000 

. 20.947 

31,858 

Population, 1891 

ca. 5,000 
48,504 
9,738 
ca. 5,000 
21,000 
33,273 


STANDARD 

BOOKS. 


R. T. Hill. “Cuba and Porto Rico with the other Islands of the West Indies.” New 
York and London, 1898. 

J. Rodway. “The West Indies and the Spanish Main.” London, 1896. 


“ Report of the West India Royal Commission, 1897.” 4 vols. London, 1897. 

G. P. Musson and T. L. Roxburgh. “The Handbook of Jamaica.” London, 1896. 
L. G. Tippenhauer. “ Die Insel Haiti.” Leipzig, 1893. 


CHAPTER XLIII.— THE CONTINENT OF SOUTH 

AMERICA 

By A. J. Herbertson, M.A., Ph.D. 

Reader in Geography , University of Oxford. 

Position and Outline. — South America is little less in area than 
North America. Its seven million square miles form nearly one-seventh 
of the land surface of the globe. The greater part of the continent lies 
south of the equator. The northern point, Punta Gallinas, lies in 12^° N. 
(the latitude of Gambia), and the southern point, Cape Horn, in 56° S. 
(corresponding to the position of Edinburgh in 56° N.). The extreme 
east point, Cape Branco, is in 35 0 W., and the extreme west point is Punta 
Parina, which lies a little further west than 8i° W., the continent as a 
whole lying farther east than North America. 

South America is almost surrounded by the ocean : by the Atlantic on 
the north and east, and by the Pacific on the west ; and it is joined to 
Central America only by the narrow isthmus of Panama, about 45 miles 
wide. The continent as seen on a globe has a roughly triangular shape, 
without notable peninsulas and with few islands ; less than one per cent, 
of the area is insular. In this respect it is even more compact than Africa. 
The South American coast line is not quite twice as long as the minimum 
line that could circumscribe its area, which is a greater proportion than 
that found in Africa. The fjords of the south-west are the chief source of 
the relatively more extended coast line of South America. Nevertheless, 
the coast line is only three-quarters as long as that of Europe, whose area 
is little more than half as great. 

Coasts. — The north coast borders the Caribbean Sea, which forms two 
gulfs, that of Darien in the west, and that of Venezuela in the centre, the 
latter opening into the lagoon of Maracaibo. The water of this lagoon is 
fresh in the south, but brackish in the north, where it is partly separated 
from the sea by a bar from six to twelve feet below the surface. The 
coast here is low and sandy, but it is steep on the west coast of the lagoon, 
where the mountains approach the sea. Curagoa, Margarita, and other 
islands off the north coast are sometimes named the Leeward Islands, but 
they must not be confused with the group of British West Indian 
possessions so named. Trinidad lies as a detached part of the continent 
off the eastern point of this northern coast, which trends south-east 
beyond it. South of Trinidad the great delta of the Orinoco forms a flat 
coast, and this continues to be the nature of the Atlantic shores throughout 

813 


8 14 The International Geography 

Guiana, which is bordered by a flat coastal plain. The coast south of the 
Amazon is broken only by the Gulfs of Sao Marcos and Bahia, but it 
is bordered by a sandstone reef as far as 20° S. Beyond this, as far as the 
mouth of the Rio de La Plata, a series of lagoons run parallel to the sandy 
coast, except in the mountainous region between Cape Frio and Santos, 
which is of the Dalmatian type, and contains the magnificent harbour 
of Rio de Janeiro (Fig. 426). The Patagonian tableland forms a steep, 
though not lofty coast, with numerous gentle outcurves and incurves of 
which the bays Blanca, San Matias and San Jorge are the chief. The 
Falkland Islands rise from the continental shelf to the east. South of 42 0 S. 
there is a fjord coast in the west, which is bordered by numerous islands. 
The great island of Tierra del Fuego is separated from the mainland by a 
series of fjords forming the Strait of Magellan (Fig. 405). Queen Adelaide 
Archipelago, Wellington Island, Chonos Archipelago, and Chiloe Island 
are the most important masses of land separated from the mainland by the 
western channels. North of this the coast is steep, with few breaks. It 
runs almost due. north to 18 0 S., then north-west to Punta Parina, north 
of which comes the one large bay on this long coast line, the Gulf of 
Guayaquil. 

Configuration — Chief Divisions. — The mean elevation of South 
America, approximately 2,000 feet, is the same as that of North America 

and of Africa. But the vertical distribution of its 
land differs in character from that of these two 
continents. South America is distinguished for 
the large proportion of its area under 600 feet 
(42 per cent.), and also for the relatively large 
proportion over 10,000 feet (6 per cent.), which is 
only exceeded in Asia. 

Three elevated areas stand out clearly in the 
structure of the continent : (1) The Western 

Cordillera ; (2) the Guiana Highland ; (3) the 
Brazilian Highland. The flat Orinoco plain lies 
between the Cordillera and the Guiana Highland ; 
the great Amazon plain is bounded by all three ; 
Fl ° Sou ^ Wn anc * the Paraguay- Parana plain stretches from the 

Cordillera to the Brazilian Highland and the sea. 
The Guiana and Brazilian Highlands possess many similar characteristics, 
and may be viewed as one area — the Eastern Highlands — broken into two 
parts by the Amazon Valley. There are thus three great natural regions 
in the continent : The Eastern Highlands ; the Central Lowlands ; and 
the Western Cordillera. 

The Eastern Highlands. — The Eastern Highlands of South 
America form one of the ancient land masses of the Earth's surface. Their 
basis is of Archaean and old Palaeozoic rocks, covered with sandstones, the 
age of which is uncertain owing to the absence of fossils. They are not of 



South America 


815 

marine origin, and are perhaps Palaeozoic, perhaps Cretaceous in the north. 
They are probably Cretaceous in the centre and south, but it is quite 
possible that some of the southern rocks may be of Triassic age. Too 
little is known about the geology of the interior to justify definite state- 
ments. In the south, coal-bearing layers lie over the Carboniferous or 
Permian conglomerate, and contain a glossopteris flora. This resembles a 
series of similar rocks, similarly situated in South Africa, India and Australia, 
and suggests the possible existence of ancient continental connections. 
Narrow strips of Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks skirt the coast. In the 
Eastern Highlands no folding of the strata has occurred since Palaeozoic 
times, and the faultings have produced the masses of table-shaped mountains, 
and erosion by running water the valley landscapes. 

The Eastern Highlands vary from 1,000 to 3,000 or 4,000 feet in 
average elevation, and are loftiest in the north and in the south, while the 
centre is a hollow, forming the lower valley of the Amazon. The 
Brazil Highland reaches nearly 8,500 feet near the tropic, where the average 
elevation is between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. This loftier region is close to 
the coast, and the long rivers therefore flow west like the Rio Grande and 
other streams running to the Parana, the Sao Francisco, the Paranahyba, 
and the Tocantins, and its great tributary the Araguaya. South of the 
tropic the highland is lower and narrower. The Guiana Highland is highest 
in the west, where the maximum height is supposed to be 11,000 feet in 
Icutu. The Branco, a tributary of the Rio Negro flowing southwards, 
and the Essequibo flowing northwards separate this higher region from 
the lower land on the east. Here, as in Brazil, typical table mountains 
and terraces have been formed in the horizontally bedded rocks. 

The Central Lowlands. — The Central Lowlands may be divided 
into two areas : the Patagonia-Pampa Area and the Area of Great River 
Basins, the latter consisting of three regions ; the basins respectively of the 
La Plata, the Amazon, and the Orinoco. 

The Patagonia-Pampa Area consists of the low Patagonian plateau, and 
the still lower Pampa region north of the Rio Colorado, the waters of 
which do not reach the sea. Both are composed of a sandy clayey marl of 
Tertiary age, recalling the mollasse of Switzerland, through which basalt 
flows have pierced, over which glacial waste has been spread, and loess 
blown, which in many places is weathered into loam. No foldings or fault- 
ings occur in these strata, where Darwin found many remains of giant 
mammals. The pampa, however, is crossed by folded outliers of the 
Western Cordillera, composed mainly of ancient crystalline rocks. 

The Great Basin Area occupies about two-thirds of the continent. The 
three basins are not all of the same age, and each has its special charac- 
teristics. 

The La Plata lowland consists of a flood plain formed by the river 
alluvium covering the glacial morainic and inter-glacial loess and loam 
which here and there are found on the surface. The rivers rise in the 


816 The International Geography 

higher regions surrounding this lowland. The Uruguay drains the lower 
part of the Brazilian highland, in the higher tropical regions of which the 
Parana and its tributaries rise, the Paraguay flows from the Matto Grosso 
heights, and its headwaters are only a mile or two removed from those of 
tributaries of the Amazon, and three great rivers flow south-eastward from 
the Bolivian plateau. 

The main stream of the Amazon flows in alluvium of its own moulding 
which is bordered by Tertiary layers, which may have been formed in 
brackish water before the mighty stream extended its flood plain so far to 
the east. The navigable Maranon and Ucayali from the Andes join at 
Nauta, about 1,800 miles from the Atlantic^ but only 370 feet above the sea 
level. The southern tributaries come from the Andes, the divide with the 
Paraguay, or the Brazilian highland. They are themselves mighty rivers, 
with falls between io° and 8° S., above and below which they are navigable. 
The northern tributaries also have falls and rapids in their middle course. 
The main stream flows south of the equator, which it reaches only at its 
mouth. The basin narrows in this region, and the river forms a great 
estuary, up which powerful tidal bores rush. Although the Amazon is by 
no means the longest river in the world, its basin is the largest, and the 
water it conveys to the sea the greatest of any river, a fact easily explained 
by the heavy tropical rains which fall over most of the drainage area. 

Very little is yet known about the geology of the Orinoco basin. The 
river rises in the loftier western region of Guiana. The upper waters of 
the river divide, and part flows by the Cassiquiare south-west to the Rio 
Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, while the rest sweeps in a curve round the 
base of the Guiana highland, and forms a great delta. The river receives 
many tributaries from Guiana and also from the eastern ranges of the 
Colombian and the southern slopes of the Venezuelan Cordillera. 

The Western Cordillera or Andes. — The Andes, forming the 
mountainous western portion of South America, run from south to north 
with increasing breadth as far as 18 0 S., and then curve almost in a semi- 
circle convex to the west, so that the northern ranges border the north- 
west of the continent. This semicircular belt is low and narrow in the 
region where the Gulf of Guayaquil cuts into the coast ; and at that point the 
tectonic character of the mountains alters, allowing a distinction to be 
drawn between the Main Cordillera south of 4 0 S. and the Northern Cor- 
dillera north of that latitude. 

The Main Cordillera of the Andes is comparatively simple as far north 
as Aconcagua, its highest summit (23,080 feet). A main range rises from 
the plains in the east. A line of heights borders the Pacific, separated by 
a great parallel longitudinal valley from the main range. In the south, 
where glaciation has been great, this valley becomes submerged, and is 
represented by a series of sounds ; in the north it is filled by recent 
geological deposits and forms the fertile valley of Chile. The glaciated 
region south of 38° S. is cut up by many fjords which divide the western 


South America 


817 

heights into great islands and peninsulas. In the extreme south the moun- 
tains trend east and west. The southern Andes consist of granite with a band 
of Cretaceous rocks in the east, and must be distinguished from the rest of the 
Main Cordillera north of 40° S. From 40° S. to 4 0 S. the western and eastern 
regions of the Cordillera differ both in composition and age. The eastern 
ranges contain Archaean, Palaeozoic, and petroleum-bearing Mesozoic rocks 
probably of Cretaceous age. The eastern ranges were folded earlier than the 
western ranges, where the folds are more marked. Besides old crystalline 
rocks the western ranges contain Jurassic and porphyritic rocks of similar 
age folded together. Both are remarkable, the Jurassic because they are the 
only marine sediments of that age south of the equator, the porphyritic, so 
called by Darwin, who first described them, because they are the only 
evidence we possess of volcanic activity in Mesozoic times except in the 
oldest Triassic strata. A series of young volcanic rocks comes between the 
eastern and western regions ; and along a line which clings to the eastern 
foot of the western or main range, there are numerous active volcanoes. 

The western and eastern ranges include between them a plateau. 

The eastern ranges in the south have a more or less meridianal trend, but 

traces of them can be found in the Pampean ranges, in the mountains of 

Cordoba, Tandil, and Ventana. In the north, on the other hand, they 

strike from north-west to south-east, and can be traced in the heights of 

S. Miguel west of the Paraguaya in 18 0 S. The Plateau can be divided into 

three regions — the smaller or Argentine 

region, part of the inland drainage area of 

the Pampa ; the central or Bolivian plateau, 

an intermont basin with its own drainage 

system to Lake Titicaca ; and the northern 

or Peruvian region drained to the Amazon- 
TJ r , .. FlG. 388 . — Section across the Andes. 

It was for a long time suspected that the 

Andes might be proved to attain their greatest height on the eastern 
side of Lake Titicaca, but the researches of Sir Martin Conway in 
1898 showed that this is not the case. The peaks of Mount Sorata 
(Ancohuma and Illampu) do not reach 22,000 feet, nor is that altitude 
surpassed by Illimani. 

The western range remains uniform in structure throughout its vast 
length, but the southern part lies parallel to the meridian, whereas the 
northern part strikes from south-east to north-west, and disappears about 4 0 S. 

The Northern Cordillera begins at the point of disappearance of the 
main western chain. Here the marine Jurassic and the porphyritic 
rocks are comparatively rare. The Palaeozoic rocks of the eastern ranges are 
also absent in the north, where Archaean and Cretaceous rocks predominate. 
From Loja to the Knot of Pasto the Ecuadorian Andes form two chains, 
with many giant volcanoes, separated by a narrow but lofty plateau (Fig. 397). 
North of Pasto the Cordillera is divided into four chains, with deep valleys 
between, through which large rivers flow to the north and north-east. 




8i8 The International Geography 

The Eastern Colombian Range divides, and one branch flanks the Gulf of 
Maracaibo, while the other runs eastward along the coast as the Caribbean 
or Venezuelan Range, whose continuation can be traced in Trinidad, 
Barbados, eastern Guadeloupe, Porto Rico, and Cuba. 

Climate. — The greater part of South America has a tropical climate, 
subtropical and temperate conditions occurring only in the south. The 
lofty western mountains divide the country into two very different climatic 
areas, the west ruled by the Pacific, the east more dependent on the 
Atlantic. South America is distinguished from other continents by not 

having a marked conti- 
nental climate, for the 
term can be applied only 
to the pampa region west 
of the Plata estuary. At 
all seasons the isotherms 
in the west run on the 
whole from north-west 
to south-east. West of 
the Cordilleras the tem- 
perature of the north- 
eastern region is always 
a little over or under 
75° F., but the centre of 
highest temperature fol- 
lows the Sun, and in the 
south-east the summer isotherms are convex to the south, while those of 
winter follow the parallels of latitude. 

This distribution of temperature is explained by the study of the pre- 
vailing winds and ocean currents. Much of the west coast lies on the east 
side of the South Pacific subtropical high pressure area ; all the winds 
have a component directing them northwards, and the winds drive the 
surface waters in a northerly direction, and also cause an upwelling of 
colder water from below. Hence the waters near the coast are relatively 
cold, and the air is also relatively cool at all seasons. The extreme north 
and south are not affected by this regime. The tropical regions are warmer 
in the north in the northern summer and in the south in the southern 
summer. The centre of low pressure has a synchronous movement, and 
ocean winds penetrate to the heart of the continent in summer, and clouds 
screen the land from the burning Sun. In winter the south-east of South 
America lies in the west of an anti-cyclone, and at all seasons the currents 
off most of the east coast flow from equatorial regions and are warm. 
The contrast between the climate on the east and west sides of a high 
pressure area are well illustrated in South America. 

The rainfall is also dominated by the conditions just described. In the 
anti-cyclonic areas of the west coast practically no rain falls, even although 



FlG. 389 . — Isotherms of 
South America for 
January. 



FlG. 390 . — Isotherms of 

South America for 
July. 


South America 


819 

the air is often saturated with water vapour near the coast, forming winter 
mists. This is partly due to the rapidly rising 
temperature gradient from the coast inland, when 
the humidity is low. North of 4 0 S. both tempera- 
ture and rainfall increase. In Guayaquil rain falls 
from December to May, and round Buenaventura 
the scanty, and perhaps not quite trustworthy, 
records show enormous precipitation almost every 
month of the year. The westerly storm winds 
bring much rain to the western slopes of the 
southern mountains at all seasons, and the northern 
limit of these storm rains sways north and south 
with the Sun. The south-east is dry all the year, 
but north of the Plata estuary the summer rains 
characteristic of inter-tropical and sub-tropical 
regions prevail. The equatorial double rainy 
season is not well marked in South America save in the equatorial moun- 
tainous regions. This resembles the Indian 
monsoon rains, and is due to the hot low 
pressure area formed round the southern 

tropic in summer causing an inflowing of 

• 

winds from the north, which moisten the 
Guianas and the north of the Brazilian 
plateau; the dry period of inter-tropical 
South America occurs when the vertical 
midday Sun has moved southward from 
the northern tropic, but is still overhead at 
noon north of the equator. In the interior 
of the north-east of the Brazilian highland 
there is hardly any rain in winter. The low- 
lands north of 4 0 N. have less abundant 
Fig. 392— Temperature and Rainfall rains than the other inter-tropical regions. 
of Tropical South America. The influence of the heavy rains on the 

increase of the eroding powers of rivers is 
beautifully illustrated in two regions. In 
the south-west the rivers have cut into the 
Cordillera until their valleys are so deep 
that they pass east of the main line of 
heights and drain the eastern slopes. The 
reverse has occurred in equatorial regions, 
where the rainfall is heaviest in the east, 
and the upper waters of the Amazon and 
its tributaries flow in the heart of the 
mountains. The lowering and narrow- 
ing of the ridge near 4 0 S. is probably partly due to excessive erosion. 

54 



FlG. 393 . — Temperature and Rainfall 
of Temperate South America. 


v jam ft*. Mm Am. Mat. Jon. Jui Auc. Sip Oor. Mr Du *« 















60 

75 

70 

66 

60 

56 

50 

46 

40 

35 

30 

25 

20 

16 

10 


. — 

* — 




K — 

— — 


, 

. __ 


16 

14 

13 

12 

11 

10 

i 9 
8 
7 

e 

5 

4 

s 














































* 

mmm. 

fiiij: 

••Hi:: 











Hjljl 

mm 

iv.Vr. 

*!*! 









yy.v 









}}:?:} 








YYY. 


T** 

•v.v.v 

•v/.v 

•v.v.v 










2 

1 1 



::::: 
























6 



:::::: 

A:':’:'. 









0 

r 

Quito Para 



FlG. 391 . — Mean Annual 
Rainfall of South America. 


820 The International Geography 

Minerals and Soils. — South America abounds in minerals. The 
Guianas, the Eldorado of the early voyagers, are rich in gold ; the Brazilian 
gold and diamonds developed in the schists, but usually found in con- 
glomerates or rock waste, attracted early explorers. Iron, copper, lead, 
bismuth, antimony, and other metals, as well as precious stones, are sought 
for and obtained. The gold and silver mines of the Andes have yielded 
treasure for centuries, and are not yet exhausted. The Potosi mines alone 
have supplied over three hundred million pounds sterling worth of silver 
since the Spaniards first took possession of them. 

Laterite covers most of Brazil and Guiana. The Orinoco and Amazon 
valleys consist largely of recent alluvium, which exists in the lowlands 
through which the other rivers pass. Patagonia is covered mainly with 
glacial waste, and loess and loam are found over the pampa and parts of 
the Plata basin, and even as far south as the Amazon. Much rough 
rock waste clings to the mountain sides, and along the young volcanic strip 
fertile volcanic soil is found. The dry western coast lands are covered with 
shifting sands, and in the south with loam. Salt deposits are common in 
the pampa and in the Atacama desert, whence nitrates are exported. 

Flora. — The rainfall and vegetation maps of South America present 
many resemblances if the higher mountainous regions, which have a suc- 
cession of floral regions running up to the snow-line, are excluded. The 
south-east Patagonian region covered with glacial waste is characterised by 
dwarf plants suited to the dry climate. This passes into a rich grass-steppe 
land in the north round the Plata estuary, and into a poor salt steppe 
inland nearer the foot of the Andes, in the drier districts where the 
extremes of temperature are at a maximum. The grass steppe of the 
pampa has woods along the water-courses, and the intermediate land 
covered with a thick carpet of grasses, composites, and papilionaceous 
plants. Further north trees are much more plentiful, and are largely ever- 
green, and once more we have to separate the moister, richer lands of the 
coast from the drier regions nearer the Andes, which forms the Gran Chaco, 
or “great hunting ground.” This is a subtropical region where palms 
flourish. The mate or Paraguay tea (Ilex Paraguay ensis) is found in the 
eastern region ; and the wax palm ( Copernica cerifera) is typical of the 
whole Chaco. In eastern Brazil the savanna area is divided into a southern 
Campos region, where grasses often three or four feet high predominate, 
and a northern Catingas or “ light woods ” region, with a dry climate and 
thorny bushes. The Matto Grosso — the “ great woods ” — region belongs 
to the savanna area. The Beni region is probably also a savanna land 
with lower rainfall than the surrounding regions. 

Most of the lowland of the basin of the Amazon is covered with dense 
tropical jungle — giant trees to whose tops strong lianas climb while round 
their base thick impenetrable underwood abounds. These Selvas, as the 
tropical forests are called, are the area of densest vegetation on the globe, 
and they persist owing to the abundant rains which fall most of the year 


South America 


821 

and the never failing high temperature. Palms, mimosas, figs, bamboos 
are among the characteristic trees, over which bignoniaceous and other 
creepers twine, among whose branches epiphytes, including gorgeous 
orchids, flourish, while in the pools of water the Victoria regia spreads 
its great leaves and opens its gorgeous flowers. 

North and west of the Orinoco, where the rainfall is scantier, are 
savannas, here called llanos, with tall grasses and isolated trees, many 
of them palms. Savannas also characterise the northern plains of 
Colombia. 

The rainy northern part of the west coast has dense tropical forests, the 
rainless region is a desert, and temperate forests cover the hillsides watered 
by the rains accompanying the westerly storm-winds. Occasionally in the 
desert area scrubby olives, tamarinds, and mimosas are found, but in the 
Atacama desert almost no vegetation exists, except here and there a miser- 
able acacia bush. The temperate forest contains araucarias and conifers ; 
but there is a gradual change in the north to the desert conditions, and in 
the south to the dwarf beech and other bushes of southern Patagonia and 
Tierra del Fuego. 

The Cordilleras contain many desert regions, here and there bush is 
formed when the moisture suffices, in the north Stipa and other hard 
grasses form the Puna region. The eastern slopes over 5,000 feet (the 
tierra templada), where rain is more abundant, have beautiful tree ferns, 
and the invaluable cinchona tree flourishes in the forests. 

Quinine from the cinchona, cocaine from the coca, are among the 
medicines obtained from South America. Mate and cacao, with their 
valuable alkaloids, potatoes and tapioca, maize and tobacco, india-rubber 
and a variety of gums and wax, in addition to much valuable and beautiful 
timber mainly used by the cabinetmaker, are largely exported to Europe. 
The earth nut, Brazil nut, Spanish pepper, yams, batatas, and many other 
products of the forests and fields are abundant. Among the plants 
introduced within the last four centuries are rice, sugar, arrowroot, agave, 
cotton, coffee and others that flourish in inter-tropical regions. 

Fauna. — South America forms a separate faunal region with a charac- 
teristic series of animal forms, exhibiting different association of animals 
with the different plant groups, forming a physiological rather than a 
morphological unity. The tamed llama and alpaca of the Chilean region 
are among the useful native animals of South America. At the time of the 
Spanish conquest dogs were used by the natives ; and the Incas protected 
the birds whose deposits formed the great guano wealth. Most of the 
other useful animals have been introduced. Horses flourish on llanos and 
pampa, cattle are found in the wetter, and sheep in the drier and colder 
regions of the southern grass lands, and pigs are plentiful, many of them 
half wild. 

People. — South America has, at a rough estimate, 37-J million inhabi- 
tants, giving a mean density of population of 53 per square mile. The 


822 The International Geography 

coastal lands, the river valleys, especially the alluvial plains of the 
Plata basin, are the most densely peopled. The inhabitants of the interior 
of the forest regions and in Patagonia consist mainly of aborigines, of 
many races differing in language more than in racial characteristics. The 
natives of the warmer regions are yellower than the brown inhabitants of 
the mountains, but all possess the same dark, lank hair and scantiness of 
beard. The Caribs of the lower, the Nu-Aruak of the upper Amazon, the 
Tupi between the Amazon and Plata, and the Guaykuru of the Paraguay, 
the Ges of eastern Brazil, and the Patagonians and Fuegians of the south 
are among the most important of their races east of the Andes. The 
Araucanians of Chile, the old civilised Quichua, who formed the Inca 
State overthrown by the Spaniards, and the Chibcha of Colombia are 
among the Andean tribes. The name Andes was itself derived from the 
tribe of the Antis. The inhabitants of the more densely peopled areas are 
of European and African origin as w r ell as American. Pure whites, 
negroes, and yellow men exist, but the majority are of mixed race ; so 
that here, as Reclus has pointed out, men containing the greatest number 
of characteristics of all races can be found, the most typical average 
specimens of humanity. 

History. — At the end of the fifteenth century the Chibcha of Colombia, 
the Aymara and other Peruvian tribes, under the Incas of Cuzco, were in 
a relatively high state of civilisation, but could not resist the Spanish 
invaders, who had more difficulty in overcoming the Araucanians of 
Chile, a people who still form an important element of the population in 
the south-west. With these the Spaniards have mixed, and also in the 
Plata basin with the natives of the Gran Chaco and Verua. When 
Pope Alexander VI. divided the world between Spain and Portugal the 
latter received only the eastern tip of Brazil, but by the Treaty of 
Tordesillas in 1494 the boundary was moved westwards and passed from 
the mouth of the Amazon due south. The Spanish conquered from the 
west, the Portuguese from the east. Here the Portuguese settled and soon 
introduced negroes from Africa to carry on the manual work. Slaves 
continued to be imported for over three centuries, and a large black 
element is found in the east from the Plata to Darien, but is most 
numerous in Brazil and the Guianas. In this region the greatest miscegi- 
nation has taken place ; and the complications have been increased in 
British Guiana in recent years by the immigration of Hindu coolies. A 
steady stream of Italian emigrants seeks the east of South America, and 
British, German, and French settlers are found there and in the south-west. 

For three hundred years Spain was overlord of the continent outside 
Brazil and part of the Guianas ; but in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century the Spanish yoke was thrown off and various federal republics 
were formed on the model of the United States — an indirect outcome of 
the establishment of the Napoleonic Empire in Europe. In 1889 the 
Empire of Brazil also became a federal republic. Racial as well as 


South America 


823 

personal rivalries have had much to do with the state of recurring revolu- 
tion which characterises the Latin American republics. 

Few of the national boundaries in South America were definitely fixed 
until about the close of the nineteenth century, and boundary disputes 
were frequently the cause of revolution and war. Recently, however, 
most of the acute frontier difficulties have been settled by arbitration. 

The religion of the whole continent, save for a few unconverted 
savages, is Roman Catholic ; the social and public life is derived from 
that of Spain and Portugal. 


THE COUNTRIES OF SOUTH AMERICA. 


Country. 

Area sq. miles. 

Pop. 

Country. 

Area sq. miles. 

Pop. 

Brazil . . 

. . 3,210,000 

14,332,000 (1890) 

Ecuador . . 

118,630 

1,204,200 — 

Argentina 

. . 1,136,000 

4,894,000 (1900) 

Paraguay 

97,722 

330,000 (1887) 

Bolivia . . 

515.130 

2,520,000 (1893) 

British Guiana . . 

88,650 

278,000 (1891) 

Colombia 

513.S50 

3,320.500 — 

Uruguay.. 

72,170 

793,000 (1893) 

Peru . . 

. . 439.000 

2,629,600 (1876) 

Dutch Guiana . . 

46,000 

70,500 (1892) 

Venezuela 

. . 594.000 

2,323,500 (1891) 

French Guiana. . 

30,460 

29,600 — 

Chile 

. . 290,820 

2,963,700 — 

Falkland Islands 

6,500 

2,000 (1901) 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. von Humboldt. u Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent from 
1799 to 1804.” 3 or more vols. 

J. Ball. “ Notes of a Naturalist in South America.” London, 1887. 

W. Sievers. “ Sud- und Mittel-Amerika.” 2nd ed. Leipzig and Vienna, 1904. 

E. Reclus. “ Nouvelle Geographic Universelle.” Vols. xviii. and xix. Paris, 1893-94. 
Also English translation. 

Sir C. R. Markham and A. H. Keene. "Central and South America.” Vol. i. "South 
America,” in Stanford's Compendium , 1901. 

P. Fountain. “ The Mountains and Forests of South America.” London, 1902. 


CHAPTER XLIV.— THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES 

I.— COLOMBIA 


By Dr. Fritz Regel , 1 

Professor of Geography in the University of Wurzburg. 

Position, Extent and Coasts. — The Republic of Colombia occupies 
the north-west of South America, and its former department of Panama, 
now a separate republic, gave it a share of Central America bordering 
on Costa Rica. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea in the north and by 
the Pacific Ocean on the west. On the south its frontier is principally with 
Ecuador, except between 70° and 73 0 W. long., where the Maranon sep- 
arates it from Peru. On the east from about 4 0 S. to 4 0 N. lat. it touches 
Brazil, and thence northward to the sea in 12 0 N., Colombia marches with 
Venezuela. The short frontier towards Costa Rica, and that towards 
Venezuela, determined in 1891 by Spanish arbitration, are the only bounda- 
ries as yet definitely fixed ; on the other borders, Ecuador claims a broad 
strip on the south, Peru claims the south-east corner, and the Brazilian bor- 
der is by no means definite. The small islands of the south coast of Panama 
also form part of Colombia. 

Configuration. — The Isthmus of Panama is occupied by fairly high 
mountains, the Cordilleras of Chiriqui, of Veragua, and of San Bias, com- 
posed of crystalline schists and recent eruptive rocks ; and they are only 
loosely connected through the Isthmus of Darien with the most westerly 
ranges of the Andean system. The South American portion of the country 
may be divided into the Andes region, and the great plains of the east. 

The Andes Region contains four mountain chains : (1) The still almost 
unexplored coast-range or Cordillera del Choco begins in latitude 4^° N. on 
the Gulf of Buena Ventura, and is defined on the east by the valleys of the 
Rio San Juan and Atrato. (2) The Western Cordillera the direct continua- 
tion of the western range of Ecuador, forms a long stretch of mountain 
wall, bearing the high summits of Cerro Munchique, 10,000 feet, and the 
Farrallones of Cali and Citara, 11,000 feet; further north near Paramillo 
(about 11,000 feet), the range breaks up into several spurs which sink to the 
low ground of Bolivar. The eastern border is marked by an inter-Andean 
depression, occupied in the south by the Rio Patia and in the north by the 
Cauca. (3) The Central Cordillera is the continuation of the inner or 
eastern Cordillera of Ecuador, and extends between the Cauca and the 
Magdalena valleys. The southern portion is characterised by lofty vol- 
canoes built up of andesitic lavas, tuffs and ashes, including Pasto, 8,350 

1 Translated from the German by the Editor. 

824 


Colombia 


825 

feet ; Cumbel, 16,000 feet ; the Sugar Loaf, 16,000 feet ; Puraca, Huila, 
Tolima, 18,300 feet ; Santa Isabel and Ruiz, whose broad snowy dome 
is the most northerly of the giant volcanoes of the Cordillera, and rises 
almost as high as the graceful cone of Tolima. The range, which is com- 
posed mainly of crystalline schists, sinks and broadens into the highlands of 
Antioquia, the northern spurs of which occupy the space between the 
Cauca, Neohi and Magdalena ; although falling to the level of the northern 
plain, they are prolonged structurally to the snowy heights of the Sierra de 
Santa Marta on the coast. (4) The Eastern Cordillera, or Cordillera of 
Bogota, adjoins the Cordillera of Ecuador as a separate mountain system in 
the south of Colombia, and bears almost the same relation to the Central 
and Western Cordilleras as the range of the Jura does to the Alps. It con- 
tains no volcanoes, and crystalline schists only appear in the north, the 
range as a whole being built up of strongly folded Cretaceous and Tertiary 
strata. Occasional plateaux, like that of Bogota, are covered with more 
recent sediments. The Cordillera of Bogota splits up towards the north, 
the western fork, called the Cordillera of Perija, runs due north to the 
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta ; the central chain breaks off about 8° N. lat., 
while the eastern fork runs north-eastward into Venezuela. The highest 
part of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia is the Sierra Nevada de Cocui, 
the summit of which exceeds 16,000 feet in height. 

The great plains or llanos in the east of Colombia are covered by 
savannas in the north, the territories of Casanare and San Martin, while in 
the south in the territory of Caqueta, there are huge primeval forests or 
selvas. The soil is generally river alluvium, which conceals the Tertiary 
strata. The great rivers in the north, including the Meta and Guaviare, 
flow to the Orinoco, and further south to the Amazon, whose tributaries 
include the upper Rio Negro, the Caqueta or Yapura, Putumayo or Iga ; 
and, in the extreme south, the Napo. 

Climate. — The climate corresponds generally to the purely tropical posi- 
tion of the country, but on account 
of the great elevations in the west, 
it presents many varieties. Four 
typical gradations of climate can 
be recognised in a vertical direction 
before coming to the region of per- 
petual snow on the summits of the 
two highest mountains. These are 
(1) the Tierra Calienie, or hot region, 
in the low ground of the north- 
west, the large river valleys, and the 

great plains of the east ; this zone 

.... r . 1 Fig. 394 * — Diagram of Andean Climate Zones. 

reaches to about 3,000 feet above 

sea-level, a mean annual temperature of from 83° to 75 0 F. prevails, and the 
products of the soil are purely tropical. (2) The Tierra Templada, or tempe- 



826 The International Geography 

ate region, on the lower elevations, the foot-hills, and many of the upper river- 
valleys extends from about 3,000 to 6,500 feet ; the mean temperature is 
from 75 0 to 65° F., and maize and coffee predominate as products. (3) The 
Tierra Fria, or cold region, on the high plains and in many mountain districts 
of the Cordillera, extends from 6,500 to 10,000 feet, with mean temperatures 
from 65° to 54 0 F. (Bogota for example, at an elevation of about 8,200 feet, 
has a mean temperature of 58° F.). Wheat, vegetables and northern fruit's 
are cultivated in this zone. (4) The Paramos , the bleak, stormy, and almost 
uninhabited region of the mountains from 10,000 to over 13,000 feet, prin- 
cipally in the Eastern Cordillera, have a mean temperature from 54° to 
43 0 F. Trees are often found near the lower limits of this zone, but the 
typical Paramos begin above the tree line. 

The rainfall in the north and east, as far as the Guaviare, occurs mainly 
in two rainy seasons (April to June and September to December) separated 
by two dry seasons, in the north tropical rainfall district ; while in the 
remaining districts one of the dry seasons (that in July) diminishes more 
and more, and the final result is that the year is divided into one extended 
rainy season ( Invierno ), and the principal dry season (Verano) in the equa- 
torial rainfall region, where the primeval forest takes the place of the 
savannas in the plain. 

Flora and Fauna. — Corresponding with the climatic zones and the 
complex conditions of the surface, the flora is unusually rich and varied, 
it bears, generally speaking, the character of the South American floral 
region. In the woods of the hot, low plain there is a great abundance of 
leafy trees and many varieties of palms ; extensive bamboo thickets (gua- 
duas) fill many of the river valleys, ivory nuts (Phytelephas) and dividivi wood 
(Caesalpinia coriacea ), royal palms ( Oreodoxa regia) and coco-nut palms are 
widespread. Other varieties of palm, together with many tree ferns, are 
found in the mountain forests, and higher up the cinchona tree. Lastly, in 
the misty region from 8,500 to 10,000 feet on the Quindiu Pass, there grow 
the lofty wax palm ( Ceroxylon andicola) ; a few epiphytes, principally 
varieties of orchids, parasites, and ferns live on the high forest trees. 
On the Paramos there are beautiful flowering shrubs, innumerable 
0 frailejons ” ( Espeletia and Culcitium ) and certain grasses and similar 
plants which show many interesting adaptations to the rough mountain 
climate. 

The fauna is typically South American with a number of Central 
American forms in the mountains. It includes amongst the mammalia, 
monkeys, the ounce and puma, tapir, capybary, the manatee in the Magdalena 
and Atrato rivers, the ant-eater, armadillo and opossum. The country is 
particularly rich in birds, amongst which humming birds, parrots and the 
toucan may be mentioned. Caymans, tortoises, very numerous lizards 
and snakes, toads of great size, particularly in the hot region, and 
many fish are found in the Atrato and Magdalena. Large spiders, 
scorpions, and centipedes are common, and the insect life is extraordinarily 


Colombia 


827 



rich in large and beautiful butterflies, innumerable ants, locusts, and 
grasshoppers, and such plagues of humanity as zancudos, mosquitos, fleas 
and bugs. 

People and History. — Before the Spanish conquest, which took 
place between 1536 and 1560, Colombia was inhabited by numerous Indian 
tribes, of whom the Chibchas inhabiting the eastern high plains, were akin 
to the Quichuas of Peru. Besides the written sources of information, the 
numerous discoveries in the Central and Western Cordillera of graves con- 
taining gold, stone and clay utensils, are of special importance. The 
civilised Indians of the Eastern Cordillera, still form an important con- 
stituent of the population in the east and south of Colombia. Indios bravos, 
that is uncivilised tribes, are now found principally in the eastern plains, 
the northern mountains, particularly in Santander and in the Sierra Nevada 
de Santa Marta (. Arhuacos ), in the Guajira peninsula ( Guajiros ), in the 
primeval forests of the Cordilleras of Choco, and to Q 
some extent in western Antioquia. In the extreme 
south the Indians closely approach to the Quichua 
type. The bulk of the present inhabitants are the 
descendants of the invading Spaniards, who mixed 
with the Indians as well as with the negroes intro- 
duced as slaves from Africa. A great part of the 
original Indian population was killed out by perse- Fig. 395 .—The Colombian 
cution. The negroes and mulattoes form a large Fla ^ 

fraction of the population of the hot region. The predominant language 
everywhere is Spanish, and the religion Roman Catholic ; with an arch- 
bishop in Bogota and nine bishops. 

The Spaniards founded in 1547 the Captain-Generalship of New 
Granada, which became a Vice-royalty in 1718. Independence from Spain 
was secured between 1810 and 1819, when Bolivar united New Granada 
with Venezuela, and in 1822 Ecuador was added to the union. This large 
republic of Colombia lasted only a few years ; in 1829 Venezuela sepa- 
rated, and in 1830 Ecuador followed its example. The constitution of 
the country has frequently changed since 1831, when it was known as 
the Republic of New Grenada ; in 1857 its eight States formed the Grena- 
dine Confederation; in 1861 it was the United States of Colombia with 
nine States. In 1886 the present republic, with its capital at Bogota, was 
formed, and in 1903 the province of Panama broke off under the guar, 
antee of the United States. These provinces are Cundinamarca containing 
the capital, Boyaca, Santander, Magdalena in the north-east, Bolivar in 
the north, Tolima and Antioquia in the centre, Cauca on the west, and 
Panama ; the formerly independent territories of the thinly-peopled 
eastern plain are divided between Cauca and Cundinamarca. Each pro- 
vince has its own financial administration. The central government 
consists of a President, seven responsible Ministers, a Senate of twenty- 
seven members, each department being represented by three, and the 


828 The International Geography 


Chamber of Deputies, who number 68, one being elected for every 50,000 
inhabitants. 

Productions, Commerce and Towns, — As a rule the soil is culti- 
vated only for the domestic supply, but recently the coffee plantations of 
Santander and Antioquia have acquired some importance for export. The 
principal plants grown in the hot region are sugar-cane, bananas and 
cacao ; maize, coffee and yucca in the temperate ; and wheat, vegetables 
and fruit in the cool region. Tobacco is an important crop near Ambalema 
in Cundinamarca, and great herds of cattle are kept on the llanos, in the 
Cauca district, and elsewhere. There is a certain amount of mining, in- 
cluding gold, particularly in Antioquia, silver, copper, iron, salt and coal, 
while emeralds of great value are found near Muzo in Santander. Industry 
is as yet little developed and practically is confined to articles for home use ; 
most necessaries of life have to be imported, including even flour. Trade 
is much hindered on account of the bad means of communication. 
There are only about 250 miles of railway, and almost no roads, only mule 
tracks and footpaths with far too few good bridges. Education is in a 
neglected condition ; the province of Antioquia is the best supplied with 
schools. Progress has been greatly retarded by the frequency of civil wars 
and changes of government. 

The population is principally concentrated on the mountains and high 
plains of the Eastern and Central Cordilleras, and the upper Cauca basin ; 

and also, of course, in the seaports. The only large 
town is the loftily situated Bogota. The principal 
harbours are on the north coast ; on the thinly- 
peopled west coast Panama and Buenaventura were 
alone of importance. The fine and strongly fortified 
harbour of Cartagena formerly carried on a great 
trade with the interior, but now the “ Queen of the 
Indies” is thrown into the shade by Barranquilla on 
the Magdalena, and its sea-harbour, Sabanilla, now 
called Puerto Colombia. In 1890 two-thirds of the 
imports passed through Barranquilla, and the Magdalena remains the 
principal artery of trade, although its navigability leaves much to be 
desired, and vessels ascend only as far as the neighbourhood of Honda. 
The well-peopled western portion of Colombia is also reached by the 
Cauca, the largest tributary of the Magdalena, and by the Atrato which 
flows into the Gulf of Uraba (Darien), and is navigable throughout almost 
its whole length to Llord. The statistics of Colombia are very unsatisfactory. 

In Panama the railway from Colon to Panama , about 45 miles long, is 
important for transit trade from one ocean to another. A great canal designed 
to allow vessels to cross the isthmus was commenced in 1881 by a French 
company, but abandoned after immense financial loss. The work has now 
been undertaken by the United States Government with every prospect of 



Fig. 396 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Colombia. 


success. 


Ecuador 


829 


STATISTICS. 


Density of Population 


Province. 

Area in sq. miles. 

Population. 

per sq. mile. 

Antioquia 

• • 22 , 7 90 • • 

. . 465,000 

. . . . 20 

Bolivar 

• • 27,040 • • 

945,250 

.. .. 9 

Boyaca 

33.320 

517,000 

. . . . 16 

Cauca (including Caqueta Ter.) 

257,480 

. . 460,000 

. . . . 2 

Cundinamarca(including San Martin Ter.) 79,700 

537 . 5 oo 

7 

Magdalena 


137,500 

5 

Santander . . 


. . 432,000 

27 

Tolima 

.. 18,440 

305,250 

17 

Colombia • * • * •• •• 

.. 482,010 

• • 3,099,500 

6-5 

Population of Bogota .. 

• • • • 1 • • • 

• • • • • * 

. . 120,000 

Medellin 

• • •• •• • • 

• • • • • • 

. . 40,000 

Barranquilla . . 

• • • • •• • • 

• • • • • • 

. . 40,000 

ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling) 1891-95. 


Imports 

•• •• •• • • 

• • • • • • 

. . 2,500,000 

Exports 





REPUBLIC OF PANAMA. 

Area, 31,570 sq. miles. Population, 340,000. Density of population, 11 per sq. mile. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

F. Regel. “Colombia.” Berlin, 1898. 

A. Hettner. “ Reisen in der Kolumbianischen Anden.” Leipzig, 1888. 

“Die Kordillere von Bogota” (Erganzungsheft No. 104 zu Petermanns 

Mitteilungen). Gotha, 1892. 

Rothlisberger. “ El Dorado.” Bern, 1898. 

F. Perez. “ Geografia General Fisica y Politica.” 2 edicion. Bogota, 1883. 

F. J. Vergara y Velasco. “ Nueva Geografia de Colombia. Tom. 1. Bogota, 1902. 


II— ECUADOR 

[By Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

Position. — The three republics of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, on the 
western side of South America, occupy the territory which once com- 
prised the empire of the Incas. The great chain of the Andes forms their 
backbone, and includes the principal part of all three countries. All three 
contain vast forest-covered territory to the east of the Andes, and the two 
first also include a coast region between the mountains and the Pacific 
Ocean. The general configuration is the same, and they may be con- 
sidered as one division of the continent, each divided into three very 
distinct regions, the Andes, the Coast, and the Montana or eastern forests. 
Ecuador, as the name implies, is crossed by the equator, and it includes 
the equatorial group of the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. 

The Andes of Ecuador. — The Andes form two chains of mountains, 
the eastern being composed of gneiss and schists, with some granite in the 
south ; and the western of porphyritic rocks, diorite and greenstone. The 
ranges are connected by mountain knots which divide the plateau between 
them into ten basins, much broken by spurs and ravines, but sometimes con- 
taining plains of considerable extent. Their drainage generally finds its 
way to the Pacific, but in four places rivers force their way through the 


830 The Internationa] Geography 

main eastern chain and join the Amazon. The great volcanic eruptions, 
which form so prominent a feature of the Andes, have thrown up magnifi- 
cent peaks, and so overlaid the original formations by volcanic rocks that 
the earlier ranges are almost obliterated, except in the south. The loftiest 
peak of Chimborazo, 20,498 feet above the sea, overlooks the coast region ; 
but, with this exception, the grandest snowy masses are on the eastern 
chain, including Cotopaxi (19,613 feet), Antisana (19,335 feet), and Cayambe 

(19,186 feet). The vol- 
canoes of Cotopaxi, Tun- 
garagua (16,690 feet) and 
Sangai (17,464) are still 
active, and are by far the 
loftiest active volcanoes 
in the world ; while Pich- 
incha, overhanging the 
city of Quito (15,918 feet), 
has only been dormant 
since 1660. The average 
height of the Andes of 
Ecuador is 11,400 feet, and 
that of the habitable basins 
between the ridges about 
8 3 ooo feet. 

The Andean Basin. 

— From the most northern 
basin, that of Ibarra, 
streams flow westward to 
form the Mira, the bound- 
ing river, in the coast 
region, between Colom- 
bia and Ecuador. The 
lake of San Pablo, nine 
miles long in this basin, is 
the only large lake in the 
Andes of Ecuador. The 
next basin to the south, 
that of Quito, is watered 
by streams forming the 
river Guallabamba, a tributary of the Esmeraldas, which traverses the 
coast region and falls into the Pacific. The two basins of Latacunga and 
Riobamba are watered by streams uniting to form the Pastaza, which crosses 
the eastern chain through a narrow ravine, and, forming a sublime cataract, 
dashes down a profound gorge into the Amazonian plain. Here there is 
some of the grandest scenery in the world. The rivers Caute and Zamora, 
draining the basins of Cuenca and Loxa, also find their way through the 



Fig. 397 . — The Andean Basins of Ecuador. 




Ecuador 


831 

eastern chain. A spur from the Western Cordillera runs parallel with the 
main range for 60 miles, commencing to the north of Chimborazo, and 
forms a valley down which the river Chimbo flows southward, and unites 
with the Chanchan coming from the Alausi basin, and both unite to join 
the Guayas. The Canar (Naranjal) and Jubones basins send rivers of the 
same names to the Gulf of Guayaquil, and the most southern Zaruma basin 
is drained by the river Tumbez, which separates Peru from Ecuador on the 
coast. Other rivers flow from the outer slopes of the Andes, such as the 
Ventanas and Doule to the Pacific coast, and the great river Napo on the 
eastern slope of Cotopaxi. 

The Coast Belt. — The Pacific Coast of Ecuador, which extends from 
i£° N. at the mouth of the Mira, to 3^° S. near the mouth of the Tumbez, 
presents two entirely different aspects. From the Mira river to a short 
distance south of the equator it is clothed with dense tropical vegetation, 
and some of the reaches of the river Esmeraldas present scenes of 
surpassing beauty. To the south vegetation is stunted and the coast 
becomes barren. In the interior of the coast region, which is about 80 
miles wide, up to the foot of the Andes, there are long spurs, and an 
isolated chain of hills of Cretaceous formation. The great feature of the 
coast is the gulf of Guayaquil at the extreme south, with its large island of 
Puna. The river system of Guayas converges to form a large estuary on 
its north side, and the vegetation again becomes rich. Along the shore of 
the Canal de Jambali, on the east side of the gulf, there is a very fertile 
district famous for its cacao plantations, but the desert again commences 
on the south side. 

The Amazonian Slope. — The spurs from the Eastern Andes gradu- 
ally subside into the vast forest-covered Amazonian plain which, within 
the limits of Ecuador, is traversed by the rivers Napo, Pastaza, Santiago 
and Tigre. The boundary with Peru in this direction is unsettled. Ecua- 
dor claims as far as the mouths of the rivers in the Amazon (Maranon), 
while the Peruvians maintain that the courses of the rivers as far as they 
are navigable belong to them. 

Climate and Vegetation. — The temperature on the low ground is 
very high, the annual average at Guayaquil being 82° F. On the Andean 
basins the great height moderates the heat, the mean annual temperature at 
Quito (over 9,000 feet) being 55^° F. (Fig. 392). There and on the western 
slope a hot, wet season lasts from December to May, with March as the 
wettest month. The eastern slopes are subject to the heavy rainfall brought 
across the Amazonian plain by the trade winds. 

The northern part of the coast region is covered with magnificent 
forests, and here the Castilloa kind of india-rubber is found. On the 
banks of the Guayas system of rivers vegetation is also rich ; while on the 
western slopes of the mountains there are great varieties of flowering 
shrubs. This, too, is the home of the Red Bark tree, the richest in alkaloids 
of all the Cinchonae. The eastern forests abound in graceful palms of 


832 The International Geography 



many kinds, enormous forest trees, many of them yielding valuable woods; 
and in the forests of Loja are the famous trees of Cinchona officinalis (or 
Condaminea), the first species that was used for the cure of fever. In 
the basins of the Andes, from their great elevation, the vegetation is 
scanty, chiefly consisting of Composite, and on sandy tracts the cactus and 
the agave grow. 

People and History. — The natives of the Andes of Ecuador are 
Q of a race closely allied to the Inca Indians of Peru, 

copper coloured, with long straight hair, no beards, 
black eyes, and wide faces with large mouths. 
They are broad shouldered, with great powers of 
endurance as travellers, and strong as carriers. 
Owing to long ages of oppression they are melan- 
holy, phlegmatic and taciturn. In the eastern 

FlG - ^ Ecuador ^ ores ^ s there are numerous wandering tribes of a 

differenGrace. Chief among them, in numbers and 
importance, are the Jeveros, a warlike, brave and astute people who 
can tolerate no yoke ; they are cultivators as well as hunters, and range 
between the rivers Pastaza and Santiago. The Zaparos, in the basin of 
the Napo, are less warlike and of different race, their physiogonomy being 
Mongolian ; separate branches of the tribe are composed of fishermen, 
hunters and cultivators. Apart from the aboriginal Indians the popula- 
tion consists of creoles of more or less pure Spanish descent, negroes, 
mulattoes, and mixed races who speak Spanish ; but at least two-thirds of 
the inhabitants of Ecuador are Indians, speaking the Quichua language. 
Almost all the inhabitants are of Roman Catholic faith, and education is 
much neglected. Originally an independent people 
under their own “Scyris” or kings, they had their 
capital at Quito. These Indians were conquered in 
about 1450 a.d. by the Incas, who introduced large 
colonies from Peru and enforced the use of the 
Quichua language. In 1534 the Spaniards arrived in 
the country, and from 1564 Quito was governed by a 
President of the Court of Justice, under the Viceroy 
of Peru. In 1729 the Presidency of Quito was 
placed under the newly created Viceroyalty of New 
Granada, and so it continued until independence of Spain was secured by 
the victory of Pichincha on May 22, 1822. For eight years it was part of 
the great Republic of Colombia, but in 1830 it commenced a separate 
existence under the name of the Republic of Ecuador, with its capital at 
Quito. 

Productions. — There are no manufactures of any consequence, 
Panama hats being the chief manufactured export. Wheat and barley 
are grown in the Andean basins, but only sufficient for home consumption, 
cereals being imported from abroad for the use of Guayaquil and the 



Fig. 399 . — Average pop- 
illation of a square 
mile of Eucador. 


Ecuador 


833 

coast. Cattle are raised in some districts, and maize is largely used. 
There are large cacao estates on the east side of the bay of Guayaquil 
and on the banks of some of the tributaries of the Guayas, and some 
coffee is also raised. The chief article of export is cacao, then follow 
Cinchona bark, sarsaparilla, Panama hats, india-rubber, coffee, hides and 
sugar. There are some gold workings in the basin of Zaruma, and there 
were formerly gold washings in the eastern streams, but minerals scarcely 
figure in the customs returns. There is steam and boat communication on 
the Guayas and its tributaries, and a railroad from Duran, opposite to 
Guayaquil, passes Chimbo, and is being extended towards Quito. The 
roads in the interior are merely tracks formed by the traffic. 

Divisions and Towns. — The republic of Ecuador is divided into 
eleven provinces in the Andes, corresponding with the basins already 
enumerated, and four on the coast. North of Quito are the two provinces 
of Carchi and Imbabura, with capitals called Tulcan and Ibarra , both 
small towns. Quito is in the province of Pichincha, at an elevation of over 
9,000 feet, and possesses the usual public buildings of a national capital. 
South of Pichincha come the provinces of Leon with the town of 
Latacunga, Tungaragua with the town of Ambato, and Chimborazo with 
Riobamba. South of Chimborazo is the province of Bolivar, with Guaranda 
as its capital ; and the province of Canar, containing very interesting 
Inca ruins, has two towns, Azoques and Canar. The three most southern 
provinces are Azuay, with the large and charmingly situated town of 
Cuenca ; Loja, with the town of the same name; and Oro, where gold 
mining has been commenced round the little town of Zaruma. Each of 
the Andean towns occupies the central position in a lofty but habitable 
basin surrounded by mountains. The four coast provinces are Los Rios, 
with the Bodegas de Babahoyo as capital ; Guayas, with the great port of 
Guayaquil : Manabi, and Esmeraldas. Finally the Oriental province com- 
prises the vast forest-covered region to the eastward of the Andes. 

The great geographical interest attaching to Ecuador, the classic 
ground of Condamine and Humboldt, lies in the magnificent series of lofty 
active and extinct volcanoes. To the antiquary it is a region very inte- 
resting from the remains of a past indigenous civilisation. Rich in all 
the varied products of the temperate and tropical zones, it is a country of 
magnificent future possibilities, but needing population for its development. 


STATISTICS [Estimates). 


Area of Ecuador (square miles) 

120,000 

Population of Ecuador 

1,300,000 

„ Guayaquil 

50.000 

„ Quito 

40,000 

„ Cuenca 

25,000 

„ Riobamba 

12,000 

Value of Exports in pounds sterling . . 

1,400,000 

„ Imports „ „ 

1,200,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

T. Wolf. “Geografia y Geologia del Ecuador.’' Leipzig, 1893. 

E. Whymper. “ Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator.” London, 1892. 


834 The International Geography 


III.— PERU 

By Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F. R.S. 

Coast Region. — Peru, like Ecuador, is divided into three well-marked 
regions, the Coast, the Sierra, or region of the Andes, and the Montana, or 
tropical forest within the basin of the Amazon. The strip of land between 
the Pacific and the Andes, averaging 20 miles in width, consists of a desert 
traversed at intervals by rivers. Its coast extends from 2 >i° to 18 0 S., and 
trends south-south-east and south-east from 8i° W. at Point Parima to 
70° W. The absence of rain on the coast of Peru is caused by the action 
of the lofty wall of the Andes on the trades, wringing from those winds the 
last particle of moisture that a very low temperature can extract. Dry 
winds consequently descend the western mountain slopes to the coast. 
The constantly prevailing wind on the coast is from the south, and a cold 
ocean current flows from the same direction. From November to April 
there is usually dryness on the coast, with a clear sky, but from June to 
September the sky is obscured for weeks together by mist, which is 
often accompanied by drizzling rain. The wind never exceeds a gentle 
breeze all through the year. When it is hottest and driest on the 
coast, it is raining heavily in the Andes, and the rivers are full. When 
the rivers are at their lowest, the mists and drizzling rain prevail on 
the coast. 

The surface of the deserts between the rivers is generally hard, but there 
are often accumulations of drifting sand in the form of half-moon shaped 
dunes called medanos , convex towards the trade winds. When the mists 
set in the low barren hills, near the coast, called lomas, are covered with a 
blooming vegetation of wild flowers. In hollows which are reached by 
moisture, the desert supports a few trees, such as the algaroba ( Prosopis 
horrida). A striking contrast to the desert is afforded by the banks of the 
rivers, rich with groups of palms, fine old willow trees, fruit gardens, and 
wide expanses of sugar-cane, cotton, or vineyards. 

The Andean Region. — The Peruvian Andes increase in height from 
north to south. The mountain system consists of three ranges. The 
Maritime and Central Cordilleras, running parallel and near each other on 
the western side, are of identical origin, and on them are the volcanoes and 
many thermal springs. But the great Eastern Cordillera, properly called 
the Andes, is distinct. The narrow space between the maritime and 
central chain is for the most part a cold and lofty tract known as the Funa. 
The Sierra is the much wider region between the central and eastern 
chains, consisting of lofty spurs, wide plains, valleys and deep ravines. 
The Eastern Cordillera is a magnificent continuous range, in great part of 
Silurian formation, with talcose and clay slates, and intrusions of granitic 
rocks. It is cut through by six rivers in Peru, namely the Maranon, 


Peru 


835 

Huallaga, Mantaro, Apurimac, Vilcamayu and Paurcartambo, the four last 
being tributaries of the Ucayali, a main affluent of the Amazon. The 
Central Cordillera is not cut through by any river, although several sources 
of coast streams are to the eastward of the line of highest peaks. It, how- 
ever, forms an unbroken water parting. It consists of crystalline and 
volcanic rocks, with Jurassic strata, often thrown up almost vertically, on 
its flanks. The Maritime Cordillera is of the same formation, the two 
lines being merely separated by erosion. The habitable tracts within the 
Cordilleras are from 5,000 to 12,500 feet above the sea ; and the average 
height of the Puna and lofty ridges is from 12,500 to 14,500 feet ; the 
peaks rising to from 16,000 to 19,000 feet. 

Rivers of the Andes. — At the frontier of Ecuador the Maritime 
Cordillera is of moderate height, but rises further south, and for 350 
miles it forms the western side of the basin of the Maranon, which 
rises in the lake of Lauricocha, on the inner slope of the Central Cordil- 
lera. The river forces its way through the eastern chain at the famous 
rapids called the Pongo de Manseriche. The Huallaga, following 
a parallel course between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras, forces its 
way out at the Salta de Aguirre, and joins the Maranon. In this 
northern section of the Peruvian Andes the central chain attains a 
height of 20,000 feet. Here the river Santa rises in the alpine lake 
of Conococha at 10,000 feet, and flows northward down a gorge be- 
tween the central and maritime chains for a hundred miles, then turns 
west, cuts through the mountains at a height of 9,000 feet, and reaches 
the coast. This is the remarkable Callejon de Huaylas, analogous 
to the valley of Chimbo in Ecuador. South of the sources of the two 
great rivers Maranon and Huallaga, the mountain knot of Cerro de 
Pasco, in io° 48' S., unites the three cordilleras which to the south 
become loftier and more closely defined. From the knot of Cerro de 
Pasco to the knot of Vilcanota in 14 0 S. the Andean region is drained by 
the tributaries of the Ucayali. The rivers sometimes cut profound gorges, 
but generally they form fertile valleys, with grassy mountain slopes. The 
source of the Apurimac, an affluent of the Ucayali, is the most distant from 
the mouth of the Amazon, but the Maranon has the greatest volume, and 
the lake of Lauricocha, where it rises, must, therefore, be acknowledged as 
the true source of the mightiest river in the world. 

Beyond the knot of Vilcanota is the basin of Lake Titicaca, which 
extends into Bolivia, and has a total area of 16,000 square miles. This 
basin is so lofty that the vegetation is scanty, the lake itself being 12,545 
feet above the sea. The northern part is drained to the lake by a number 
of rivers flowing over grassy plains, separated by low ranges. 

The Amazonian Region. — The tropical forests of Peru, within the 
Amazonian basin, are traversed by the great navigable rivers flowing from 
the Andes, the Maranon, Huallaga, Ucayali, Yavari, and Madre de Dios. 
The region is naturally divided into two sections, the subtropical forests 


836 The International Geography 



in the ravines and on the slopes of the Andes, and the denser tropical 
vegetation in the plains. 

People and History. — The races of Peru are very distinct in the 
three main divisions. The Inca Indians occupying the Andean regions, 
and speaking the Quichua language, in 1876 made up 57 per cent, of the 
whole population, and the half-castes 23 per cent. On the coast there was 
once a race with a peculiar language and civilisation, but it is nearly 
extinct, and the population now consists of negroes and Chinese. The 
creoles of Spanish descent are chiefly in the cities of the coast, but they 
are also established in the towns of the interior, and they all use the 

Spanish language. The wild Indian tribes in the 
eastern forests are calculated as including 350,000 
people. The empire of the Incas, with its capital at 
Cuzco, was founded early in the eleventh century, 
and had flourished for more than four centuries, 
gradually extending its conquests and absorbing the 
numerous tribes, when Pizarro arrived on the coast. 

F i gT 400. — "a 1 rmge pop- After the coni l uest Peru formed the centre of a large 
ulation of a square Spanish viceroyalty, with its capital at Lima near 
mile of Peru. the coast. A great but vain effort was made in 

1780-82 by the Inca Indians to throw off the Spanish yoke. The indepen- 
dence of Peru was proclaimed at Lima on July 28, 1821, and was secured 
by the complete defeat of the Spanish Viceroy at Ayacucho in 1824. The 
form of government in Peru has since been republican, the executive 
consisting of a President, two Vice-Presidents, and Ministers, with pre- 
fects appointed by the president in each department, and sub-prefects 
in each province. The legislative power is lodged in a Congress of two 
chambers. 

Resources and Trade. — Peru is richly endowed with natural 
resources of all kinds, but the great need is population to utilise them. On 
the coast the guano of the Chincha Islands was 
a source of wealth for nearly thirty years, but it 
was exhausted in 1872, and much smaller quan- 
tities are now obtained from the Guanape, Macabi, 

Malabrigo, and Lobos Islands further north. In 
i860 the idea of refining the extensive supplies 
of petroleum found in the desert between the 
rivers Tumbez and Chira was conceived. The Fig -4oi. The Peruvian Flag, 

fertile coast valleys produce cotton, sugar, tobacco, rice, wine and 
spirits from the vineyards of Yea and Pisco, Moquegua and Locumba. 
The cultivable area on the coast will some day be quadrupled by 
the extension of irrigation works. In the Andes there are numerous 
mines of silver, copper, gold and coal, the chief centres of the silver- 
mining industry being at Cerro Pasco and Puno ; the total output 
of silver is nearly half a million pounds sterling; and of copper little 



Peru 


837 


less. The yield of wool from the flocks of alpacas, and from the 
wild vicunas is a source of wealth peculiar to Peru. The vegetable 
products of the Andes include the finest maize in the world, the potato and 
several other edible roots, and there are vast areas admirably adapted for 
raising wheat and barley, and rearing cattle. In the ravines, on the eastern 
slopes of the Andes, cacao, coffee, tobacco, and coca, another valuable 
product peculiar to Peru, all of excellent quality, are produced. Among 
the wild products are the cinchona bark and india-rubber. The chief 
exports of Peru are sugar, silver, cotton, wool, rubber and coca leaves. 
Most of the trade is with the United Kingdom, Germany coming 
second. 

Railways. — In 1902 the length of the railways in Peru was 1,035 miles. 
Those on the coast, twelve in number, are intended to bring the produce 
of the various fertile tracts on the river 
banks to the ports. The work on the 
marvellous railroad over the Maritime 
and Central Cordilleras from Lima to 
Cerro Pasco was commenced in 1870, 
and is not yet completed. It threads 
the intricate gorges of the Cordilleras 
by a winding giddy pathway along the 
edge of precipices, and spans chasms 
by bridges hundreds of feet high, and 
it tunnels the Andes at an altitude of 
15,645 feet. Another line crosses the 
Cordilleras from Mollendo, by Arequipa 



Railways 

Mites 




Fig. 402 . — The Chief Mountain Railways 
of Peru. 

to Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca, the summit being crossed in a 
cutting 14,660 feet above the sea. The line is 232 miles long, and is to be 
continued to Cuzco. Steamers keep up the communication between Peru 
and Bolivia on Lake Titicaca ; and the Amazonian rivers, within Peruvian 
territory, are navigable by steamers for 740 miles. 

Coast Departments and Towns. — Peru is divided into eighteen 
departments, of which eight are on the coast, eight in the high interior 
and two entirely on the navigable eastern rivers. Piura, the most northern 
department on the coast, has as its capital San Miguel de Piura, founded by 
Pizarro. It is in a fertile valley, and a railway runs to its seaport, Payia. 
Next, along the coast, comes the new department of Lambayeque, also 
with a railway to the port of Eten. Libertad contains the old city of 
Truxillo , founded by Pizarro in 1535, and now the most important place 
north of Lima. It had an excellent road to its port of Huanchaco, and 
now has a railway to the port of Salaverry. Ancachs is partly in the 
mountains, and partly on the coast. It includes the Callejon de Huaylas. 
Huaraz, the capital, is 172 miles from the port of Chimbote, with which it is 
connected by railway. 

The department of Lima contains Lima, the capital of Peru. The city 


838 The International Geography 

was founded by Pizarro in 1535, and called “ the City of the Kings, in 
memory of the epiphany, and also of the two sovereigns, Juana and her 
son Charles V. The name of Lima is a corruption of “ Rimac,” an oracle 
in Quichua, and the name of the river on which Lima is built. The houses 
and churches are of adobes or sun-dried bricks, and great pains were 
bestowed on the decoration of the facades of the churches and on some 
houses. Lima has railways to the port of Callao , to the bathing resorts of 
Chorillos and Magdalena, to Chancay in the north, and to the interior. 
Callao is provided with fine piers and a mercantile dockyard. Yfa, the 
coast department to the south of Lima, has the capital of the same name 
connected with the seaport of Pisco by a railway ; it is a pleasant town 
surrounded by cotton and vine estates. In this department excellent wine 
is made, and great quantities of a spirit called Pisco which is universally 
drunk in Peru. The great department of Arequipa in the south has as 
capital, Arequipa, founded, like so many other towns, by Pizarro, in 1536. 
It is separated from the sea by a desert of 60 miles, and stands 7,260 feet 



Fig. 403 . — Lima and Callao. 

above the sea-level, with a temperate climate. The magnificent cone of 
the volcano of Misti, 20,000 feet high, rises immediately behind the town, 
which is built of white volcanic stone, constructed solidly with vaulted 
ceilings, to resist the shocks of earthquakes. Arequipa is in the midst of 
a fertile plain, which is covered with fields of corn and lucerne, diversified 
by fruit gardens, and dotted with villages. Part of the most southerly 
coast department of Moquegua is still occupied by the Chileans. 

Cordilleran Departments and Towns. — Within the Cordilleras 
the most northern department, bordering on Ecuador, is that of Caxa- 
marca. The capital of the same name is historically interesting from 
having been the scene of the capture and death of the Inca Atahualpa, 
at the hands of Pizarro and his conquistadores. Huanuco borders 
on Caxamarca to the south, much of its area being covered with 
forest round the head waters of the Huallaga. Its capital of the same 
name is a pretty town. The department of Junin contains Cerro de 
Pasco, 13,200 feet above the sea, the centre of the great silver-mining 
industry. Jauja is a picturesque town, with an almost perfect climate, 


Peru 


8 39 

and Tarma is beautifully situated in an amphitheatre of mountains clothed 
with waving fields of barley, on the high road to the most promising and 
best settled of the forest districts, that of Chanchamayu. The department 
of Huancavelica occupies the loftiest parts of the Western Cordilleras, and 
its towns of Huancavelica and Castro-vireyna owe their existence to the rich 
silver mines and the quicksilver mine of viceregal times. Ayacucho, named 
after the battle which secured independence for Peru, has as its capital 
the ancient city of Guamanga, founded by Pizarro in 1539, and re-named 
Ayacucho since 1824. It is a fine town with stone houses, roofed with red 
tiles, and is beautifully situated, 5,850 feet above the sea, surrounded on 
all sides but the west, which commands a glorious view, by mountains on 
the steep slopes of which are fields of maize, fruit gardens, and thickets of 
prickly pears. The department of Apurimac contains the lovely and 
fertile valleys of Andahuaylas and Abancay, each with its picturesque town 
surrounded by scenery of surpassing beauty. Cuzco is the central depart- 
ment of Peru. The city of Cuzco, capital of the Empire of the Incas, in 
13J 0 S., is situated on a tableland surrounded by mountains, 11,380 feet 
above the level of the sea, at the foot of the famous hill of Sacsahuaman, 
which is crowned by the Inca citadel consisting of three lines of massive 
walls, built of cyclopean masonry, one of the stones being 27 feet high by 
14 feet. The houses of Cuzco are of stone. The lower stories are, to a 
great extent, of Inca masonry ; the upper stories, roofed with red tiles, 
being of later date. The fine cathedral and church of the Jesuits are built 
upon Inca palaces, and the church and cloisters of San Domingo consist of 
masonry of the Temple of the Sun. This city is only a few miles from the 
warm and delightful vale of Vilcamayu, one of the most charming spots in 
this favoured land. The most southern department, partly in the basin of 
Lake Titicaca, is that of Puno, which includes the ravines and forests of 
Caravaya. Puno, the capital, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, owes its 
existence to the rich veins of silver ore in the surrounding hills. It is now 
the terminus of the railway from Arequipa and Mollendo, and the junction 
of the Juliaca line with extension towards Cuzco (Fig. 402). 

Parts of the forests of the Eastern Andes aFe included in the depart- 
ments of Puno, Cuzco, Ayacucho, Junin and Huanuco ; but there are 
two departments wholly within the Amazonian basin. Amazonas, with its 
capital at Chachapoyas, and Loreto, with a centre of river stream navigation 
at Iquitos, below the mouth of the Ucayali, on the Maranon, Thence 
steamers can ascend the Ucayali and Pachitea to Puerto Prado, in 9 0 56' N. 
and 75 0 45' W., the nearest navigable point on the Amazon to Lima. 

Peru is one of the most favoured countries in the world, except as 
regards the one essential of population. Embracing every climate and an 
infinite diversity of soils and aspects, she is, or might be, the producer of 
every product, and all of unequalled excellence. Whatever Peru produces 
is the best of its kind, while the world owes to the Incas the potato, 
quinine, coca, and the silky fleeces of the alpaca and vicuna. 


840 The International Geography 


STATISTICS (at last census, 1876). 


Area of Peru (square miles) 463.747 

Population 2,621,844 

Density of population per square mile . . . . 5 6 

Population of Lima 100,000 

„ Callao 15,000 

„ Arequipa 35,000 

„ Cuzco 22,000 


(103,000 in 1891 
(35,000 in 1880 


ANNUAL TRADE (in Pounds sterling — Estimates). 


Exports 2,000,000 

Imports 1,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir C. R. Markham. “Peru.” London, 1880. 

W. H. Prescott. “ History of the Conquest of Peru." 1847. 
E. W. Middendorf. “Peru.” 2 vols. Berlin, 1893. 

A. Raimondi. “ El Peru.” 3 vols. Lima, 1874. 


IY.— BOLIVIA 

By Sir Clements R. Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S. 

Position and Configuration. — Bolivia, formerly known as Alto 
Peru, occupies the southern half of the basin of Lake Titicaca, and the 
southern continuations of the Andes and the Maritime Cordillera. Chilean 
conquests deprived Bolivia of her coast province in 1883 ; and the country 
is now entirely inland. An important district extends far to the eastward 
of the Andes within the Amazonian basin. The boundary with Peru 
crosses Lake Titicaca ; but to the eastward it is still in dispute. 

Lake Titicaca, 12,545 feet above the sea, is 120 miles long by 40 broad, 
and is divided into two parts by the peninsula of Copacabana. The 
southern division, called the Lake of Huaqui, is 24 miles long by 21 broad, 
and is united to the greater lake by the narrow strait of Tiquina. The 
islands of Titicaca and Coati contain ancient ruins, and were held to be 
sacred in the time of the Incas. The volume of water received from 
rivers during the rainy season is lost by evaporation between April and 
September ; and the shores of the lake are steadily receding under the 
combined influence of solar evaporation and the silt brought down by the 
rivers. The deepest part is on the Bolivian side ; on the south-west there 
are large shoal areas covered with tall rushes. Much water is taken off 
from the lake by the river flowing southwards, called Desaguadero or 
“ the drain,” which has a course of more than 150 miles, and disappears in 
the salt lake of Paria, Aullagas, or Poopo. 

The Andes on the eastern side of Lake Titicaca were formerly 
supposed to contain the loftiest summits of the system, but recent 
explorations have shown that neither of the peaks of Sorata (Ancohuma or 
Illampu) nor Illimani exceeds 22,000 feet. The Bolivian part of the 
Maritime Cordillera also contains peaks of great height, that of Sajama 


Bolivia 


841 

being believed to be 21,028 feet and that of Tacora 19,000 feet above the 
sea. The plateau between the two ranges has an average altitude of 
12,000 feet, with a length of 500 miles and a breadth of from 90 to 100 
miles. Four rivers flow from the eastern slopes of the Andes, two to the 
Amazon, the Beni and Rio Grande forming the Mamore, chief feeders 
of the Madeira ; and two to the Paraguay, the Pilcomayo and Bermejo. 
The Bolivian Cordilleras contain the silver mines of Potosi and Oruro 
which have been famous for three centuries, but the real wealth of the 
country lies in the ravines of the Eastern Andes and the forest-covered 

plains of the Beni and Mamore. It is at the head of these eastern ravines 

% 

that the principal modern cities are situated. 

People, History and Government. — The Indians of Bolivia 

belong to the Colla race, to whom the name of Aymara was erroneously 

given by the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth century. They formed 

part of the empire of the Incas, by whom they had been conquered. The 

Aymara are massive without being large ; short, thick-set, broad-shouldered, 

with long body and short legs. The features and 

profile are good, the general expression sad, with a 

strong admixture of determination. Their chief 

peculiarity is that the thigh is rather shorter than the 

leg, and the whole build is admirably adapted for 

mountain climbing. The Aymara is very resolute, 

and he can march great distances ; seventy miles in one 

day is not uncommon. Their language is a dialect 

of Quichua, containing many words of very ancient fig. 404. — Probable 

origin. Their numbers have been much reduced by population of a square 

. .. ,, . , ,. mile of Bolivia. 

disease, but there is no reliable information respecting 

the population of Bolivia. In the Bolivian part of the Amazonian basin 

the principal tribes are the Moxos on the Beni and Mamore, who are 

Christianised, and number about 30,000 souls, being settled in mission 

villages, cultivating the soil and rearing cattle. The Chiquitos form a 

numerous group of tribes between the head-waters of the Itenez and 

Mamore. They are a peaceful race of cultivators, raising cotton and sugar 

cane. There are also several wild hunting tribes. The people of Spanish 

and mixed descent form only 15 per cent, of the population. 

After a brave struggle the Collas (Aymaras) were conquered by the 
Spaniards in 1538 ; and in 1559 Upper Peru, or Charcas, was constituted a 
Presidency, with a Court of Justice under the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1778 
Charcas was transferred to the new Viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres. In 1809 
the insurrection against Spain commenced, but independence was not 
secured until 1824, and in 1825 a general assembly of the people at 
Chuquisaca decreed that Upper Peru should be named Bolivia in honour 
of General Bolivar, the Colombian general who had come to assist in the 
liberation of Peru. There is a Congress of two Chambers, and there is 
universal suffrage for all men able to read. 



842 The International Geography 

Once the great industry of Upper Peru was mining, and the mines of 
Potosi were famous throughout the world. There are still important silver, 
copper and tin mines, the output being valued at over two million pounds. 
Wool and hides are also exported from the lofty plateaux. The rich valleys 
to the eastward are called Yungus, and they are the home of the Calisaya 
species of cinchona which yields the largest percentage of quinine ; while 
the cacao and coffee grown in the Yungus is the best in the world. 
Coca is also largely grown and exported. In the Amazonian plains, within 
Bolivian territory, the establishments for extracting india-rubber are 
numerous and increasing. 

Divisions and Towns. — There is a service by steamers across Lake 
Titicaca which connects La Paz, the chief city of Bolivia, with the railway 
from Puno to the coast. A railroad has recently been constructed from the 
Bolivian city of Oruro to the Chilean port of Antofagasta on the Pacific 
coast, and others have been projected. 

Bolivia has been divided into departments, of which there are eight. 
La Paz is the most northern department. Its capital is the chief city of the 
republic and well situated for trade. It was founded by order of President 
Gasca in 1548, and the native name of Chuqui-apu was changed to La 
Paz . The famous capital of the department of Potosi has lamentably fallen 
off. Situated on the silver-bearing Cerro de Potosi, its population in 
Spanish times was 160,000, and now it is barely 12,000. Oruro , on the 
salt plain north of Lake Aullagas, is the capital of the department of the 
same name, and it also has fallen from its glory in Spanish times, yet it is 
still the centre of a silver and tin-mining industry, and is connected by 
railway with Antofagasta. The plains of Oruro yield good crops of 
potatoes and barley, and afford pasturage for flocks of llamas and sheep. 

The department of Chuquisaca lies within the basin of the Pilcomayo, 
a tributary of the Paraguay. Its capital, originally named La Plata, was 
founded by order of Pizarro, in 1539 ; the native name is Chuquisaca, but 
the first Republican Congress ordered it to be called Sucre , after the first 
President. Though the nominal capital of the Republic, and the seat of a 
university, it is not nearly so important a place as La Paz. Cochabamba , in 
a province of the same name in the Amazonian basin, on a tributary of the 
Mamore, in the midst of a fertile and well-cultivated plain, is the most 
agreeable place of residence in Bolivia. Still further east is the depart- 
ment of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Beni is the department which embraces 
the region of dense forest, and the fluvial highways of the Beni and its 
tributaries. The most southern department, bordering on the Argentine 
Republic, is that of Tarija, which lies in the basin of the Bermejo, a tribu- 
tary of the Paraguay. The town of Tarija, surrounded by fruit gardens, 
enjoys a charming climate. 


STATISTICS ( Estimates ). 

Area of Bolivia in square miles 567,000 

Population of Bolivia 2,000,000 

Density of population per square mile 35 


Chile 



Population of La Paz . . 

„ Cochabamba . . 

„ Sucre 

,, Potosi . . 


40.000 

25.000 

20.000 
20,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in dollars). 

1 mports * 1 • • . . « 1 « • . . •• • • 

Exports • t 99 1 • •• • • . • •• •• 


3,000,000 

12,500,000 


STANDARD BOOK. 

M. V. Ballivian and E. Idiaquez. “ Diccionaria Geographico de la Republice de Bolivia." 
La Paz, 1890. 


V.— CHILE 1 


By Alejandro Bertrand, 

Professor of Topography and Geodesy at the University of Santiago ; Chief Engineer of the 
Commission of Delimitation with the Argentine Republic. 

Configuration, Geology and River Systems. — Chile is a 
relatively narrow strip of land stretching from 18 0 to 54 0 S. between the 
Cordillera of the Andes and the western coast-line of South America. The 
width of the country varies from 70 to 140 miles, except close to the 
northern and southern extremities, where it widens to 250 miles. 

The general surface of the land, whilst sloping rapidly from the Cor- 
dillera to the sea, slopes also, but 
more gently, from north to south ; 
so that the central part of the strip 
which at the northern extremity 
rises to 3,000 feet above sea-level, 
is covered by the sea in the south, 
where the valleys form numerous 
channels or fjords, and the higher 
ground a swarm of islands. North 
of 41 0 S. the coast is destitute of 
deep bays, and owing to the abrupt 
rise of the land towards the interior 



FlG. 405 — Southern Chile and Magellan Strait. 


it presents the appearance of a chain of hills when seen from the sea. 
Natural harbours are scarce along this coast, and nearly all are without 
shelter from the north. In the southern archipelago, on the contrary, they 
are numerous and well sheltered, but none of any size. 

The upheaval of the Cordillera of the Andes, which separates Chile 
from the Argentine Republic, was the result of crustal movements 
occurring long after the formation of the rocks composing the range, 
the chief of which are porphyry, sandstones, and metamorphic rocks. 
The Chilean-Argentine Andes contain the highest peaks of America, one 
of which, Aconcagua, attains an elevation of 23,000 feet. Parallel to 

1 Translated from the Spanish. 


844 The Internationa] Geography 

the Andes, and nearer the coast, runs a succession of lower mountains, of 
much older formation, in which granite and gneiss predominate ; and 
between these two ranges a plain 30 miles wide and known as the Central 
Valley of Chile, stretches from 33 0 to 41 0 S. It is covered with drift or 
alluvial deposits which form a very rich soil, traversed and irrigated by the 
numerous rivers descending from the Andes. The hydrographic basins 
of these rivers are disposed with some uniformity ; as a rule, the principal 
valleys or canyons of the Cordillera run from north to south, and very 
frequently from south to north ; after the junction of the chief affluents 
they cross the central valley and are deflected by the coast-hills, along 
the eastern side of which they run until they meet with the gaps through 
which they throw themselves into the sea. The river Maule, which enters 
the sea about 35 0 S., is the first northerly one navigable for lighters or 
small craft from the central valley. The rivers Imperial, Valdivia, and 
Bueno, farther south, are navigable for small steamers in the lower parts 
of their course. From the structure of the country all the rivers are 
necessarily short. 

Natural Resources. — The greater part of the surface of the 
country is occupied by lofty mountains which, in the northern districts, 
are treeless and almost absolutely arid. But deep in their recesses 
valuable lodes of copper, lead, silver and manganese ores lie con- 
cealed. In the nearly desert region of the provinces of Tarapaca and 
Atacama, between 19 0 and 26° lat., the configuration of the central valley 
and bordering ranges is the same as in the south ; and on the western 
borders of this rainless district deposits of nitrate of soda (Chile saltpetre) 
occur on the surface. It is one of the best nitrogenous manures, and 
more than 400,000,000 tons have been extracted and exported, mainly 
to Europe. Metallic lodes, chiefly copper and iron-pyrites, also abound 
throughout the country, especially in the spurs of the Andes. About 
37 0 S. beds of lignite are to be found. Alluvial gold occurs nearly all 
over the country, but the placers yield a poor return. In the central region 
there is an abundant supply of calcareous rocks useful for the manufacture 
of lime and cement. Native sulphur occurs abundantly in the Cordillera, 
and gypsum is still more widely distributed. Fine granite and especially 
trachyte is quarried and makes excellent building material. Throughout 
the country there is clay for brick-making, and kaolin for manufacturing 
porcelain is also plentiful. In almost all the valleys of the Andes there 
are mineral springs possessing medicinal properties. Wood for fuel and 
coal exist in nearly every part of the country. From the 34th parallel 
southward indigenous trees are found in increasing quantity, but with- 
out much variety of species ; the timber they yield is firm and hard, but 
somewhat heavy. European trees, especially the poplar, are very easily 
acclimatised ; the Australian blue gum ( Eucalyptus globulus) has also 
increased considerably. A large portion of what was formerly wooded 
land has been cleared and converted into fields and pastures. 


Chile 


8 45 

The native fauna is not abundant in species, even in the woodlands. 
The only noxious carnivorous animal is the puma ( Puma felis), which is 
about the size of a large dog. The imported quadrupeds and birds mul- 
tiply with great facility. 

Climate. — In Chile there are all climates. The temperature is in 
general lower than that corresponding to the same latitudes on the 
northern hemisphere on account of the cold Humboldt current, 
which flows along the coast from south to north. In the north, as far 
as 30° S., rain is the exception, although dense clouds are of frequent 
occurrence ; on the other hand, from 36° S. southwards, rain falls on 
most days, especially in winter ; the largest rainfall occurs about 
41 0 S. The winds which prevail on the coast are chiefly from the 
west and south-west. The climate of the central valley and of the coast 
between 32 0 and 36° S. is one of the most pleasant in the world, the 
thermometer seldom rising above 77 0 F., or falling below 32 0 . This region 
is, at the same time, one of the healthiest to be found anywhere, because 
the slope of the land secures good drainage and prevents the formation of 
marshes. 

People. — The principal of the aboriginal peoples of Chile and the only 
one of which genuine representatives now remain in 
the country, leaving the Fuegians out of account, is 
that commonly known as the Araucanian, a race 
distinguished by its endurance, its valour and its in- 
domitable character. Of the blood running in the 
veins of the present population of Chile, especially 
of the lower classes, a large proportion is Araucanian ; 
this ancestry entails many good qualities, but also 
some vices, chiefly a propensity to drink. The edu- 
cated classes consist almost entirely of the descen- 
dants of the Spanish conquerors who settled in Chile in the sixteenth 
century ; and these have preserved the language and religion of Spain, 
without alteration, as well as most of the habits and social customs of the 
mother country. 

History. — The conqueror and first governor of Chile was the 
Spanish soldier Pedro de Valdivia, who founded the capital, Santiago, 
in 1541. According to the Spanish system of colonising, the companions 
of Valdivia, and also their successors and descendants, divided amongst 
themselves the natives of the conquered land, and employed them 
for working the mines, extracting gold and cultivating the soil. 
Although Spanish colonies were settled all over the Araucanian territory 
soon after the conquest, the dauntless natives succeeded in regaining 
a large part of their lands ; and it can be said that, up to the middle 
of the nineteenth century, a stretch of territory extending for about 
150 miles between the rivers Biobio and Valdivia, remained in the 
hands of the Araucanians. In 1810, the royal power of Spain having been 



FlG. 406 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Chile. 


846 The International Geography 

suspended in the Spanish colonies, the first national government of Chile 
was established. Three years later, the forces sent from Peru by Spain 

reconquered the country, but, in 1817, Chile suc- 
ceeded in finally regaining its independence, and 
General O’ Higgins, the head of the government, 
assisted by the celebrated naval volunteer, Lord 
Cochrane, and the Argentine general, San Martin, 
attacked the Spanish army of Peru. With the ex- 
ception of a few revolutions of no lasting character, 
Fig. 407 —The Chilean Flag. chile has since been able to pursue its develop- 
ment peacefully, and its democratic institutions have been gradually taking 
root. In 1879 a war broke out between Chile and the neighbouring 
republics of Peru and Bolivia, which resulted in the acquisition by Chile 
of the territories of Antofagasta and Tarapaca. 

Government and Administration. — The form of government is 
republican. All the functionaries in the department of Administration are 
designated by the President. Prior to 1890, the government, or rather the 
president, was in reality the chief elector of Congress ; but since the revo- 
lution of 1891 the country has asserted its electoral rights, and Ministers 
are now appointed by Congress. The wealth accruing to the Chilean 
treasury from the tax on nitrate of soda, since 1880, has been the means of 
giving a great impulse to the administration, to education, to the navy, the 
army, and the railways, which almost all belong to the State. The munici- 
palities, which were formerly departmental and directly subordinate to the 
central government, are now communal and have complete local self- 
government ; but they are for the most part poor, and require assistance 
from the national Treasury. 

Industries and Commerce. — The staple industry of the country is 
the extraction of nitrate of soda, of which substance between one and one 
and a half million tons are exported annually. The annual exports of 
iodine extracted from the nitrate amount to about 300 tons. Next in 
importance comes the working of the silver, copper and gold ores, borax 
and coal, the export of which yields about two and a half million pounds 
sterling yearly. 

Agriculturists are concerned mainly in the cultivation of cereals, 
tobacco, vegetables, vine-growing and cattle-breeding. The most 
advanced agricultural industries are flour-milling, wine-making, and the 
preparation of cheese, dried and preserved fruits and honey. Other 
industries, such as tanning, shoemaking, distilling and brewing are not 
very advanced, and are chiefly carried on by the German colony in the 
province of Valdivia. 

Means of Communication. — There are two lines of British and 
German steamers with fortnightly sailings for Europe via the Strait of 
Magellan, and a weekly steamer service to Panama, as well as coasting 
Steamers. The journey from Santiago to Buenos Aires through the Cordil- 



Chile 


847 

lera takes three days and a half, and is closed by snow from June to 
October, the winter months. Santiago is connected with Valparaiso and 
Concepcion by a railway which extends to Valdivia, and there are various 
other lines. The plains are netted with roads, and there are roads, in 
general mere cattle tracks, in the Cordillera also. 

The Chief Towns of Chile. — Santiago (33 0 30* S.), the capital, is 
situated at the foot of the spurs of the Andes, on the banks of the little 
river Mapocho, which flows through the town in a stone channel 130 feet 
wide, and on the eastern border of an extensive and fertile plain watered 
by canals from the river Maipo. The town rests upon a firm subsoil of 
great depth covered by deep layers of vegetable mould. The streets of 
Santiago are wide, straight and laid out at right angles. The steep slope 
from east to west facilitates drainage, and ensures the good sanitary 
conditions of the town. Its special features are the Santa-Lucia hill, a 
picturesque rocky eminence 230 feet high, close to the business quarter, 
which has been converted into a handsome promenade, and the Alameda, 
an avenue over a hundred yards wide and two miles long, which is the 
chief highway. Santiago possesses the State University, beside numerous 
establishments for technical and superior instruction. 

Valparaiso (33 0 S.) is the chief port on the west coast of South America. 
It is the terminus of im- 
portant lines of steamers 
for Europe via the 
Strait of Magellan and 
Panama, and the centre 
of the coasting services. 

It contains a numerous 
foreign colony, com- 
posed chiefly of British, 

German and French 
traders. The harbour 
is well sheltered on the 
south and south-west, 
but is completely open 
on the north ; as a 
matter of fact, however, the wind seldom blows from that quarter. There 
is a Custom House wharf, alongside which steamers of ordinary tonnage 
can moor ; but most of the loading is done by lighters from a quay sur- 
rounding the town. The whole of the harbour is defended by modern, 
well-mounted batteries. 

Iquique (20° S.), built in the middle of the desert, is the most important 
port on the Tarapaca coast for the shipment of nitrate. This town has, 
among other great public works, a supply of drinkable water brought down 
from the Cordillera by a large canal. Copiapo (27 0 S.) is now insignificant, 
but it was formerly, when silver commanded a high price, a silver-mining 



848 The International Geography 

centre of very great importance. The Copiapo valley, though narrow, is 
very fertile, and is the most northerly point of Chile to which agriculture 
has been carried. La Serena (30° S.), situated close to one of the best 
Chilean ports, Coquimbo , is the chief town of a province boasting a most 
delightful climate, but owing its importance to its mineral wealth, and its 
numerous metallurgical establishments. 

Concepcion (36° 20' S.), situated at the mouth of the Biobio, the largest 
river in Chile, is the commercial centre of the whole southern region as 
far as the river Cautin, about 38° 30' S. A railway connects it with 
Santiago ; with old Araucania, an agricultural, wooded region of consider- 
able importance ; and with the coal-bearing coast region to the south. 
The port of Concepcion is at Talcahuano, situated in the beautiful and 
extensive bay of Concepcion. Talcahuano has a first-rate dry dock, built 
of stone, round which a large military port is being constructed. For the 
defence of the bay modern batteries have recently been erected. Chilian 
is the centre of a large trade in cattle, chiefly cattle and horses. Talca 
(34 0 40' S.) is an inland town, situated in the middle of the old agricultural 
district, the natural outlet of which, before the trunk railway was built, 
was the port of Constitucion, at the mouth of the river Maule. 

Valdivia (40° S.) at the mouth of the Calle-Calle and Puerto-Montt in the 
Gulf of Reloncavi, are two important ports of the southern region ; their 
development is due chiefly to the German colonists who settled in that 
part of the country about 1850. Punta Arenas (53° S.) is the capital and 
only town in the territory of Magallanes, which now contains a little 
over 5,000 inhabitants. The breeding of animals producing wool is the 
chief industry in this region, but there is a little gold-mining. In the 
western archipelago seal-hunting is carried on on a large scale. Punta 
Arenas being situated in the middle of the Strait of Magellan, is, in spite 
of its remoteness, a calling station for European steamers. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Chile (square miles) 

Area inhabited before 1880 

Population of Chile 

Density of Population per square mile 


1885. 

. 293,000 

115,000 
. 2,527,000 

9 

1895. 

. . 293,000 

.. 1 15,000 

. . 2,980,000 

.. 10 


POPULATION OF 

CHIEF TOWNS. 


Santiago 
Valparaiso . . 
Concepcion. . 

1895. 1898. 

256,400 . . 302,000 

122,500 .. 140,000 

40,000 . . 50,000 

Talca . . 
Iquique 

1885. 

. . 33.200 

. . 33,000 

1895. 

. . 40,000 

33,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 


Imports 

Exports 


1871-75. 

6.930.000 

6.440.000 

1881-85. 

8,755,000 

10,706,000 

1891-95. 

12.444.000 

11.603.000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Espinoza. “J eo ^ ra ^ a de Chile.” With Maps. Santiago. 

‘•Sinopsis Jaografia Estadistica de Chile.” (Published annually by the Bureau of Statistics. 
Santiago. 

Agustin Ross. “ The Trade between Chile and Great Britain.” 1892. 

Barros Arana. “ Historia Jeneral de Chile.” (Seventeen volumes already issued). Santiago 
W. A. Smith. “ Temperate Chile.” London, 1899. 


CHAPTER XLV.-THE RIO DE LA PLATA 

COUNTRIES 


I.— THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC 

By H. D. Hoskold, F.G.S., 

Director-General of the Department of Mines and Geology, Argentine Republic. 

Position and Extent. — Argentina, or the Argentine Republic, termi- 
nates the South American continent, being situated between the parallels of 
22 ° and 55° S. From the apex at Cape Horn to the Island of Martin Garcia, 
in 34° S., and 58° W., it is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and 
the Rio de la Plata or River Plate ; and further north its north-eastern and 
northern limits are determined by the republics of Uruguay, Brazil, Para- 
guay and Bolivia. The western limit, forming the boundary with Chile, 
runs from 23 0 S. to 43 0 S. along the high summits of the Cordillera of the 
Andes where it coincides with the continental watershed ; from 43 0 S. to 
52 0 S. it continues in some places along the mountains of the Cordillera, 
in others along the continental watershed close to the eastern foot of the 
Andes. The boundary between Bolivia and Argentina was delimited by a 
mixed commission in 1903. The country has been constitutionally divided 
into fourteen Federal Provinces, and the less developed regions have 
been divided into nine Territories. Six of the first-named are mining 
and agricultural, and others are purely agricultural provinces. From 
38° S. southward, the east coast is usually low but irregular in level. 
It is much indented, forming various important bays such as Bahia 
Blanca, the Gulf of San Matias, and those of San Jorge, Deseado, 
San Julian, and others. The principal ports are at Buenos Aires, Bahia 
Blanca, and La Plata ; they are of artificial construction, and suffi- 
ciently large to accommodate an immense shipping traffic. The military 
port of Bahia Blanca is in construction, and other ports are projected along 
the Argentine coast, but natural harbours are few. No special trigono- 
metrical survey has, as yet, been attempted by the government, but the 
great meridianal extent of the country (more than 33 0 of latitude) would 
give especial scientific interest to an exact survey which might throw new 
light on the figure of the Earth. 

Surface and Configuration. — The surface is naturally divided into 
extensive tracts of low and nearly level land, and elevated regions. The 
plains extend from Buenos Aires northwards to the Chaco, westward to the 
town of Mendoza, and southward through Patagonia ; but their monotony 
is relieved by various small chains or groups of mountain ranges, such as 
those of San Luis, Cordoba, Tandil, Ventana, Pampa Central, Rio Negro, 
and Chubut, which divide up the plains. Minor groups of hills also occupy 

849 


850 The International Geography 

small areas in the western portion of the province of Entre Rios, and San- 
tiago del Estero. The foot-hills and slopes of the Andes form extensive 
groups or chains of mountains of great altitude, occupying large areas of 
the provinces of Tucuman, Salta, Jujuy, Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan, and 
Mendoza. This system of mountain chains extends southward, especially 
in the western portion of the national territories of Neuquen, Rio Negro, 
Chubut, Santa Cruz, and also in Tierra del Fuego. In the north-eastern 
portion of the republic, in the territory of Misiones, extensive but lower 
highlands occur, a continuation of the eastern mountain system of Brazil. 
The highest mountains rise along the Andean Cordillera, the culminating 
summit of which is Aconcagua (23,080 feet). The immense rocky mass 
of the Andes, with its various ramifications, covers a large area both of 
the Argentine and Chilean republics. The Andean provinces of the 
Argentine Republic are very rugged and broken, leading up to the Crest- 
line which is divided by various passes, and abounding in profound gorges. 

Geology. — The Andean region has been subject to various depres- 
sions and elevations, the last occurring at the close of the Tertiary period. 
Denudation has removed from the Argentine Andes a great thickness of 
rock, leaving the gneiss and granite visible over large areas. The usual 
intrusive rocks are common, and patches of Jurassic, Rhaetic, Triassic and 
Silurian exist in places. The Tertiary underlies the Pampean, and is seen 
along the banks of the Parana, in Entre Rios, Cordoba, Corrientes, along 
the Patagonian coast, Strait of Magellan, and Tierra del Fuego. Masses 
of basalt occur inland along the river Santa Cruz. The Tertiary is believed 
to meet the Pampean formation along the Rio Negro. The geology of the 
northern and north-eastern part of the republic is little known, no official 
geological map having, as yet, been made. 

Rivers and Lakes. — The principal rivers are the Parana and Uruguay, 
uniting to form the great estuary of La Plata. Further north, the Parana 
takes the name of Paraguay, the chief tributaries being the Pilcomayo (the 
boundary of the republic towards Paraguay), and Bermejo, from the 
Andes, each of which receives various smaller streams. The province of 
Cordoba is watered by the rivers Primero, Segundo, Cuarto, and Tercero, 
the last named joining the Carcarana, a tributary of the Parana. The river 
San Juan, flowing from the Andes, is joined by the Mendoza, Diamante and 
Atuel, and enters the river Colorado which flows into the Atlantic Ocean 
south of Bahia Blanca. The Neuquen and Limay are tributaries of the 
Rio Negro, running parallel to the Colorado further south, and also 
falling into the Atlantic. Patagonia is drained by the rivers Chubut, 
Santa Cruz and Gallegos. The lakes situated along the base of the 
Andes are numerous, and some of them very beautiful, such as Lake 
Nahuel-Huapi, one of the sources of the Rio Negro, and especially Lake 
Fontana, a source of the southern affluent of the Chubut. Other lakes of 
a different type occur on the lower ground, many of them, such as the 
large Mar Chiquita in the province of Cordoba, being without outlet. 


Argentine 851 

Climate. — The Argentine Republic may be divided into four zones of 
varying temperature. The first includes the low plains of the north, situated 
between the parallels of 22 0 and 31^° S., and is of a tropical character; the 
second comprises the section of the plain from 31^° to 42 0 S., and is tempe- 
rate ; while the third, or southern part of the plain, from 42 0 to 55 0 S., is 
almost frigid. The fourth, or mountain zone, extending the length of the 
country, affords a variable climate, depending upon the seasons of the 
year, the difference of altitude and latitude. 

During summer, great heat occasionally prevails in the open, low and 
elevated plains or campos, some of which are situated as plateaux inclosed 
by high mountain chains. Some of these campos are covered to a con- 
siderable thickness with finely pulverised pumice, deposits from volcanic 
ejections, which causes the heat to accumulate and become almost unbear- 
able. The northern divisions of the plain, including Buenos Aires, Santa 
Fe, Entre Rios, Corrientes and Chaco, are not subject to anything like 
severe winters. From Buenos Aires, southward, the hot season is modified 
by the influence of the Atlantic Ocean and by thunderstorms. Generally 
the provinces are very healthy and the people take no harm from sleeping 
in the open, a very common practice. Smallpox, yellow fever, and cholera 
are not native diseases, but have been imported from Brazil and Italy. 
Such epidemics have not been known since 1886. Since that epoch strict 
sanitary measures and great vigilance have kept Buenos Aires free. 
These regulations and the water and drainage system of the capital have 
placed Buenos Aires as a healthy city in the first rank. 

Flora and Fauna. — Extensive forests of algarroba trees (Prosopis alba), 
Quebracho, cedar, and many other varieties exist in the territories of Chaco, 
Formosa, Misiones and the provinces of Santiago del Estero, Tucuman, 
Jujuy and Salta. Several companies are established in the Chaco, converting 
the timber to commercial uses. In these forest regions there is a dense 
tropical undergrowth, consisting of shrubs, climbing, flowering and 
medicinal plants of the greatest variety. The Yerba-mate from Misiones 
has great commercial value, the leaves being collected and used in the 
same manner as tea. Nearly all the lower-level valleys in the interior 
provinces are well wooded. The open campos are generally covered 
with a stunted thorny scrub, almost impenetrable ; but frequently mixed 
with algarobas. Cardone ( Cacti gigantia) grows on the mountain slopes 
of La Rioja, and in some other places. The western mountains running 
southwards through the territories of Neuquen, Rio Negro, Chubut and 
Santa Cruz, are covered with dense forests, including several varieties of 
beeches and pine, from a considerable height down to the margin of the 
plains. The mountains surrounding the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del 
Fuego are covered with immense forests of beech. Winter-bark trees 
( Drimys winter ! ) are common in these regions, and various shrubs yielding 
edible berries. Orchids of great beauty and variety are also plentiful. The 
gigantic seaweed, Alga macrocystis, is common on the southern coasts and 
56 


852 The International Geography 


Tierra del Fuego. Such fruit trees as are common to Europe are found 
here in great abundance, including various tropical fruits such as orange., 
lemon and other trees. Grapes of all kinds are cultivated extensively, 
and wine is made. Yet, in spite of these extensive woodlands, the 
central parts of the Argentine Republic are almost treeless, forming vast 
level expanses of grass land known as pampas, admirably adapted for 
cattle raising, and possessed in many parts of a fertile soil repaying 
cultivation. 

The principal wild animals are American tiger ( jaguar ) and lion {puma), 
species of wolf, fox, mountain cat, guanaco, vicuna, and chinchilla. Two 
kinds of bears are reported to exist in the northern parts. Several species 
of deer, the tapir, ant-eater, a very small armadillo, and a great variety of 
monkeys also occur. The condor of the Andes is the chief bird of prey, and 
the falcon family is largely represented. The large American ostrich and a 
smaller representative of the same family in Patagonia are numerous. 
Parrots, paroquets, and humming birds are remarkable for their number, 
variety and beauty. Fish abound in the rivers and lakes. Amongst 
insects, probably the blood-sucking vinchuca {Conovhinus infestans ), in the 
western provinces and in the Chaco, a small red insect that penetrates- 
under the nails and skin, are the most odious. 

People and History.— The ruins of ancient buildings and pottery 

have been discovered proving that at least one of the 
tribes of Indians inhabiting South America possessed 
a high degree of civilisation, and it is possible that this 
tribe represented the original inhabitants. At the 
conquest in the sixteenth century the Spaniards mixed 
to a great extent with the Indians, the consequences 
of which are still to be traced. The admixture of 
Fig. 409. — Average pop- Indian blood is not so marked in the Argentine as in 
idation Of a square some of the surrounding republics, a fact due prin- 
nue O rgen ma. cipally to the great influx of immigrants from all Euro- 

pean nations. The country gained its independence in 1810, and was formed 
into a federal republic. The legislative affairs are managed by a Congress, 
formed of Senators and Deputies from all parts of the republic, and the 
President and his Ministers form the adminis- 



trative power. The national and offlcial language ° ' i 

is Spanish, but many others are spoken in the 
large towns. The State religion is Roman Catholic, 
but all others are tolerated. The Government is 
based upon liberal, tolerant and equitable princi- 
ples, and although the two classes of government, T - 

Federal and Provincial, at one time gave rise to Fig. 410 . — The Argentine 
internal aggressions and civil strife, this has long Flag ' 

since ceased to be the case. Foreigners may become citizens at pleasure, 
but there is no legal compulsion. 



Fig. 410 . — The Argentine 
Flag. 


Argentine 853 

Communications and Resources. — The level surface of the eastern 
and central plains has led to a great development of railways, bringing the 
chief provincial towns into touch with the capital and chief seaport, Buenos 
Aires. The vast area of good unoccupied land promises great future pros- 
perity when the resources 
of the country are fully 
utilised. 

Economic minerals of 
nearly all kinds exist ; those 
most abundant are copper 
ores mixed with gold and 
silver ; auriferous mine- 
rals, silver, antimony, lead, 
tin, bismuth, iron ore, 
coal, salt, nitrates, borax, 
marbles, sulphur and pe- 
troleum also abound. In 
the provinces of Jujuy, La 
Rioja, and San Luis, and 
in the territories of Neu- 
quen, Chubut, and along 
the Patagonian and Tierra 
del Fuegian coasts, there 
are alluvial gold deposits. 

Agriculture is followed 
to a considerable extent ; 
and so is stock raising, 
large herds of cattle and 
immense flocks of sheep 
being kept. Various estab- 
lishments are engaged in the preservation of meat, and the preparation of 
meat-extracts, cheese and butter. The staple exports consist of live 
animals, wool, corn, meats, hides, timber, sugar and minerals. 

The Littoral Provinces. — The fourteen federal provinces of the 
republic may be conveniently grouped into the Littoral or Coast Provinces 
on the sea coast or on the great navigable rivers, the Central Provinces, the 
Andean Provinces in the west, and the Northern Provinces. As a rule the 
capital of each province bears the same name, and is the focus of the com- 
mercial as well as of the social provincial life. In addition to these pro- 
vinces, and making up fully two-thirds of the area of the country, are the 
nine large thinly-peopled national territories, situated to the north and the 
south of the compact group of the provinces. 

Buenos Aires is the capital of the republic, situated on the right bank of 
the river Plate in 34-^° S. and 58-J- 0 W v and only 33 feet above sea-level. 
It possesses a large port sufficient for the accommodation of a great trade ; 



Fig. 41 i . — The Railway System of Argentina. 



854 The International Geography 

the construction of the harbour on so shallow a shore was an engineering 
feat of no little difficulty. It contains many elegant public buildings, and 

is the principal centre of 
the railways and commerce 
of the country. The affairs 
of the national government 
are carried on in this city, 
the cosmopolitan character 
of which is indicated by 
nearly all the languages of 
the world being spoken. 
The large and handsome 
squares which embellish it, 
are adorned with com- 
memorative monuments to 
departed heroes and illus- 
trious persons. La Plata 
is the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, one of the largest in the 
Federation, and is situated in 35 0 S. and 58° W. It is a very handsome 
town, with a port ; its prosperity depends upon general commerce and the 
produce of the province, which is principally agricultural. Rosario , in the 
province of Santa Fe, on the margin of the river Parana, stands in 33 0 S. 
and 6o|° W. It is an important city, and a great railway centre. Its exports 
are shipped direct to Europe, competing in some measure with the trade 
of Buenos Aires, as it is the principal river port not only for its own 
province but for others surrounding it. Santa Fe , the capital city of the 
province of the same name, is also situated on the Parana, but further up 
the river, at an altitude of 393 feet above sea-level; it also has a port. 
Agriculture, stock raising, and the production of fruit, corn, butter and 
cheese are the staple industries of the province. Parana , on the left 
bank of the Parana river, opposite Santa Fe, is the capital of the pro- 
vince of Entre Rios, which, as its name implies, occupies the land 
between the rivers Parana and Uruguay. It is generally level, but undu- 
lating, or even mountainous in parts, and is well watered. Agriculture and 
stock raising are carried on extensively. It exports corn, cheese, butter and 
live stock, and is in a very flourishing condition. Corrientes, on the Parana, 
is the capital of Corrientes, north of Entre Rios and the most easterly 
province of the republic. Like the other provinces of this group it is 
devoted to agricultural pursuits. The territory of Misiones stretches to 
the north-east, between Brazil and Paraguay. 

Central Provinces. — Cordoba city is situated in a depression of an 
undulating plain in 31-J 0 S. and 64° W., 1,440 feet above sea-level. It is 
very irregularly built, but it has a university and a cathedral, while the 
national astronomical observatory is situated upon a rise overlooking the 
city. It is supported chiefly by commerce, some agriculture, stock raising 



Fig. 412 . — Plan of Buenos Aires. 


Argentine 855 

and mining ; the mines, however, are not much worked. At no great distance 
it is surrounded by mountains of moderate height, but the valleys between 
them are well watered, with woods and patches of beautiful scenery. The 
Northern Railway passes through the city on its way from Buenos Aires 
and Rosario to Tucuman and Salta. San Luis town, situated almost due 
east of Mendoza on the Western Railway, is the capital of the province of 
San Luis, a stretch of undulating land west of Cordoba and intermediate 
between the plain and mountains. It carries on mining, agriculture and 
stock raising. Santiago is the capital of the province of Santiago del 
Estero, north of Cordoba. The position of the town is 28° S. and 64° W., 
and its elevation is 530 feet above sea-level. It is mainly an agricultural 
province, but suffers as yet from inadequate means of transport. 

Andean Provinces. — Mendoza city stands in a nearly level plain in 
32-^° S. and 69° W., 2,320 feet above the sea. Viticulture, stock raising, corn 
growing, and mining are the industries of the province, which borders on 
the Andes, and has a very small rainfall. A terrible earthquake occurred 
in 1861, destroying many buildings and causing great loss of life in the 
city. It stands on the Western Railway, which has been continued from 
Buenos Aires into the Cordillera of the Andes in order to connect with the 
Chilean lines, but is not finished. San Juan, the capital of a province of 
the same name north of Mendoza, is situated upon an almost level plain in 
30^° S. and 69° W., at an altitude of 2,165 feet. Like Mendoza, the town of 
San Juan is sheltered on the west by the Andes. It depends upon viti- 
culture, agriculture, stock raising, and mining. La Rioja is situated in 
29 0 S. and 67° W., at an altitude of 1,670 feet. The province of which it 
is the capital depends chiefly upon mining, but has some viticulture, agri- 
culture and stock raising. Its aspect is generally mountainous, with level 
plains between the descending spurs of the eastern Andes. It is connected 
by a branch line with the Northern Railway. Catamarca is the capital of 
the province north of Rioja, and stands on an undulating plain, surrounded 
at no great distance by mountains at the foot of the eastern Andes, in 
28° S. and 66£° W., 1,722 feet above sea-level. Mining, viticulture, some 
stock raising, and agriculture are carried on in this province. A branch 
of the Northern Railway from Buenos Aires reaches the town. 

Northern Provinces. — Tucuman, the capital of the smallest province 
in the Federation, is situated in 27 0 S. and 65° W., at an altitude of 1,520 
feet. Sugar cane is largely grown in the neighbourhood, and there are 
various sugar manufactories, the produce of which is largely exported. 
Maize and other grain and tobacco are grown. Ancient mines exist in the 
mountains of this province, but they are not exploited. The province con- 
tains forests of timber, and tropical undergrowth, and is traversed by the 
Northern Railway. Salta, in the valley of Lerma, is situated in 24^° S. 
and 65° W., at an altitude of 3,790 feet. Mining is carried on in the moun- 
tainous province of the same name, and also some agriculture. There are 
important forests of timber in the eastern part of the province. Coffee and 


856 The International Geography 


tobacco are grown. The province is bordered on the east by the terri- 
tories of Chaco and Formosa. Jujuy is one of the most northerly towns 
in the republic, being situated in 24 0 S. and 65^° W., on the verge of the 
tropic, but at an altitude of 4,050 feet, on an undulating plain surrounded 
by mountains. Mining is carried on in the province together with a 
certain amount of agriculture. Sugar-cane is grown extensively, as well 
as coffee and tobacco, and there are forests of timber trees. 

The Territories. — Taken as a whole one quarter of the inhabitants 
of the Argentine Republic live in the larger towns of the federal provinces. 
Of the total population in 1895 only 103,400 were returned as inhabiting 
the nine national territories (giving a density of population of o f i per 
square mile), although the total area of these territories is more than 
twice as great as that of the fifteen federal provinces which had a density 
of population exceeding 7 to the square mile. The three northern 
territories, Misiones, Chaco and Formosa, are tropical. South of the pro- 
vinces there are six territories, the Pampas and Neuquen, next to the settled 
portion, those of the Rio Negro, Chubut and Santa Cruz in Patagonia, and 
the isolated eastern half of Tierra del Fuego in the far south. 


STATISTICS. 


1869. 1895. 

Area of the Argentine Republic, square miles .. 1,135,840 .. 1,135,840 

Population of the Argentine Republic .. .. 1,877,490 .. 4,044,911 

Density of population per square mile .... 1 4 

Number of foreigners in the Republic . . . . . . 1,004,527 


1900. 

1.135,840 

4,894,149 

4 


POPULATION OF THE CHIEF TOWNS. 


Buenos Aires. . 

1895- 

. . 663,854 

1901. 

836.381 

La Plata 

1895. 

43,406 

Rosario 

.. 23,169 

112,461 

Mendoza 

28,808 

Cordoba 

. . 42,783 

50,000 

Santa Fe 

22,244 

Tucuman 

. . 34.297 

50,000 

Parana 

24,099 

Imports 

ANNUAL TRADE {in Pounds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 

• 

Exports 


. 8,700,000 . . 13,200,000 

• 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. H. Hudson. "The Naturalist in La Plata.” London, 1892. 

" Idle Days in Patagonia.” London, 1893. 

M. G. and E. T. Mulhall. “ Handbook of the River Plate." London, 1893. 
C. Wiener. La Republique Argentine.” Paris, 1899. 


1901. 

35.410 

29.500 

25.500 

25,000 


1891-95. 

19.800.000 

21.500.000 


II. — UBTJGTTAY 

By Alexander F. Baillie, 

Consul for Paraguay in London. 

Position.— The official name “ La Republica Oriental del Uruguay,” or 
Republic on the eastern bank of the river Uruguay, very clearly locates the 
position of this small South American State, lying south of Brazil between 
the 30th and 35th degrees of south latitude and 52nd and 58th degrees of 
west longitude. On three sides it is bounded by water ; on the east by the 
Atlantic Ocean, and on the south and west by the rivers Plate and Uruguay 
which form the division between it and the Argentine Republic. 


Uruguay 857 

Configuration. — The country on the coast of the Atlantic and river 
Plate may be regarded as a gently undulating plain covered with magnifi- 
cent pasture lands, well watered but sparsely timbered ; while in the 
interior it is broken by several low mountain ranges, rising to an elevation of 
little more than 2,000 feet, and the forests are larger, though the trees are 
nowhere of any great size. The mountain chains form the watershed of 
the numerous rivers that intersect the land. The Uruguay itself, from which 
the republic takes its name, has its origin in Brazil and is upwards of 1,000 
miles in length, but navigation is impeded by the lofty cascade at Salto , a 
town of some importance, situated about 20 miles below the river Arapey, 
and about the same distance above the Daiman, which are tributaries draining 
“the surrounding mountainous ranges into the main river. Other tributaries 
are the Queguay and the Rio Negro, the latter of which divides the whole 
•country from north-east to south-west into two nearly equal portions. The 
Santa Lucia and San Jose unite together and flow into the river Plate 
above Montevideo, while the Yaguaron, the Tacuari, and the Cebollati 
drain the area east of the Cuchilla Grande, and feed the great lake of 
Merim, which is partly situated in Brazil, and is a remarkable hydrographi- 
cal feature on the eastern side of the country. 

Climate and Resources. — The climate is mild and healthy. The 
cold is never excessive, and frosts are unknown ; in summer the heat is in- 
tense, but is tempered by the breezes from the Atlantic Ocean. Uruguay 
has no Indians on the frontiers to disturb the peace, and it has no ferocious 
animals to devastate its flocks and herds. It is a remarkable fact that the 
Biscacha, or Peruvian hare, which burrows the land in all directions on 
the western side of the Uruguay to the great detriment of sheep and cattle- 
farmers, has never been found on the eastern border of that river. The 
only indigenous mammal of any size is the Cervus campestris, a species of 
deer common to all the pampas of the river Plate. The capybara, or 
water-hog, is the largest rodent in the world. Birds are numerous, and 
Include ostriches ( Strutliio rhea), vultures, and carrion-feeding hawks, 
great numbers of ground-partridges ( Northura major), and a variety of 
song birds, among which the most remarkable is a mocking-bird called 
by the inhabitants a Calandria.” The rich undulating pasture lands are 
well adapted for the breeding of vast herds of horned cattle, which are 
said to be larger, and to carry a heavier hide than those in the neigh- 
bouring Argentina, on account of the phosphates and alkaline silicates 
in the soil, but the sheep are smaller, and the wool inferior in quality. 
Moreover the plains are better timbered than the true pampa of Buenos 
Aires, and the trees, although stunted and of small value in themselves, 
afford protection to the herds from the great heat of the sun. The breed- 
ing and slaughtering of cattle are the most important occupations of the 
inhabitants, for very little has been done in the promotion of agriculture. 
Paysandu, on the river Uruguay, and Montevideo, the capital, are the great 
centres of the “ Saladero " business. At the former, about 250,000 head of 


858 The International Geography 



cattle are killed annually, and the carcases are prepared to meet the 
requirements of the different markets to which they are consigned. “Carne 
seca,” or sun-dried beef, is largely exported to Brazil, while corned-beef and 
tinned ox-tongues find a ready sale in Europe. At Fray Bentos, south of 
Paysandu, there are large establishments for the manufacture of extracts of 
meat, which, with hides, tallow, horns, bone-ash, wool and sheep skins, are 
the principal articles of export trade 

Gold, silver, iron and copper ores occur over a large area. The riverine 
department of Salto yields jasper, porphyry, alabaster and agate, which 
are exported, chiefly to Germany. 

People and Government. — The original stock of the present popu- 
lation of Uruguay differed widely from that of the neighbouring republics. 

The latter are inhabited by races which have sprung 
from the alliances of the European conquerors with 
the aborigines, but the early settlers in the Banda 
Oriental were already a mixed race at the time of 
their advent. The City of Montevideo was founded 
in 1717, as a military outpost, by the Royal Governor 
of Buenos Aires, and so remained until 1726, when 

„ „ a large immigration from the Canary Islands took 

FlG. 413 . — Average popu- 0 r , , f , 

lation of a square mile place. I he inhabitants of these islands were des- 
of Uruguay. cendants of Spaniards and of the native “ Guanoes/’' 

mingled also with Norman, Flemish and Moorish blood. The aboriginal 
Guanchos were a brave, peaceful shepherd race, who regarded the trade 
of “ butcher ” as being so degrading and ignominious, that no member 
engaged in that occupation was permitted to associate with his fellow 
countrymen. The fact is noteworthy, seeing that the descendants of 
these people are probably the greatest cattle-slaughterers in the world. 
In 1821 the country was annexed by the Empire of Brazil, but in 1828 
its independence was recognised, and was guaranteed by the British 
Government. Of the people 70 per cent, are native born, the residue 
consisting of Europeans of several nationalities, but chiefly Italian. 

Government and Towns. — The administration consists of two 
Houses of Parliament, the Senate and the Chamber 
of Representatives, and the Executive is given by 
the Constitution to a President who is elected for 
four years. Uruguay is, however, one of the worst 
governed of all the civilised nations of the world. 

The administration is in the hands of a few indi- 
viduals who have the control of the army, and who 
make and unmake the Presidents, of whom no 
less than three have been assassinated during 
30 years. The language spoken is Spanish, and the State religion is Roman 
Catholic, but there is complete toleration. The republic is divided into 
nineteen departments. 


3 _ 

* 

llpT 






i 


FlG. 414 . — The Uruguay 
Flag. 


Paraguay 859 

Montevideo, the capital, takes its name from the Cerro, or Mount, which 
stands at the extremity of a semicircular bay. The city is built on a 
promontory between the bay and the estuary of the river Plate. If a 
breakwater, which is urgently required, could be constructed for the pro- 
tection of shipping, it 
would become one of the 
most important cities 
on the eastern coast of 
South America. The 
largest inland town is 
San Jose, 50 miles from 
the capital, and Colonia 
on the river Plate, Pay- 
sa n d u, Sa I to, Fray Ben tos, 
and Santa Rosa, all do a 
considerable trade, but 
in no case does the 
population of any one 
of them exceed 5,000. 

The means of communication in the southern districts of the State are 
fairly good — more than 1,000 miles of railway are open to traffic, and the 
more distant northern towns are connected with the railway termini by 
means of coaches. There are also over 4,000 miles of telegraph lines. 

STATISTICS [estimates). 

Area of Uruguay in square miles 

Approximate population (1896) 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Montevideo 

Imports in dollars (1892-96) 

Exports „ „ 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

“ Handbook of Uruguay” (Bureau of American Republics). Washington, 1892. 

R. L. Lomba. “ La Republica Oriental del Uruguay.” Montevideo, 1884. 

W. H. Hudson. "The Purple Land that England Lost : Banda Oriental.” London, 1885. 


71,700 

840.000 
12 

243.000 

22.000. 000 

30.000. 000 



III.— PARAGUAY 

By Alexander F. Baillie, 

Consul for Paraguay in London . 

Position and Extent. — The name Paraguay was at one time applied 
to a very large portion of “the gigantic province of the Indies,” as the 
Spanish possessions in South America were generally entitled in the reign of 
the Emperor Charles V. It formed a province of the Viceroyalty of Peru 
and included parts of the present republics of Bolivia and Brazil, and the 
whole of the vast area between those countries and the rock-bound coast 


86o The International Geography 



FIG. 416 . — The Paraguay 
Flag 


of Patagonia. International treaties, and armed conflicts, have from time 
-to time reduced its limits, but its area is still considerably larger than 
that of Great Britain and Ireland. The country lies on both sides of 

the river Paraguay ; the eastern portion of Para- 
guay proper, which is nearly in the shape of 
a parallelogram, lies between latitude 22 0 and 
27 0 S. and longitude 54 0 and 58° W., while the 
triangular figure of Western Paraguay, or the 
Gran Chaco, extends from 25 0 to 21 0 S., and in 
longitude from 58° W. to an undetermined 
dividing line supposed to be about 62° W. The 
country is surrounded on the north and north- 
cast respectively by Bolivia and Brazil, and on the south and west by the 
Argentine Republic. 

Configuration and Rivers. — On the eastern frontier of Paraguay 
proper the low Sierra de Amambay stretches from north to south ; it is 
-crossed from east to west by several other chains of mountains, and is 
divided about latitude 24 0 into two branches, one of which takes a 
southerly course and forms the Cordilleras of Caaguazu, of Villa Rica and 
of Los Altos, while the other proceeding in an easterly direction under the 
name of the Sierra de Mbaracayii, crosses the Parana, and by creating an 
obstacle in that river forms the celebrated cataract of La Guayra or Sete 
'Quedas. The altitude of these ranges nowhere exceeds 1,400 feet, but 
with the numerous spurs which spread from them, the whole surface of 
the country presents a continuance of undulations watered by innumerable 
rivulets and streams which in some places expand into swamps. 

The hillsides and the great plains that they surmount are covered with 
majestic forests, interspersed with rich alluvial tracts, forming magnificent 
pasture lands for large herds of horned cattle, and offering vast areas of 
fertile soil for the cultivation of many of the most valuable products of the 
tropical and temperate zones. The Chaco, or Western Paraguay, has only 
been partially explored, and would appear to be an immense and fertile 
plain, with very few elevations, and large areas subject to frequent inunda- 
tions. The great rivers Parana and Paraguay are the principal features in the 
hydrography of the country. They both rise in Brazil, and for a consider- 
able distance flow in parallel courses from north to south on either side of 
Paraguay proper. The Parana is by far the larger, but is only navigable 
for a distance of 250 miles, while the Paraguay is accessible to vessels of 
light draught to a point 1,200 miles from the sea. The Paraguay receives 
numerous tributaries, the principal on the left bank being the Apa, Aqui- 
daban, I pane, and Tebicuari, which are useful for the transport of forest 
produce by boat and rafts, from short distances in the interior. Those 
on the right bank are the Rio Verde, Araguay, Confuso and Pilcomayo. 

Climate of Paraguay. — The climate is hot and dry, but the winds, 
which are very variable have a great effect on the temperature. From 


Paraguay 86 1 

the south and south-west they are cool and refreshing, and the most trying 
are those from the north and north-east. In summer the temperature some- 
times rises to ioo° F., but seldom exceeds it, and the mean is 85° to 
90°. In winter, that is to say from May to August, the mean is 62° to 65°, 
and sometimes it falls as low as 40°. Throughout the year, some sort of 
covering is required during the night, and in winter a thick blanket is 
very necessary. There is no fixed rainy season, but the fall is greater 
during the summer months, September to April, than in the winter, and 
offers the great advantage of neutralising the effects of the rapid evapo- 
ration produced by the rays of the sun in the hottest period of the year. 

Flora and Fauna of Paraguay. — The country is so highly favoured 
by nature, and its innate resources are so great that when for some 
twenty-six years it remained under the remarkable tyranny of the dictator, 
Dr. Francia, and was prohibited from holding intercourse with other 
nations, it was not only self-supporting, but actually accumulated wealth. 
Its vast forests furnish timber in infinite variety adapted for all pur- 
poses, and unrivalled for elasticity, hardness and durability ; textile and 
medicinal plants grow spontaneously ; dye-woods, gums, cotton, indigo 
and india-rubber are found in their natural state; and groves of orange 
trees yield fruit unsurpassable in size and flavour ; while wherever culti- 
vation is attempted sugar-cane, tobacco, rice, mandioca, maize and many 
•other products are raised in profusion. Yerba-mate ( Ilex Paraguaiensis), 
or Paraguay tea, is a natural product of the soil, and is extensively consumed 
throughout South America. The gathering employs a large number of 
labourers, and the export tax placed upon it, adds considerably to the 
revenue of the State. 

Animal life is abundant. Of wild animals, the jaguar, puma, tapir and 
ocelot are the most formidable, and deer of several species, wild boars 
and peccaries, the more numerous. The woods are full of monkeys ; and 
there are said to be upwards of 450 distinct species of birds, the largest of 
which is the rhea, or American ostrich, and the smallest the viudita, a 
little parrot about the size of a canary. Brilliant macaws and jays, toucans 
with their enormous beaks, wild turkeys, and several distinct species of 
partridge are common. Alligators and carpinchos bask in the sun on 
the banks of the rivers and lakes, and fish of many kinds swarm in the 
waters. Snakes are both numerous and venomous. A remarkable feature 
of the inland waters is the existence of enormous water-serpents, which 
have been known to upset canoes, and drag the occupants below the 
surface. 

The mineral resources of the country have never been carefully examined. 
.A little gold is found, probably washed down from the province of Matto 
Grosso, in Brazil ; but copper occurs in some places, and iron and man- 
ganese are spread over large areas. 

People and History. — The indigenous inhabitants were tribes of the 
widespread Guarani nation, and were conquered in 1536 by a Spanish 



862 The International Geography 

expedition under the command of Juan de Ayolas, a lieutenant of Sebas- 
tian Cabot. Two remarkable incidents in the history of the republic have 

attracted world-wide attention ; the domination of the 
Jesuits (1609-1767), and the long dictatorship of Gaspar 
de Francia (1816-1840). In 1865 a disastrous war 
was commenced with the allied forces of Brazil, the 
Argentine Republic, and Uruguay, which brought the 
country to the verge of ruin, and only terminated in 
1870. The present form of Government is that of a 
Fig 417 .—Average popn- democratic republic ruled by a President who is 

% U paragiiay iare e ^ ec ^ e< ^ f° r f° ur y ears > an d a Congress consisting of a 

Senate and Chamber of Deputies elected by universal 
suffrage. The religion of the State is Roman Catholic, but all forms of 
worship are tolerated. Education is free and compulsory. 

Trade and Towns. — The principal industries are the distillation of 
spirits from sugar-cane ; the fabrication of liqueurs, essences, oils, soaps 
and tans ; the manufacture of cigars, earthenware, bricks and furniture ; 
and the raising of herds of cattle. Hides, both green and dried, horns, 
bones and horse-hair are largely exported, and also tobacco, oranges, 
timber barks and yerba-mate, but the greater part of the products are 
introduced to the European markets as proceeding from the River Plate. 
Asuncion, the capital, is extremely well situated on the left bank of the 
Paraguay, which at this point is a thousand yards broad, in latitude 25 0 
S. Other towns of lesser importance are Villa Rica, Villa Concepcion and 
Villa del Pilar. The total population, exclusive of the Indians of the Chaco, 
is 450,000. There is a regular service of steam vessels between the ports 
of the River Plate and Asuncion, and communications with the interior 
are maintained by means of the rivers, and by several good trunk-roads. 
There is also a railway 150 miles in length connecting Asuncion and Villa 
Rica, the second town of the Republic, and then diverging in a southerly 
direction towards the Parana with a view to its ultimately joining the 
Argentine railway system. 


STATISTICS ( Estimates ). 


Area of Paraguay in square miles 

Population 

Density of population per square mile 

Population of Asuncion 

„ Villa Rica 


140.000 

450.000 
32 

45.000 

19.000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in 1896). 

Imports, £492,000. Exports, £454,000. 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. F. Baillie. “A Paraguayan Treasure.” London, 1887. 

A. M. Du Gratz. “ La Republique du Paraguay.” Brussels, 1862. 

"Handbook of Paraguay” (Bureau of American Republics, Washington). 

" La Republique du Paraguay” (Prepared for the Brussels International Exhibition, 1897). 
E. Bourgade La Dardye. " Paraguay.” Pans, 1889, and translation, London, 1892. 


The Falkland Islands 


863 


IV.— THE FALKLAND ISLANDS 


By the Editor. 1 


... 


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W i 




* v \ • : •. • . ; • :••• • . vv; •: 

ipM 

tfK 

. • . •>^•9 ‘ ; . v 

; : • ;• ••*£ ' *.’• ; v • 

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Fig. 418 . — The Falkland Islands. 


Position and Physical Features. — The Falkland Islands rise on 
the margin of the continental shelf of South America, east of the Strait of 
Magellan, between 51 0 and 53 0 S., and 480 miles north-east of Cape Horn. 

The coasts are generally low and very much indented, especially on the 
outer sides of the principal islands where 
they are broken up into a number of 
jagged peninsulas, separating deep arms 
of the sea. East Falkland is almost cut in 
two by opposite gulfs, the connecting 
isthmus being only four or five miles wide. 

The surface is wild, rugged, in parts hilly, 
or even mountainous, rising in Mount 
Adam on West Falkland to over 2,300 feet. 

Quartz rock predominates in the higher 
parts, and clay slate in the lower, and 
among the geological puzzles of the islands 
are “ stone rivers/’ lines of broken stones 

which in the course of time gradually make their way down hill without 
the aid of water. Peat is abundant and furnishes fuel. There are no 
trees, shrubs being the largest form of vegetation. Tussac grass growing 
in clumps to a height of six or seven feet, forms the characteristic feature 
of the flora, still abundant in the islets, though in the larger islands it has 
almost disappeared. There are extensive tracts of moorland, on which a 
species of cowberry takes the place of heather ; grain and vegetables are 
scarcely cultivable. The only indigenous four-footed animal is a species 
of fox. Cattle, horses and sheep have been introduced. The last are now 
reared in large numbers, and constitute the chief wealth of the colony. 
Penguins and other sea-fowl are very numerous, and 
fish abound off the coasts. 

The climate, although not cold, is raw, and the 
summers are not genial. The mean annual temperature 
is about 42 0 , and often lower, with a mean range between 
30° and 65°; the rainfall does not exceed 30 inches 
annually, but rain falls on two days out of every three 
and mist frequently prevails. Strong gales often occur. 

History and Government. — The islands were 
discovered by Davis in 1592, but it was not until the latter part of the 
eighteenth century that any attempt was made at colonisation. French, 
Spaniards and English successively essayed to form settlements, and the 
islands were seized now by one, now by another of the rival Powers. At 

1 Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 



Fig. 419 . — Badge of 
the Falkland Islands. 


864 The International Geography 

last, in 1833, they were permanently taken possession of by the British 
Government for the protection of the whale and seal fishery in the 
Southern Ocean, and they were for some time used as a convict station. 
The Government is that of a Crown Colony. The inhabitants are almost 
entirely of European origin. The principal means of intercommunication 
is by water, for which the peninsular character of the islands affords great 
facilities. The islands are mainly of importance as a station for refitting 
and provisioning ships on the boisterous passage round Cape Horn. 
Sheep farming is the only important industry, and furnishes the staple 
export — wool, that of frozen mutton is increasing ; the minor exports, 
hides, tallow, &c., are derived from the same source. Trade, which is in 
the hands of one company, is almost exclusively with the United Kingdom. 

Stanley, the capital, seat of government, and only town, is situated on a 
nearly land-locked harbour on the north-east of East Falkland. There 
are facilities for repairing vessels. Port Darwin , a village on Darwin 
Harbour, at the head of Choiseul Sound, commemorates in its name the 
visit of Darwin, during the voyage of the Beagle in 1833. 

South Georgia, an inhospitable and generally ice-bound land, with no 
permanent inhabitants, is a distant dependency of the Falkland Islands. 
It was discovered in 1675 by a French navigator, La Roche, and exactly 
100 years later was taken possession of for the British crown, and named 
after the king. A German astronomical expedition visited it in 1882 to 
observe the transit of Venus, and remained till the following year. 

STATISTICS. 



1881. 

1891. 

1901. 

Area of Falkland Islands in square miles. . 

. . 6,500 

6,500 

6,500 

Population of Falkland Islands 


1,789 

2,043 

Density of population per square mile . . 

• 1 0 2 • • 

03 

03 

Population of Stanley 


694 

916 


CHAPTER XLVI. — THE UNITED STATES OF 

BRAZIL 


By J. Batalha-Reis. 


Name, Position and Extent. — The word Brazil comes from brasil, 
brisil, or verzino, the name of a dye-wood used in Europe in the Middle 
Ages, and applied to another dye-wood found in the American forests,. 
The United States of Brazil occupy about one-half of South America, and 
extend across seven-eighths of its greatest breadth. The country is 
twenty-seven times as large as the United Kingdom, and larger than all 
Australia or the whole of Europe. It lies almost entirely between the 
tropics, and is crossed by the equator. Brazil and the territories included 
by the Plata- Paraguay, as shown in the accompanying maps, reproduce 
exactly the outline of the whole continent. 

Orography and Hydrography.— Brazil is made up of highlands 
occupying 700,000 square 
miles, and forming an 
“ Island,” as it were, sur- 
rounded on the north- 
east and east by the 
Atlantic Ocean, and on 
the north-west and west 
by the continuous valleys 
of rivers, the Amazon- 
Madeira-Guapore, and 
the Paraguay - Parana- 
Plata ; and by lowlands 
comprising a large part 
of these valleys (the 
Amazon basin having an 
area of 1,900,000 square 
miles), including the 
southern slopes of the 
Guiana Mountains. The 
harbour of Rio de Janeiro, in the middle of the Atlantic coast of the 
Brazilian “ Island,” is the centre of a real mountainous region, the highest 
part of which, probably the highest of Brazil, the Itatiaia (Mantiqueira), is 
under 10,000 feet. This region is the last remnant of a colossal moun- 
tain mass, the worn-down fragments of which have formed the sur- 
rounding lands. The highlands grouped as water-partings, either stretching 

865 



p to 650ft. 

States • Matto Grosso 


Fig. 420 . — Configuration and Hydrography of Brazil. 


866 The International Geography 

parallel to and along the sea-coasts, or diverging towards the interior, 
may be considered as forming three connected systems, the names of 
which often correctly characterise their geographical functions : — 

(i) The Sea Mountains ( Serras do Mar) or General Range ( Serra Geral), 
form the south-eastern slopes of the great plateau of the Brazilian Island, 
towards a strip of lowland along the Atlantic. (2) The Backbone 
(. EspinhafO ), or Axis ( Espigao ), or Serra Central , is an extension of the 
Mantiqueira, and therefore of the maritime highlands southward towards 
the Uruguay, and northward in the basin of the Sao Francisco, which it 
separates from the rivers flowing more directly into the Atlantic. (3) The 
Water-partings (Vertentes) between north and south separate the basin of the 
Amazon-Tocantins and Sao Francisco in the north, and that of the Plata- 
Parana- Paraguay in the south. From these central highlands of the 
u Brazilian Island ” the streams run into the deep surrounding valleys. On 
the north and north-east the rivers Tocantins-Araguaya, Xingu, Tapajoz, and 

Madeira flow to the Amazon ; on the south- 
west and south the river Guapore flows to 
the Amazon, and the system of the Parana- 
Paraguay- Uruguay to the Plata. The north 
and north-east are partially drained by the 
Sao Francisco flowing to the Atlantic. The 
ancient mountainous cordillera is now worn 
down as the result of ages of denudation 
into vast plateaux, extensive elevated plains 
(called variously Chapadoes, Taboleiros , Cam - 
pos, Geraes), the more resistant parts of 
which project as sharp hills rather than 
real mountain ranges. The States of Minas 
Geraes and Goyaz, with a general altitude 
of some 3,500 feet, occupy the most elevated plateaux in the centre of 
the “ Brazilian Island/’ followed westward by the Matto Grosso plateaux, 
averaging 2,500 feet and more, and in the extreme north-east by the lands 
draining directly northward to the sea which, from the upper Maranhao 
to Piauhy and Pernambuco, sometimes reach elevations of 4,000 and 5,000 
feet. From the eastern slopes of the “ Brazilian Island,” south of the 
mouth of the Sao Francisco, shorter streams run straight to the Atlantic. 

Running from the Colombian Andes and the highlands of Venezuela 
and Guiana, the waters, in the northern part of the immense Amazon valley, 
gather into the rivers Iqa, Japura, Negro-Branco, Jamunda, Trombetas, 
and Jari. North of the mouth of the Amazon in the northernmost ex- 
tremity of Brazil the Oyapok, Cassipore, and other rivers run from the 
slopes of French Guiana to the sea. The highest valleys of the Guapore 
and the Jauru-Paraguay, with hardly four miles between, are often en- 
tirely covered by the same floods ; the Amazon is actually united to the 
Orinoco by the Rio Negro, through the Cassiquiare, to the Essequibo by 



Fig. 421 . — Diagram of Hydrography 
and Orography of Brazil. 


Brazil 


867 

the Trombetas ; and the Tocantins is in permanent communication with 
the Sao Francisco by the Somno-Sapao. More than half of the surface 
of Brazil belongs to the Amazon-Tocantins basin ; about one-quarter to 
that of the Parana- Paraguay ; and the other quarter to the Sao Francisco 
and the shorter Atlantic rivers. 

Geology and Minerals. — Two elliptical zones of Primary (Archaean* 
Palaeozoic) rocks, which are in juxtaposition from north to south, are 
coincident from east to west, along the central region of the water-parting 
between the Amazon and Plata basins, forming, indeed, the central moun- 
tainous district of Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Geraes, Goyaz, and 
Matto Grosso. These Primary zones surround respectively two central 
masses of Mesozoic lands. The northerly Primary zone is itself half 
encircled on the north and east by a long strip of Tertiary forma- 
tions, intersected by Secondary 
rocks, north of which again 
Primary rocks form the slopes 
of Guiana, apparently separated 
from those of the “ Brazilian 
Island” by the Tertiary and 
Quaternary deposits of the 
Amazon valley. The Paraguay- 
Parana basin and several smaller 
valleys are also covered with 
Quaternary sediments. In the 
central part of the Archaean for- 
mation, from the upper valley of 
the Sao Francisco to the sea, the 
gold and diamonds which once 
made Brazil famous were found 
in situ. But both gold and 
diamonds were at first, and are 
still, worked mainly in alluvial 
lands, principally in the vast region which has its centre in the district of 
Minas Geraes (i.e., many mines), but which also stretches northwards to 
Bahia, westwards to Goyaz and Matto Grosso, and southwards as far as 
Rio Grande do Sul. In the same localities mercury, copper, zinc and 
manganese ores are found, and also the topaz, amethyst, tourmaline, beryl, 
agate and other precious stones, but never real emeralds. Large deposits 
of iron have been found, especially in Minas Geraes and Sao Paulo. Coal 
also seems to be abundant in the Carboniferous strata of Sao Paulo, Santa 
Catharina, and Rio Grande do Sul. Lignite exists in the Tertiary forma- 
tion of the Amazon, Minas Geraes, and the east coast. The decomposi- 
tion of the crystalline rocks (diorite, diabase, gabbro, melaphyre) 
produces red soil ( terra roxa or Massape) celebrated for its immense 
fertility. 



868 The International Geography 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — With the exception of the three 
smaller southern States (Parana, Santa Catharina and Rio Grande do Sul), 
the whole of Brazil, ranging from 5 0 N. to 33 0 S., is included in the 
tropics : the vast region of the north in the great central valley of the 
Amazon lies right under the equator. Hence the climate is almost 
everywhere of the characteristic tropical type, except as modified by 
altitude. The combined influence of high temperature and constant 
moisture (the rainfall of the Amazon basin is excessive) produces extensive 
and complex tropical forests. These find their chief development in four 
regions — (a) In the vast Amazon valley surrounding the north and north- 
west of the “ Brazilian Island ” (called Selvas or Hylcza), where palm-trees 
( Igapo ) grow from 60 to more than 200 feet high, often rooted beneath 
floods 60 feet deep. Amongst the characteristic species are the Mauritia, 
Copernicia, or wax-palm, Hevea, Hancornia, Micrandra yielding rubber, 
Cacao, and the Bertholletia giving Brazil nuts. (6) On the Guiana slopes. 
<c) On the banks of the deep valleys of the affluents of the Amazon, even in 

the heart of the “ Brazilian Island,” in the 
upper course of the Parana, and in the 
entire valley of the Sao Francisco, (d) On 
the Serras do Mar (. Mattas virgens ) where, 
amongst other species, Ipecacuanha, Pilo- 
carpus, Jacaranda or rose-wood, Dialium 
ferrum, Caesalpinia echinata giving Brazil 
dye-wood, and Araucaria flourish. The 
eastern forests are under the influence of 
the moisture-laden easterly trade winds 
wherever they blow perpendicularly to the 
coast, the prevailing directions being from 
south-east in the north, east in the centre, 
and north-east in the south. The dense 
forests of the great valleys are interrupted in certain parts of the Amazon 
valleys by savannas. The highlands of the interior of the “ Brazilian Island ”' 
in Minas Geraes, Sao Paulo, Goyaz, and Matto Grosso have a less mild 
dimate, and are covered with shrubs, arboreal cacti and grasses, intersected 
by subtropical forests. At the north-eastern extremity, in Ceara and Rio 
Grande do Norte, where the trade winds blow parallel to the coast an 
especially dry season occurs periodically from June to December every 
ten years. In the forests of the flooded valleys, plants, submerged at the 
base and mutually shaded, become creepers and epiphytes in order to 
■reach the light of the Sun. 

The animals are also often modified for climbing or aquatic habits. 
Many species of monkeys, sloths, reptiles, humming birds and parrots are 
typical forms. The peccary, agouti, tapir, armadillo, paca, puma, coati, 
and the rhea, or American ostrich, are all characteristic of Brazil. 

Aboriginal Peoples. — The tribes found by the European dis- 



FlG. 423 . — Rainfall and Tempera - 
ture in Brazil. 


Brazil 


869 

coverers, and still in existence, although all belonging to the American 
u Indian" stock, seem to have come from several different centres. 
Four great migrations have already been determined, one from the 
north, two from the south, and one from the east. The first line of 
migration was from north to south and south-west, by which the 
Nu-Aruaks (Maipure and Ipurina) came from the West Indies to the 
valley of the Amazon, diverging south-westwards to the rivers Japura, 
Jurua, and Purus, and continuing southwards to the Paraguay. The Tupis 
or Guaranis moved from south to north and north-east from the Paraguay 
to the Atlantic, along the coast, and also gained the valley of the Amazon 
and Guiana by passing down the valleys of the Xingu and Tapajoz. The 
second migration from the south was that of the Caribs (Carahibs), who 
came northward and north-westward to the valleys of the Amazon 
(Japura) and to Guiana. From the east the Ges (Aimores, Acroa, Caiapo, 
and Botocudos in part) moved westward from the eastern half of Brazil 
and from the Maranhao to the Xingu, penetrated southward to Rio 
Grande do Sul. Many other tribes are only known by their more local 
movements, the chief amongst them being the Goitaca or Vaitaca, who 
migrated from northern Parahiba to the Rio Doce and Minas Geraes, and 
the many peoples of the interior of the Amazon valleys, such as the 
Miranyas, Panos, Caraya, and Guayacuru. The Ges seem to have been 
displaced by the migration of the Tupi, who formed most of the tribes 
found by the Portuguese explorers, and the Jesuit missionaries tried to 
introduce the Tupi dialect as a general Brazilian language. Some of the 
Tupi and other Indians were at first forced to work as slaves for the 
conquering Europeans, but were afterwards liberated, and in many places 
they have been from time to time collected in settlements or villages to be 
educated. Their place as labourers has been taken since 1549 by African 
negroes, who were introduced as slaves. 

Present Population. — After four centuries of contact with European 
and African races the best known inhabitants of Brazil seem to exist 
in the following relative proportions — the Europeans 
being for the most part of Portuguese descent. 

Europeans. Americans. 

(more or Pure Mixed 

less pure). Negroes. ( Caboclos ). {Pardos). Total. 

38 20 4 38 100 

Many Indian tribes, still living in a state of native 
savagery, have never entered the Brazilian statistics, 

and are not taken account of. Towards the end FiG.424.— Average popu- 
of the sixteenth century the population of Brazil was lotion of a square 

, t o n i. mile °f 

estimated at some 60,000. In 1819 the first census 
showed 4,000,000 inhabitants, while in 1890 the population numbered about 
15,000,000, having thus apparently quadrupled in seventy years. The 
immigrants, who form a great part of this increase, were principally 
Portuguese and Spanish. Italians have predominated during recent years, 



870 The International Geography 

and especially settled in the temperate southern States, Sao Paulo and Rio 
de Janeiro. In the south also some German agricultural and pastoral 
colonies have been established. These settlers continue to a certain 
extent to use their own languages ; but the official language of the 
country is Portuguese, although considerably modified. 

Phases of History. — The modern history of Brazil exhibits six 
distinct phases : (1) The struggle of the Portuguese against the French 
and Dutch for the possession of the newly discovered land ; (2) the 
struggle with the South American Spaniards, and the question of boun- 
daries ; (3) the internal dissensions due to trouble with the Indians and 
Jesuits ; (4) geographical and economical exploration and the question of 
slavery ; (5) the growth of the provinces into the present quasi-autonomous 
States ; and (6) Brazilian nationality and independence. 

Discovery. — The northern coasts of what is now called Brazil were 
seen in January, 1500, by an expedition of Vicente Janez Pinzon, and 
had probably been sighted by other Europeans half a century or more 
earlier. The centre of what the Portuguese first called the “ Land of the 
True Cross" ( Vera Cruz), and afterwards, probably since 1503, “Brazil," 
was visited by Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1 500 at Cabralia Bay in the south 
of the State of Bahia, which thus became the starting-point of Portuguese 
exploration and colonisation. By 1505 the whole coast from Maranhao 
to the Plata had been generally reconnoitred, and during the next few 
years many Portuguese settled in different parts of the new land and 
married Indian women. From 1532 to 1535 Brazil, then extending from 
the equator to 30° S., was divided into twelve parallel districts, each 
running due west from the Atlantic, but with unequal length of coast and 
indefinite hinterlands. These were called “ Captaincies,” and granted as 
sovereign fiefs to independent captains ; more were subsequently created, 
but in the middle of the eighteenth century they all reverted to the 
Portuguese Crown. 

Settlement and Exploration. — Two great centres of exploration 
were formed in course of time, Bahia in the north between io° and 15 0 S., 
and Sao Vicente (afterwards Sao Paulo) in the south, between 23 0 and 25 0 S. 
In the coast regions of the northern division, including Bahia, Pernambuco, 
and Maranhao, which were the first discovered and the most intensely 
colonised up to 1680, the climate was hostile to the establishment of 
Europeans, and demanded the cultivation of tropical products. Planta- 
tions of sugar-cane, introduced from Madeira in 1532, and of cotton were 
accordingly established. The first important Portuguese settlement was 
at Sao-Salvador-da-Bahia-de-Todos-os-Santos (All Saints’ Bay), which 
became the seat of the first central colonial Government in 1549. In the 
southern division (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), the white population took 
kindly to the new soil. The more temperate climate allowed all sorts of 
crops to be cultivated ; and mines were discovered by the active explora- 
tion of the interior. A national Brazilian character was naturally formed 


Brazil 


871 

in these more favourable surroundings, and the centre of administration 
and economical activity was shifted in 1762 from Bahia to Rio de Janeiro. 
From the very first years of the discovery the Portuguese had to fight 
other European nations for the possession of Brazil. In 1504 the French 
commenced to trade to Brazil for dye-wood ; subsequently they built forts 
and established a colony, but they were finally expelled in 1615. The 
Dutch made their first hostile appearance at the end of the sixteenth 
century. They afterwards took Bahia, and established themselves on the 
coast between the Sao Francisco and the Rio Grande do Norte ; but in 
1661 the Portuguese finally expelled them from Brazil. In 1640, at the 
time when Portugal ceased to be part of the dual Spanish Monarchy, 
Brazil was divided into two States and created a kingdom, united to 
Portugal and governed by a Viceroy. The interior had been already 
explored in many directions in the search for gold and emeralds, and for 
the purpose of procuring forced labour. In 1539-40 Orellana navigated 
the Amazon, in its most important branch, from Peru to Para ; and a century 
later its central course was again entirely visited by Pedro Teixeira. At the 
end of the sixteenth century the exploration of the Sao Francisco valley 
was commenced, and fifty years later the colonists of Sao Paulo reached 
northern Paraguay, and thence the high Andes of Bolivia, afterwards 
exploring Matto Grosso, Goyaz and Minas Geraes. From the end of the 
seventeenth and during the whole eighteenth century the exploration of 
the basin of the Amazon was actively continued. Of the more recent 
explorers in Brazil it is impossible even to record the names and dates ; 
but, numerous as they were, and energetically as their explorations were 
carried on, great tracts of land still remain quite unknown. 

Native Problems and Slavery. — In 1549 the Jesuits entered 
Brazil as missionaries, catechising the Indians, in many cases succeeding 
in collecting and fixing them in villages, opposing their employment 
and their subjugation to a formal state of slavery by the Portuguese 
colonists, but making them work for the benefit of their Jesuit churches 
and establishments. A long and terrible struggle was the inevitable 
result of this situation, and the Jesuits, who often allied themselves 
with the Spanish settlers of the south and west, were expelled from 
the southern province of Brazil in 1640 by the Portuguese colonists. They 
returned more than once until they were officially banished in 1759. The 
enslavement of the Indians was condemned by a Papal Bull in 1640, and 
abolished by law in 1680. Negro slaves from Africa, who had been 
employed ever since the middle of the sixteenth century, had, in the mean- 
time, become very numerous. The struggles with the Jesuits led to wars 
with the Spanish colonies and States surrounding the south and west of 
Brazil, which lasted during the whole of the eighteenth, and part of the 
nineteenth century, often modifying the southern frontiers. The “ Colonia 
do Sacramento ” (founded by the Portuguese in 1680), which had grown 
to be the State of the “ Banda Oriental," or Uruguay, became in 1821 the 


872 The International Geography 

“Cisplatine province” of Brazil, coveted by the Argentine Republic. A 
war between the two nations led to the ultimate independence of Uruguay 
(1825-28). The war between Brazil and Paraguay (1864-70) was the last 
episode of the great historical struggle. In 1830 the slave trade was 
prohibited. Between 1871, when there were 1,800,000 slaves, and 1888, 
when there were only 150,000, slavery was gradually but totally abolished. 
The ports of Brazil were in 1808 opened to foreign trade. Half a century 
later the navigation of the great affluents of the Plata, in 1866 that of the 
Amazon, the following year that of the Sao Francisco (up to Penedo) w T ere 
declared free to all nations. The constitution of the republic and a law 
of 1892 reserved coasting and trade between Brazilian ports for Brazilian 
ships. 

Independence. — From the middle of the seventeenth century move- 
ments towards independence can be traced in Brazil. In 1808 Queen 
D. Maria I., then insane, and her son, the Regent, transferred the 
Portuguese court from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, and remained in Brazil 

during the French occupation and the revolution 
which established parliamentary institutions in 
Portugal. On returning to Europe in 1821, King 
Dom Joao VI. left his son Dom Pedro as Regent 
of Brazil. But in 1822 the Brazilian Empire was. 
established, and Dom Pedro proclaimed Emperor 
with a parliamentary constitution. In 1831 he 
abdicated, and his son Dom Pedro II. succeeded,, 
and reigned until 1889, when the present republic 
of the United States of Brazil was proclaimed, each province becoming a 
State under a constitution which follows the type of that of the United States 
of America. 

Resources and Trade. — Even in the sixteenth century a current 
rumour pointed to the existence of a golden centre {El Dorado) 
in the Guiana mountains. Gold was, however, first discovered in Sao 
Paulo in 1560. Up to the middle of the eighteenth century gold and 
diamonds were found and worked in the province of “ Minas," which was 
named from the fact. Coffee was introduced in the plantations of Rio de 
Janeiro and the south of Sao Paulo in 1761. From the remarkable 
prosperity of this crop Rio de Janeiro became the economic centre of 
Brazil, and now coffee is the staple production of the country as far as 
export is concerned, the railway system having been largely developed in 
order to provide communication between the plantations and the seaports. 
India-rubber, collected on the Amazon from wild trees, is also of great 
importance. The trade of Brazil is mainly carried on with the United 
Kingdom, the United States, Portugal, Germany and France. Most 
imports are subject to a very high tariff. 

Natural Regions and Political Divisions. — The twenty-one 
States or main divisions of Brazil correspond to a great extent with natural 



Brazil 


873 

Regions, and can easily be considered in six natural groups : (i) The valley 
of the river Amazon is now divided into two States, the lower part form- 
ing Para, the upper Amazonas, (ii) South of these the lands which slope- 
up from the Amazon plain to the plateau, forming all the vast western 
hinterland, belong to the State of Matto Grosso, and the heart and hydro- 
graphic centre ot the “ Brazilian Island ” is the State of Goyaz. (iii) Along 
the north-eastern coast and stretching inland from it the comparatively 
small States of Maranhao (part of which is a continuation of the Amazon 
and Tocantins plain), Piauhi, Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, Parahiba, 
Pernambuco, Alagoas, and Sergipe, succeed one another from north-west 
to south-east, (iv) The two large central States of Bahia and Minas Geraes 
occupy the valley of the Sao Francisco and other rivers draining to the 
Atlantic. In these the mining and industrial activity of historical and 
modern Brazil has been to a great extent concentrated, (v) The small 
State of Espirito Santo and the State and Federal District of Riode Janeiro 
bordering the coast just within the tropic, form the political centre of 
Brazil, and a sort of transition to the more temperate climates and the 
more European population of part of Sao Paulo and the whole group of 
(vi) southern States, Parana, Santa Catharina, and Rio Grande do Sul. 

Amazonian States. — The vast inland plain, all nearly on the same 
level as the central part of the Amazon valley between the rivers Branco 
and Madeira, forms the State of (1) Amazonas, a region of dense tropical 
forests, thinly peopled by uncivilised Indians. It is like a palmately or 
digitately-veined leaf, its principal ribs, besides the central course of the 
Amazon, being the rivers Negro on the north and Madeira on the south r 
on which secondary tributaries, themselves great rivers, are pinnately 
inserted. Manaos, near the confluence of all the converging waters, is the 
capital of the State, and the natural hydrographic and economic centre 
of the immense region, which can be traversed only by its waterways. 
Steamers run on the main rivers, and native canoes follow the smallest 
branches. The valley of the Trombetas on the north and that of the 
Tapajoz on the south, divide the State of (2) Para, which occupies about 
one-third of the whole valley of the Amazon. The highlands project from 
both sides and constrict the valley between Obidos and Santarem at the 
western extremity of the State. The capital, Belem or Para, seventy miles 
distant from the Atlantic, stands on the right bank of the Tocantins. This 
river is in direct communication with the great stream of the Amazon proper, 
and really forms part of its system, being only divided from it by some 
islands, the largest of which is Marajo. The mouth of the river Para or 
lower Tocantins has been, up to the present, the real maritime and com- 
mercial entrance of the Amazon, Belem being therefore the exporting 
centre for the rubber, vanilla and other products of both the Amazonian 
States. 

Central States. — The State of (3) Matto Grosso occupies the slopes 
which lead from the low valley of the Amazon to the plateau of the 


874 The International Geography 

u Brazilian Island,” and the whole western part of the latter, with a mean 
altitude of 3,000 feet. It occupies nearly one-half of the total width of Brazil, 
from Bolivia to the river Araguaya, and more than one-half of its length, 
from the middle Tapajoz and Xingu to the middle Parana at the republic 
of Paraguay. This State is almost without inhabitants, and much of it is 
still unexplored. The capital, Cuyaba, and some few settlements, are on the 
rivers of the Paraguay hydrographic system, therefore the principal com- 
mercial outlet is naturally towards the Plata. The State of (4) Goyaz 
is almost exclusively formed by the great valleys of the rivers Tocantins 
and Araguaya, south of their confluence, stretching for 15 0 of latitude from 
north to south through the water-parting ( Verientes ) in the Santa Martha 
and Pyrenee ranges (which reach 4,500 feet), down to the northernmost 
branch of the hydrographic system of the Parana. Goyaz is not so devoid 
of population as Matto Grosso. The capital, Goyaz (formerly Villa Boa), 
is very remotely situated in the central region whence the waters flow 
to the Amazon and to the Plata. 

North-Eastern Littoral States. — In the extreme north-east the 
Parnahiba, which carries the greatest volume of water of any river between 
the valleys of the Sao Francisco and the Tocantins, forms the eastern 
border of the State of (5) Maranhao, the littoral of which is a continua- 
tion of the Amazon forest zone. The higher lands form savannas, with an 
average height of 800 feet, which are continuous on the west with those of 
Para. The capital, Sao Luiz, is on an island in Sao Marcos Bay, at the 
common mouth of numerous rivers which drain the whole State from south 
to north, and form, on approaching the sea, a large, low and swampy 
region, edged by many small islands. The eastern half of the basin of the 
Parnahiba forms the State of (6) Piauhi, which has a coast-line of only 
eighteen miles, scarcely more than part of the mouth of the river, but expands 
broadly to 380 miles towards the south. It is covered with forests in the 
lowlands and with shrubby catingas on the higher lands ; and is only 
thinly peopled. Therezina, the capital, was established far inland where 
the Poti, the most important tributary, coming from the north-east enters 
the Parnahiba. The State of (7) Ceara, on the east, occupies the basin of 
the Jaguaribe, and has a long coast-line on the Atlantic with few harbours. 
At Fortaleza (or Ceara), the capital, cargo has to be landed in surf-boats on 
the beach. The State of (8) Rio Grande do Norte in the north-eastern 
angle of Brazil includes Cape Sao Roque, and occupies the valley of the 
lower Piranhas and other streams. Its capital is the small port of Natal. 
The State of (9) Parahiba do Norte follows to the south, occupying the 
valleys of the upper Piranhas, Parahiba and other streams. The three 
States last named are alike in sharing a low forest-clad coastal plain which 
rises to a mountainous region of savanna character where they meet on 
the watershed in the interior. The important State of (10) Pernambuco, 
with over a million inhabitants, covers the space between the eastern 
curve of the Sao Francisco and the north-eastern highlands of Brazil. 


Brazil 


8 75 

Its capital, Pernambuco or Recife (named from the reef which guards its 
harbour), in front of Olinda, at the mouth of the Capiberibe, is a sea- 
port doing a large trade, and the centre from which a fairly complete 
railway system penetrates the State and brings down the produce of 
numerous rich plantations of sugar and cotton. The interior land is 
formed by savannas, with a mean elevation of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet, 
but tropical forests clothe the eastern slopes. The island of Fernando de 
Noronha, which lies 340 miles off the coast to the north-east, and is used 
as a convict station, is officially a part of this State. The last two littoral 
States of the north-eastern group are very small and lie one on either side 
of the lower Sao Francisco. They are (11) Alagoas on the north, and 
(12) Sergipe on the south, the smallest in all Brazil. 

Central Eastern States. — In the very centre of the eastern zone of 
the “ Brazilian Island,” and both limited to the west by the elongated region 
of Goyaz, the two great States of Bahia and Minas Geraes occupy succes- 
sive sections of the wide valley of the Sao Francisco, and of the eastward 
slope of its eastern watershed. The State of (13) Bahia may be divided 
into two different regions — (a) the middle and northern part of the Sao 
Francisco valley and (6) the valleys of the littoral rivers Itapicuru, 
Paraguassu, Contas and Pardo. Its capital Sao Salvador da Bahia, or 
simply Bahia , which was the first capital of colonial Brazil, lies on the 
south-eastern side of the vast Bay of All Saints. It is the second harbour 
of Brazil, and continues to be one of the most important towns, and the 
residence of the Roman Catholic Primate. The lands around the bay, 
enriched by the massape soil, are of extreme fertility and covered with 
plantations of sugar-cane, tobacco and other products. The most 
populous State in Brazil is (14) Minas Geraes, which lies entirely inland, 
and is penetrated only on its margins by railways from the seaports of Rio 
de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. It is formed of three different regions — ( a ) the 
higher basin of the Sao Francisco and Parnahiba with its mountainous 
borders rising to elevations of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet ; (6) the higher 
valleys of the Jequitinhonha and Doce which rise in the Espinhago and 
flow eastward to the Atlantic ; and (c) the valleys of the higher Rio Grande- 
Parana. This State is the richest part of Brazil as regards mineral 
resources. Ouro Preto, which succeeded the old and rich centre of mining 
Brazil, Villa Rica, is still its principal town ; but the official capital of the 
State was recently removed to Bello Horizonte . Plantations in the south, 
and cattle-breeding, have more recently acquired importance. 

South-Eastern States. — The littoral of Minas Geraes, between the 
Serra do Mar and the sea, forms the small State of (15) Espirito Santo. 
To the south of it follows the very small State of (16) Rio de Janeiro, 
formed by the highest mountains of Brazil at an angle where the coast 
turns from a southerly to a south-westerly trend. It is the most densely- 
peopled of the Brazilian States, and the best served by railways. The 
capital is Petropolis on the mountainous district. On the grand bay of Rio 
57 J 


876 The International Geography 

de Janeiro, facing Nictheroy , is the largest city of South America, Sao 
Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, familiarly known as Rio. Surrounded by 

the (17) Federal District under the direct 
administration of the central national govern- 
ment, it has been the capital of imperial and 
is now that of republican Brazil as it was of 
the old Portuguese colony. The city possesses 
one of the finest botanic gardens in the world, 
and an observatory. It is famous for its gar- 
dens and tree-planted avenues, but is never- 
theless unhealthy. As a harbour the bay of 
Rio de Janeiro is only to be compared with 
Port Jackson, which it surpasses in the gran- 
deur of its mountain scenery. It is the 
Fig. 426 .— The Bay oj Rio de chief emporium of Brazil, carrying on a 
Janeiro. great trade with all parts of the world. 

South of Minas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro the long rectangle between 
the Atlantic and the river Parana is divided by some of the affluents of the 
latter into four parallel zones, forming as many States, which have a short 
steep versant to the Atlantic, and slope gently inland to the great river. 
The most northerly touching Minas Geraes, Rio de Janeiro, and Matto 
Grosso, and for the most part within the tropics, is the State of (18) Sao 
Paulo. It consists of two parts — ( a ) the basin of the Parana between its 
two branches Rio Grande and Paranapanema ; (6) part of the central 
mountainous region where Mantiqueira reaches 5,462 feet, and of the 
Serras do Mar and the adjacent littoral. Through the very centre of the 
State flows the Tiete, carrying the collected waters to the Parana. The 
population is concentrated in the east where the principal port is Santos. 
The capital, Sdo Paulo , in the interior, stands at an altitude of 2,390 feet. 
Numerous islands lie along the coast. The State is one of the most enter- 
prising and progressive in Brazil, with a great production of coffee, and 
well served by railways in the eastern half. Italians preponderate now 
amongst the immigrants. 

Southern States. — South of Sao Paulo, between the Itarare-Parana- 
panema and Rio Negro-Iguassu, is the State of (19) Parana. The 
harbour of Paranagud is the chief commercial town, exporting the 
products of the State, amongst which Yerba-mate (Paraguay tea) is im- 
portant. The State of (20) Santa Catharina stretches from west to east, 
between the rivers Iguassu and Uruguay, to the Argentine territory of 
Missiones. The capital is Florianopolis ( Desterro ), on the island of Santa 
Catharina. The chief resources of the State are plantation products in the 
east, and cattle in the west. There are many groups of German and 
Italian colonists. Last, between the river Uruguay and the republic of 
that name, and forming the north part of a sort of peninsula between the 
Pelotas-Uruguay-Plata and the sea, comes the most southerly State, which 



Brazil 



seems to be only attached to the rest of Brazil by the Serra do Mar as by 
a narrow isthmus. This is (21) Rio Grande do Sul (or Sao Pedro do 
Rio Grande do Sul), drained by the river Ibicui, which belongs to the 
Uruguay system, and by the Jacacahi-Jacuhi flowing to the great lake of 
Patos, a littoral lagoon, at the northern end of which, Porto Alegre , the 
capital, is established. At the mouth of the lagoon, in the south, Rio Grande 
do Sul is an important seaport. Another lagoon, Lake Mirim, also stretches 
along the Atlantic. Like the other southern States it prospers by cattle- 
raising on its extensive pastures. There are many German settlers. 


STATISTICS. 

1890. 

Area of Brazil in square miles 3,209,878 

Population of Brazil 14,332,530 

Density of population per square mile 45 


THE STATES OF BRAZIL IN 1890.1 


State. 



Area in square miles. 

Population. 

Population. 

Amazonas 



732,500 

148,000 


0*2 

Matto Grosso 



532 

700 

93.000 


0'2 

Para 



443,600 

327.000 


07 

Goyaz . . 



288,500 

227,500 


07 

Minas Geraes. . 



. . 222,000 

3,184,000 


I4'3 

Maranhao 



. . 177,600 

431.000 


24 

Bahia . . 



. . 164,600 

1,820,000 


no 

Piauhi . . 



.. 116,000 

267,500 


23 

Sao Paulo 



. . 112 

300 

1,385,000 


123 

Rio Grande do Sul . . 


91,300 

897,500 


98 

Parana . . 



85,400 

249,500 


28 

Pernambuco . . 



. . 49,600 

1,030,000 


207 

Ceara . . 



. . 40,200 

805,500 


200 

Parahyba 



. . 28,800 

457,ooo 


157 

Santa Catharina 



. . 27,400 

283,500 


103 

Rio de Janeiro 



. . 26.600 

977,000 


366 

Alagoas 



. . 22,600 

511,500 


221 

Rio Grande do Norte 


. . 22,200 

268,000 


I2’8 

Espirito Santo 



17,300 

136,000 


7‘2 

Sergipe . . 



7,370 

311,000 


42-2 

Federal District 




538 

522,600 


97r5 


POPULATION OF THE CHIEF TOWNS. 



Estimate 1883. 

1892. 


Estimate 1883. 1892. 

Rio de Janeiro 

350000 


522,600 

Parahiba 

• • 

? 

. . 40,000 

Bahia 

140,000 


200,000 

Maranhao 

• • 

35,000 

38,000 

Pernambuco 

130,000 


190,000 

Ceara 

• • • 

? 

35-000 

Sao Paulo . . 

40,000 


100,000 

Pelotas 

• • • 

45,000 

. . 30,000 

Belem 

40,000 


65,000 

Ouro Preto 

• • 

20,000 

. . 22,000 

Porto Alegre 

35.000 


55,000 






ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 






(Largely Estimates.) 







OO 

>— t 

-75- 

1881-85. 


I89I-95- 

Imports 



. . 19 000,000 

21,350,000 

• • 

30,000,000 

Exports 

• • 

• • 

. . 22,500,000 

23,200,000 

• • 

35,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

L. Agassiz. “ A Journey in Brazil.” London, 1868. 

H. W. Bates. "A Naturalist on the Riv,er Amazons.” London, 2nd edit., 1892. 
A. Russel Wallace. ” Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro.” London. 

A. Moreira Pinto. “ Chorographia do Brazil, Atlas-Texto.” Paris, 1895. 

E. Levasseur (and others). “ Le Bresil.” Paris, 1889. 

E. Liais. “Climat. geologie, faune et botanique du Bresil.” Paris, 1872. 

J. P. Oliveira Martins. " O Brasil e as Colomas Portuguesas.” Lisbon, 18S8. 


1 A census was taken in 1900, but the results were considered fallacious and not accepted 
officially. 


f 


CHAPTER XLVII NORTHERN SOUTH AMERICA 


I.— THE COLONIES OF GUIANA 

By J. Rodway, 

Georgetown , Demerara. 

BRITISH GUIANA 

Position and Surface. — British Guiana, the only British possession 
on the South American continent, lies between Dutch Guiana and Vene- 
zuela, from which latter its line of division was settled by a tribunal of 
arbitration in 1899. From the river Corentyne, which divides it from 
Dutch Guiana, to Point Playa, which was fixed as the northern boundary, 
the coast-line extends to a length of about 250 miles ; the depth of the 

colony inland to the sources of 
the Essequibo river is about 600 
miles. The newly defined area 
of British Guiana is shown un- 
shaded in Fig. 427. 

For fifty miles from its flat 
alluvial shores the- sea is dis- 
coloured by the immense volume 
of muddy water poured in by its 
rivers. Hardly rising above high 
water mark, the coast for about 
twenty miles inland was once 
nothing more than a mangrove 
swamp in front and a sedgy morass 
behind ; but this has been changed 
to a great extent through the in- 
genuity of the first possessors of 
the colony, the Dutch, who, imi- 
tating the dams and dykes of 
their mother country, succeeded in empoldering the greater part of the 
coast, and in laying out a line of sugar and cotton plantations. Cotton 
has, however, long been abandoned, and sugar has probably seen its best 
days ; nevertheless, this line of empoldered land, which rarely extends 
beyond five miles from the shore, is virtually the only portion of the 
colony under cultivation and almost the only part inhabited. Behind this 
depth of alluvium come reefs of white quartz sand, the sea beaches of 
some former age, and beyond these again a rocky, hilly country covered 

878 



British Guiana 


879 

with primeval forest, only in the far interior broken by open savannas on 
a sandstone formation. The rocks belong to ancient igneous and sedi- 
mentary formations, consisting mainly of granite, quartz, and red and 
white clays, in which gold is found. 

Rivers and Mountains. — The longest of the rivers is the Essequebo 
which rises in the extreme south almost on the equator, and, including its 
numerous windings, is over 600 miles long ; the Corentyne is about the 
same length, the Berbice 400 miles, and the Demerara 250. Other rivers are 
the Barima, Waini, and Pomeroon, besides which there are the two great 
affluents of the Essequebo, the Cuyuni and Masaruni as well as hundreds 

of smaller rivers generally called creeks. The Corentyne, Berbice, 

Demerara, and Barima are navigable for over a hundred miles from their 
mouths, but the Essequebo, Cuyuni, and Masaruni are obstructed by rapids 
about fifty miles up. The joint estuary of the three last-named rivers, 
which is about 20 miles broad, contains a large number of islands, the 
largest of which are Wakenaam, Leguan, Hog Island, and Troolie 

Island. 

There are three principal ranges of mountains in the west, the Acarai, 
Pacarima or Humirida, and Canuku. The culminating point of the Paca- 
rima is the famous Roraima, 8,740 feet in height, the upper portion of 
which is an immense rock rising with precipitous sides about 1,500 feet 
above the slope. Other mountains range from 3,000 to 4,000 feet 

and those in the Pacarima, of sandstone formation, are exceedingly 
picturesque from the weathering of the rocks, and the number of falls and 
cataracts on the rivers. 

Climate and Vegetation. — The climate, from the position of the 
colony, i° to 9 0 N., is naturally hot ; owing to the heavy rainfall, which 
sometimes amounts to 140 inches in a year, it is moist, and in the forest 
steamy. Nevertheless, as there is no appearance of aridity, and as on the 
coast there are always sea breezes to moderate the temperature, the heat is 
never unpleasant. The range of the thermometer is from 74 0 to 90° F., 
but it more commonly remains at 8o° to 82°. Unlike the West Indian 
Islands the colony is perfectly free from hurricanes and earthquakes. 

The forests, which cover the greater portion of the interior, are 
peculiarly interesting to the naturalist from the multiform character of the 
vegetation, and the beauty and variety of the quadrupeds, birds and 
insects. The most interesting of the higher animals are the tapir, the 
cavies (allied to guinea-pigs), the ant bear, and the series of cats which 
culminates in the jaguar or American tiger. Alligators and immense fish 
swim in the rivers, and parrots, macaws, toucans and humming-birds 
perch upon and hover about the trees. Epiphytal orchids and monster 
creeping plants deck the branches, and on the river banks palms, tree 
ferns, and aroids decorate the foreground. From the Berbice river the 
huge Victoria Regia water-lily was first brought to Europe, to be after- 
wards distributed over the whole civilised world. 


88o The International Geography 


People and History. — The inhabitants are varied in race as well as 
nationality. The native Indians belong to several tribes ; some of them 
live in much the same condition as their forefathers did when America 
was discovered. The Africans are represented by a few thousand real 
Guinea negroes, and a hundred thousand born in the colony ; Asiatic 
races are represented by almost as many East Indians (introduced to work 
on the plantations), as there are negroes, and a number of Chinese ; while 
the Europeans are mainly Portuguese and British. 

The colony originally consisted of two settlements on the Essequebo 
and Berbice rivers, founded early in the seventeenth century by the 
Dutch, to which, in 1745, that on the Demerara was added as an offshoot 
of the first. Essequebo and Demerara were for a long period under the 
control of the Dutch West India Company, which also owned Berbice, but 
having granted that river as a fief to another mercantile company it was 
quite independent. The settlements suffered much at different times from 
privateers, and in 1781 they fell into the hands of the British, to be recap- 
tured, however, the following year by the French 
allies of the Dutch. They were again captured by the 
British in 1796, given up at the Peace of Amiens in 

1802, and a third time captured a few months later in 

1803, to be finally ceded to the British at the Peace 
of 1815. The colony, which was first called British 
Guiana on the union with Berbice in 1831, is adminis- 

Fig. 42 S.—The Badge tered by a Governor and Executive Council nomin- 
of British Guiana . ^he British Colonial Office ; there is a legislative 

body of eight officials and eight electives called the Court of Policy to 
which is adjoined to vote supplies an elected body called Financial 
Representatives. 

Commerce and Towns. — The most important industry is the grow- 
ing and manufacture of sugar and its by-products, rum and molasses. 
The annual export of sugar in 1896-97 was a trifle over 100,000 tons. 
There has been a considerable reduction (about 30,000 tons) in the exports 
during the last few years, which, together with the great lowering of value, 
has caused much depression in the colony. Gold washing first became 
one of the industries of the colony about 1880, and the exports of 1897 
were valued at over ^400,000, but it has undergone no expansion since. 
Gold mining has been attempted, but hitherto without much success. It 
appears that two zones of gold-bearing strata extend in the west of the 
coiony from Venezuelan to Brazilian Guiana ; in some places the 
“pay-dirt” is very rich, but on account of the long journeys in open 
boats, the danger of the rapids, and the drenching rains and floods, the 
diggings have not been fully developed. 

Communication along the coast and for short distances up the principal 
rivers is carried on by a line of steamers ; there are good roads in the 
inhabited districts and two short railways. It is intended to run railways 




British Guiana 88 1 


along the whole coast line to connect with that on the east coast, and some 
of these extensions have already been commenced. 

The colony is divided into three counties which correspond with the old 
settlements — Essequebo, Demerara, and Berbice, and retain these names. 
Demerara, being the most important, has long been used as a general 
name for the whole colony, e.g., Demerara sugar, which is not simply 
the product of one county, but of all three. A portion of Essequebo 
known as the North-West District, lay within the territory disputed 
by Venezuela, and is under separate jurisdiction. Georgetown , Demerara, 
the capital of the whole colony, is situated on the right bank of the 
Demerara at its mouth, with a second frontage on the sea, where it is 
secured from inundations by a stone wall over a mile long. Like the other 
parts of the coast it is below high-water mark, and has to be drained by 
canals with sluices, which are opened at low water, and by steam pumps. 
Notwithstanding its flatness, the city is made beautiful by the number of 
palms and other trees planted in its streets and gardens, in fact when seen 
from the lighthouse it looks as if embosomed in a wood. The chief town 
of Berbice is New Amsterdam ; in Essequebo is the small town of Bartica, 
a point of departure for the gold diggings, and there is the nucleus of 
a town in the North-West District called Morawhanna. Villages are 
numerous along the coast, where they generally alternate with the 
plantations. 

British Guiana has been called a magnificent province. Although 
almost as large as the United Kingdom, hardly one-hundredth part of its 
area has been touched, and not one-tenth of the fertile alluvium is in cul- 
tivation. Enough sugar to supply the mother country could be easily 
grown ; cotton, coffee, cacao, rice and tropical fruits also flourish to per- 
fection. With all these advantages the colony is virtually at a standstill, 
mainly on account of the bounty system on beet sugar practised by the 
continental countries of Europe. 

i 


STATISTICS. 

Area of British Guiana, square miles 

Population „ 

Density of population per square mile . . . . 

Population of Georgetown 

„ New Amsterdam 


1881. 1891. 

109,000 . . 109,000 

252,186 . . 278,328 

23 . . 25 

47,175 .. 53,176 

8,124 •• 8 ,903 


COMPOSITION OF POPULATION IN 1891. 

(Native Indians excepted.) 

British and 

Negro and coloured. East Indians. Portuguese. other Europeans. Chinese* 
144,617 .. 105,463 .. 12,166 .. 4,558 .. 3,714 


Exports . . 
Imports . . 


ANNUAL TRADE (in dollars). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 

. . . . 12,500,000 . . 13,000,000 

9 500,000 . . 9,500,000 


• • 
• * 


1891-95- 

11,000,000 

8,500,000 


882 The International Geography 

DUTCH GUIANA 

Position and Surface. — Dutch Guiana, known also as Surinam , is 
separated from the British colony by the river Corentyne, and from the 
French by the Marowyne. The coast-line is about 240 miles long, and the 
colony extends to about the same distance inland. What has been said 
of the physical geography of British Guiana applies also to the sister 
colony, for the geological formations, the forests, the climate, and rainfall 
of the whole country are identical. The principal rivers, besides those 
which form the boundaries, are the Suriname, Saramacca and Coppename. 

The few white inhabitants are mainly Dutch, and speak the language 
of their country ; the native Indians, who number about 12,000, are in a 
similar condition to those of British Guiana, and the negroes generally 
speak a jargon compounded of English, Dutch and African dialects, 
called talkee-talkee. Perhaps the most interesting people in the colony are 
the “bush niggers,” descended from runaway slaves, who gave the 
colonists so much trouble in the latter half of the eighteenth century that 
the government was compelled to make treaties with them and give them 
large subsidies. Living in the forest, like the Indians, these people are 
savages of quite a different type, and are curious examples of the effect of 
a new environment on the uncivilised negro race. 

History and Trade. — The colony was originally founded by Lord 
Willoughby, the British Governor of Barbados, in 1650, and was ceded 
to the Dutch in 1667 in exchange for what is now New York. Like the 
neighbouring colonies it suffered on several occasions from the raids of 
French privateers, and was captured by the British at the same time as 
its neighbour, but it may be stated that it was never so prosperous as 
when under British rule during the Napoleonic wars, and may now be con- 
sidered much less prosperous than British Guiana, notwithstanding the de- 
pression of the latter. This is shown by the fact that the colony is subsidised 
by the mother country. It is administered by a Governor and Council. 

The main product of the colony was originally sugar, but this has 
largely gone out of cultivation, to be partly replaced by cacao, coffee, and 
bananas. Balata, a kind of gutta percha, is largely exported, also timber 
and gold, of which last the production in 1899 exceeded ^100,000. There 
are no local steamers, no railways, and the roads along the coast are not 
continuous. The capital is Paramaribo , conveniently situated at the 
junction of the Suriname and Commewine rivers, ten miles from the sea- 

STATISTICS. 

Area of Dutch Guiana (square miles) 

Population of „ (1896) 

Density of population per square mile 
Population of Paramaribo (1896) 


46,060 

62,499 

i*3 

29,261 


• • 


Imports 

Exports 


• • 


ANNUAL TRADE (in founds sterling). 


• • 


1895. 

460.000 

430.000 


French Guiana 


883 


FRENCH GUIANA 


French Guiana, generally called Cayenne, is separated from the 
Dutch colony by the river Marowyne or Maroni, and from Brazil by the 
Oyapok. It has followed, therefore, that the contested territory between 
these rivers has, by agreement, been left as a neutral district until the matter 
is settled by arbitration, which it is understood will soon be done. Unlike 
the other colonies French Guiana has elevated land near the shore, and there 
are several rocky islands off the coast, but otherwise the geological formation 
is similar. The principal rivers are the Mana, Sinnamarie, Approuague, and 
Oyapok. Settlements were first made here by the British in the early part 
of the seventeenth century ; French settlers were in the Sinnamarie in 
1624, and in Cayenne in 1627, but it was not until after several failures 
that the present colony was established in 1664. Several unsuccessful 
attempts were made to establish settlements of Europeans during the 
eighteenth century, and ultimately, since the time of the Revolution when 
it was first used as a penal establishment, it has gained a bad name. 
Nevertheless it has all the capabilities of the other Guianas, and could be 
developed with advantage. The colony is administered by a Governor 
and sends one Deputy to the French National Assembly. There are but 
few plantations, and on these cacao is grown ; the other products are gold, 
balata, phosphates from the islands, and anatto. Latterly the gold export 
has been very considerable, both from diggings, some across the Brazilian 
frontier, and from dredging in the river Sinnamarie. 

The capital, St. Louis , is well situated on what is called the island of 
Cayenne, which, however, is only separated from the mainland by the 
branching of two rivers. The population of the town is increasing from 
the development of gold-mining. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of French Guiana (square miles) 
Population of „ 

St. Louis (1895) . . 




Exports 

Imports 


1877. 

1895. 

31,000 

.. 31,000 

23,663 

.. 22,714 

11,000 

)• 

.. 12,351 

1889. 

1895. 

170,000 

. . 374,400 

360,000 

457 , 5 oo 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

E. F. im Thurn. “ Among the Indians of Guiana.” London, 1883. 

J. Rodway. “ In the Guiana Forest.” London, 1895. 

“ Handbook of British Guiana.” Georgetown, 1893. 

J. Strickland. “ Documents and Maps of the Boundary Question between Venezuela 
and British Guiana.” London, 1896. 

Sir Robert H. Schomburgk. “ Description of British Guiana.” London, 1840. 

Richard Schomburgk. “ Reisen in Britisch-Guiana in 1840-44.” 3 vols. Leipzig, 

1847-48. 

H. A. Coudreau. " Dix ans de Guyane.” Paris, 1892. 

■■ '■■ ■ ■ “ Chez nos Indiens — Quatre ans dans la Guyaae Fransaise.” Paris 

1893. 


58 


884 The International Geography 


II. — VENEZUELA 

By Dr. W. Sievers, 

Professor of Geography in the University of Giessen . 

Position and Natural Divisions. — Venezuela occupies the north 
of South America from the Gulf of Maracaibo, where it borders on the 
republic of Colombia on the west, to the Guiana plateau, where it meets 
British Guiana on the east. Southward it is bounded by Brazil. It is 
naturally divided into three parts : the highlands of Guiana, the great plains 
or Llanos, and the high mountain systems of the Cordilleran and the 
Caribbean Ranges in the north. 

Venezuelan Guiana. — Very little is yet known of the interior of 
Guiana. It is generally supposed to be a system of crystalline mountains 
covered with enormous masses of Cretaceous sandstone. The sandstone 
masses form the highest summits in the east (Mt. Roraima, 8,530 feet), while 
overlying Cretaceous strata do not seem to exist in the west, the Sierra 
Maraguaca and Cerro Duida (each 8,200 feet) being apparently composed 
of granitic and gneissose rocks only. Towards the north the height of the 
Guiana mountains decreases considerably, and only monotonous hills of 
about 1,500 feet reach the Orinoco. The hills of inner Guiana are inter- 
spersed with luxuriant savannas, which are covered with grass more than 
ten feet high, and numerous shrubs, bushes, and herbaceous plants, remark- 
able for the extraordinary splendour of their blossoms. The inner parts of 
Guiana are pathless, and nearly inapproachable, owing chiefly to the 
numerous cataracts and rapids on the rivers. The west and north of 
Guiana is encircled by the Orinoco, the third in size of the great indepen- 
dent rivers of South America. Its sources lie in 2\° N. in the Sierra 
Parima ; in its upper course the banks are grown with dense woods, but 
there are hardly any human inhabitants or animal life. After passing 
Esmeralda, the Casiquiare branch leaves the main river and flows to the 
Rio Negro ; the tributaries Ventuari on the right, Atabapo, Inirida, and 
Vichada are received on the left, and the Orinoco leaves the woods near the 
mouth of the river Zama. It then breaks through the crystalline rock 
border of Guiana with the vast rapids of Maypures and Atures, receives 
the rivers Meta and Arauca on the left, and, increasing rapidly in breadth, 
turns towards the east even before receiving the Apure from the west. In 
its course to the sea the Orinoco seems to follow the northern slopes of the 
Guiana plateau, but in fact the channel is cut deeply into them ; and various 
narrows ( angosturas ) are produced, the most famous one at Ciudad Bolivar. 
Near Barrancas the river begins to form its densely wooded delta of about 
the area of Wales. 

The great gold mines of Callao, in the Yuruari territory, which produced 
nearly a million pounds sterling in 1884, have declined since 1887, and now 
yield only one-fifth of that amount. Forest produce is also collected and 


Venezuela 


885 


exported. The only town is Ciudad Bolivar on the Orinoco, a river which is 
by no means the great artery of commerce it ought to be. 

The Llanos. — In the west and north the Orinoco is surrounded by the 
llanos, extensive plains insensibly sloping down from 800 feet in altitude 
to the river. They are composed of detritus, gravels, sands, clay and fer- 
ruginous breccias, resulting from the denudation of the neighbouring 
mountain chains, and probably overlying Tertiary marine strata. The 
monotonous plains are cut by the rivers into portions called mesas, remark- 
able for dryness in comparison with the humid ground of the actual 
valleys. In the west, especially near the Cordillera, the plain produces exten- 
sive primeval forests or selvas, while in the State of Bermudez, between 
Maturin and Ciudad Bolivar, there is a typical desert, with drifts of sand 
and barren hills. The palma moriche (. Mauritia flexuosa ) borders the 
rivulets on the mesas in double rows, while groups of trees appear where- 
ever subterraneous water exists. The scenery of the llanos therefore 
frequently resembles that of an English park. The principal river is the 
Apure ; but the hydrographic axis is formed by the Cojedes and Portu- 
guesa with the lower Apure into which they flow. 

Most of the rivers of the llanos converge to this line, 
which leads backward to the division between the 
Cordillera and the Caribbean Mountains. The Unare 
river is the only one whose valley penetrates deeply 
into the llanos from the sea, while in the east all the 
rivers flow eastward to the Orinoco delta and the 
Gulf of Paria. 

The llaneros, or people of the llano, live chiefly 
by cattle-breeding, which is almost their only occu- 
pation, agriculture supplying only the barest necessaries of life. The 
settlements consequently are yards for cattle ( liaios ), taverns ( pulperias ), 
and small villages ; larger villages and towns are very rare in the interior 
of the llanos, but on the northern border there are many. The principal 
river ports, San Fernando de Apure and Nutrias, export live stock and 
produce derived from them. 

The Northern Mountains. — The mountainous country of the north 
consists of two principal sections — the Cordillera of Merida, with the 
mountain systems of Coro and Barquisimeto, in the west ; and the Caribbean 
system, or the Venezuelan Coast Ranges, on the east. These chains are 
almost entirely interrupted at two points : in the continuation of the 
Cojedes-Portuguesa line between the Cordillera and the Caribbean system, 
in the west, where the elevation of the watershed is only 1,150 feet ; and 
again on the coast between Cabo Codera and Cumand, where the Gulf 
of Barcelona invades a breach in the northern chain. A third breach 
separates the island of Trinidad from the mainland. 

The Cordillera of Merida is a great folded chain, 15,400 feet in 
maximum altitude, with an Archaean crystalline zone in the centre, and two 



Fig. 429 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of Venezuela. 


886 The International Geography 

sedimentary flanking zones of Cretaceous sandstones and limestones. The 
Cordillera, a continuation of the Colombian Cordillera of Bogota, is free from 
all volcanic rocks ; the five highest summits of the most elevated mountain 
ridge, the Sierra Nevada de Merida, are covered with perpetual snow. The 
most important rivers are the Chama in the middle (on which Merida 
stands), the Motatan in the east (Trujillo) and the Torbes in the west 
(Tachira). Vast forests cover the northern and southern slopes of the 
Cordillera up to 10,000 feet ; higher up are alpine pastures, and the inhos- 
pitable paramos, and below 5,000 feet plantations, chiefly of coffee, sugar- 
cane, bananas, even of cacao, and fields of wheat and maize. Up to 8,000 
feet beans, peas, potatoes and barley can be cultivated. 

The population of the Cordillera contains more Indians and fewer 
negroes than any other district of Venezuela ; the former live chiefly in the 
highest, the latter in the lowest parts of the mountains, the white people 
occupying the intermediate zone. The exports, consisting especially of 
coffee and cacao, pass through the two principal commercial towns of San 
Cristobal and Valera to Maracaibo ; the railways employed are that from Cucuta 
to Puerto Villamizar in Colombia, and that from Valera to La Ceiba ; the 
middle section from Merida has a tolerable outlet by means of the Santa 
Barbara railway. 

The Northern Lowlands. — The lowlands to the north of the 
Cordillera form an enormous alluvial region, built up by the rivers which 
carry the detritus from the surrounding mountains into the depressed area 
between the Cordillera de Merida and the Sierra de Perija occupied by the 
Lake of Maracaibo, which is decreasing in area as its margin is being 
silted up. The shallow, brackish lake is closed by a bar, which prevents 
the entrance of large vessels, nevertheless Maracaibo, as the capital of the 
State of Zulia, and principal port for the Cordillera de Merida and the 
adjacent parts of Colombia, has grown to be a considerable town. The 
bar separates the Lake of Maracaibo from the Gulf of Venezuela, which is 
surrounded by the peninsula of Guajira in the west, and by the coast of 
Coro and the peninsula of Paraguana on the east. Both these peninsulas 
are built up of eruptive rocks and Tertiary strata ; they are dry and 
almost waterless, but have a numerous population. The Guajira aboriginal 
tribe have never been subjugated ; the Coro side is occupied by cattle- 
breeding Venezuelans. 

The Coro Range. — The Cretaceous mountain system of Coro rises 
in its two principal chains to less than 5,000 feet. Between these chains a 
broad Tertiary plain of about 1,200 to 1,500 feet in elevation is traversed by 
the longest stream of western Venezuela, the Rio Tocuyo. Coro, or the 
State of Falcon, is divided into two quite dissimilar parts, the western as 
far as 69J 0 W. is covered with cactus, thorn-bushes, shrubs and dry woods, 
rain being rare, and water scarce ; agriculture, therefore, is little developed. 
The old town of Coro , founded in 1527, is in this district. The coast of 
the eastern part is fringed by coral reefs and mangrove woods, and unlike 


Venezuela 


887 

western Coro, it suffers from immoderate rainfall, leading to inundations 
which discourage agriculture. Tucacas, the principal port of eastern Coro, is 
thriving, being connected by railway with the copper mines of Aroa and 
the capital of the State of Lara, Barquisimeto. The State of Lara, lying 
between the Cordillera, the Coro mountains, and the Caribbean ranges, 
resembles Coro in climate and vegetation. Its western part does not 
exceed 2,600 feet in elevation, is dry, and in the main waterless, although 
the river Tocuyo passes through it ; the east, Yaracui, is a fresh, humid, 
wooded land, with large plantations of coffee and cacao trees. 

The Caribbean Range. — The Caribbean system of mountains is 
separated by the depression of Barcelona into a western and an eastern 
section of similar structure. Both are composed of crystalline schists in 
two parallel eastward running chains, between which lies a hollow con- 
taining in the west numerous dry 
ancient lake beds, and one, the 
lake of Valencia, still filled with 
water. In the east, besides the 
Gulf of Cariaco, a great shallow 
lagoon and swampy lands separate 
the two chains. In both sections 
the northern chain forms the 
rugged coast of the actual ocean, 
the southern the former coast of 
the Tertiary Llanos Sea ; but in 
the west the northern chain is the 
higher (Naiguata reaches 9,127 
feet, and Silla de Caracas 8,743 
feet), while in the east the southern 
chain is the higher, with Turumiquire 6,562 feet. The eastern and western 
sections of the chain present many minor differences in geological and 
orographical structure, and they also differ in vegetation. In the east, 
forests are found only up to 2,600 feet, the higher parts being grassy 
pasture grounds, while the western part is richer in wood, and far better 
cultivated. 

The two principal towns of the republic, Caracas and Valencia , 
lie in the midst of the richest and most cultivated coffee regions of Vene- 
zuela, and so do many important provincial towns. The two chief ports, 
La Guaira (with Maiquetia) and Puerto Cabello, are connected by railway 
with Caracas and Valencia. Between the small port of Carenero at the 
beginning of the railway to the cacao centre of Rio Chico and Barcelona, 
the coast is a level shore without any important anchorage or settlement. 
Guanta, the best port of the east, is still almost tradeless, although 
it is connected by railway with Barcelona , the capital of the State of 
Bermudez, and the Cretaceous coal mines of Naricual. The trade of Cum - 
and, one of the oldest towns in America, is larger, but it has no railway con- 



888 The International Geography 


nections ; the principal road of the east of Venezuela leads from it through 
the dry and woodless mountains to Maturin . Carupano, a mediocre port at 
the foot of the northern chain, exports cacao, the most important produce 
of the humid country near the canyons of the Gulf of Paria. Margarita, a 
double-topped island, composed of Archaean schists, is the highest (4,450 ' 
feet) of the coast islands, and is densely peopled, while the other small 
islands off the coast, forming the territory of Colon, have few inhabitants. 

Government. — The United States of Vene- 
zuela are politically divided into nine States, five 
territories, and a federal district, Caracas and 
surroundings, with a constitution similar to that 
of the United States of America. The language 
of the country is Spanish, and the Roman Catho- 
lic religion prevails. The southern boundary is 
Fig. 431 .—The Venezuelan still unsettled. Coffee is the chief export of 
Fla ^' Venezuela, and is sent mainly to France, 

Germany, the United States, and Italy. 



STATISTICS. 


Area of Venezuela (square miles) 
Population of Venezuela . . 

Density of Population per square mile 
Population of Caracas 

„ Valencia .. 

„ Maracaibo. . 

„ Ciudad Bolivar . . 

„ Barquisimeto 


1881. 

594,000 

2,075,245 

3 


Exports average ^4,000,000 annually ; there are no recent statistics for 


1891. 

594,000 

2,323,527 

4 

72,429 

27,538 

29,180 

12,877 

9,093 

imports. 


POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF VENEZUELA IN 1891. 


States. 


Name. 

Area sq. 
miles. 

Popula- 

tion. 

Los Andes (Cordillera) 

.. 14,700 

336,146 

Bolivar (Guiana) 

.. 88,700 

56,289 

Bermudez (Oriente) . . 

. . 32,000 

300,597 

Carabobo (Valencia) . . 

. . 3,000 

198,021 

Falcon (Coro) 

♦ . 10,000 

139,110 

Lara (Barquisimeto) .. 

. . 9,300 

246,760 

Miranda (formerly Guzman 
Blanco) 

• • 

. . 34-000 

484.509 

Zamora (Western Llanos) 

.. 25,000 

246,676 

Zulia (Maracaibo) 

. . 26,000 

85.456 


Territories. 

Areasq. Popula- 

Name. miles. tion. 

Distrito Federal (with Caracas) 45 89,133 

Amazonas (Alto Orinoco) .. 200,000 45,197 

Guajira 3,600 65,990 

Yuruari 81,000 22,392 

Delta (of the Orinoco) .. 25,000 7,222 

Colon (Outer Islands) . . 166 129 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. Sievers. “Venezuela, mit einer Karte der Venezolanischen Cordillere.” Hamburg, 
1888. * 

“Zweite Reise in Venezuela in den Jahren, 1892-93.” Hamburg, 1896. 

G. Orsi de Mombello. “ Venezuela y sus Riquezas.” Caracas, 1890. 


BOOK VI— AFRICA 


CHAPTER XLVIII.— THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA 

By Edward Heawood, M.A. 

Librarian to the Royal Geographical Society. 

Position and Coasts. — Joined at its north-eastern corner to Asia by 
the Isthmus of Suez, 1 Africa forms a vast peninsula, of remarkably regular 
outline, stretching to the south-west of the great land mass of the Old 
World, and balancing, so to speak, the great island of Australia lying to 
the south-east. On its northern and north-eastern sides it faces, across 
comparatively narrow seas, portions of Europe and Asia respectively, while 
on all other sides it falls rapidly beneath the surface of the Atlantic and 
Indian Oceans. As is the case with South America the main mass of the 
continent runs from north to south, crossing the Equator near the middle 
of its length, and gradually tapering southwards. In its northern half, 
however, it has an important westerly extension forming a rounded limb 
which almost rivals in area the main southward-pointing portion, while on 
the opposite side a smaller, more tapering mass runs eastward in the shape 
of a blunted horn. The distance between the extremities of these two 
projecting segments is little less than the whole length of the continent 
from north to south. Lastly, in the north-west a narrow rectangular block 
projects somewhat beyond the general line of the northern coast, forming 
near its western end the nearest approach — at the Strait of Gibraltar — to 
the neighbouring continent of Europe. 

Apart from these irregularities, the outline of Africa is remarkably 
uniform. There are no deep gulfs running into the land and consequently 
no well-marked peninsulas. Between the western and southern limbs 
runs the wide Gulf of Guinea, divided near its apex into two rounded 
bights, while on the north coast a shallow indentation forms the Great and 
Little Syrtes (Gulfs of Sidra and Gabes). Elsewhere the coast runs in 
gradual curves, broken on a minor scale only by inlets or projecting head- 
lands. This uniformity is further seen in the absence of important islands. 
The one large African island — Madagascar — is separated from the conti- 
nent by a channel far deeper than the Red Sea which separates Africa 
from Asia, and more continuously deep than the Mediterranean, the 

1 The Suez Canal, sometimes said to make an island of Africa, is such a mere surface 
scratch that it may be disregarded in considering the natural relations of the continents 
to one another. 


889 


890 The International Geography 

dividing sea on the side of Europe ; so that it stands in no close relation 
to the main continental mass. The islands which lie off the coasts are all 
of small size, and none of any importance occur round the whole southern 
coasts for a distance of 4,000 miles. 

Relief. — A general sameness is also noticeable in the relief of the 
continent. Folding and crumpling of the surface strata seem to have 
played a much less important part in Africa than in other continents, and 
in consequence there is a marked absence of mountain ranges, as dis- 
tinguished from irregular groups of mountains or isolated peaks. The 
typical form of surface is that of elevated plateaux, from the surface of 
which higher ridges or summits often rise abruptly. These plateau lands 
fill up the great bulk of the continent, their outer slopes or terraces 
occurring everywhere comparatively close to the sea and nowhere leaving 

room for extensive low plains. The 
highest ridges occur as a rule near 
the outer edge of the plateau, and 
round the outer escarpments there 
is generally a narrow fringe of low- 
land, but in places the highlands 
rise almost directly from the sea. 
In elevation there is an important 
distinction between the plateaux of 
the northern and southern halves 
of Africa, those of the north being, 
on the whole, far lower than those 
of the south. Drawing a curved 
line from the coast of the Red Sea 
in the east to the head of the Gulf 

of Guinea in the west, we may say 

Fig. 43 2 .— The Configuration of Africa that w hereas land over 2,000 feet 

above the sea is the exception to the north, to the south it is the exception 
to find land below that elevation except close to the coasts. 

In spite of the lower average elevation of North Africa, it contains the 
Atlas, the one important mountain range. It runs parallel to the most 
projecting part of the northern coast, rising in its most pronounced,, 
western, half to a height of 14,000 feet and more. Owing to its direction 
it does not help to form any well-marked peninsula such as that of Italy 
on the opposite side of the Mediterranean, though as it plunges below the sea 
to the east it forms, for Africa, an unusually prominent angle of the coast. 
To the south the Atlas falls suddenly, and near its eastern end there is a 
depressed area actually below sea-level ; the range is therefore quite 
unconnected with any of the other highlands of North Africa. These 
occur chiefly in three lines with broad expanses of low r er country between 
them. One runs nearly north and south along the western shore of the 
Red Sea ; a second runs from north-west to south-east across the very 



Africa 


891 

centre of northern Africa ; while the third — wider but somewhat lower 
than the two first — forms a strip of plateau parallel to the northern shore 
of the Gulf of Guinea. The intermediate areas probably nowhere rise to 
a height of 2,000 feet except in isolated groups of peaks. 

In the southern half of Africa the greater part of the plateau rises to an 
average elevation of little less than 4,000 feet. One noteworthy break iri 
this uniform high level occurs in the western half, where, on either side 
of the Equator, there extends a vast circular basin, bounded on all sides 
by higher ground, which seems to represent the bed of an ancient inland 
sea. Abreast of this to the east a band of very high ground, continuous 
with the eastern line of northern Africa, runs from north to south, attaining 
its greatest average elevation in Abyssinia, and forming the most important 
highlands of all Africa. It is marked, towards the south, by the presence 
of a number of lakes of very large size, many of which occupy portions of 
two vast furrows also running mainly north and south and forming one 
of the most striking features in African geography. They seem to be due 
to gigantic cracks or rifts in the Earth’s crust, which have resulted in two 
long lines of subsidence. Other evidences of subterranean disturbance 
are present in the form of old volcanic cones, some of which, Kilimanjaro, 
Kenya, and Ruwenzori, rise to heights of 17,000 to 19,000 feet, and are the 
highest summits of all Africa. From the floor of the western furrow rises 
a still partially active volcano (Kirunga), remarkable as occurring at a 
distance of nearly 700 miles from the sea. 

Though narrower and lower to the south, this eastern line of highlands 
is continued in that direction to the extremity of the continent, forming 
near its southern end the Drakensberg Range with peaks of 10,000 and 
1 1,000 feet. A line of high ground accompanies the western coast also, 
while the interior is filled by a plateau of somewhat lower elevation than 
the bounding ranges, so that the whole of South Africa bears a general 
resemblance to an inverted saucer. 

Hydrography. — As the main lines of elevation run at no great 
distance from the coasts, Africa has no central backbone dividing the 
continent between eastward and westward flowing river systems. These 
may rather be distinguished as flowing down the outer or the inner slopes 
of the fringing highlands. Those which descend the outer slopes have of 
course comparatively short courses, while the inward-flowing streams have 
great distances to traverse before reaching the sea, and therefore form the 
great river systems of the continent. As a rule they pierce the mountain 
rim by narrow passages, during which their courses are much broken by 
cataracts. As a continental water-parting the eastern line of highlands 
plays the most important part, for from the north-east corner, where Africa 
joins Asia, through about 43 0 of latitude, it gives no passage to a river, but 
effectively separates the streams flowing to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. 
In about 12 0 S., however, the water-parting diverges to the west, crossing 
the continent, and including within the basin of the Indian Ocean almost 


892 The International Geography 

the whole breadth of South Africa as far as 22 0 S., where it again strikes 
across to the east. 

Owing to the position of this water-parting, the largest river systems are 
those which spring from its western rim, flowing west and north, and all 
belonging to the Atlantic basin. The two largest are those of the Nile — 
flowing from south to north but receiving its principal tributaries from the 
main watershed to the east — and Congo, describing a vast bend to the 
north and west and with its many important tributaries occupying the 
circular hollow of the ancient inland sea. The drainage system of the 
Niger, in the western limb of the continent, and therefore away from the 
main watershed, is still within the Atlantic basin. It also forms a vast 
curve, but the principal flow of its waters is towards the east and south, 
or exactly the reverse of that of the Congo. With the exception of the 
basin of the Orange in the south, the remaining Atlantic streams flow dow r n 
the outer continental slopes. The principal are the Senegal, Gambia and 
Volta in the western limb, and the Ogowe, Kwanza and Kunene on the 
western side of the southern limb. West of the great water-parting, and 
therefore included within the Atlantic basin, there is a vast area of inland 
drainage consisting of the central basin of Lake Chad, fed principally by 
the Shari, and a still larger area in which any streams that exist are merely 
temporary. 

On the side towards the Indian Ocean the only great river system is 
that of the Zambezi, enclosed within the westward curve of the main 
divide. The greater part of it is on the central plateau, while all the other 
streams flowing to the Indian Ocean — the Jub, Tana, Rufiji, Limpopo and 
others — flow mainly down the outer plateau slopes and have a greater or 
less importance according as these recede from or approach the sea. 

Interpolated between the basins of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, 
along the broad uplands which form the continental divide in East Africa, 
is a narrow region of inland drainage, the central furrow of which is 
formed by the more easterly of the great lines of subsidence already 
mentioned. 

Geology. — The geology of Africa has not yet been fully investi- 
gated, and even where the formations have been studied to some extent 
it is often impossible to determine their age owing to the general 
scarcity of fossils. A broad distinction may be drawn between the 
Atlas range, with other parts of North Africa, and the rest of the 
continent, inasmuch as ancient crystalline rocks are almost entirely 
wanting in the former region, whilst elsewhere, and especially in the 
inter-tropical zone, there seems to be a foundation of Archaean rocks, 
which come to light especially along the axes of mountain ranges. These 
old rocks consist of granite and of gneiss in East Africa, and schists and 
other foliated rocks in West Africa. The chief sedimentary formations 
which have been found to overlie these ancient rocks throughout the 
greater part of Central and South Africa are of Palaeozoic or early Mesozoic 


Africa 


893 

age, the latter being particularly well represented in South Africa, where 
the Karroo beds (Triassic) occupy a large area. Jurassic and Cretaceous 
strata occur in parts of East Africa, and from the nature of its fauna it has 
been thought that Lake Tanganyika is the remnant of a Jurassic sea which 
stretched inland from the west. No Jurassic strata have, however, been 
found in the intervening area. Horizontally bedded sandstone, mostly of 
doubtful age, is common throughout Central Africa, while recent alluvium 
covers the centre of the Congo basin, and shifting sands much of the desert 
regions. In the East African highlands recent eruptive rocks have spread 
over immense areas. 

While, therefore, the later Secondary and Tertiary formations seem to 
be but slightly developed in Central Africa, in the north they are well repre- 
sented. In the Atlas, which forms, geologically, one of the best known 
parts of Africa, the Cretaceous system occupies the widest extent of the 
surface, in a series of beds comparable with those of Europe. It appears 
also as a horizontal deposit over a broad region bordering on the Atlas to 
the south and south-east, and a vast series of sandstones on the lower Nile 
(known as the Nubian sandstone), is supposed to be of the same age. 
Along the north-west coast, and in a few parts of the Atlas, Tertiary for- 
mations, chiefly Miocene, occur, but these attain their maximum develop- 
ment further east, the whole surface between the Gulf of Sidra and the 
Isthmus of Suez consisting of Tertiary rocks. 

Climate. — The uniformity characteristic of Africa is less marked in 
the climate and productions, which neces- 
sarily differ according to latitude ; but as 
the equator cuts the continent almost at the 
middle of its length, the climatic differences 
are much less extreme than in other conti- 
nents. This central position of the equator 
results in a succession of climatic zones 
stretching across the continent, those of the 
north being reproduced in reverse order in 
the south. The primary cause of variation 
between the zones is of course the difference 
in the amount of heat received from the Sun. 

Both the northern and southern extremities 
are fairly temperate regions, that to the FlG - 433 —Temperature and Rain - 
north being defined by the Atlas range, the 

lands north of which, climatically as in other respects, rather resemble 
southern Europe than the rest of Africa. Within the tropics the mean 
annual temperature varies within comparatively small limits, though there 
are differences in the distribution of temperature through the year. Near the 
equator, and especially in the coast-lands and western basin, the climate is 
generally equable, whilst elsewhere, especially in the elevated regions to 
the east, there is a much greater difference between summer and winter. 



894 The International Geography 

and between day and night. The absolute extreme of temperature does 
not occur on the equator but between the parallels of io° and 20° N., 
where the average elevation is lower and the mass of land greater. Owing 
to the altitude of much of the land within the equatorial zone, the climate 
is often actually cool. 

Far more important than differences of temperature is the variation in 
amount and seasonal distribution of rainfall. Bordering on the north and 
south temperate zones occur areas of minimum precipitation where desert 
conditions prevail. Owing to the form of the continent the northern 
desert zone, known as the Sahara, occupies an enormously greater area 

than the southern, forming, in fact, the 
largest continuous desert on the Earth’s 
surface. The Sahara forms part of the 
great arid belt which stretches across the 
Old World from north-eastern Asia to the 
borders of the Atlantic Ocean. Virtually 
forming part of the greatest land-mass on 
the surface of the globe and thus little ex- 
posed to the moderating influence of the 
oceans, North Africa presents an example 
of an extreme continental climate, with 
great differences between the seasons. In 
winter it forms an area of high pressure 
and thus the winds blow outwards in all 
directions, while in summer, although the 
low pressure over the Sahara causes an 
indraught of air from its circumference, 
the intense heat constantly diminishes the 
relative humidity of these air currents, and 
they exercise a drying rather than a moisten- 
ing influence. The southerly winds from 
the direction of the equator do, it is true. 

Fig. 434.— Temperature and Rainfall bring a certain amount of moisture, but 
of North and South Tropical A frica. ^he greater contrast in temperature be- 
tween North Africa and the regions to the north causes the dry northerly 
winds to predominate. By its position at the northern edge of the con- 
tinent the Atlas range does its part in screening the desert from the action 
of moisture-bearing winds, while the paucity of mountain ranges in the 
centre of North Africa is a further reason for the small precipitation. 
Where such exist, as, e.g., in the countries of Air and Tibesti, local rains of 
some violence occur. Such rain-water soon sinks below the surface, often 
travelling immense distances before coming to light again as springs, and 
bringing fertility to isolated spots amid the barren wilderness, known as 
oases. 

Between the northern and southern desert regions the rainfall gradually 



Africa 


8 95 

increases in the direction of the equator, in the neighbourhood of which 
the greatest rainfall occurs. But besides the variations of annual amount 
there is an important difference in different latitudes in the seasonal dis- 
tribution of the rainfall. At a distance from the equator all the rain falls 
at one part of the year, the wet season commencing soon after the Sun 
becomes vertical, and lasting for two or three months, while the rest of the 
year is dry. But as we approach the equator, since the Sun is vertical 
twice in the year, there are two rainy seasons separated by an interval of 
dry weather, while near the equator itself rain falls more or less throughout 
the year. Local differences of rainfall, apart from the influence of latitude, 
of course occur, certain mountainous regions being especially rainy, while 
tropical West Africa, on the borders of the Gulf of Guinea and in the 
basin of the Congo, has a larger rainfall than the eastern part of the 
continent between the same latitudes. 

Flora. — The varying climatic conditions naturally exercise a most 
important influence on the vege- 
tation, and through it on the 
animal life of the continent. The 
northern temperate region has a 
flora similar on the whole to that 
of southern Europe, the forests 
consisting largely of oaks, while 
the olive, vine, fig, as well as the 
cereals of Europe, thrive. Owing 
to its isolation the southern tem- 
perate region has a strongly marked 
flora of its own, characterised es- 
pecially by the general brilliancy 
of its flowering plants and the 
abundance and variety of heaths. 

Forests are not extensive, but much 
of the surface supplies fodder for FlG * 435 .—Vegetation of Africa. 

cattle and sheep. The desert regions, as their name implies, are in many 
parts — especially where the sand is piled up by the action of the wind into 
dunes — almost entirely devoid of vegetation, and that which exists is stunted 
and thorny, being differentiated so as to be specially adapted to the dry 
climate. One of the most common bushes is the gum acacia. As a rule plants 
grow in tufts with bare spaces between instead of forming a complete 
covering of the surface. In the oases the date-palm, the characteristic tree 
of the Sahara, forms dense groves. On the margin of the desert, proceeding 
in the direction of the equator, the vegetation increases and a steppe-like 
region ensues, still largely characterised by thorny acacias, while another 
palm, the Dum or Hyphctne , makes its appearance. The moister regions 
of Central Africa fall broadly into two main divisions, the forest and 
savanna. Where an abundant and evenly distributed rainfall is com- 



896 The International Geography 

bined with an equable temperature a luxuriant forest growth is developed, 
such being the case generally in the whole of the tropical coasts of West 
Africa together with the lower parts of the Congo basin. Forests also 
occur on the east coast and generally on the slopes of mountains exposed 
to moist winds from the sea. The whole of the remainder of tropical 
Africa forms the region of savannas, remarkably uniform in character, 
and extending from the Senegal in the north-west to Abyssinia in the 
north-east, and thence through East Africa round the western forest region 
until it reaches the west coast again south of the Congo. Trees are usually 
found along the courses of streams, where they form what are known as 
“ gallery forests,” and are often dotted over the surface in groups, giving it 
a park-like appearance. 

The savanna regions are characterised especially by the occurrence of 
the massive Baobab tree ( Adansonia digitaia), and in the drier parts by the 
curious candelabra-like Euphorbia. An immense variety of trees is found 
in the western forest region, which is the special home of the wine and oil 
palms (Raphia vinifera and Elctis guineensis). A special flora occurs on 
many of the higher African mountains, which present a succession of 
zones of vegetation varying with the altitude. Bamboos form regular 
thickets above the true forest zone, whilst higher still occurs a peculiar 
type of vegetation consisting largely of tree lobelias and a giant species of 
Senecio. Lastly, a type of vegetation deserving mention is that growing by 
the swampy margins of streams especially in the upper Nile and Congo 
basins ; it is marked by the luxuriant growth of papyrus and other aquatic 
plants. 

Fauna. — The distribution of animal life upon the continent follows 
very closely the broad subdivisions of the flora. The desert regions, 
however, apart from the negative characteristic of scarcity of animals, 
are less individualised in this respect, forming rather areas of transi- 
tion between the regions on either side of them. The main dividing 
line of the continent has, in fact, been drawn across the centre of the 
Sahara at the Tropic of Cancer ; all to the south of this line makes up what 
is known as the Ethiopian Region, while the smaller area to the north 
has more in common with the countries north of the Mediterranean. 
Especially characteristic of the Ethiopian Region is the abundance of 
ungulates and carnivorous animals, the former including two families, the 
hippopotami and giraffes, found nowhere else in the world. But the 
family best represented is that of the antelopes, which occur in extra- 
ordinary numbers, while the deer are almost entirely wanting. Four 
species of rhinoceros represent a group common to Africa and south- 
eastern Asia. The carnivores include the lion, leopard, several hyasnas, 
the jackal, and a large number of civets and their allies, but the tiger, fox 
and wolf are wanting. The African elephant was formerly found through- 
out nearly the whole of the Ethiopian Region, but its range is now much 
restricted owing to the persecution it has met with for the sake of its ivory. 


Africa 


897 

Monkeys, especially the baboons and their allies, are widely distributed, 
the crocodile abounds in all the rivers, and snakes and other reptiles 
are common everywhere. Birds are less varied than in some other parts of 
the tropics, but a few striking forms occur, including the ostrich, the 
largest existing species. Within the Ethiopian Region the savanna areas 
with their abundant pasture, are fitted to be the home of large ruminants, 
and of the carnivores which prey on them. The forests, on the other hand, 
are little adapted to the life of large animals except the elephant, and in 
some parts are strikingly devoid of animal life. They are, however, the 
special home of the great man-like apes, which hardly extend at all 
beyond the forest boundary. Though poor in wild animals the northern 
deserts are pre-eminently the home of the camel, among domestic animals, 
while all the drier parts are particularly suited to the ostrich. 

People. — Four different races inhabit the African continent, the two 
northern, Semitic and Hamitic, 
belonging to the White type of 
mankind and the two southern to 
the Black type. The dividing line 
between the dark and lighter races 
cannot be drawn with any pre- 
cision, as along the borderland 
there is a large number of mixed 
tribes which cannot be placed in 
either division. It occurs, broadly 
speaking, near the southern edge 
of the northern arid regions, which 
are principally peopled with Se- 
mites and Hamites; the larger 
part of the continent is thus occu- 
pied by the black races, and of this 
all but a small corner falls to the D .. ., ,. . . . 

Negro race, which preponderates 

still more in point of numbers, as its habitat includes but a small area 
of arid country. Its domain may be divided into two sections sepa- 
rated by a line running roughly eastward from the head of the Gulf 
of Guinea. Along the coasts of that gulf and eastwards towards the 
centre of the continent the population is regarded as typically Negro, as 
the broad, everted lips, projecting jaws, and deep black skin characteristic 
of that race, are there particularly marked. As this region has long been 
know to the northerners as Beled-es-Sudan, or “ Land of the Blacks,” the 
term Sudan Negroes has been applied to this branch. Although physically 
alike, the Sudan Negroes speak a great variety of languages. The rest of 
the Negro domain, occupying the greater part of the southern limb of the 
continent, is peopled by tribes differing much in physical character, but 
all speaking nearly allied languages, and on this account grouped together 



898 The International Geography 

under the common designation “ Bantu” (a corruption of Abantu , “ people 
in the Zulu language). The Bantu are generally lighter in colour than 
the Sudan Negroes, and many tribes show signs of admixture with 
other races. 

Only the extreme south-west parts are at present occupied by the other 
dark-skinned race — that of the Hottentots and Bushmen, about whose 
relationship considerable doubt exists. They differ from the Negroes 
physically in their yellowish-brown colour, more prominent cheek-bones, 
and certain other characters common to the two races, which are like- 
wise connected by their languages, remarkable for their strange clicking 
sounds. The most marked point of divergence is the taller stature of the 
Hottentots, who seem, in some ways, to occupy an intermediate position 
between Negroes and Bushmen. The latter are unusually small, and are 
on this account sometimes grouped with other races of small stature 
scattered throughout the more inaccessible parts of the Bantu domain 
which may possibly represent an aboriginal population driven back before 
more powerful intruding races. 

The races of North Africa are much intermingled and no area of any 
size can be laid down as exclusively the home of either. Their physical 
differences too are not very pronounced, both Hamites and Semites 
showing every variety of tint, while oval faces, aquiline noses, and 
generally well-formed features may be seen in representatives of both 
races. Whatever may have been their original home, the Hamites repre- 
sent an earlier population than the Semites — many branches of whom 
crossed over from south-western Asia within historic times. The ancient 
Egyptians, of whom the Fellahin of the present day are thought to be the 
descendants, seem to have belonged to the Hamitic stock, which includes, 
besides, the Berbers of the Atlas region, the Tuareg of the central Sahara, 
the Bisharin, or Beja, near the Red Sea coast, and the Gallas, Somalis, and 
Masai in East Africa, while along the whole northern frontier of the Negro 
domain a considerable mixture of Hamitic blood is to be traced. The 
Semites include, besides the various Arab tribes of north and north-west 
Africa, an important part of the inhabitants of Abyssinia, which was 
invaded by the Himyarites of Arabia in very early times. 

Social and Political Characters. — The occupations of the people, 
although to some extent determined by the predisposition of the different 
races, acquired perhaps in former habitats, are still more definitely con- 
nected with the varying nature of the surface features. The Semites and 
Hamites, inhabiting the dry regions of North Africa, are pre-eminently 
pastoral, agriculture being practised to any large extent only in the Nile 
valley, the Atlas region, and Abyssinia. Along the whole borderland 
between the Hamites and Negroes the ruling class (Hamite) is devoted to 
cattle-rearing, while the agricultural population (sometimes pure Negro) 
forms a subordinate caste. The Negro race as a whole is agriculturist, and 
throughout the West African forest region where pasturage is scarce, 


Africa 


899 

cattle-rearing is little practised. Yet certain tribes of the savanna region, 
notably the Zulus and Kaffirs of the south-east, as well as the Dinkas and 
others of the Upper Nile, practise it extensively in conjunction with 
agriculture. The Hottentots, who inhabit the arid region of the south' 
west, are again pre-eminently pastoral, while the Bushmen and other 
tribes of small stature live chiefly by hunting. 

The peoples of Africa are alike remarkable for the small amount 
of political cohesion they exhibit, the few States of any importance which 
have arisen since the time of the ancient Egyptians having been almost 
entirely the result of external influence. The nomadic pastoral races of 
the north dwell under the patriarchal rule universally associated with that 
mode of life. Where agriculture can be practised, as in Abyssinia, politi- 
cal organisation has proceeded further. The Negroes, on the other hand, 
though agriculturists, show a marked incapacity for the establishment of 
stable kingdoms, being split up into a great number of independent tribes, 
ruled by petty chiefs, whose authority often extends over a few villages 
only, and who live at constant feud with each other. The universal pre- 
valence of polygamy, leading to intrigue among the families of the chiefs, 
has tended to perpetuate this state of things, and still more the slave 
trade, which has been the scourge of Africa for centuries, and which 
encourages inter-tribal warfare for the supply of prisoners. The religion 
of the Negroes is a compound of degrading superstitions, fetishism being 
widely diffused, and this has done much to keep the race in a backward 
state. Except in Abyssinia, where a debased form of Christianity prevails, 
the Hamites and Semites are all adherents of Islam, which since its intro- 
duction by the Arab invaders, has exercised a certain civilising influence, 
and the few native States of any importance — on the Mediterranean 
coast and among the mixed races south of the Sahara — may be as- 
cribed to its agency. At the present day the southward advance of Islam 
among the Negroes has an important bearing on the future of the 
continent. 

History. — Although North Africa, from its contiguity to the Mediter- 
ranean, has from the earliest times participated in the life of the world at 
large, the bulk of the continent, shut off on the north by the great Saharan 
desert, and placed at a disadvantage on other sides by its massive form, its 
want of navigable waterways, and its unhealthy coastlands which have 
seen the rise of no powerful kingdoms and offered few inducements to 
commercial activity, has, apart from a certain amount of intercourse 
between its east coast and the south-west of Asia, remained entirely outside 
the pale of civilisation. Such isolated episodes as the supposed journey 
of the Nasamonian youths across the Sahara and the circumnavigation by 
the Phoenicians (related by Herodotus), or the voyage of Hanno, the Car- 
thaginian, down the west coast, did but momentarily lift the veil of 
obscurity, and though during the Roman epoch some light reached Europe 
through the travels of merchants, the Nile expeditions initiated by Nero, 


goo The International Geography 

and the geographical investigations of Ptolemy of Alexandria, the Saracen 
conquest of North Africa in the seventh and following centuries cut off 
the rest of the continent from all intercourse with Europe, and for several 
centuries the only additions to knowledge were supplied by the writings of 
Arab historians, who left some record of the kingdoms founded by Arab 
influence to the south of the Sahara. A new era dawned when, early in 
the fifteenth century, Prince Henry of Portugal devoted himself to the 
discovery of a sea route to the east round the African coasts, for his untiring 
efforts, carried forward after his death by others, led to the rounding of 
the Cape of Good Hope by Bartholomew Diaz in 1488, and the successful 
voyage to India of Vasco da Gama in 1497-98. In course of time Portu- 
guese settlements were formed both on the east and west coasts, and when 
other European nations entered the field trading stations were estab- 
lished by them on the coasts of Guinea and elsewhere, while in 1652 
the Dutch occupied the site of Cape Town. At the opposite end of the 
continent the Turks had established themselves along the Mediterranean 
shores in the previous century. During the most flourishing days of 
their rule the Portuguese penetrated some distance into the interior, 
especially in Abyssinia, but it is uncertain how far their knowledge 
extended. On the Senegal and Gambia, French and British adven- 
turers attempted, without much success, to penetrate to the mysterious 
city of Timbuktu. 

The systematic exploration of the interior has, however, been almost 
entirely the work of the past century. Between 1768 and 1772 James 
Bruce made his celebrated journey to the source of the Blue Nile, but the 
founding of the “African Association” in 1788 was the event from which 
the modern period of exploration must be dated. The discovery of the 
course and termination of the Niger — due chiefly to the journeys of Mungo 
Park (1795-1805) and Lander (1830) — and the exploration of parts of the 
Sahara and Sudan, with the discovery of Lake Chad — the work of Denham 
and Clapperton (1822-27) — were the earliest fruits of the interest thus 
aroused. The journeys of Laing (1825) and Caillie (1828) to Timbuktu also 
deserve mention. In South-East Africa the Portuguese scientific explorer, 
J. de Lacerda, made an important journey in 1798. In South Africa, 
where the Dutch settlement finally passed into British hands in 1806, some 
progress was also made, especially by the journeys of Dr. Andrew Smith 
and Captain J. E. Alexander. The conquest of Algeria by France in 1830, 
and of the Eastern Sudan by Mehemet Ali of Egypt in 1820-21, paved the 
way for an advance in these directions, and an Egyptian Expedition 
ascended the Nile as far as 4 0 42' N. in 1841. 

A period of renewed activity began in 1849, in which year Dr. Living- 
stone made his first exploring journey from the south, discovering Lake 
Ngami, while reports of snowy mountains in East Africa came from the 
missionaries Krapf and Rebmann, and preparations were made for a British 
Government expedition from the north to the central Sudan. Important 


Africa 


901 


results followed in all three directions. Dr. Livingstone reached the 
Zambezi, made his way to the Portuguese colony of Angola, and returned 
across the continent to the mouth of the Zambezi (1851-56), while other 
travellers, including Galton, Baines, and Mauch, filled in the details of the 
country south of that river. In East Africa an expedition despatched by 
the Royal Geographical Society, under Burton and Speke, reached Lake 
Tanganyika and the Victoria Nyanza (1858) ; while Speke, returning with 
Grant in 1859, further explored the Victoria Nyanza, and discovered its 
outlet towards the Nile, thus virtually solving the problem of the Nile 
sources. In 1864 Baker discovered the second Nile reservoir in the 
Albert Nyanza. In North Africa the expedition, led at the outset by 
Dr. Richardson and afterwards by Dr. Barth, traversed the central 
Sudan in various directions, and threw a flood of light on its im- 
perfectly known geography. Good work was also done later by Rohlfs 
and Nachtigal. 

The exploration of the great Congo basin, so far a blank on the maps, 
was ushered in by Dr. Livingstone’s last great journey (1866-73). Pro- 
ceeding by way of Lake Nyasa (discovered by him and Sir John Kirk in 
1858) he came upon a vast northward flowing river system, which he at first 
considered to belong to the Nile basin, but which still retained its secret 
when death overtook him on the shores of Lake Bangweolo. Cameron 
threw additional light on this river system by his journey of 1873-76, 
during which he discovered the outlet of Lake Tanganyika, but the solution 
of the problem was supplied by H. M. Stanley, who, after important explora- 
tion in East Africa, turned his steps westward and amid incomparable 
difficulties and dangers traced the great Lualaba to its termination as the 
Congo in the Atlantic Ocean. An important journey into the Congo basin 
from the north had been made in 1869-71 by Dr. Schweinfurth, and 
about the same time Egyptian sovereignty was extended to the Albert 
Nyanza. 

The largest share of African exploration had so far fallen to British 
subjects, but the interest of Europe was now thoroughly awakened and 
explorers of all nationalities flocked to the shores of the continent. Poli- 
tical activity was also aroused. A vast undertaking, initiated by King 
Leopold of Belgium, finally led to the formation of an Independent State 
of the Congo, whose many branches have since been explored by the 
State officials. France, likewise, pushed into the interior from Algeria and 
her settlements on the Senegal and Gabun, in time extending her influence 
over the greater part of the western Sudan, and even to Lake Chad and 
the Nile watershed. In 1882 Great Britain acquired a preponderating 
influence in Egypt by the suppression of the military revolt under Arabi 
Pasha. In 1884 Germany obtained a footing in South-West Africa, in 
Upper Guinea (Togoland), and the Cameroons (Kamerun), and soon 
afterwards in East Africa, where in 1886 and 1890 the most fertile portions 
were partitioned between that country and the United Kingdom. Before 


902 The International Geography 

this the journeys of Joseph Thomson had much enlarged the bounds of 
our knowledge in East Africa, especially in the country of the dreaded 
Masai tribe. 

In 1884 a British protectorate was declared over the lower Niger, and 
British influence is now recognised in this region as far as Lake Chad. The 
extension of the older colonies of the Guinea coast has, however, been much 
hampered by the French expansion. In South Africa the bounds of British 
territory have been pushed far to the north, reaching beyond the Zambezi 
and joining hands with another young settlement on Lake Nyasa. In the 
Nile basin civilisation received a severe check by the Mahdist revolt of 
1883, and not till 1898 was the eastern Sudan once more liberated by the 
Anglo- Egyptian campaign under Lord Kitchener. Italy gained a footing 
on the Red Sea in 1882 and subsequent years, and afterwards on the Somali 
coast south of Cape Guardafui. Her attempts to establish a protectorate 
over Abyssinia have, however, proved unsuccessful. Portugal has obtained 
some extension of her old colonies on the east and west coasts, but has 

failed to realise her dream of 
uniting them across the continent. 
These territorial acquisitions 
first received international recog- 
nition at the Berlin Conference 
of 1884 ; and subsequent agree- 
ments between individual Powers, 
have brought practically the whole 
continent under European influ- 
ence. Important agreements con- 
cluded in 1890-91 between the 
United Kingdom and Germany, 
France, Italy and Portugal deter- 
mined the broad outlines of the 
partition of the interior, but left 
Fig. 437 . — The Railways and Telegraphs of many points open to dispute, 
Africa (1907). especially between the United 

Kingdom and France. These were finally settled by the Niger Conven- 
tion of 1898 between those countries, and by the supplementary Declara- 
tion of 1899. France has thereby made good her claim to a continuous 
territory extending from the lower Congo round the eastern shores of Lake 
Chad to Algeria in the north and the Senegal in the north-w r est ; and the 
United Kingdom has established political ascendancy over the whole upper 
Nile basin. Explorers have more and more worked from political motives, 
confining their attention chiefly to the spheres of their respective countries. 
Among the host of names deserving credit for the filling in of details in 
the map of Africa since Stanley’s great journey of 1874-77, those of 
Thomson, Teleki, and Baumann (East Africa), Wissmann and Grenfell 

(Congo basin), Binger and Monteil (West Sudan), Foureau (Sahara), and 

* 



Africa 903 

Bottego (Galla and Somali-lands), stand out pre-eminent for the value 
of their achievements. 

With the increase of exploration efforts have been made to open up 
the comparatively healthy plateaux by railways from the coast ; the pene- 
tration is greatest from Cape Town in the south and Cairo in the north, and 
it is hoped that these systems may be united in the not distant future. 
Apart from the submarine cables, which form loops round the coast, over- 
land lines have been carried into the interior in advance of the railways ; 
the wire from Cape Town will soon be open along Lakes Nyasa and Tan- 
ganyika to Uganda and ultimately to Cairo, while a line is being constructed 
from Leopoldville on the Congo to Lake Tanganyika. 

POLITICAL DIVISION OF AFRICA. 

APPROXIMATE AREAS. 


European Colonies and Protectorates : — Sq. miles. 

French territory 1 2 3 . . 3,712,000 

British territory 2 2,165,000 

Egypt (with Sudan to 5 0 N.) 3 I,i35> 00 ° 

Congo State (Belgian influence) .. .. 905,000 

German territory 9°5>° 00 

Portuguese territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794,000 

Tripoli with Fezzan (Turkish) . . . . . . . . 340,000 

Italian territory . . . . . . . . . . . . 230,000 

Spanish territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,000 

Native States outside European influence : — 

Abyssinia 320,000 

Marocco 180,000 

Liberia 52,000 

Unclaimed (Eastern Sahara) . . 630,000 

Larger lakes 70,000 


Total 11,520,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir E. Hertslet. “ The Map of Africa by Treaty.” 3 vols. London, 1896. 

A. H. Keane. “ Africa,” in Stanford' s Compendium. 2 vols. London, 1895. 

W. Sievers and F. Hahn. “Afrika.” 2nd edit. Leipzig, 1901. 

J. Scott Keltie. “ The Partition of Africa.” 2nd edit. London, 1895. 

A. Silva White. “ The Development of Africa.” 2nd edit. London, 1893. 

E. Heawood. “ Elementary Geography of Africa.” 2nd edit. London, 1903. 
A. Knox. “ Notes on the Geology of the Continent of Africa.” London, 1905. 


1 Including Wadai and a large area of the Sahara still unoccupied 

2 British East Africa is considered to extend to 5 0 N. 

3 Under Turkish suzerainty, administered by Great Britain. 


CHAPTER XLIX. — NORTH AFRICA 

I.— MAROCCO 

By Lieut. -Col. Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 

Position and Extent. — The Empire of Marocco (often written 
Morocco) extends on the north from Cape Spartel, a distance of 300 miles, 
to the frontier of Algeria. The boundary between them, fixed by treaty in 
1845, starts from the river Kiss and runs in a south-easterly direction to 
a little beyond the 33rd parallel of latitude. On the Atlantic coast the 
Empire extends for a distance of 450 miles, as far as the Wad Draa. 

Condition and History. — Marocco is the last of the Barbary States 
which has preserved its independence, and it is peculiarly interesting from 
the fact of its standing alone as a monument of barbarism. The Sallee 
rovers, it is true, no longer scour the seas as of yore, but the inhabitants 
of the Riff country, who have given the word Ruffian to the English 
language, are as much pirates at heart as ever, and they lose no chance of 
plundering any vessel which may happen to come too near their inhos- 
pitable shore. There is no country near Europe so little known. Up to 
1820 the largest share of the information we had of it was derived from the 
narratives of Christian captives, or of the envoys sent to effect their 
ransom. Its geography and natural history have more recently been 
illustrated by many eminent travellers. 

Configuration and Rivers. — The configuration of the Atlas and the 
hydrographical system of the country are not essentially different from 
those of Algeria, but, inasmuch as the mountains are higher and in some 
places covered with perpetual snow, the rivers on both sides of the range 
are more considerable. The exact height of the loftiest peak is not known, 
but Joseph Thomson ascended one in the southern Atlas 12,700 feet, and 
another 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

Marocco has no navigable rivers, but some could be made so if the 
sandbanks at their mouths were removed. The only considerable one on 
the Mediterranean coast is the Muluia, the ancient Molocath, which has a 
course of 400 miles. Those on the Atlantic coast are the Kus, the Sebu, 
the Bou Ragreg, the Um-er-Rebia, the Tinsift, the Sus, and the Draa. In 
summer they arc half dry, but in winter they are raging torrents. 

Productions and Communications. — Some of the plains and 
valleys are of great fertility ; cereals are grown abundantly, though culti- 
vated in the most rudimentary manner. Dates, olives, figs and many other 
fruits are plentiful. Marocco, as a rule, is a treeless country ; the northern 
slopes of the Atlas contain finely wooded valleys, but beyond this little 
remains of the natural forests which at one time covered western Barbary. 
There are rich mineral deposits in the Atlas, quite unworked. The roads 

9°4 


Marocco 


905 


throughout the country are mere bridle-paths worn by travellers, beasts of 
burden, cattle, sheep and goats throughout uncounted ages. No railways 
exist in the empire. 

People and Government. — The population of Marocco does not 
probably exceed four millions and has nearly the same composition as 
in Algeria, except for the lack of the European element. Marocco has 
been called a crumbling empire ; it is governed by an absolute Sultan, 
and a turbulent aristocracy, but from a religious point of view it is the 
last stronghold of Islamism. The only resources of the treasury are 
exactions and authorised robbery from one end of the social scale to the 
other. The trade is insignificant compared with the size of the country. 
Farm produce and manufactured leather are exported, and textiles im- 
ported. The United Kingdom stands first in the share it takes both in 
the export and the import trade. 

Towns. — The three capitals where the Sultan resides alternately are 



TuggurT^ — 
' Gkadames 


JofraO © 
0 

F E<*5ZAN 

cZMurzuk 


Farafra© 

Dakhelo 


Tenduf Tu 


Arauan 


$ Borku 


Timbuktu 


Fig. 438 . — The Oases of the Sahara. 


Fez (Fas), Mekenes, and Merakish or Marocco city. The towns on the 
coast, commencing from the Algerian frontier, are Tetuan, Tangier, 
Laraicli ( El-Araisli ), Sallee (S' la), Rabat, Casa-Blanca or Dar-el-Beida, 
Mazagan, Safi, and Mogador or Sueira. These have a varnish of civilisation, 
but in the interior, though not without relics of past splendour, the towns 
are masses of ruin and all-abiding filth. The most important, naturally, 
is Tangier, where the diplomatic agents of foreign Powers reside. It is of 
peculiar interest to Englishmen as it formed part of the dowry of 
Catherine of Braganza on her marriage with Charles II. in 1662. After a 
short and badly managed British occupation, it was evacuated in 1683. It 
is now a favourite residence for winter visitors. 

Saharan Oases. — All along the Saharan slopes of the Atlas there 
are oases inhabited by more or less independent tribes owning the 
suzerainty of the Sultan. The most important is that of Tafilet or Tafilelt, 


906 The International Geography 


about 200 miles east of Merakish. This remarkable place has been visited 
recently by Mr. Harris, who went from Merakish, crossing the Atlas 
range, through a district inhabited by Berbers, every part of which is 
dominated by great castles, often 50 feet high, with richly decorated 
tow r ers. Tablet consists of a strip of fertile land, growing vast quantities 
of dates, extending along the parallel beds of the Wad Ziz and the Wad 
Gheris, rivers which irrigate 400 square miles before being lost in the 
sand. There is no city of the name of Tablet ; the capital of the district 
was Sigilmassa, so familiar to readers of mediaeval works on Marocco, now 
a complete ruin. Here is the resting-place of Mulai Ali Sherif, the 
ancestor of the reigning Sultan, whose tomb is held in great veneration. 

About 100 miles to the east is the Wad Ghir, the upper part of which 
was seen by the French soldiers of General Wimpffen’s expedition in 1870, 
who compared it, in volume, to their own Meuse. After receiving the 
waters ot the Zusfana at Ighli, the united stream bows southward under 
the name of the Wad Messaud, and eventually becomes lost in the basin 
of El-Erg. This is geologically the most extraordinary part of the Sahara ; 
it is an immense tract of sand, seemingly impassable for man or beast, but 
nevertheless there are valleys in which caravans are able to journey 
with comparative facility. The basin between the two rivers is exceed- 
ingly rich in subterranean water, and the wells there are capable of irrigat- 
ing as many as eight millions of date-palms. 

The other oases of this part of the Sahara — Tuat, Gurara, Tidikelt, and 
Figig — over which Marocco formerly claimed some authority, have lately 
been brought under the control of the French in Algeria. 


STATISTICS {rough estimates). 


Area of Marocco in square miles 
Population of Marocco . . 

„ Merakish . . 

Tangier 
„ Fez 


219,000 

estimates vary from 3,000,000 to 9,000,000 


60,000 
25,000 to 30,000 
24,000 to 140,000 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 


Exports 1,400,000 

Imports .. 1,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir R. L. Playfair and R. Brown. “A Bibliography of Morocco.” London, 1892. 

Vte. Ch. de Foucauld. “ Reconnaissance au Maroc.” Paris, 1888. 

Joseph Thomson. " Journey to Southern Morocco and the Atlas Mountains.” London, 1889. 

W. B. Harris. “Tafilet.” Edinburgh, 1895. 

Budgett Meakin. “The Moorish Empire.” London, 1899. “ The Land of the Moors,” 1901* 
“ The Moors,” 1902. 

J. Canal. “ Geographie General du Maroc.” Paris, 1902. 


II. — ALGERIA 

By Lieut. -Col. Sir R. Lambert Playfair. 

British Consul-General in Algeria. 

Extent and Configuration. — The French colony of Algeria, bounded 
on the west by Marocco, is comprised between 2^° W. and 8|° E. longi- 
tude. Southward, the colony proper reaches to about 32 0 N. latitude, but 


9°7 


Algeria 

beyond this the Saharan districts under military rule stretch to about 26°. 
Apart from these, the area is calculated at about 184,000 square miles. 

Politically it is divided into three departments. Oran, which occupies 
the western part, contiguous to Marocco. Algiers, the central and most 
important department, which, owing to its closer relations with the countries 
on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, is the centre of European 
commerce and colonisation. The third is Constantine, which forms the 
eastern part next to Tunisia. The natural divisions of the country also 
are three : the Tell, the High Plateaux, and the Sahara ; but the political 
divisions bear no relation to them. 

The Tell is a strip of undulating, cultivated land, extending 50 to 150 
• miles inland from the sea, and forming the northern limb of the Atlas. 
This range, covered with splendid forests, containing fertile valleys, 
and in some places arid steppes, stretches eastward from the ocean to 
which it has given its name, through Marocco, Algeria and Tunisia, 
becoming interrupted in Tripoli and ending in the beautiful green 
hills of Cyrenaica. The best known part of this mountain range is the 
district called Kabylia, inhabited by a branch of the Berber race, who, 
unlike the Arabs, build stone houses, and cultivate their land with the 
•care usually bestowed on market gardens. A less known but even 
more interesting region is the Aures range, overhanging the Sahara, 
•enclosing fertile plains and valleys of great richness. These mountains 
are the highest in Algeria: Shellia has an altitude of 7,611 feet and 
Mahmel is nearly as high. Another mass, within the Tunisian frontier, 
is the wild and beautiful country of the Khomair, with great stretches 
of oak forests interspersed with glades of cleared and cultivated land. 

The region of the High Plateaux, extending from west to east, consists 
of vast plains separated by parallel ranges of mountains. These terraces 
increase in height as they recede from the Tell, and again decrease as they 
approach the Sahara. Cultivation is only possible, within narrow limits, 
in localities capable of irrigation. It is covered with alfa grass and abun- 
dance of delicate aromatic herbs well suited for rearing sheep and goats. 

The Sahara consists of two very distinct regions which may be called 
the Lower and Upper Sahara. The Lower Sahara is a vast depression of 
sand and clay, stretching eastwards as far as Tunisia; the Upper Sahara is 
a rocky plateau frequently attaining a considerable elevation, extending on 
the west into Marocco. Moving sand occupies an extensive zone in both 
regions, but it does not cover one-third of the whole surface. The oases, 
or gardens of date-trees (Fig. 438), with which the Sahara is studded, exist 
wherever water is found ; that only is necessary to make the desert sand 
excessively fecund. 

Geology and Minerals. — Space does not admit of full treatment of 
the geology proper of Algeria ; but some notice is necessary of the economic 
minerals. The ores of various metals are found in great abundance : lead 
ore, more or less argentiferous ; copper, blende, calamine, antimony, chrome. 

59 


908 The International Geography 

manganese and iron. Iron ore is the most important, and generally occurs 
so near the surface that it can be worked in open quarries ; nearly half 
a million tons are exported every year, principally from Beni Saf, near the 
frontier of Marocco. Algeria is especially rich in decorative stones — 
marble, breccia and oriental alabaster, some of which is probably the 
finest that the world contains. It is worked near Kleber in Oran, and 
also at Ain Smara, near Constantine. Phosphate of lime of excellent 
quality and apparently inexhaustible quantity has recently been dis- 
covered at Tebessa and in the south of Tunisia, and the industry has 
been developed by the energy and intelligence of British subjects, 
rousing much adverse comment from French and Algerian politicians, 
who hold that foreigners should not be permitted to develop the in- 
dustries of the country. 

Hydrographic System. — The drainage area of the Tell is as 
regular as in other countries and its streams all reach the sea. The 
most considerable are the Mafrag, the Seybus, the Wed-el- Kebir, the 
Makta, and the Shelif, which, during flood-time, discolour the water for 
several miles at sea, but have not the strength in summer to force a 
passage for themselves through the banks of sand accumulated in their 
estuaries. With the streams descending from the southern slopes of the 
mountains, however, it is quite different. Some part of their waters is 
absorbed by irrigation in summer, but after the copious rains of winter 
they reach the Sahara, where they either form large open lakes called 
shotts, which, owing to evaporation, become salter than the ocean, or they 
sink through the permeable stratum of sand till they come to an impermeable 
one of clay, and thus form a vast subterranean reservoir. From time 
immemorial artesian wells have been sunk in this district, and their waters 
have everywhere spread life and wealth. The French have done a 

splendid and beneficent work in multiply- 
ing these wells wherever there was a pro- 
spect of success. Between 1856 and 1890 
no less than 794 were sunk. In one part of 
the Sahara, the Suf, this water circulates 
close to the surface of the soil, concealed 
by a bed of sulphate of lime. One has only 
to penetrate this layer of gypsum to create 
a well. When it is intended to plant a date 
grove the Suafa remove the entire crust 
and plant their palms in the water-bearing 
sand below. 

Climate. — The climate of Algeria, for 
winter visitors at least, is certainly the finest in the Mediterranean, though 
not without a due proportion of wet and cold. The summer is rainless 
and extremely hot. From an agricultural point of view the seasons are 
too variable : sometimes it is too cold, and the tender crops are killed by 



FlG. 439 . — Temperature and Rain- 
fall on the Coast and in the 
Interior of Algeria. 


* 


9°9 


Algeria 

frost, or it is too hot and a blast of the sirocco destroys the produce of a 
vineyard in a few hours. On the coast frost and snow are exceedingly rare, 
but on the High Plateaux and on the most elevated parts of the Tell the 
frost is sometimes severe and snow lies long and deep ; the highest peaks 
of the Atlas retain some snow as late as June. The extremes of climate 
increase towards the arid Sahara. 

Flora and Fauna. — The flora and fauna of the eastern portion of 
Algeria do not differ essentially from those of Sicily and Sardinia, while 
on the west they resemble rather those of Spain. Of the 3,000 plants 
found in Algeria, by far the greater number are natives of southern 
Europe, and less than 100 are peculiar to the Sahara, where Africa may 
be said to begin. Absolutely the same may be said of the fauna. There 
are many mammals, fish, reptiles and insects common to both sides of the 
Mediterranean. The fish of the Tell and High Plateaux belong exclusively 
to the European system. Algeria possesses twenty-one species of fresh- 
water fish, of which five are peculiar to itself. The Sahara alone is linked 
to the African system by its Chromidae, which occur all over Africa as 
far as Mozambique. It is by no means uncommon for fish to be ejected by 
artesian wells ; as they are not blind, it is concluded that they inhabit the 
subterranean reservoir or sea, which occupies the bottom of the Saharan 
depression, and that they circulate between one open space and another. 

Natural Productions. — Algeria is essentially an agricultural country, 
and it is from its soil, in a great measure, that its riches and importance 
proceed. Owing, however, to the uncertainty of its seasons, periodical 
drought and increasing competition with more favoured regions, the cul- 
tivation of cereals is yearly becoming less remunerative, although the 
quantity produced has increased, and the area producing it has risen from 
five and a half to seven million acres in twenty years. Algeria is rapidly 
becoming one of the principal wine-producing countries of the world. 
The vine prospers everywhere, even on the worst land and in the driest 
years. Everywhere, but especially on the littoral, excellent wine is 
produced, of infinite variety. All that is not consumed in the country 
is exported to France. One of the most important of the vegetable 
resources is the Alfa fibre, properly called Hulfa, or Esparto grass. This 
grows spontaneously over vast tracts of country where cultivation of any 
kind is impossible. Ten million acres are covered with it, yielding 
paper-making material equal to three-fourths of all the rags used 
throughout the world. The amount exported, however, continues 
steadily to decrease, owing to the increasing use of wood pulp. The 
surface of forest land is about seven and a half million acres ; and 
Algeria thus occupies the sixth rank amongst the forest countries of 
Europe. The principal trees are cork-oak, several other kinds of Quer- 
cus, Aleppo and maritime pines, and the Atlantic cedar ( Pinsapo Thuya), 
which yielded the far-famed Citrus wood of the ancients. The most attrac- 
tive forests are those of cedar, a never-ceasing source of pleasure to the 


910 The International Geography 

traveller, but hitherto they have proved of no very great commercial 
importance. The cork forests have an area greater than those of Spain, 
though not quite equal to those of Portugal, and much less productive. 

People and Language. — Numerically the most important class of 

the native population are the Arabs, who date back to the Arab occupation 

of the country in the twelfth century ; they took possession of the most 

accessible districts and drove the original owners, the Berbers, into their 

mountain fastnesses. They are essentially a nomad race, living in tents 

which they change from place to place as the pasturage around them is 

consumed. The term Moors, at the present day, is one of European 

invention, and is generally applied to Arabs who live in fixed habitations. 

The Arabs who reside within the sphere of French influence have 

acquired a certain varnish of civilisation, but the great mass of the 

population are now as they were in the days of Ishmael, and such are they 

likely to continue for generations. The Berbers constitute a division of 

the great aboriginal race which inhabited North Africa as far as the Red 

Sea. They live in the more inaccessible mountain 

regions. The chief branches are the Kabyles of Jur- 

jura, numbering about 200,000, and the Shauia of the 

Aures, whose name is derived from the Semitic root 

Sha, a sheep ; they have few or no cattle, but immense 

flocks of sheep and goats. The Jews are said to have 

established themselves in Algeria after the destruction 

„ , . . of Terusalem by Titus, but it is more probable that 

Fig. 440 .— Average i>op- J ,, . r 

ulation of a square they did so after their expulsion from the various 

mile of Algeria. parts of Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
centuries. The native languages are a more or less corrupt form of 
Arabic, spoken by Arabs and Jews, and Berber by the Kabyles, Shauia 
and other mountain races. Berber is the speech of over two-thirds of 
Marocco, and may be traced everywhere in the Sahara almost as far as 
Senegal. It has no written character, and all the “ literature ” it pos- 
sesses is transmitted orally. The Shauia dialect is full of Latin words, 
and in their daily life the people retain customs undoubtedly derived 
from the admixture of Latin races in their ancestry. They use the solar 
instead of the lunar year, and their names for the months are hardly 
different from those in use in Europe. 

Government. — When the French army, by a bold stroke, took 
possession of Algiers in 1830, France was as much surprised as the rest 
of the world. The expedition was sent to avenge an insult, and no one 
contemplated the creation of a magnificent colony. The first part of the 
modern history of Algeria was purely military, but as security began to be 
established, European colonisation followed rapidly. The government of 
the colony has undergone a complete transformation of late years. For- 
merly the Governor-General united in his person the chief civil and military 
authority. Now an entirely civil regime has been introduced. Each of the 


* ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

• # ♦ # • 

• ♦ ♦ • « 

« • • • ♦ 


/ 


Algeria 9 1 1 

three departments is governed by a prefect as in France, but under the 
supreme authority of the Governor-General, who is assisted by a Council of 
Government ; there is also a superior Council to which delegates are sent 
by each of the Departmental Councils. Each of the three departments 
sends one Senator and two Representatives to the Parliament in Paris. 

The military forces consist of the 19th Army Corps of France ; a 
portion of territory in the extreme south is still under the government of 
the commander-in-chief of this corps. 

Industries and Trade. — Algeria can hardly be said to be a manu- 
facturing country. A few objects, such as carpets, blankets and pottery, 
are produced by the Arabs, principally for their own use, but these are 
much sought after by European residents and visitors. The breeding of 
sheep is one of the principal employments of the native population 
on the High Plateaux. Although there is abundant pasturage for a 
larger number, it is impossible greatly to increase the stock owing to the 
scarcity of water during summer. 

The external trade of Algeria is almost entirely with France, all other 
countries together only participating to the extent of 10 per cent, of the 
total. The chief exports are cereals, esparto grass, tobacco, iron-ore, wine, 
and cork ; the chief imports are manufactured articles, coal and coffee. 

Algiers is an important coaling station for vessels trading in the 
Mediterranean, and its value in this respect is increasing. 

Communications. — The railway system has made rapid progress of 
late years. The aim of the administration is to have a central line from 
Tunis to Marocco, passing through the most important points in the 
interior, and various subsidiary lines joining this with the sea. This has 
been almost completely carried out. The roads are magnificent, such as 
no nation but the French seem able to construct, and they are nearly three 
times the length of the railways. 

Towns. — Commencing from the frontier of Marocco, the towns along 
the coast are, Nemours , Oran , the capital of the province, with an excellent 
harbour, Arzeu, Mostaganem , Tenez, and Cherchel. Algiers is the capital of 
the central province and of the entire colony. The modern town consists 
of regular streets and squares, fine public buildings and excellent hotels. 
The old town, inhabited chiefly by Arabs, lies on the steep hill behind the 
modern one, in the form of an irregular triangle, the apex of which is 
the old Turkish kasba or fortress. The streets are narrow, tortuous 
and irregular, joined together by alleys, in some of which it is barely 
possible for two men to pass. One of the principal features of these old 
Arab houses is that, rising as they do, one above the other, and covered 
with flat terraced roofs, a magnificent view is obtained from them of 
the city, the harbour and the distant mountains. Under the Turkish 
government the roofs were reserved for the women alone, who used to visit 
each other by climbing over the low parapet which divided the houses.. 
The inner harbour of Algiers was originally constructed by Kheir-ed-din 


912 The International Geography 

in 1518, by connecting the island on which the Spanish lighthouse stood, 
and still stands, with the mainland by a causeway. The present harbour 
is French ; it is interesting as the first ever constructed with blocks of 
concrete. The environs, especially Mustapha Superieur and El-Biar, are 
covered with beautiful villas and splendid hotels, greatly frequented 
by English and other visitors in the winter season. 

To the east of Algiers are the towns of Delys ; Bougie , with a fine natural 
harbour, situated amidst magnificent mountain scenery ; Djidjelly / Collo; 
Philippeville, one of the ports of Constantine, with a splendid artificial 
harbour ; Bone, the ancient Hippo Regius, the home of St. Augustine, also 
possessing a fine harbour. Both the last have railway communication with 
Constantine ; and lastly, La Calle , a town of considerable interest, as it was 
here that the French first established themselves in 1520. 

The towns in the interior, again commencing from the west, are 
Tlemfen, the Roman Pomaria , a place not unlike and at one time hardly 
less celebrated than Granada, or inferior to it in beauty of situation or 
architectural interest. Next come Sidi Bel Abbes/ Mascara, with its 
memories of Abd-el-Kadir ; Tiaret ; Orleansville, on the line of railway from 
Oran to Algiers ; Miliana / Blidaj Setif, on the High Plateaux, and Con- 
stantine, the “ Lordly Cirta,” always an important natural fortress, where 
Syphax and Masinissa reigned, where Sophonisba died by her own hand, 
where St. Cyprian was exiled, and the scene of the two most important 
operations of the many undertaken by the French armies. In point of 
scenic beauty and grandeur, probably no town in the basin of the 
Mediterranean can equal it. South of it, on the border of the desert, is 
Biskra, now becoming very popular as a winter station ; it is practically 
rainless, but it has not the beautiful scenery and the amenities of life 
which make Algiers so pleasant. 

The most prominent fact that meets one at every turn is that France 
has been transported to Africa ; the whole country is covered with French 
towns and villages, and foreigners are held in disfavour, although the 
foreign element has played a most important part in the colonisation of 
the country, and even now, if the Spanish, Italian and Maltese elements 
were eliminated, work would be at a standstill. Another fact that strikes 
the stranger is the permanence and solidity that pervades everything. 
The railways are constructed as well and expensively as in France, the 
roads are unsurpassed in any country, and the hydraulic and irrigation 
works are splendid in their conception. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Algeria (square miles) . . 

1886. 

I896. 

1901. 

184474 

184,474 

184,474 

Population 

3,817,306 

4 , 429,421 

4 . 739.331 

Density of population per square mile. . 

21 

24 

(189I) 

82,585 

26 

Population of Algiers 

74.792 

96. 542 

„ Oran 

67.68I 

74.510 

87,801 

„ Constantine 

44.960 

46.581 

4*. 138 

Bone 

29,640 

30,806 

32,288 

„ Tlem^en 

28,204 

29.544 

22,273 


Tunisia 


9 T 3 


COMPOSITION OF POPULATION OF ALGERIA. 


Races. 


1886. 

1891. 

French 



271,101 

Jews 



47.564 

Algerian and Tunisian Mohammedans 



3 . 554.067 

Maroccans 



18,617 

European Foreigners 



218,201 

Total 



4,109,650 

ANNUAL TRADE OF 

ALGERIA (in pounds sterling). 


Exports 

1871-75- 

1881-85. 

1891-95. 

5,800,000 

. 5.900,000 

10,200,000 

Imports 

7,800,000 

. 12,400,000 

9,200,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir R. L. Playfair. “Murray’s Handbook to Algeria and Tunis.” London, 1895. 

Bibliography of Algeria.” London, 1888 ; with supplement, 1898. 

P. Vuillot. “ L’exploration du Sahara.” Paris, 1895. 

“ Le Pays du Mouton.” Algiers, 1893. 

F. Foureau. ‘‘Documents scientifiques de la Mission Saharienne.” 3 vols. and Atlas. 
Paris, 1903-05. 


III. — TUNISIA 

By Sir Harry H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., 

At one time British Consul-General at Tunis. 

Position and Surface. — Tunisia, the ancient Roman province of 
Africa (still called “ Ifrigiah ’’ by the natives), is the most northerly pro- 
jection of the Dark Continent. It is the most easterly prolongation of true 
North Africa — that is to say, of all the temperate, fairly well-watered 
regions north of the Sahara desert. 1 Tunisia is divided into four fairly 
distinct regions— Tell, Sahel, high Tablelands, and Sahara (desert). 
The Tell is the name generally given to the well-watered and well-wooded 
mountainous country in the north of Tunisia, lying between the valley of 
the Majerda and the coast of the Mediterranean, between the frontier of 
Algeria and the Gulf of Tunis. Sahel — literally coast lands — is the less 
well watered but still fertile eastern littoral of Tunisia, from Cap Bon to 
the frontier of Tripoli. The interior tableland, of an average altitude of 
2,000 feet above the level of the sea, lies to the north of 35J 0 N., and 
extends to the valley of the Majerda. This district is watered by no 
perennial stream, but has a rainfall usually sufficient for raising grain crops 
and maintaining pasturage. The real Sahara desert lies to the south of 
this tableland and to the west of the narrow coast belt. A most important 
and interesting region of Tunisia is that round the dried-up salt lakes, in 
the south — the Belad-al-Jerid, or Country of Date Palms, an Arab name 
really restricted to a very small portion of Tunisia, but made to cover a vast 

1 The adjoining vilayet of Tripoli, which lies much further to the south, is entirely 
Saharan in character, but beyond Tripoli again there is the northward projection of Barka 
(the ancient Cyrenaica), which in some degree reproduces the characteristics of northern 
Tunis, Algeria and Marocco. 


914 The International Geography 

area of the interior of Africa on maps of the eighteenth century. These 
salt lakes, which now contain scarcely any water, are supposed to be a few 
feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and almost certainly represent a 
very ancient incursion of that sea. In the vicinity of these lakes innumer- 
able springs gush from the limestone rocks and low hill ranges ; some of 
them are cold and salt, and others are boiling-hot and fresh. Formerly 
no doubt these springs, which actually form running rivers, filled up the 
salt-covered depressions with water ; but for several centuries past the hot 
fresh water, which predominates in quantity, has been almost entirely 
used up for the irrigation of immense forests of date palms, orchards of 
fruit trees, and plantations of vegetables. There is only one perennial 
running river of any importance — the Majerda (Makar of the Carthaginians, 
and Bagrada of the Romans), which rises in eastern Algeria, and flows 
right across northern Tunisia to the sea at Porto Farina. 

The mountains in northern and western Tunisia are a prolongation of 
the Atlas Range. The greatest height attained is under 7,000 feet. A 
rather isolated and notable mountain (for picturesqueness) is Mount 
Zaghwan (5,500 feet), forty miles south of Tunis, and the source of water 
supply to that town now, as in Carthaginian and Roman times. The rather 
high mountains of the Tunisian Sahara (5,000 feet at most) are really the 
remains of an ancient plateau, and are mostly table-topped. 

People, Trade and Government. — The really native population 
possibly reaches to 1,800,000, and consists mainly of Arabs and Berbers. 
The non-Tunisian or European Christian population attains a total of 
about 100,000 ; 50 per cent, of them are of Italian nationality, nearly 
30 per cent. French and the remainder chiefly Maltese, with over 1,00a 
Greeks. 

The occupation of the native population is almost entirely agricultural. 
Wheat is grown in the north and centre, barley in the east and south. 
Camels, horses, cattle, sheep and goats are reared in large numbers. A 
considerable area of the country is planted with olive-trees, the olive oil of 
Tunisia being the finest in the world. The extreme south also produces 
the best dates known to commerce. The forests of the north-west yield 
cork of good quality, and the steppes bordering on the Sahara grovr 
quantities of esparto grass. In the towns are important manufactures of 
carpets, and a little weaving of silk. 

About 60 per cent, of the total trade is carried on with France and 
Algeria. The United Kingdom and Malta have about 13 per cent, of the 
trade, Italy about 11 per cent., and Russia, Belgium, Austria, Tripoli, 
Scandinavia and Spain the remainder. 

In the sixteenth century the native Berber dynasty of the Hafsides was 
displaced by Turkish invasion, which gradually settled into the military 
despotism of a Bey. 1 From the beginning of the eighteenth century the 


1 Bey = Colonel. The Bey was the commander-in-chief of the Turkish garrison. 


Tunisia 


9*5 


TurKish family of Hussein reigned over Tunis as hereditary satraps of 
Turkey until 1881, when the country was placed under the protectorate 
of France. Since that time, although the Bey is still maintained as 
ruler, the country is practically governed by France through a Resident- 
General. 

Towns. — The capital of Tunisia is Tunis , a city existing from before 
the historical period, at the head of the gulf of that name. Tunis is 
separated from the sea by a shallow salt 
lake, originally the embouchure of the Ma- 
jerda River. Through this lake the French 
have cut a maritime canal which brings 
Tunis within easy access of the sea. The 
site of Carthage is situated about twelve 
miles to the north-west of Tunis. The town 
next in importance is Sfax, on the south- 
east coast of Tunisia. Bizerta, in the most 
northern part of the country, is at the mouth 
of a large and deep lake, and has been 
made by the French into a great military port. An interesting city to 
visit is the formerly sacred town of Kairwan , the original Mohammedan 
capital, founded in the eighth century. Gafsa, in the south, is an old 
Roman city with wonderful hot springs. Gabes, at the head of the gulf 
of that name, possesses a short but perennially running river, and is sur- 
rounded by an oasis of extraordinary fertility and beauty. The Island of 
Jerba, lying to the southward of Gabes, is supposed to be the island of the 
Lotus Eaters of the ancient Greek poets and geographers. In the Gulf of 
Gabes the Mediterranean exhibits tidal influence to a considerable extent ; 
in places along the coast of Jerba the highest rise and fall of the tide is 
seven feet. Tunisia is celebrated, or should be so, for its wonderful 
Roman ruins. These are chiefly remarkable at Dugga, in the valley of the 
Majerda, at Sbeitla (the Roman Suffetula), at Feriana, at Gafsa, and at 
various other places in the Jerid, at Zaghwan, and finally at El Djem, 
which has the second largest amphitheatre in the world. 

Railways. — The Bone-Guelma Railway Company of Eastern Algeria 
owns all the railways in Tunisia except the line from Sfax to Gafsa. The 
main line of the Bone-Guelma Railway runs from Suk Ahras in Algeria 
down the valley of the Majerda to Tunis, with a branch to Bizerta, and 
with other branches to Zaghwan, Susa, Kairwan, &c. A light mineral rail- 
way has also been built connecting Sfax with Gafsa to work important 
deposits of phosphates. 



• — * — • — ■ — ■— < 

o 5 miles 


Fig. 441 . — The Site of Tunis. 


STATISTICS. 


Area of Tunisia (in square miles) 
Population of Tunisia, approximately 
Density of population per square mile 
Population of Tunis 

1, Sfax . . . . 

60 


51,000 
1,900,000 
37’2 
180,000 
40 000 


# • 



916 The International Geography 

APPROXIMATE COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION OF TUNISIA. 


Berbers more or less of pure race, say 500,000 

Arabs, say . . 500,000 

Mixed Arab and Berber peoples . . 500,000 

“Moors’’ (chiefly the population of the principal cities, of mixed Berber, 

Roman, Spanish-Moor, and Christian-slave races), say . . 100,000 

Jews, say 100,000 

Sudanese Negroes, natives of Marocco, Algerians, and Turks, say . . . . 100,000 

Europeans, say 100,000 

AVERAGE ANNUAL TRADE (in dollars). 

1896-97. 

Exports .. . . 7,100,000 

Imports .. 9,220,000 


IV.— TRIPOLI 

By Prof. John L. Myres. 

Position and Surface. — Tripoli includes all the north coast of 
Africa between Tunis and Egypt, with its hinterland as far south as Rhat 
and Fezzan, but the land frontiers are ill-defined. The coast is parted by 
the Gulf of Sert (the ancient Syrtis major), into Tripoli proper and Barka ; 
in each division a limestone plateau approaches the sea, giving rise to 
milder climate, greater rainfall, and fertile coast plains of varying extent. 
The plain of Tripoli (Jefara) narrows from 70 miles south of Zuara to 30 
miles behind Tripoli, while west of Khoms broken highlands reach the 
coast. The narrow Meshiya belt round Tripoli and Tajura is irrigated 
from wells, but the rest is now uncultivated, and parts are sandy desert. 
East of Khoms the coast land is more varied, but the coast of the Gulf of 
Sert is quite barren. The plain of Tripoli is abruptly bounded by the 
limestone scarp of Jebel Nefusa, Yefren, and Gharian (2,000 feet), and the 
Tarhuna plateau. This hilly country is intersected by dry river-beds 
running towards the north-east. The Hamada el Homra, a very level, 
waterless plateau of red sandstone (1,500 to 1,650 feet) separates Ghadames 
and Rhat from Fezzan. East of the Hamada the volcanic Jebel es Soda 
and Haruj es Sod divide the coast steppe of Sert from the limestone Heruj 
el Abiad of northern Fezzan. To Fezzan also belong the oases of Jofra 
and Zella at the northern foot of the volcanic range. Barka is a diversified 
limestone tableland, rising seawards, and in the west to 3,300 feet (Jebel 
Akhdar), cut off from the south by the white desert (Barka el Beida), and 
fringed by coast plains of red alluvium. There are cavernous ravines with 
dense vegetation near Benghazi ; otherwise the ancient forests have disap- 
peared. The ruins of Ptolemais and Kyrene occupy strong positions on 
spurs of the plateau : the “ Fountain of Apollo,” which fertilised the latter, 
still flows (Ain Shehat), and similar streams from beneath the escarpments 
water the gardens at Derna. South of the plateau lies a depressed area, 
barren except for the oases of Augila, Faredgha, the headquarters of the 
Senussi sect, and Siva, which, however, lies in Egyptian territory. 


1 npoii 917 

Climate. — In the coast plains the mean annual temperature is about 
70° F. A daily sea-breeze is experienced, diversified by occasional storms 
of rain from the north-west and of sand from the south-east. The winter 
storms make all the ports unsafe. In Barka the mean temperature is a 
little higher, with from 14 to 20 inches of winter rain. In the interior rain 
falls rarely, and the mean temperature rises to 82° F. in Fezzan, and 86° in 
Jofra, but with severe cold at night and even occasional snow on the hills. 
Heavy rain falls in early spring in Fezzan, but everywhere the normal 
water supply is subterraneous. 

The date-palm grows wherever there is water, olives in some places, 
almonds at Ghadames, and halfa (esparto grass) on the coast moors. 

People and History. — The population is throughout fundamentally 
Berber, but Jews have been numerous since Ptolemaic times in the coast 
towns. The Arab conquest modified many tribes profoundly ; and Negro 
elements, due to slave traffic, predominate southwards. Europeans, chiefly 
Italians and Maltese, are seen only in the coast towns, and Turks only 
in the garrisons and among the higher officials. Arabic is spoken every- 
where ; but Berber dialects survive, and Hausa is spreading along the 
caravan routes. Tripoli is named from the “ Three Cities ” — Sabrata (Zuara), 
Oea (Tripoli), Leptis (Lebda) — which were founded by the Phoenicians, but 
later came under Greek influences, and passed subsequently into the hands 
of the Romans. In the Roman period agriculture flourished even inland, 
thanks to elaborate water storage in the gorges of the plateau, of which 
frequent traces remain. Other Roman remains are numerous, testifying to 
the immense prosperity of the land before the Arab conquest. Tripoli was 
occupied by Spain under Charles V., and the Arab dynasty was finally 
deposed by the Turks in 1835. Barka entered into very early relations 
with Greece. Kyrene, the first colony, was founded in 631 b.c., and formed, 
with Barka and three other towns, a “ Pentapolis,” which in the fifth and 
fourth centuries B.c. rivalled Carthage in prosperity ; then became subject 
to Egypt ; and was bequeathed to Rome in 95 B.c. But the Silphium plant 
and the pastures, on which its wealth depended, were already disappearing, 
and the Arab conquest completed the ruin. 

Administration and Towns. — Tripoli is a Turkish vilayet, formerly 
including Barka, which, since 1873, has been administered separately. 
Tripoli is a walled town, the seat of the Vali and the principal garrison, 
with an open harbour, extensive palm groves, and important market. It is 
the terminus of caravan routes across the desert — (1) via Ghadames to 
Twat and Timbuktu, and to Rhat, Kano and Sokoto ; (2) via Sokna or 
Sebha to Murzuk, and so to Bornu, Wadai and Darfur ; (3) via Sokna and 
Zella to Aujila and Siva. It imports manufactured articles and objects of 
barter for the caravans, and exports ostrich feathers, ivory and skins from 
the Sudan ; gold dust from Twat ; halfa from the coast hills ; dates and a 
few cattle and horses from the littoral ; and baracans, goat-cloth and other 
textiles. Benghazi, the capital of Barka, has a small trade, chiefly with 


91 8 The International Geography 

Malta, in wool, cattle, corn (in good years), salt, sponges and a little ivory. 
The sponge fisheries are almost wholly in Greek hands. Ghadames 
(ancient Cydamus ), 300 miles south-west of Tripoli, lies between the 
north-west border of the Hamada el Homra and the Algerian desert, in an 
oasis watered by warm springs, and enclosed by a ruinous rampart. The 
population is Berber and devoted to trade. Rhat, in a similar oasis south 
of Ghadames and 540 miles from the coast, is inhabited mainly by the 
Tuareg, and is the principal halt between Ghadames and Kano. Murzuk, 
a walled town in one of the central oases of Fezzan, is the principal halt 
on the eastern route, and the junction with a route from Rhat to Zella and 
Aujila. 

STATISTICS ( Estimates ). 


Area in square miles 400,000 

Population ca. 800,000 

Density of population per square mile .. .. , . .. .. 2 

Population of Tripoli city 30,000 

,, Benghazi 15,000 


V— EGYPT 

By W. F. Hume, D.Sc., A.R.S.M., 

Egyptian Geological Survey. 

Position and Extent. — The political boundaries of Egypt cannot, as 
yet, be quite definitely stated. To the north, in latitude 31^° N., the 
Mediterranean forms its natural frontier ; to the west it is limited by an 
indefinite line, generally west of longitude 25 0 E. through the waterless 
deserts of the Sahara ; to the south, the provinces of the Sudan, which 
were in revolt under the Khalifa, extend to about 6° N. latitude ; while east 
the Galla country, Abyssinia, Eritrea and the Red Sea, form the eastern 
border. To the north-east, the Gulf of Akabah, and an ill-defined line 
running from the port of Akabah in longitude 35 0 E., through the Desert 
of the Wanderings to Wadi Refah on the Mediterranean, separate Egypt 
from Asiatic Turkey. 

Thus Egypt, in its largest acceptation, has a length of over 1,800 miles, 
from near Alexandria to the borders of Uganda, and a maximum breadth 
of 800 miles in the latitude of Khartum. Its northern half, as above 
defined, belongs to. the belt of desert which stretches from West Africa 
to the centre of Asia, while the southern portion is occupied by grassy 
plateaux or wooded regions of enormous extent, which are watered by 
numerous tributaries of the Nile. Only between the river and the Red 
Sea, and in Sinai, does the height above sea-level much exceed 2,000 feet, 
the higher mountains of the Arabian desert attaining elevations of from 
5,000 to 7,000 feet, while in Sinai the principal peaks are over 8,000 feet. 

Geology. — The Egyptian Sudan and Nubian desert form part of the 
Central core of Africa, characterised by the presence of igneous and 
metamorphic rocks, which, extending into the Arabian desert, give rise 


gig 


Egypt 

to the mountainous region of the Red Sea Hills. The lower parallel 
ranges of Jebel Esh and Jebel es Zeit on the western, and a long ridge 
on the eastern side of the Red Sea, together with the principal chains of 
the Sinai peninsula, are of similar character. The predominant rocks are 
granites, gneisses, felsites, and dolerites, the hills produced by the first 
mentioned being particularly characterised by ruggedness of outline and 
steepness of slope. These are in almost all cases overlaid by a compact 
sandstone passing into softer sandy beds above, the Nubian Sandstone. 
From Assuan to Jebel Silsileh the Nile cuts through this formation, which 
rises in high cliffs on both sides of the river, and extends some distance 
into both eastern and western deserts. Thus it is known to the south- 
west of the Khargeh and Dakhel oases, to the east, and has also been 
worked by the Egyptians on the Kena-Kosseir road to the west. To the 
north the sandstone is succeeded by the plateau-forming limestones, and 
owing to their low dip to the north-west younger and younger strata come 
to the surface in that direction ; these are mainly of Eocene age, except in 
the desert near Suez, where representatives of the Miocene and Pliocene 
are also present. The western desert is also largely Eocene, but in the 
oases and on the Nile, near Esneh, Upper Cretaceous limestones have also 
been recorded. Contrary to the former belief, it has lately been found that 
the Eocene strata rest unconformably on the Cretaceous. The same 
succession of sandstone overlying the igneous and metamorphic rocks, and 
succeeded by Cretaceous and Eocene limestones, is also observed in the 
Arabian desert and in Sinai. In Sinai and Wadi Arabah the Nubian 
Sandstone has been found to contain Carboniferous fossils, but the main 
mass has by different authors been regarded as Triassic, Cretaceous, and 
Eocene, the lack of organic remains rendering the determination difficult. 

Climate. —Owing to the diversity in its surface features, the climate 
of Egypt is of very varied character. In the equatorial lands of the 
southern Sudan the rainy season lasts for ten months, and even in 
November and December, the dry period, storms are not infrequent. In 
latitude 8° N. the dry seasons are separated by two rainy periods, a light 
and a heavy ; the former lasting from March to April, while the latter 
begins about the middle of May, and often continues far into October. 
But even in the wet season the thunderstorms and showers do not last 
long, though recurring constantly after the midday heats. Further north, 
between Khartum and Shendi, the rainy season is much shorter, while in 
Upper Egypt and parts of the western deserts rain is almost unknown. 
Thus there is a transition from regions of excessive rainfall to those 
of absolute rainlessness. The presence of the Mediterranean on the north 
and the high mountains in Sinai and the Red Sea Hills, to some extent 
increase the rainfall in their immediate neighbourhood. Thus the mean 
for fourteen years at Alexandria is eight inches, at Cairo only one and a-half, 
and at Kina practically nil, the rainfall thus obviously diminishing with 
distance from the sea. 


920 The International Geography 

In the Sinai peninsula sudden thunderstorms are not infrequent in 
December, January and February, accompanied by a heavy downpour, 
the dry torrent beds becoming suddenly flooded, thereby occasionally 
causing much destruction to life and property ; while on the higher 
summits light falls of snow and the formation of ice are frequently 
observed. This range forms a protection to the Arabian desert, in whose 
hills these sudden storms are rare and less destructive, no important rains 
having fallen between 1892 and 1898. The air of the desert is dry and 
invigorating, and contrasts with the comparatively damp atmospheres of 
Cairo and Alexandria, but especially with the moist conditions of the Sudan. 

In northern Egypt the winds blow for the greater part of the year from 
the north and north-west, the latter sometimes lasting for a month without 
intermission, while from February to June south-easterly and south- 
westerly winds are more prevalent. During these months the Knansin 
— a sand-laden, dry wind— blows at frequent intervals, and is always 
accompanied by a marked rise of temperature. The temperature is lowest 
from the end of December to March, the lowest recorded in the Delta being 
35 0 F., in Alexandria 40°, in Cairo 31 0 , and in Upper Egypt 41 0 F. In 
the desert the temperature frequently falls below freezing point ; in Sinai, 
at a height of 5,000 feet, 15 0 of frost having been recorded, and in the 
Libyan desert 23 0 F. The heat begins to increase in April, but full 
summer usually commences in June, when temperatures between 8o° and 
90° F. are the rule, even at midnight. The ten years’ mean average for 
the Delta and Cairo is 58° F. in winter, 78° F. in spring, 83° F. in summer, 
and 66° F. in autumn, while during the period of hot winds as much as 
114 0 F. in the shade has been recorded. Further south io 9°F. in the shade 
has been observed in Upper Egypt, while in the oases and the Sudan the 
temperature occasionally rises to over 120 0 F. 

The Nile.— The whole country is watered by one river-system— that 
of the Nile. Rising between 2 0 and 3 0 S., where several branches unite to 
form the Kagera, it flows through the Victoria Nyanza, and entering the 
northern end of the Albert Nyanza immediately flows thence as the Bahr- 
el-Gebel. In about 9 0 N. this river is joined by the sluggish Bahr-el- 
Ghazal, or Gazelle river, draining the Bongo and Niam-Niam countries 
on the west, and by the more rapid Sobat, rising in the Galla highlands on 
the east. The joint streams form the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White Nile, 
which meanders northward through the grassy plains, or dense thickets 
and forests of the Sudan. About 16 0 N., where Khartum stands, it 
receives one of its most important tributaries — the Bahr-el-Azrak, or Blue 
Nile, a rapid and turbulent torrent, descending from the southern high- 
lands of Abyssinia. Still further north, 180 miles below the confluence, 
the Nile is joined near Berber on the east by the Atbara, which drains 
the northern highlands of Abyssinia. From this point onward the Nile 
assumes those characteristics which have made it the most remark- 
able of rivers, flowing for a distance of 1,800 miles without receiving 


921 


Egypt 

a single affluent, and running in a valley which is simply a cleft in the 
desert plateau, the cliffs on both sides of its alluvial plain rising in many 
cases to a height of over a thousand feet. The maximum breadth of the 
river below Khartum is not more than 1,100 yards (near Minieh and Cairo 
respectively), except during the period of flood, while the “ cultivation,” or 
land which is subject to the influence of its fertilising waters, does not 
exceed nine miles in breadth at any point. The actual Nile valley, how- 
ever, is much broader, in parts of Egypt proper being over thirty miles 
in width, but narrower in Nubia, where five to six miles is a fair 
average. The river itself is navigable throughout its whole length, except 
when it issues from the Albert Nyanza in a series of rapids near Wadelai, 
and at the six Cataracts, between Khartum and Assuan, where it has forced 
its way through granite and syenite barriers. 

The long, narrow valley terminates at Cairo, where the Nile branches, 



Fig. 442. — lhe Delta oj the Xue and Suez Canal . 

mainly discharging its waters at the present time through two channels, 
named — from the towns where they enter the Mediterranean — the Rosetta 
and Damietta branches. The district included between these two arms 
was called the Delia by the Greeks from its resemblance to the Greek letter 
A, the apex of the triangle being at Cairo, and the base the Mediterranean 
shore line between Alexandria and Port Said, over 150 miles in length. 
The area thus defined embraces the most fertile region in all North Africa. 

Thus there are three geographical divisions dependent on the character 
of the Nile itself : — (1) The Egyptian Sudan, including all the country 
south of Khartum ; (2) the Nile Valley ; and (3) the Delta. There are in 
addition two vast desert regions, separated by the Valley of the Nile, and 


922 The International Geography 

standing in sharp contrast to one another : — (4) The Libyan Desert on the 
west ; and (5) the Arabian and Nubian Deserts on the east. 

The Nile Floods. — In the Nile valley the seasons are determined by 
the rise and fall of the river, these movements depending on the amount 
of rain which falls in the Abyssinian highlands. The waters begin to rise 
in the upper reaches in the beginning of June, the rise being observed at 
Cairo three weeks after it has commenced at Merawi. In early October 
the maximum elevation is obtained, forty-one feet above ordinary Nile 
level being at present the most favourable for agricultural purposes. On 
the annual occurrence of the inundations depends the existence of the 
Egypt of history and commerce ; its prosperity is due to the soil thus 
brought down from Abyssinia, which, distributed over the alluvial plain, is 
the source of the great fertility of this portion of the country. 

The insoluble material in Nile mud is remarkable for the uniformity of its 
grain, the particles being very minute. The coarser minerals, which them- 
selves are minute, are mainly such as would be derived from igneous rocks — 
viz., quartz, felspar, hornblende, and epidote, and recent borings have 
shown that the delta mud, which is itself of great thickness, is underlain by 
thick beds of gravel containing pebbles of limestone, granite and andesite, 
clearly indicating a period of greater rainfall and more abundant torrent- 
action in the past. Indeed, it has been held by many geologists that the 
Nile was formerly a negative delta, or narrow arm of the sea, and it is a 
noteworthy fact that the deepest borings undertaken in the Delta (375 feet 
at Zagazig) have never yet reached bed-rock. 

The construction of a great storage reservoir for the surplus flood waters 
by building a dam across the Nile valley above Assuan was completed in 
1902, and so a regular supply for irrigation in the lower valley and in the 
Delta during the period of low Nile has now been secured. 

Natural Resources. — For many centuries Egypt was practically the 
granary of the Byzantine Empire, and wheat still plays an important part, 
occupying 50 per cent, of the fields in Upper Egypt and 30 per cent, in the 
Delta, and in the extent of its cultivation rivalling maize and durrah, or 
Indian millet. Clover, beans and barley are also grown, but in recent years 
cotton has tended to become the one crop of economic importance. The 
cereal crops are usually sown between the middle of October and end of 
December, and harvested from the middle of February to the end of April, 
the seed time and harvest being earlier in the southern than in the northern 
provinces. Cotton and tobacco are chiefly cultivated in Lower Egypt from 
April to August; cucumbers and water-melons also form an important 
local staple. Of recent years rice and sugar-cane have been introduced 
with success, the moist lowlands of the Delta being especially favourable 
to their development. Flax, henna, indigo, and castor-oil are also produced, 
flax forming a not unimportant article of export. 

Among fruit trees, the date palm holds the first place, groves of this tree 
extend along the banks of the Nile as far south as Fashoda, and it is grown in 


923 


Egypt 

the oases and even in the wild valleys of the Sinai peninsula, but the dates 
produced are mainly for home consumption. The vine, orange, mandarin, 
lemon, melon and fig are also plentiful in the Nile valley, while bananas 
are cultivated in the Sudan. The trees most common in the Nile valley and 
the oases are the date palm, the Acacia NiloUca , or sunt, and the sycamore. 
In the oases the two former are present, and the dates obtained are superior 
to those of the rest of Egypt. The Sinai peninsula is also not so barren as 
is generally supposed, the date groves of the Wadi Feiran being especially 
striking, while tamarisk bushes abound in the principal valleys ; nor is the 
Arabian desert devoid of vegetation, tamarisk and scattered examples of the 
thorny acacia (A. seyal ) and Majinga being found in the high mountain 
valleys. In the Sudan, on the contrary, forests are frequent, but of mixed 
character. 

The chief domestic animals employed in transport are the camel, donkey, 
horse, buffalo and ox, while flocks of goats and sheep, especially the long- 
eared kharuf, constitute an important source of wealth. The lion and 
leopard are now almost restricted to the Sudan, but a few leopards* are met 
with in the peninsula of Sinai. The hyaena and jackal lurk in the old 
ruins and caves of the plateau limestone, while the long-eared fennec fox 
is not uncommon in the desert. The ibex (/. sinaiticus , bedan, or tetel) is 
limited to the mountains of Sinai and the Arabian desert, various species 
of antelope and gazelle also wandering in the lower desert valleys. The 
elephant, hippopotamus, chimpanzee and other apes, and the giraffe, only 
occur in the Sudan, while the crocodile is now very rare north of Assuan. 
Sand grouse, red partridge, and quail are of frequent occurrence in 
the desert, while geese, wild pigeon, and duck yield sport in the Nile 
valley. The flamingo, ibis, sultan bird, and heron also breed in the Delta 
and the Fayum. In the Sudan the ostrich in the desert, guinea fowl in the 
woods, waders, darters, and cranes on the upper reaches of the river, form 
part of the varied life of the tropical regions. 

The mineral resources are at present of secondary importance. Ala- 
baster has been quarried near Assiut. But the ancient Egyptians sought 
most of their monumental stones further to the south, the sandstones, 
diorites, &c., used in many of the large temples being quarried on the 
Kena-Kosseir road in the Arabian desert, and the granite from the quarries 
near Assuan. The Romans, too, busily searched this eastern desert, ex- 
ploiting the beautiful red porphyry of Jebel Dokhan and granites of Mons 
Claudianus, near 27 0 N. Nor less famous are the now unworked emerald 
mines of Jebel Zebara, and the turquoise and copper mines of Maghera 
and other places in Sinai, which were once the centres of an active Egyptian 
mining industry. In addition Jebel Zeit, on the Red Sea, was, within 
recent times, exploited for petroleum. Speaking generally, however, the 
old mines at present add nothing to the resources of the country. 

Ancient History. — The records of Egypt that have been preserved on 
monument and temple go back to so remote an antiquity that it might be 


924 The International Geography 

said the dawn of the history of Egypt is the dawn of history itself. It is a 
remarkable fact that not only was the Egyptian Empire the most ancient, 
but it was likewise the most durable the world has ever seen, with one 
exception being unaffected by foreign invasion over a period exceeding 
two thousand years. The explanation of this continuity is to be found 
in the geographical position of Egypt itself, the sea in the then state of 
navigation being an efficient protection on the one hand, and the desert 
an effectual barrier on the other. 

Menes, the founder of the first historical dynasty (in 4400 B.c., accord- 
ing to Brugsch), founded Memphis, near the site of modern Cairo, which 
occupied a strategical position commanding the Delta and the valley of the 
Nile. Commencing with this monarch, historians have grouped the 
Egyptian sovereigns, as recorded on the monuments, into twenty-six 
dynasties, lasting till the Persian invasion. Civilisation was already highly 
developed, especially as regards architecture and engineering. Cheops, 
Chephren, and Mykerinos, of the later dynasties, are well known as the 
builders of the three great pyramids of Ghizeh. Under the Xllth dynasty 
Thebes became the capital, and Amenemhat III. was the first to utilise the 
inundation of the Nile, by constructing Lake Moeris in the low-lying 
Fayum ; it was also at this time that the sceptres of Upper and Lower 
Egypt were united (2466 b.c., Brugsch). The one interruption in the long 
line of Egyptian kings was a successful invasion by an unknown Eastern 
race, who founded the two dynasties of the Shepherd Kings, or Hyksos 
(XV. and XVI.), and it is during this period that Joseph is believed to 
have been in power. The Theban kings of the XVIIth dynasty ex- 
pelled the invaders, but it was during the XIXth that Egypt reached its 
greatest development, Rameses II., supposed to be the Pharaoh of the 
Oppression, extending his sway south to Dongola, and north to Asia Minor* 
During the reign of Tirhakah the Ethiopian (XXV.) Memphis fell into 
the hands of the Assyrians, who set up creatures of their own in Lower 
Egypt. This was regained by Psammeticus I., founder of the XXVIth 
dynasty, with the aid of Greek mercenaries. Nevertheless, this tem- 
porary foreign conquest was the first sign of decadence in the old 
empire, which in 525 b.c. fell under the Persian domination of Cambyses. 
A century later the Egyptians again reasserted their independence, but in 
340 b.c. the Persians gave the death blow to the ancient monarchy. The 
renewed Persian rule lasted but six years, when Alexander the Great took 
possession of the country and founded Alexandria, which soon became the 
centre of Greek culture and of the commerce of the then known world. 
On the division of the Macedonian kingdom at the death of Alexander, 
one of his generals founded the dynasty of the Ptolemies, which lasted to 
42 B.c. With the death of Cleopatra after the battle of Actium, Egypt 
became part of the Roman Empire under Augustus, with which it was con- 
nected from a.d. 27 to a.d. 395, when, on the partition, it was merged with 
the Eastern or Byzantine dominions. The most notable feature during the 


925 


Egypt 

Roman occupation was the rapid spread of Christianity and monasticism in 
the country, while somewhat later a Christian kingdom arose in Nubia. 

Modern History. — In 638 a.d., only sixteen years after the flight of 
the Hejira, Amr-ibn-el-Asi conquered Egypt and started the Mohammedan- 
Arab domination, which lasted for about nine hundred years, the country 
during the rule of the Fatimite sovereigns (969-1171) being in an especially 
flourishing condition. In 1240 Melik-el-Salah founded the Mameluke 
dynasty, having been placed on the throne by the Mamelukes, descendants 
of slaves who formed the bodyguard of the Caliphs, but in 1517, on the 
deposition of Tuman Bey, by the Sultan Selim I. of Constantinople, Egypt 
became a Turkish pashalik. The Mamelukes still retained a large share 
of power down to 1798, when Napoleon I. stormed Alexandria and over- 
threw them at the battle of the Pyramids. The defeat of the French fleet 
at Aboukir by Nelson obliged the French to evacuate Egypt in 1801, 
Mohammed Ali, the founder of the present reigning house, being appointed 
Pasha of Egypt in 1811. Though still remaining nominally under Turkish 
rule, Egypt then became practically independent, except for the payment 
of an annual tribute, and the necessity of each succeeding ruler receiving 
a firman of appointment from the Sultan. In 1866 the Porte raised Ismail 
Pasha to the rank of Khedive, or viceroy, which became hereditary. 
During the reigns of Said and Ismail, French influence was predominant, 
and in 1869 the construction of the Suez Canal was successfully accom- 
plished by M. Ferdinand de Lesseps. Owing to the maladministration of 
Ismail, the public debt increased enormously, and in 1879 the European 
Powers called upon Turkey to depose the viceroy. In 1882 as the result of 
a revolt against European control, and upon France declining to join the 
United Kingdom in an armed demonstration, the British fleet bombarded 
Alexandria and the British army occupied Egypt. Some of the effects of 
the occupation have been the reorganisation of the Egyptian army, finances, 
and judiciary, the abolition of compulsory labour, or the corvee, and the 
carrying out of a more perfect system of irrigation, which had already been 
partly planned by French engineers. Meanwhile, a rebellion had com- 
menced in the Sudan (which had only been conquered under Mohammed Ali 
and his successors), led by a chief who had taken the title of Mahdi, or 
prophet. After several unsuccessful expeditions had attempted to quell the 
revolt, Khartum was captured by the Mahdists in 1885, on the eve of being 
relieved by a British force, and the Sudan was abandoned for ten years. 
In 1898, after two years of slow but steady advance southward, Lord 
Kitchener at last crushed the forces of the Khalifa (the Mahdi’s successor) 
by the capture of Omdurman, opposite Khartum. The Khalifa was finally 
defeated and slain by Sir R. Wingate in 1899. 

People. — It appears probable that the first civilised Egyptian invaders 
were of Caucasian origin, and came from an original home in Asia, but 
of the peoples previously inhabiting the country no records have at 
present been found. The Fellahin, or peasant dwellers on the Nile, are 



The International Geography 


probably direct descendants of those who were the cultivators in early 
days. The reason of their conservatism as regards habits and made of 
life is to be sought in the uniformity of the conditions by which they were 
surrounded, depending on the regularity of the seasons determined by the 
rise and fall of the river. They are of medium height and of somewhat 
heavy build, with high cheek-bones, receding forehead, and thick lips, and 
in colour varying from light to dark brown, according to the latitude. In 
belief the fellah is a Mohammedan, but his religion is tinged with remnants 
of the older Egyptian worship, many of the ceremonies still savouring 
rather of the cult of Isis than of the creed of Islam. They number about 
2,000,000. 

The Copts, who are the remnants of the dominant Egyptian race, are 
chiefly resident in the large towns, where they are watchmakers and 
goldsmiths, and are very often possessed of considerable wealth. They 
are usually easily distinguished, as they wear a black turban, and in 
build are somewhat below middle height, with small hands and feet, and 
comparatively fair complexions. The Copts in religion are professedly 
Christian, having many of their rites identical with those of the Greek 
Church. They have preserved their faith in spite of the many centuries 
of Moslem domination, still possessing a number of large churches and 
many schools. They number at the present time 800,000 souls, and the 
teaching of the Coptic language, a modified dialect of the ancient Egyptian, 
is now compulsory in the schools supported by this community. 

In the desert wander the nomadic Arab tribes generally classed together 
under the name of Bedouin or Bedawin, the principal of these being the 
Towarah, in Sinai ; the Maazeh, in the northern part of the Arabian desert 
down to lat. 27 0 N. ; the Ababdeh, south of the Kena-Kosseir line ; the 
Bisharin, in the deserts of Assuan ; and the Hadendoa, in the direction of 
Suakin. Still further south are wild tribes including the Baggara, the 
backbone of the Khalifa’s army, while the Aulad ’Ali Bedawin inhabit 
the western desert. All these tribes are nomadic, wandering from place 
to place, and pitching their tents wherever food and water supply are 
favourable. The free life gives them independence of character, and a 
pride which poverty cannot erase. The western Bedawin and the Maazeh 
are often strict Mohammedans, and the southern tribes were famous for 
their fanatical support of the Mahdi, but the others are very little affected 
by their nominal religious beliefs, and the Towarah scarcely know anything 
of Mohammed, Moses being their chief prophet. The typical Bedawin is 
of slender build, with thin neck and limbs, and of a dark brown com- 
plexion. 

The Arabs of the towns are a somewhat indolent race, contact with 
Turks and Europeans having caused them to lose the finer characteristics of 
their desert neighbours, though they are often of ready wit, and amiable 
in disposition. The great majority have delicate features, the complexions 
being often whiter than those of the average European. Arabic is the 


Egypt 927 

common language in all the region north of Khartum, replacing Coptic 
after the conquest of Egypt by ’Amr in 640 a.d. 

A great part of the Sudan is occupied by about twenty different negro 
races of too varied a character to permit of further description here. 

Government. — The government of Egypt is under the control of 
native Ministers, themselves subject to the Khedive, 
there being in addition a British financial adviser, 
without whose permission no financial decision 
can be arrived at, but he is not an executive officer. 

In addition, there is a Legislative Council of thirty 
members, fifteen residing in Cairo and fifteen 
coming from the provinces, to whom all general 
laws are submitted for examination ; while a 
General Assembly has to be summoned every two 

years, without the consent of which no direct personal or land tax can 
be imposed. In addition the British Consul-General has large powers 
of an undefined character. 

Internal Communications. — The Nile is the chief medium of com- 
munication from the Sudan to Alexandria, while in the Delta a system of 
canals radiate in every direction. Railways, too, now run from Alexandria, 
Port Said, and Suez to Cairo, whence another line follows the Nile valley 
southward, and was opened to Khartum in 1899. Communications with the 
desert regions and shores of the Red Sea are only maintained by means of 
camel caravans or steamers from Suez. 

Political Divisions and Towns. — Egypt is divided into Governor- 
ships and Mudiriehs, there being twelve of these in Lower Egypt, nine in 
Upper Egypt and one for the Oases. The Mudirs have wide powers over 
internal administrations, each town and village having in addition a Sheikh- 
el-beled, or mayor, who is responsible to the Mudir. The two provinces 
into which Egypt, north of the Sudan, is divided are of unequal size, Lower 
Egypt being the smaller, but containing the Delta and Cairo, while Upper 
Egypt mainly consists of desert country and the long Nile valley. 

The principal town is Cairo, the largest city in Africa, occupying the 
commanding position at the junction of the valley of the Nile and the 
Delta. It has the Khedive’s palace, the usual government buildings, old 
mosques, picturesque streets, and a great museum of Egyptian antiquities. 
On account of its good European hotels and its dry climate it has become 
a great winter resort for wealthy Europeans and the centre for the tourist 
traffic on the Nile. Alexandria, the principal port of Egypt, is a purely 
commercial town trading with Europe ; Tantah, occupies an important 
central point in the Delta itself ; Port Said and Suez derive their impor- 
tance from being at the northern and southern terminations of the Suez 
Canal. Assiut, Naghamadi Kina , Assuan, Wadi Haifa, Dongola, and Berber 
are the principal towns on the Nile itself, while Khartum at the junction 
of the two Niles, was, and will again become the centre of Egyptian trade 



928 The International Geography 


with the Sudan. A college in memory of General Gordon has been established 
there as a centre of education for the natives. The Sudan has been re- 
organised under joint British and Egyptian 
control, with a military governor entrusted 
with very large powers. 

The Suez Canal. — This great water- 
way connecting the Mediterranean and the 
Red Seas, has become the main channel of 
communication between Europe and the 
East (Fig. 442). From Port Said to Suez it 
has a length of 87 miles with surface breadth 
of from 65 to 120 yards, and a depth of 
26 feet, and runs for 21 miles through the 
Great Bitter Lake and Lake Timsah. Under 
a special convention it has been neutralised 
Fig. 444. — The Provinces of the by the Powers and is managed by an inter- 
Reorganised Sudan. national commission. On the average ten 

vessels pass through the canal every day, and seven out of every ten 
are under the British flag. The value of the canal is mainly felt on the 
routes to India, China and Australia ; steamers trading to New Zealand 
find it as economical to spend a few more days on their voyage out by the 
Cape of Good Hope and home by Cape Horn as to pay the heavy canal dues. 

The Libyan Desert. — Beyond the narrow fertile belt nourished by 
the Nile, in which the population of Egypt is concentrated, and on which 
the importance of the country depends, there are vast deserts on either 
side, many parts of which are unexplored. The Libyan desert, on the 
west, is an immense stony plateau from 600 to 1,000 feet above the Nile 
level, and rising in a series of gentle steps towards the interior, a few isolated 
sandhills or low cliffs being the only elevations in the apparently horizontal 
expanse. A series of deep depressions, sharply defined by the precipitous 
walls of the plateau, occurs in this desert more than 100 miles from the 
Nile, constituting the celebrated oases, named, beginning with the southern 
— Khargeh, Dakhel, Farafah, and Baharieh. The last named is connected 
by a number of minor uncultivated depressions containing salt lakes, with 
Siva, the ancient oasis of Jupiter Ammon, which lies over 300 miles west 
of Cairo, and is inhabited by the fanatical Senussi Arabs. South of Khargeh 
this line of depression approaches the valley of the Nile. Owing to the 
existence of numerous springs in these districts certain portions are ex- 
tremely fertile, and during many centuries have been centres of population 
and cultivation. To the west of them extend the unexplored wastes of the 
Sahara, whose wind-blown sands are piled up into shifting dunes often 
from 300 to 400 feet in height. 

The Arabian Desert. — The Arabian or eastern desert is of a very 
different character. To the south of the latitude of Assuan it forms a maze 
of mountains and hills which have been but little explored, while sandy 



92Q 


Egypt 

wastes are replaced by wadis covered with the angular debris derived 
from the surrounding elevations. To the north of 27 0 N. the arrangement of 
valley and mountain is more regular, the waterless, steep-sided limestone 
plateau (which extends in places for over 50 miles east of the Nile) being 
separated from the Central Red Sea Chain by the broad Wadi Kena, which 
runs north-west for about a degree of latitude, the mountains also trending 
in the same direction. Lesser hill and valley systems run more or less 
parallel to each other, to the main range, and to the Red Sea. The flat 
limestone plateau is about 1,200 feet above Nile level, while the Red Sea 
Hills, which are characterised by the extreme ruggedness of their outline, 
are over 6,000 feet high in the Ghattar and Um Delpha (Es Shayib) 
massifs. At the northern end of the chain, Jebel Gharib nearly attains the 
same elevation. North of 28° 45' N. the limestone plateau occupies the 
whole region, giving rise to the desolate, steep-sided hills of Gallala, while 
west of Suez and Ismailia the country consists of broken ridges, arid 
sand and pebble desert. This inhospitable region is traversed in 29 0 N. 
by the wide Wadi Arabah, which runs east and west from the plateau to 
the Red Sea. 

The Peninsula of Sinai. — This peninsula, which is the sixth divi- 
sion, is closely connected with the Arabian desert system, and consists of 
a central mountain mass separated from the Red Sea by the plain of 
El Gaah, and small ranges parallel to the same sea. On the north, sandy 
plains and lower sandstone ranges intervene between the main chain and 
the desolate plateaux of the Desert of the Wanderings, while on the east 
runs the deep Gulf of Akabah, which forms part of the great rift valley 
extending from the Sea of Galilee to Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa. 


STATISTICS. 

1882. 

Area of Egypt (excluding Nubia and Deserts) . . . . 10,340 

Population of Egypt „ „ .... 6,575,958 

Density of population 636 

Population of Cairo 368,108 

„ Alexandria . . 208,755 

„ Tantah 33.725 

„ Port Said 16,560 

„ Assiut — 


1897. 

10,340 

9,494,023 x 
918 
570,062 
319,766 
57,298 
42,095 
42,012 


ANNUAL TRADE (in founds sterling). 


1881-85. ' 1891-95. 

Imports 8,000,000 . . 9,000,000 

Exports . ; 12,200,000 . . 12,700,000 


Year. 

1888 

1896 


TRADE THROUGH SUEZ CANAL. 

No. of vessels. British vessels. Total tonnage. British tonnage. 
. 3,440 .. 2,625 .. 8,183,313 .. 7.335.062 

. 3,409 .. 2,162 .. 12,039,859 .. 8,057,706 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Miss Broderick and A. H. Sayce. “ Murray’s Handbook for Egypt.” iothedit. London, 1902. 

G. Ebers. “ .Egypten in Bild und Wort.” Stuttgart, 1879. Translation in 2 vols. London- 

H. G- Lyons u The Physiography of the Nile and its Basin.” Cairo, 1906. 

Count Gleichen. “The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.” London, 1905. 

Sir A. Colvin. “The Making of Modern Egypt.” London, 1906. 


1 Population of Nubia by Census of 1897 = 240,382. 


CHAPTER L.— EAST AFRICA 


I— EASTERN EQUATORIAL AFRICA 


By J. W. Gregory, D.Sc., F.R.S., 

Professor of Geology in the University of Glasgow. 

Position. — Abyssinia, Eritrea, Somaliland, and British East Africa, 
with the off-lying islands from Sokotra to Zanzibar, may be con- 
veniently grouped together as Eastern Equa- 
torial Africa. This section of the continent 
is bounded to the east by the Red Sea and 
Indian Ocean, to the west bv the watershed 
separating the Congo and Lake Chad from 
the Nile, to the north by the deserts of 
Kordofan and southern Nubia, and to the 
south by the frontier of German East Africa. 

Configuration and Geology. — The 
general configuration of this area is simple. 
The region is part of an ancient plateau 
which once extended across tropical Africa, 
and was probably continuous with the pen- 
insular area of India. The height of the 
country has been increased in places by 
broad sheets of volcanic rocks, which are 
sometimes piled up into lofty peaks and 
craters ; in other places the level has been 
lowered by the sinking of belts or broad 
areas of land, as along the coastal plain, the 
basin of the Victoria Nyanza, and the Nile 
and Eritrean rift-valleys. 

The arrangement of the river systems 
has been mainly determined by the lines of 
subsidence. The most important river is the 
Nile, of which the Victoria Nyanza is the 
\ principal source ; this lake discharges north- 

ifc yM> ward by the Somerset Nile, which enters 

the northern end of the Albert Nyanza. 
There {he main Nile is increased by the 
rainfall on both flanks of Ruwenzori and by the surplus waters of the 
Albert and Albert Edward Nyanzas. Leaving the former lake the Nile 

93 ° 



Fig. 445 . — The East African Rift - 
Valleys , 


Eastern Equatorial Africa 931 

flows northward, and after a course of 500 miles is joined by the Bahr-el- 
Ghazal, which drains the region north of the Congo basin and east of that 
of Lake Chad. On the east bank the chief tributaries are the Sobat, the 
Blue Nile and the Atbara, which drain the highlands of Abyssinia. East 
of the Nile is a zone of internal drainage along the Eritrean rift-valley. 
The chief rivers of this system are the Hawash and Omo of southern 
Abyssinia ; the Turquell and Kerio, which flow into the southern half of 
Lake Rudolf, and the Murendat, which enters Lake Naivasha. The third 
set of rivers flow eastward into the Indian Ocean, the most important are 
the Webi Shebeyli, the Jub, Tana and Sabaki. 

The lake system is one of the most striking geographical features of the 
region. The lakes are of two types, broad round lakes in depressions on 
the plateaux such as the Victoria Nyanza and Lake Tsana, and long narrow 
lakes in the two rift-valleys. In the western rift-valley occur Tanganyika, 
the Albert and Albert Edward Nyanzas ; in the eastern or Eritrean rift- 
valley are Lakes Dembea, Abbaya, Stefanie, Rudolf, Baringo, Losuguta, 
Elmetaita, Naivasha, and the dried up Lake Suess. 

The mountains belong to four groups — (1) ridges and blocks of old 
Archaean rocks, either left standing above the general level owing to the 
superior hardness of certain bands, e.g., the Taita Mountains, or raised by 
crustal movements as in the high snow-clad ridge of Ruwenzori ; (2) lines 
of volcanic craters, e.g., the Kyulu Mountains of Ukamba ; (3) isolated 
volcanic peaks, e.g., Kenya (17,000 feet), Ruwenzori (18,000), and Elgon 
(14,000) ; (4) the scarps of fault lines such as the Mau and Kikuyu scarps 
of the Eritrean rift-valley, the Laikipia scarp, east of Baringo, or the 
eastern face of the Abyssinian plateau. 

Geologically, Eastern Equatorial Africa consists of a plateau of Archaean 
rocks (gneiss, schists, amphibolites, &c.). On the eastern flanks of the 
plateau are some fossiliferous rocks ; some Permo-Carboniferous shales 
occur in the Sabaki valley, and some obscure older fossils have been found 
near Mombasa, and a belt of Jurassic rocks may be traced from German 
East Africa along the coast and up the Jub to Abyssinia, where some 
Cretaceous rocks have also been found. Later, volcanic action began by the 
eruption of some lavas (monchiquites) on the coast, vast sheets of volcanic 
material were spread over the plateau from the Athi plains to the uplands 
of Abyssinia. Volcanic action continued for a prolonged period ; some of 
the craters, such as Longonot near Naivasha, are quite recent, and some are 
said to be still in eruption. Fumaroles and hot springs are common in the 
districts where volcanic fires lingered longest. 

Climate. — The region lies wholly within the tropics and is traversed 
by the equator, but the heat is not as a rule excessive. On the coastal plain 
and at Zanzibar the air is very moist, and the daily variations in tempera- 
ture are slight. On the plateaux, and especially on the bare, sandy plains, 
the Sun’s heat is very powerful in the day, while the nights are often cold. 
The rain falls at two seasons, the “ big rains ” of the spring and the “ small 


932 The International Geography 

« 

rains ” of the autumn. The amount, however, is very uncertain. On the 
sandy plains of the Nyika the rainfall is small. It is heaviest on the high 
forest belts, where, moreover, the separation into wet and dry seasons is less 
definite. Frosts are not uncommon above the height of 6,000 feet ; snow 
falls on the higher mountains of Abyssinia and Elgon, and is permanent on 
Ruwenzori and Kenya. The latter has a system of small glaciers. 

Flora and Fauna. — The character of the flora varies largely with 
the altitude. On the coastal plains and islands there are palm-groves, 
fruit orchards, spice plantations, and common members of the Indian flora. 
On the sandy plains there is a scanty growth of acacia, thorn scrub, scat- 
tered tufts of dry grass, and trees with succulent stems like the candelabra- 
shaped euphorbias and the fibre-yielding Sanseviera and aloe. Districts 
that are better watered and have richer soil are covered with woody 
flowering shrubs. On the plateau there are belts of forest with many 
coniferous trees, and above these is a zone of bamboo jungle reaching up 
to the level of over 9,000 feet. Still higher are alpine meadows with plants 
belonging to Mediterranean genera ; many of these northern plants, such 
as the groundsel, lobelia, and heath, which in Europe grow as small low 
herbs, are represented on the East African mountains by tall woody trees. 

The most conspicuous features in the animal life of the region are the 
big mammals, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and giraffe ; 
antelope are numerous, but there are no deer. Crocodiles, pythons, cobras, 
and puff adders are the most important reptiles. Vast flocks of pink 
flamingoes on the salt lakes, and of pelicans on the borders of the low-level 
lakes and swamps, weaver birds on the river banks, and sun-birds on the 
high mountain meadows of Kenya and Ruwenzori, are the most con- 
spicuous of the birds. 

Natural Resources and Trade. — In East Africa trade as yet is 
unimportant. The soil, especially on the volcanic regions and alluvial river 
plains, is very fertile — when well watered. The lowlands near the coast 
and the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba grow spices and the usual tropical 
products. The sandy plains support abundant fibre-producing plants. The 
vines and lianas that hang over the trees of the lowland forest belts secrete 
india-rubber. Herds of cattle live on the plains, but they are periodically 
decimated by rinderpest, and their distribution is restricted by the tsetse fly. 
Useful timber is scarce, but it would grow in many districts that have been 
deforested by man and prairie fires. The mineral wealth has not yet been 
prospected. Iron ore is universally distributed, and is often of good 
quality, but it is commercially useless owing to scarcity of fuel. Gold 
occurs in Abyssinia, some silver and lead near Mombasa ; but there is no 
proof that they are abundant, and the general conditions do not suggest 
more than occasional patches of valuable ores. In the absence of mineral 
wealth, the economic value of the country appears slight owing to the 
thinness of the population, irregularity of rainfall and difficulty of internal 
communications. At present the only valuable product of the interior is ivory. 


Eastern Equatorial Africa 933 

The main exports are ivory, rubber, copra, hides, cloves and gums. The 
principal imports are cotton cloths, iron and brass wire, beads, and, where 
not excluded by the enforcement of the Berlin Act, guns and ammunition. 

There are no manufactures ; some of the inland tribes can work iron, 
procured either as iron-wire from trading caravans, or by collecting grains 
of iron oxide from the streams ; most of the people can tan leather, and some 
tribes such as the Waganda prepare a kind of cloth of bark. On the coast 
lands grass mats and baskets are woven. The arts and agricultural methods 
are extremely primitive. 

The usual native method of internal communication is by caravans of 
porters carrying loads on their heads (the Zanzibari), or on sticks resting 
on their shoulders (Abyssinians). Donkeys are available in some districts, 
mules in Abyssinia, and camels in Somaliland. Dug-out canoes are used by 
the Pokomo on the Tana, and by the Shilluk on the Sobat and the Nile ; 
but with the exception of the Nile the rivers are of little use as waterways. 

The Native Peoples. — The natives belong to five chief groups. 
The main basis of the population in the southern part of the region is 
Negro, of the Bantu division. Members of this race occupy the islands of 
Zanzibar and Pemba, and range along the coast as far north as the Jub ; 
they extend westward as far as the eastern rift-valley, with occasional 
outliers beyond. The principal Bantu tribes are the Wakamba, Pokomo, 
Wataita, Wanyika. The members of these tribes are copper-coloured, 
have curly hair, thick lips, projecting chins and broad noses. These 
tribes are included with most of those of southern Africa in the Bantu 
group owing to the general grammatical resemblance of their languages, 
which are characterised by the inflexion of the first syllable, and by the 
use of sentences which consist of several words fused into one. The most 
important of the Bantu languages is Suahili, which serves as the lingua 
franca of Eastern Equatorial Africa. The Suahili occupy the coast-lands 
and islands between the Jub river and Zanzibar. The race is very mixed 
and has been formed by the intermarriage of Arab traders with the natives 
of various Bantu tribes. Similar mixed races occur on the northern and 
western margins of the Bantu area. Thus the Waganda are Bantu improved 
by an infusion of Hamitic blood, due to the conquest of Uganda by a band 
of Wahuma warriors. The Kikuyu are probably a similar mixture of 
Bantu and Nilotic races, and are therefore to be included among the 
Negroid tribes. The Nile basin is the home of another race-group, the 
Nilotic ; the Bari of the Upper Nile is the most representative tribe of 
this group, of which another, the Masai, has forced its way along the 
Eritrean rift-valley as far south as German East Africa. Abyssinia is 
inhabited by a great mixture of races, Semitic, Hamitic, and Negroid. At 
one time the dominant tribe was Semitic, but at present the Hamitic 
Shoans hold the reins of power. Somaliland is occupied by Hamites, 
whose ancestors crossed from Arabia ; to the south of the Somali are the 
remnants of the nearly allied and once powerful tribe, the Galla. The 


934 The International Geography 

last group represented in Eastern Equatorial Africa are the dwarfs or 
pygmies, probably the survivals of a once widely scattered race, now 
almost extinct. Typical “ Negrillo” dwarfs, similar to the “Akka” of 
the Welle, occur on Ruwenzori, while hybrid tribes, such as the Doko of 
Laikipia and Shoa, live in the forests of the eastern plateaux. 

ABYSSINIA 

Configuration. — Abyssinia (or Ethiopia) consists geographically of the 
rugged plateau country, mostly 8,000 feet above sea-level, which surrounds 
the head streams of the Atbara and Blue Nile. It is bounded to the 
north by the deserts of southern Nubia, to the east and south-east by the 
western wall of the Eritrean rift-valley, to the west by the Atbara and 
the lowlands of the Nile basin, and to the south by the angle between the 
Omo and the head streams of the Sobat. Politically the country is more 
extensive, especially to the south-east, as since 1887 the Abyssinians have 
held Harrar, and a large tract to the east of the Eritrean rift-valley ; to the 
south Abyssinia claims districts which are also claimed as within the 
British sphere. Ethnographically Abyssinia is a confederation of very 
different and often hostile tribes ; the name of the people Abeshi, i.e., 
Mixed, refers to this fact. 

The configuration of Abyssinia, in the geographical sense, is simple ; 
the country consists of a block of Archaean gneiss and schists, which has 
been intensely eroded by subaerial agencies ; it has been capped by sheets of 
lava, and is flanked by Jurassic limestones ; in places huge piles of volcanic 
debris form mountains reaching the height of from 15,000 to 16,000 
feet in Semien. In the centre of the country is a great depression 
occupied by Lake Tsana (1,200 square miles in area), which is the principal 
source of the Blue Nile. 

People and History. — Unlike the other political divisions of East 
Africa, Abyssinia has a history, which dates back to a very remote period* 
The country is probably the Cush of the Scriptures, and according to 
local belief it was the home of the Queen of Sheba. The “ emperor ” 
claims his descent from Menelik, the son of Solomon by the Queen of 
Sheba ; and one tribe, the Falashas, claim, though erroneously, to be of 
Jewish origin. The country was early converted to Christianity by the 
Coptic Church ; the language of the Abyssinian church is the oldest known 
form of Himyaritic, and was once spoken in the province of Tigre. 

Muhammed Granye, of Harrar, invaded Abyssinia from 1528 to 1540, in 
order to convert the country to Mohammedanism, in which he nearly suc- 
ceeded. Efforts to convert the people to the Roman Catholic Church led to 
the exploration of the country by Portuguese Jesuits in the 16th and 17th 
centuries. The Tigrians were then the dominant race, but when Bruce 
travelled through Abyssinia at the end of the 18th century, the Amharites 
held supreme r power. The country was invaded in 1867 by a British 
expedition sent to punish King Theodore of Amhara. His successor. 


Eastern Equatorial Africa 935 

John, was killed by the Mahdists in 1889, and on his death, by the aid of 
the Italians, Menelik of Shoa seized the sovereign position of Negus 
Negusti, or King of Kings. In 1889 the Italians proclaimed a protector- 
ate over the whole of Abyssinia ; but in 1896, after the destruction of an 
Italian army by Menelik at Adowa, this claim was withdrawn, and Italy 
confined to the lowlands of Eritrea. 

Trade and Towns. — The chief commercial products are gold and 
coffee, but the trade of the country is at present unimportant. 

The present capital is Addis Halem , but the position is periodically 
changed when the supply of firewood is exhausted. Of the old towns the 
most important are Gondar, the capital of Amhara, Adowa, the chief town 
of Tigre, Aksum, the former ecclesiastical centre, and Harrar, an important 
trade centre near the Somali frontier. 

ERITREA 

Eritrea, or Erythraea, a term derived from the classical name of 
the Red Sea, is the Italian protectorate at the south-western end of the 
Red Sea. It is a triangular tract of lowland which extends along the Red 
Sea from Ras Kasar (18 0 N.) to the frontier of the French Somali Coast 
(i2° N.), and stretches westward to the scarp of the Abyssinian plateau. 
Most of Eritrea is a barren, sandy plain, which in places sinks below 
sea-level. The best harbour and only important town is Massowa, situated 
on a small coral island connected with the mainland by a causeway. From 
Massowa two short railways run westward across the coast plain to the 
foot of the Abyssinian hills. The only important natural products are salt, 
derived from a number of dried lakes and lagoons, and pearls which are 
fished on the Dhalac Islands near Massowa. Salt is valuable as the prin- 
cipal currency of southern Abyssinia. 

Eritrea is mainly inhabited by Hamitic races, of which the most 
important tribe is the Danakil. Italian political connection with Eritrea 
began in 1880, when Assab was transferred from a trading company to the 
Italian Government. Massowa was occupied in 1885 on the withdrawal 
of the Egyptian garrison. By subsequent treaties the whole of Eritrea 
was annexed and a protectorate proclaimed over Abyssinia. But after the 
Italian defeat at Adowa the independence of Abyssinia was recognised, 
and the Italian sphere limited to the arid coast plains. Except as a trade 
route to Abyssinia, Kassala and the Atbara region of the Sudan, the 
country is of little value, and most of the Abyssinian trade is now being 
transferred to the French port of Jibuti. 

FRENCH SOMALI COAST x 

French Somaliland, — The old harbour of Obok, opposite Aden, at 
the entrance of the Red Sea, has been superseded since 1896 by Jibuti in 
a better situation on the south side of the Bay of Tajura. These coast 


1 By M. Zimmermann. 



The International Geography 


stations have been augmented by a hinterland which forms the Protectorate 
of the Somali Coast. It acquires considerable importance, not only from 
its position, but from its proximity to Harrar, in Abyssinia, and from the 
railway which has been commenced from Jibuti to Addis Abeba, the 
capital of that country. 

SOMALILAND 

Somaliland. — The “ Eastern Horn of Africa,” which projects into the 
Indian Ocean on the south side of the Gulf of Aden, is occupied by the 
Somali tribes, and is accordingly known as Somaliland. The country 
faces the north with a steep scarp running east and west from Cape 
Guardafui to near Harrar. East of Berbera the scarp is separated from 
the shore by a narrow belt of coastal plain and a few foot-hills. But west 
of Berbera the coastal plain widens owing to the northward advance of the 
coast. At the summit of the scarp a broad plateau slopes gently to the 
south ; on its northern border is a belt of waterless desert, the Haud. The 
southern slope leads down to the Webi Shebeyli, separated from which by 
a scrub-covered plain is the River Jub, which divides Somaliland from 
British East Africa. 

The natives are mainly Somali, a . Hamitic race of Mohammedans. 
They are a pastoral, nomadic people, and have herds of camels, cattle, 
sheep, and horses. Along the Webi Shebeyli are some Bantu tribes of 
Negroes, while some Galla remain along the southern and western frontiers. 

The northern coast as far as 49 0 E. is a British protectorate under the 
Foreign Office. The British sphere extends inland to the 8th parallel 
of N. lat. The rest of the country was an Italian protectorate ; but since 
1896 Abyssinia claims a large share of Somaliland. By the treaty of Addis 
Abeba in 1896 the Italian sphere was limited to a strip 180 miles wide 
along the coast; by a treaty with the United Kingdom in 1897, some 
8,000 square miles of British Somaliland were ceded to the Abyssinians, 
who now possess all except the two coast protectorates. 

The principal towns in British Somaliland are Berbera, opposite Aden, 
Bulhar, and Zaila , of which the last is an important starting-place of 
caravans for southern Abyssinia. Along the Italian or Benadir coast of 
Somaliland the chief towns are Mogadishu, Barawa and Merka. The Italian 
administration has its seat at the new settlement of Itala, about 100 miles 
north-east of Mogadishu. 

The principal exports from Somaliland are ivory, gums, hides and spices* 

SOKOTRA 

Sokotra is geographically and geologically a dependency of Somali- 
land, from the eastern promontory of which it is 150 miles distant. Some 
smaller islands, the Brothers, help to link Sokotra to the mainland. 

The island of Sokotra has an area of about 1,500 square miles, with a 
population of probably about 10,000. Most of the island is a plateau about 


Eastern Equatorial Africa 937 

800 feet high, but it is traversed by a mountain ridge of which the peaks 
rise to a height of over 4,000 feet. The natives are mainly descendants of 
immigrants from southern Arabia and of fugitive Negro slaves. The 
natives were once converted to Christianity by Portuguese missionaries, 
but have returned to Mohammedanism. Since 1886 the island has been a 
British possession. The capital is Tamarida , a village on the north coash 
The trade is insignificant. 

BRITISH EAST AFRICA 

Surface. — British East Africa is the largest of the political divisions 
of Eastern Equatorial Africa. It extends from the coast of the Indian 
Ocean to the Congo Free State, and from German East Africa to an 
undelimited frontier on the north. Its general configuration is com- 
paratively simple. It may be regarded as consisting of a series of zones, 
approximately parallel to the coast. First is the low coastal plain, fringed 
with islands formed by beds of coral lime- 
stone or of alluvial deposits, separated from 
the mainland by a series of branching creeks 
and backwaters. The coastal plain is narrow 
opposite Mombasa, but in the valleys of the 
Sabaki and Tana it is of considerable width. 

From the coastal plain a steep slope leads 
up to the inland plateau, a broad tract of 
undulating barren country known as the 
Nyika ; it is covered with acacia scrub, has 
no turf, and is in the main waterless. West of the Nyika extend the grassy 
plains of the volcanic region. The Eastern or Eritrean rift-valley cuts 
across this from south to north, lowering a belt of country now occupied 
by a series of lakes and rivers without outlets to the sea. Beyond the 
western wall of the Eritrean rift-valley there is a gradual slope downward 
to the Victoria Nyanza basin and the valley of the Nile. 

People and History. — The coast lands and off-lying islands of 
British East Africa were once occupied by independent Bantu tribes. 
Arab, Baluchi, and Hindu traders settled along the coast at different 
points at an early period, and they held their stations without foreign inter- 
ference until the arrival of the Portuguese at the end of the fifteenth 
century. The Portuguese erected forts at Mombasa, Melindi and Lamu 
and held the country as an intermediate station on the way to India. 
With the downfall of the Portuguese empire in India the East African 
colonies became less important, and the coast north of Mozambique again 
fell under the Arabs, who had maintained throughout their rule in 
Zanzibar. British intervention began in 1824 by the temporary annexation 
of Mombasa, an act, however, repudiated by the home government. In 
1879 the Sultan of Zanzibar offered the United Kingdom a protectorate 
over his dominions, which was declined. Germany in 1884 acquired a 



93 8 The International Geography 

foothold on the coast opposite Zanzibar, and a protectorate over Witu, in 
and near the Tana delta, in 1885. The United Kingdom, in reply, occupied 
Mombasa, and accepted administrative rights over the Sultan of Zanzibar’s 

territory on the mainland, which was entrusted by 
charter to the British East Africa Company in 1888. 
This company sent numerous exploring expeditions 
through the country, established stations, and occupied 
Uganda. Exhausted by these expensive efforts it 
handed over the administration of the country to the 
Crown in 1895, and since that time it has been ruled 

Fig. 447 —The Badge by the Foreign Office. The trade as yet is small ; 

of British East Africa. , , , , • , . r • , 

J J the imports in 1901-2 amounted to £421,000, mainly 

piece-goods and food supplies. 

The country now forms two divisions, the East Africa Protectorate, 
which extends from the coast to the north-west shores of the Victoria 
Nyanza, and the Uganda Protectorate which extends westward to the 
western lakes and the Nile. 

The British East Africa Protectorate is divided into seven pro- 
vinces : the Coast Province, Ukamba, Tanaland, Jubaland, Kenya, 
Naivasha, and Kisumu. Jubaland is imperfectly explored and its 
boundaries indefinite ; but the main features of most of the rest 
are known. 

The Uganda Protectorate includes Uganda proper, which lies at 
the north-western corner of the Victoria Nyanza, and the adjacent coun- 
tries of Unyoro, Usoga, part of Kavirondo, Koki and Ankole. The southern, 
south-western, and south-eastern boundaries are defined, but to the north 
the limits are still indefinite on the side of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, 
which includes the Bahr-el-Ghazal and all the lowlands between the 
Abyssinian highlands and the Nile. Uganda is a small country with 
a population estimated at about 300,000, which has probably diminished 
during the past twenty years. The country is not very healthy, but its 
strategic importance is great. A band of Wahuma invaded the country 
from the north-east, settled and intermarried with the original Bantu 
people. As a result of this mixture of races the Waganda are of unusual 
intelligence. The country was first visited by Speke and Grant in 1862, 
and by Sir Samuel Baker in 1864. Stanley reached Uganda in 1875-6, and 
called attention to its political importance. It was taken under the pro- 
tection of the British East Africa Company in 1889 ; after a severe struggle 
the British supremacy was maintained by Lugard in 1892, and in 1894 the 
country was taken over by the British Government. A railway, completed 
in 1902, now connects the Victoria Nyanza with the coast at Mombasa, 
and this makes it possible to test the economic value of Uganda ; the 
cost of transport by caravans of porters being £300 a ton no development 
was formerly possible. 

The Protectorate has been divided into the Central, Uganda, Western, 
Nile, and Rudolf provinces. The native capital of Uganda is Mengo, and the 



Eastern Equatorial Africa 939 

British headquarters at Entebbe , on a point running into the lake. There is 
little game in the country, and the main food of The natives is the banana. 

ZANZIBAR AND PEMBA 

Zanzibar Island lies thirty miles off the coast of German East Africa 
in lat. 6° S. It consists of layers of sand and clay 
associated with banks of coral limestone ; most of 
it is low-lying, but in the north some hills rise to the 
height of about 1,000 feet. The soil is fertile, and 
nearly the whole island is cultivated ; cloves and 
coco-nuts are the two chief products. The popu- 
lation is dense. The natives are extremely mixed 
in race, members of all the East African tribes 
having been imported as slaves ; they have inter- Fig. 448. — Average pop - 
married among themselves and with Arabs, Persians ™ Zanzibar™™ 

and Baluchi traders. A few of the original Bantu 

inhabitants are represented by some settlements of Wahadimu in the north 
of the island. The name Zanzibar , which means “ the land of the black/’ 
is also given to the chief town, which is situated on the south side of a 
bay on the west coast, and is the principal commercial centre in Equa- 
torial Africa. Its imports in 1901 were worth £1,196,000, and its exports 
£1,168,000. 

The importance of Zanzibar has arisen from its early adoption by the 
Arabs as the capital of their East African settlements. The Sultanate was 
long subject to the Imans of Muscat, but it became independent in 1856. 

Until 1884 the Sultan was the acknow- 
ledged ruler of the East African coast 
lands from Mozambique to Somaliland. In 
1884 the southern part of his mainland 
territory was acquired from him by Ger- 
many. In 1890 a British protectorate was 
formally proclaimed over the remainder. 
The Benadir coast, i.e., the eastern coast 
of Somaliland, was, however, transferred 
to the protection of Italy. At present the 
Sultan of Zanzibar theoretically rules the 
coast belt of British East Africa, but prac- 
tically this is administered from Mombasa, 
and is treated as an essential part of the 
British sphere. 

Fig. 449.— Zanzibar and mainland Pemba. —The adjacent island of Pemba 

^ 0riS * is 40 miles north of Zanzibar, and is under 

the jurisdiction of the Sultan. It is 40 miles in length, running parallel 
with the coast of the mainland, at a distance of 60 miles, from Pangani 

to Tanga. The soil is fertile, and the population consists mainly of 
61 



♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


♦ ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ 


940 The International Geography 

slaves and freed slaves engaged in the clove and coco-nut plantations. 
The basis of the island appears to consist of lines of raised coral reef. 
The chief town is Chaki-Chaki, situated on the east coast. The language 
of the aboriginal inhabitants, or Wapemba, is a dialect of Suahili. 


STATISTICS 


(Estimates.) 

Density of Population 

Area in sq. miles. Population. per sq. mile. 

Abyssinia (excluding Somali terri- 


tories) 300,000 .. .. 5,000,000 .. .. 17 

Eritrea 88,000 . . . . 400,000 . . . . 4 

French Somali Coast . . . . 8,6oo . . . . 30,000 . . . . 3 

Somaliland, British 68,000 \ 

„ Italian 136,000 1 .. .. 2,000,000 .. .. 7 

„ Claimed by Abyssinia 100,000 j 

Sokotra 1,500 .. .. 10,000 .. .. 7 

British East Africa 350,000 . . . . ^ 5,000,000 1 . . . 14 

Zanzibar 625 . . . . 200,000 . . . . 320 

Pemba 360 . . . . 90,000 . . . . 250 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir S. Baker. “ The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia.” London, 1867. 

Sir R. F. Burton. “ The Lake Regions of Central Africa.” 2 vols. London, i860. 

H. M. Stanley. “Through the Dark Continent.” London, 1878. 

J. H. Speke. “Journal of the Discovery of the Sources of the Nile.” Edinburgh, 1863. 
J. Thomson. “ Through Masai Land.” London, 1886. 

J. W. Gregory. “ The Great Rift Valley.” London, 1896. 

W. W. A. Fitzgerald. “Travels in the Coastlandsof British East Africa.” London, 1898. 
P. L. McDermott. “ British East Africa.” London, 1895. 

G. F. Scott- Elliot. “A Naturalist in Mid-Africa.” London, 1896. 

A. d’Abbadie. “ Geodesie d’Ethiopie.” Paris, 1860-73. 

“ Geographic de l’Ethiopie.” Paris, 1890. 

G. Fumagalli. “ Bibliografia Etiopica.” Milan, 1893. 


II.— GERMAN EAST AFRICA 

By Graf von Pfeil. 

* 

Surface and Configuration. — The coast of German East Africa 

(Deutsche Ost-Afrika), about 620 miles long, shows little morphological 
development, but is not destitute of excellent harbours, Tanga, Kilwa 
Kisiwani, Lindi, Mikindani, and the best and principal harbour, Dar-es- 
Salaam, deserve special mention. They all owe their origin to small 
rivers whose discharge of fresh water caused a break in the growth of the 
coral which built up this coast. Three islands of fair size, Pemba, Zanzi- 
bar, and Mafia, show by the rocks of which they are composed that 
they once formed part of that zone of coral limestone which, together 
with clay schists and sedimentary deposits, forms a coastal plain of about 
10 to 30 miles in width. South of the Rufiji, this plain, gradually rising, 
extends towards the mountains on the eastern side of Lake Nyasa. West 
of the coast-land the high plateau is composed of ancient rocks, gneiss 
and mica-schists; near the northern end of Lake Nyasa Carboniferous 
sandstone runs in a southerly direction towards the Rovuma river, near 
which coal seams have been discovered. Igneous rocks, basalt, trachyte, 
andesite, occur in the northern part of the protectorate between Kiliman- 


German East Africa 


941 


jaro and the Victoria Nyanza. The great Unyam wezi plateau is simply 
composed of granite. In some spots lacustrine deposits are found. In 
a vertical sense East Africa shows comparatively little development. 
Along its western border extends the continuation of the great western 
rift-valley. The vast territory situated between it and the Indian Ocean 
may be broadly characterised as a tableland. To understand its con- 
figuration we might picture to ourselves that it was suddenly rent open 
in a direction nearly parallel to the coast. The cleft thus supposed to be 
produced is called the Eritrean rift-valley, and it divides the plateau 
into two parts, each of which has been considerably disturbed from its 
original level. The western portion retained its old height in the north, 
while the western side and southern end subsided ; the eastern, and much 
narrower part of the plateau, retained its elevation along its western border, 
while the eastern side and southern end were probably tilted up. By 
whatever Earth movements the present configuration of the country was 
brought about, the result is to give the country its greatest elevation in the 
region north of Lake Nyasa, where an altitude of about 9,000 feet is 
attained by the highest peak. The average level of the plateau lies between 
3,000 and 4,000 feet. The sides of the rift-valley are precipitous, so is the 
drop of the tableland on the east side where it presents the appearance of a 
tall mountain range when seen from the low coastal plain. Where the Eri- 
trean rift-valley crosses the northern boundary of German territory the 
volcanic forces, which opened all the rents radiating from this spot, seem 
to have had their seat. From a rift which branches off in an easterly 
direction, Mount Kilimanjaro rises, towering to an altitude of 19,200 feet. 
From its extinct crater an immense glacier descends, from which the 
Pangani river derives its chief water supply. A longer rift called the 
Wemberre, extends in an opposite direction ; its northern portion is 
occupied by a shallow lake, and several smaller lakes are situated in the 
neighbouring main rift. South-east of Kilimanjaro the mountains of Pare 
and Usambara rise abruptly from the plains, a narrow strip of which 
separates them. They approach much nearer the coast than any other 
mountainous part of East Africa, and they are but loosely connected 
through the mountains of Nguru with the central Plateau. The Pare and 
Usambara mountains are covered with tall primeval forest. A similar 
isolated group of mountains rises in the more southern district of Ukami. 

Hydrography. — The country east of the great fissure sends its drainage 
to the Indian Ocean. The Pangani is the channel through which Kiliman- 
jaro and the Pare and Usambara mountains discharge the rainfall which 
they receive partly from the south-east monsoon. The Wami rises in 
the mountainous plateau border, while the Kingani, rising in the Ukami 
mountains, belongs entirely to the littoral region. Only the Rufiji-Ruaha 
has its origin on the plateau, its great tributaries, the Ulanga and the 
Rovuma, have their sources at the foot of the mountains east of Lake 
Nyasa. The Pangani is navigable for about 12 to 18 miles the Rufiji for 


942 The International Geography 

more than 60 miles in its lower course, and its tributary, the Ulanga, for 
a considerably longer distance. The plateau west of the fissure, much 
drier than its eastern portion, sends its water through the Malagarazi 
river to Lake Tanganyika, and thence to the Atlantic. The northern 
portion of German East Africa, sending amongst other and smaller rivers 
the Kagera to the Victoria Nyanza, becomes tributary to the Nile. Lakes 
Tanganyika and Nyasa fill the deepest parts of the western rift-valley 
while Lake Rukwa is only a huge swamp formed by the collection of local 
waters in a subsidiary rift, which to some extent links together the 
disconnected portions of the main rift. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The climate of East Africa is influ- 
enced by the monsoons ; the wet and dry seasons are well marked, but 
occur at different times of the year in different parts of the country. On 
the coast a high temperature prevails subject to little change, with corre- 
sponding moisture of the air. The mountainous regions enjoy a more 
temperate climate with sometimes decidedly cool mornings and evenings. 
The plateau has a more continental climate with frequent hot winds. 
Malaria occurs often, but rarely in a serious form where the comforts of a 
civilised mode of life are available. The vegetation of East Africa varies 
according to the degree of moisture contained in air and soil. Where 
rivers or monsoons supply moisture dense forests cover mountain side and 
river bank. On the coast many useful plants and trees from India, such 
as the mango tree, flourish, while coco-nut and other palms are common. 
The river mouths are mostly fringed with dense growth of mangrove. The 
plateau has a steppe character : on it various kinds of mimosa and the 
baobab occur ; grassy plains are also met with, and the Marenga Mkali and 
Magunda Mkali are arid deserts with next to no vegetation. The fauna is 
very interesting through the varieties of antelope which swarm on the 
plateau in great numbers. Giraffe and buffalo, and, with the exception of 
the elephant, most pachyderms are still plentiful, so are lions and other 
beasts of prey. Nearly all the rivers harbour a wealth of fish and many 
crocodiles. Birds are numerous, but only a few are notable for brilliant 
plumage ; amongst running birds the ostrich stands foremost. Of insects 
ants deserve special notice. The white ant is a common plague of settlers, 
and the so-called “ siafu ” wander everywhere in millions acting as 
scavengers. The tsetse fly, which brings death to most domestic animals, 
infests certain localities of the country. Locusts have repeatedly appeared. 

People and Trade. — The population of East Africa belongs chiefly 
to the Bantu race, which in its migration from the south met the 
advance of Hamitic and Nilotic tribes coming from the north. The 
Bantu race is best represented by the tribes round Lake Nyasa, the 
Hamitic element by the Masai near Kilimanjaro. On the coast live the 
Suahili of mixed origin, who are remarkable for a degree of Asiatic culture 
and the fact that they have been able to impress a knowledge of their 
language upon almost all the tribes of the interior. These native tribes are 


German East Africa 


943 


mostly ruled by despotic chiefs, though small self-governing communities 
are not uncommon. Many tribes, especially those on the grass lands, rear 
cattle, but only a few are truly nomads. Nearly all till the soil with iron 
hoes of their own manufacture. Their productions — ground-nuts ( arachis ), 
maize, rice, sesame, beans, &c., together with those they collect in the 
forest, rubber, copal, fibres, lichens, &c., are exported in yearly increasing 
quantities. Of industry they possess little ; unable to produce textiles beyond 
a small attempt on the coast, they in some parts work a fine bark into cloth. 
Almost everywhere they smelt iron, and forge fine spear-heads. Pottery 
and wood-carving are much practised. Payable minerals have not been 
discovered. There is little intertribal trade ; people from the interior, 
chiefly Wanyamwezi, travel in caravans to the coast, where they barter 
their produce for European goods. The staple article of trade is calico 
from Indian and American looms. The sale of guns, ammunition and 
spirituous liquors is subjected to severe control. Coast trade is chiefly in 
the hands of Indians, while European enterprise is mainly directed 
towards plantations, on which only free labour is employed. Slave dealing 
has been made a penal crime. A special coin of rupee value has been 
introduced, but the old silver dollar is generally used as a basis of calcula- 
tion where the use of coin has superseded the practice of barter, which is 
still nearly universal. 

Government. — East Africa was acquired by private enterprise in 
November and December, 1884, when treaties 
were concluded with influential chiefs which 
were sanctioned by the German Government in 
February, 1885. The colony is administrated by 
a Governor with a deputy, who is also commander 
of the forces. Each department of adminis- 
tration is under the charge of a separate officer. 

Justice is administered in two law courts, one 
in the Northern the other in the Southern Division. The governor, with 
the assistance of a judge, presides over an appeal court. The colony is 
divided into six coast divisions, and ten station districts in the interior, all 
under responsible officers, whose chief duty is to maintain order in, and 
amicable relations with the natives of, their districts. They are supported 
by a police force. A regular four-weekly mail service exists between 
Germany and the colony, in which a number of post-offices provide for 
postal communication. No less than ten missionary societies endeavour to 
spread culture amongst the natives — six of these are German, three English, 
one French ; seven of them are Protestant, and three Roman Catholic. 

Some of the coast settlements quite merit the appellation of “ town,” 
although less than a decade ago hardly any one of them contained a 
habitable house. Now all government and most private buildings are 
handsome edifices ; those of military character are built very substantially 
of coral blocks, and are capable of withstanding a siege. Private houses 



! ?IG. 450 . — The Flag of 
German East Africa. 


944 The International Geography 

are constructed of lighter material, but are replete with all the comfort 
which a thorough study of the climate can suggest. Foremost, with 

regard to its appearance as in all other re- 
spects, stands Dar-es-Salaam, which is pro- 
bably the best harbour on the whole east 
coast of Africa. On entering the bay the eye 
is at once struck with the air of tidiness which 
pervades the place. All round the bay runs 
a broad street flanked on one side by hand- 
some public buildings, all fronting the water. 
The Governor’s sumptuous residence stands 
in the midst of large gardens where many 
plants are reared on trial. A number of deep 
wells supply the town with good water for 
drinking, and since they have been dug a neighbouring swamp has been 
drained, so that it has become not only a handsome but also a healthy 
tropical town. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

F. Stuhlmann. “ Mit Emin Pascha im Herz von Afrika.” Berlin, 1894. 

O. Baumann. “ Usambara.” Berlin, .1891. 

“ Durch Massailand.” Berlin, 1894. 

P. Reichardt. “ Deutsch Ost Africa.” Leipzig, 1892. 

F. Fiilleborn. “Das Deutsche Njassa- und Ruwuma-Gebiet.” Berlin, 1906. 

III.— PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA 

By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos,* 

Portuguese Royal Navy. 

Position and Extent. — The Portuguese possessions in East Africa, 
formerly known in their entirety as Mozambique (or Mozambique), stretch 
along the coast from the Rovuma, io£° S., to a short distance south of 
Delagoa Bay, almost in 27 0 S., with a coast-line of 1,400 miles. In the 
north the coast is much indented with many islands lying off it, and in 
the south it is low, beset with sandbanks and bordered by many sand-hills 
and lagoons. The most inland point in the Possession is Zumbo on the 
Zambezi, 450 miles from the sea, and Mozambique includes the eastern 
shores of Lake Shirwa and Lake Nyasa. 

Surface. — The Zambezi, which forms a great delta on the coast, 
divides the country into two nearly equal parts, to the north the province 
of Mozambique, to the south that of Lourenzo Marques. North of the 
Zambezi granitic formations give rise to a mountainous country, in which 
the Namuli mountains rise to 8,800 feet, and form a sort of hydrographic 
centre whence flow the rivers Likungu southwards, Ligonia eastwards, and 
Lurio north-eastwards. Mount Mlanje south of Lake Shirwa, and the Serra 

1 Translated from the Portuguese 



945 


Portuguese East Africa 

Morumbala, which reaches 4,000 feet, may also be mentioned ; but there 
are other important elements of the orography which space makes it 
impossible to enumerate. 

South of the Zambezi the Serra da Gorongoza rises to 6,500 feet, send- 
ing its waters to the Zambezi and Pungwe, and the edge of the so-called 
Manika plateau runs southward, with Mount Doe rising to 7,900 feet. 
In the south the well-marked Libombo Range separates the Lourengo 
Marques district from the Transvaal. There are numerous rivers, many 
of which are navigable by light-draught vessels. The Limpopo, Save, and 
Pungwe are the most important in the south. The Zambezi, however, is 
the greatest waterway in East Africa, approached from the sea either 
through the winding Quelimane branch, or the shorter and deeper 
Chinde mouth. Its tributary, the Shire, coming from Lake Nyasa, is also 
navigable. 

Climate and Resources. — According to the latitude, there are 
varieties of climate ; but generally the low coastal plain is malarious and 
unhealthy owing to inundations from the rivers and the formation of 
swamps. In the interior, where the effects of latitude are corrected by 
altitude, the climate is bearable and sometimes good. Farther south, in 
the part beyond the tropic including Inhambane and Lourengo Marques, 
the climate is generally better adapted to Europeans. The mean 
temperature in Lourengo Marques is about 75 0 F., but the minimum falls 
sometimes below 65°. 

The products are almost entirely derived from the forests ; olea- 
ginous seeds, wax, gums, orchil, coffee, tobacco, and ivory being the 
chief. 

People and Government. — The population is made up of various 
races and tribes. In the north, between the Rovuma and Angoche rivers, 
the Makwa people dwell, and farther in the interior the Ajaus, both belong- 
ing to the eastern branch of the great Bantu race. In the ancient Tete 
district are found the Maraves, Sengas, and other tribes ; south of the 
Pungwe the Vatwa race inhabits Gazaland. The Portuguese call the 
various races living near Inhambane, who have adopted the manners 
and customs of the Vatwas or Manguni, Ladins ; the Tongas are people 
of an inferior race living on the banks of the Motamba and around 
Inhambane. 

The colonial province forms a Governor-Generalship, and is divided 
into the districts of Mogambique, Lourengo Marques, Inhambane and 
Zambezia. A great part of its territories is under the administration of 
chartered companies ; the Nyasa Company is supreme between Lake 
Nyasa and the Rovuma ; the Mogambique Company is developing the 
gold and other resources of Sofala and Manika ; and the Zambezia district 
is managed by the Company of the same name, but without sovereign 
rights 

Towns and Trade. — The most active commercial town is Lourengo 


946 The International Geography 

Marques, on the large and safe harbour of Delagoa Bay in the south. Its 
importance rests on the railway which runs for 57 miles through Portuguese 
territory before entering the Transvaal, and thus forms the shortest outlet 

for that colony to the sea. Beira, at the mouth 
of the Pungwe, is somewhat similarly situated, 
the head of navigation on the river being con- 
nected by railway with Salisbury in Southern 
Rhodesia, forming the shortest route to that 
place from the sea. Chinde, on the Zambezi 
delta, and Quelimane have been developed by 
the transport trade on that river. The old 
capital, Mozambique, situated farther north on 
an island near the coast, has not profited so 
much by the recent development. Portuguese 
East Africa does not as yet carry on much trade with the mother country. 
The commerce of its ports consists mainly of goods in transit, and takes 
place chiefly with the United Kingdom, India, France and Germany. 

STATISTICS {approximate). 


Area of Portuguese East Africa in square miles 301,160 

Population „ „ „ 3,120,000 

Density of population per square mile 10 

Population of Mozambique 8,000 

„ Lourenzo Marques 7, 700 



IY.— BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA 

By Sir Harry H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., 

Formerly Commissioner and Consul-General administering British Central Africa . 

Position and Boundaries. — British Central Africa is the name 
given officially to the large territory under British protection in South 
Central Africa, to the north of the Zambezi. This designation is, on the 
whole, the most correct and the most comprehensive, and is that recognised 
by the Foreign Office, which controls the administration of this territory. 
Portions of British Central Africa, however, are sometimes styled Northern 
Zambezia, or Northern Rhodesia, and Nyasaland. 

British Central Africa includes within its limits almost the whole 
northern watershed of the river Zambezi and its affluents ; it further 
extends to the Lualaba or Upper Congo (which river rises within this 
territory) ; to the southern shores of Lake Tanganyika ; to the western 
and eastern shores of Lake Nyasa ; and to the eastern shores of Lake 
Chilwa. It covers the whole of Lake Bangweolo, and a large part of Lake 
Mweru within its limits. Further, it may be said that it is bounded on the 
north by the Congo Free State, on the north-east by German East Africa, 
on the south-east by Portuguese East Africa, on the south by the Zambezi, 
and on the west by Portuguese West Africa. 


British Central Africa 


947 


Configuration. — The physical configuration is that of a vast plateau, 
deeply cut into on the east by the trench of Lake Nyasa (Lake Tanganyika 
on the north continuing the line of this remarkable rift), and worn down 
southwards into the valleys of the Shire, Luangwa, Kafue, and Zambezi. 
Its principal rivers are the Zambezi, 1 the Shire (the next in importance 
politically, though not as regards length of course), the Kafue, the Luangwa, 
the Kabompo, and the Lungo-e-Bungo. All of these belong to the Zambezi 
system, and have innumerable affluents of their own. The rivers joining 
the Congo system which flow through British Central Africa are, amongst 
others, the Chambezi, the Luapula, the Lohombo, and the Kalungwisi. 
The river Saisi, which rises in the north of British Central Africa, is the 
principal affluent of the salt Lake Rukwa, which lies beyond the territory. 
The lakes of British Central Africa are : Tanganyika, Nyasa, Bangweolo, 
Mweru, Moir Lake, the Mweru Salt Swamp, and Lake Chilwa. The two 
last are salt lakes ; but there is a tendency in Tanganyika and Mweru 
towards brackishness. The only great lakes, veritable inland fresh water 
seas of great antiquity and relatively unchanged in area, are Tanganyika, 
and Nyasa. Lakes Bangweolo and Mweru are shallow depressions which 
the Upper Congo has turned into lakes of varying extent. Lake Chilwa is 
likewise shallow and swampy, and is possibly a former gulf of Lake 
Nyasa cut off by the upheaval of a low ridge of ground. Lake Tanganyika 
possesses actually a marine fauna, and it has been conjectured consequently 
that it is the relic of a former extension of the ocean into the heart of 
Africa in the Cretaceous period. Lake Nyasa is a curiously formed trench 
dug into the central African plateau, as though a gigantic spade had been 
driven eastward into the tableland at a slant, digging deep down on one 
side, and throwing up the ground on the other into the form of the Living- 
stone Mountains. The western shore of Lake Nyasa is shallow, but it deepens 
towards the east coast, where its depths are so profound that they are in 
many places much below the surface of the Indian Ocean. Immediately 
above these great depths along the east coast rise the precipitous Living- 
stone Mountains, attaining heights of from 5,000 to 10,000 feet. The water 
of Lake Nyasa is absolutely fresh, and its fauna has no signs of marine 
origin. Tanganyika drains intermittently into the Upper Congo by the 
river Lukuga ; Lake Nyasa drains into the Zambezi by the Shire river, 
and, but for an interval of sixty miles of rapids, is in direct water com- 
munication with the Indian Ocean. The tableland of British Central 
Africa is tortured here and there by Earth movements or by atmospheric 
agencies into lumps and ridges and tilts which are styled mountains. So 
far as is yet known, the highest altitude is attained at the extreme south- 

1 The name of this great river is relatively constant from near its source to its mouth, 
and appears to be derived from an old root — mbiji or mbizi , which in many Bantu 
languages means fish or meat — though this resemblance may be accidental. Preceded by 
various prefixes the name of the river may appear as Liambiye, Liambiji, Diambizi, 
Dombazi, Dzambezi, Zambezi ; but on the whole Zambezi, besides being long since 
sanctioned by custom, is the most generally recognised native name. 

62 


94 8 The International Geography 

eastern corner of the territory by the beautiful mountain of Mlanje, an isolated 
block of tableland which has given rise to a series of volcanic craters that 
further add to its height. The highest point of Mlanje is 9,683 feet. 
Along the western versant of Lake Nyasa the tableland occasionally tops 
altitudes of 7,000 and 8,000 feet. An altitude of 7,000 feet is occasionally 
reached by points on the Nyasa-Tanganyika Plateau and in the mountains 
to the south of Lake Bangweolo. 

Geology. — The geology of British Central Africa appears relatively 
simple. The commonest formation, perhaps, is a mixture of metamorphic 
rocks, grauwacke, clay, slates, gneiss and schists. The principal mountain 
ranges consist mostly of granite ; and granite with its upper layers often 
rotten, and even turned into red ferruginous clay, constitutes the surface £ 
soil of most of the highlands. There is an outcrop of sandstone on the 
north-west and north-east coasts of Lake Nyasa and west of the river 
Shire, at the south end of Tanganyika, round about Lake Mweru, and in 
the countries adjoining the river Luapula. Volcanic lavas and tuffs are 
present on the upper plateau of Mlanje and at the north end of Lake 
Nyasa. There is a good deal of quartz in the mountains to the west of 
Lake Nyasa. The low flat hills in the upper Shire district and on the 
north-west coast of Lake Nyasa are composed of marble. The valleys of 
the Luangwa and the upper Zambezi are covered with alluvial soil. Gold 
has been found to the west of Lake Nyasa, and is probably present in the 
Shire highlands. It is found in some abundance in the valleys of the 
streams which flow into the central Zambezi. Iron is found nearly every- 
where except in the alluvial river valleys. Copper exists in the Luapula 
basin, graphite has been found in Nyasaland, and deposits of coal are 
present in most of the sandstone formations. The average annual rainfall 
is about forty inches. The climate on all the plateaux is very agreeable. 

It is not the climate which causes ill health, but the rank soil, which 
requires to be chastened by many years of tillage before the country is 
fitted for permanent settlement. 

Flora and Fauna. — The whole of this area is covered with fairly 
abundant vegetation, in some places reaching typical tropical luxuriance. 
Nearly all the more important or valuable trees of tropical Africa are 
represented, and there are five species of indigenous palms, including the 
oil-palm of West Africa, which extends its range to the west coast of Lake 
Nyasa. There are four kinds of rubber produced in the forests, and a 
valuable article of export is the strophanthus drug. A notable feature in 
the flora of British Central Africa is the possession of two species of 
conifer found growing on Mount Mlanje, and possibly on a few peaks to 
the north. These are the only conifers known to exist in tropical Africa 
with the exception of those found on the mountains of Abyssinia and 
Mount Kenia. One of these conifers is the Widdringtonia whytei, a tree 
resembling the cedar in appearance, but really related to the cypresses. 

The fauna of British Central Africa is that of typical tropical Africa. 


British Central Africa 


949 


It possesses some West African species, but several forms characteristic of 
South Africa and the Sudan are absent, such as the ostrich, any species of 
oryx antelope, the aard-wolf, all mountain zebras, and the secretary vulture. 
The mass of African antelopes is abundantly represented — especially 
notable in numbers are the sable antelope, the eland, the kudu, the pallah, 
the hartebeest, and the water-buck. The African elephant is still found in 
considerable numbers, and so is the rhinoceros. The low-lying parts of 
the territory are infested with the tsetse fly, which there renders impossible 
the keeping of horses and cattle ; but this pest is quite absent from the 
highlands, and moreover tends to diminish in the low country as human 
settlement increases. 

People, — The native inhabitants belong entirely to the negro stock, 
and to that section of it which speaks Bantu languages. There is, how- 
ever, not much correlation between race and language where the Bantu 
negroes are concerned, and the inhabitants of British Central Africa 
evidently arise from a fusing of three negro stocks : the east coast negro, 
physically more akin to the tribes of the Eastern Sudan ; the west coast 
negro (the extreme development of the negro type) ; and an underlying 
stratum of the Bushman or pygmy race, which undoubtedly inhabited the 
country before it was invaded by the big black negroes from the north. 
The tremendous race disturbances in South Africa in the early part of the 
nineteenth century sent north-west across the Zambezi a Zulu invasion. 
The invaders were akin to the Matabele, but were known as Angoni. 
These Angoni constituted a ruling caste in the centre of the territory 
between Lake Nyasa and the river Luangwa. Similarly Barutseland, on 
the upper Zambezi, was invaded by Bechuana ; though later on the 
indigenous race expelled its Bechuana rulers and set up a dynasty of its 
own. The most important people of Nyasaland are the Yao, invaders 
from the east, who with the aid of the Arabs would have conquered all 
Nyasaland but for the intervention of the British. They are physically a 
very fine race, with an undoubted future before them. The inhabitants of 
Nyasaland proper are the Anyanja, a stock which furnishes the native 
tribes of all but northern Nyasaland, and of the whole lower Zambezi. 
The Barutse and kindred tribes are connected linguistically with the people 
of Lower Guinea and the Congo basin rather than with the inhabitants of 
the eastern half of this territory, who in language approximate more to the 
Zanzibar group. The various tribes dwelling round the north end of Lake 
Nyasa and the south end of Tanganyika and Lake Bangweolo, speak 
languages which are remarkable for their archaic form and their approxi- 
mation to the original mother tongue of the Bantu. The entire native 
population of this vast territory probably does not exceed three millions. 
Before the arrival of the Angoni and other recent invaders, there were a 
few great chiefs of ancient lineage, but these are now all swept away or 
much reduced in power. The only chief of any importance and indepen- 
dence is the king of the Barutse. In the middle of the nineteenth century 


95° The International Geography 

the eastern part of British Central Africa was invaded by Arabs and half- 
caste Arabs from Zanzibar, who, but for their quarrel with the British and 
consequent defeat, would have succeeded in founding powerful Arab 
sultanates round Tanganyika and Nyasa. Very few Arabs now remain in 
the territory. 

Government and Trade. — The whole of British Central Africa was 
brought under British protection between 1889 and 1891. The Chartered 
Company of South Africa shared in the task, and has been assigned the 
central portion of British Central Africa as a sphere for its administration, 
Barutseland remaining under the intelligent rule of its enlightened chief, 
and the eastern part of the territory, where Europeans were chiefly settled, 
being controlled by a direct Imperial administration working under the 
Foreign Office. Little or no commerce at present exists in any other part 
of the protectorate but the last named. Here the trade amounts to an 
annual value of nearly $750,000. The main staple of export trade is 
coffee. The coffee-tree was introduced by Scottish planters in 1876 ; the 
parent tree coming from the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. The 
coffee grown in British Central Africa is equal to the finest Mocha, and 

attains practically the same prices on the London 
market. The output of coffee from the infant plan- 
tations in 1897 was about 450 tons, and the coffee-plant 
has been adopted as the colonial badge. Other articles 
of export are ivory, gold, strophanthus drug, rubber, 
rhinoceros horns, wax and hides. The system of in- 
ternal communications is mainly along the natural 
Fig. 453 .—The Badge waterways. The country is ordinarily entered by the 

°f British Central Zambezi at the town of Chinde on the Indian Ocean. 

Africa . 

The Zambezi is navigable all the year round as far as 
its confluence with the Shire, and the Shire is likewise navigable all the 
year round as far as Chiromo. From this point roads, more or less 
carriageable, have been constructed to Lake Nyasa, and a railway is in 
contemplation. Lake Nyasa is navigated by several commercial steamers, 
and is patrolled by three British gunboats. There are one British steamer 
and several British sailing vessels on Lake Tanganyika. The British 
South Africa Company has sailing boats on Lake Mweru. Elsewhere off 
this main line of road the only means of communication are the native 
paths, which criss-cross the country in all directions. Transport along 
these routes is effected by native porterage. A telegraph line from South 
Africa passes through the British Central Africa, and a railway from 
Rhodesia reaches far into the interior. There are at present no towns of 
any size. The largest settlement of Europeans is Blantyre ; the administra- 
tive capital of the Protectorate is Zornba . 

General Character and Statistics. — The essential characteristics 
of British Central Africa are those of a great tropical dependency, which 
may in time become peopled by many millions of black men, but which 



British Central Africa 


95 1 


is not suited any more than India for European colonisation. Europeans 
can maintain fair health on the more elevated districts, but the country 
is emphatically not one where the European can make a permanent 
home or be anything more than a temporary settler as planter or trader. 
The country as a whole is unhealthy ; but as money is made very quickly 
over coffee planting, and as there are considerable gold mining prospects 
the European immigrants slowly increase. The entire European popula- 
tion in the year 1898 scarcely exceeded 450 souls, of whom all but 
a few are British subjects. Nyasaland is celebrated for its thriving 
settlers of Scottish race, who have been the main agents in bringing this 
territory within the sphere of British interests. The area of British Cen- 
tral Africa can only be given approximately while the western frontier 
with Portugal remains unsettled. It may be roughly stated at 300,000 
square miles. The average value of the trade with Great Britain at the 
institution of the Protectorate in 1891 was about $185,000. It has now 
risen to about $750,000 in annual value. The revenues of the British 
Central Africa Protectorate during the same period have risen from nil to 
about $110,000 per annum. The deficit in the cost of administration is 
met by the Imperial Government. The responsibility and expense of 
administering the Central Portion of British Central Africa are borne by 
the Chartered Company. There are eight missionary societies — five 
British, two French, and one Dutch — at work in this field. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

Sir H. H. Johnston. “ British Central Africa.” London, 1897. 

H. Drummond. “ Tropical Africa.” London, 1888. 


CHAPTER LI.— WEST AFRICA 


I— SPANISH WEST AFRICA 


By Edward Heawood, M.A. 


Canary Islands. — The Canaries are a group of volcanic islands 
upheaved, between 27 0 and 30° N., along the north-westerly slope of Africa 
towards the Atlantic depression. The five principal islands, Langerote, 
Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Palma, run in a curved line 
from east to west, while Gomera and Hierro (Ferro) lie a little off the 
curve towards the south-west. The moisture brought by the trade winds 
(especially in winter and to the northern slopes) make the group less barren 
than the opposite mainland, and the luxuriance of the vegetation increases 
towards the west ; but the plains of basaltic lava are distinctly arid. 
Perhaps the most characteristic plants are cactus-like Euphorbias. The 


highest of all, a violet occurs, but all above 10,000 feet is barren. Three 
different races inhabited the Canaries in ancient times, the best known 
being the Guanches, probably allied to the Berbers. Known vaguely to 
the ancients as the Fortunatae Insulae, the group was first conquered in 
1402 by the Norman De Bethencourt, but in spite of Portuguese efforts to 
obtain a footing was finally confirmed to Spain in 1479. The chief towns 
are Santa Cruz , in Tenerife, the seat of Government, and Las Palmas , in 
Gran Canaria, whose port, La Luz, has been developed as a coaling station 
for steamers on the South African route. Wines, cochineal, oil, cereals 
and tobacco are the chief products of the group. 

The meridian of Ferro, the most westerly known land in the days of 
Ptolemy, was long accepted as the initial meridian for reckoning longitude, 
and on the discovery of America was the dividing line between the 
“Eastern" and “Western” hemispheres. In 1634 the meridian was 
assumed to be exactly 20° west of Paris (17 0 39' 45" west of Greenwich), 
and this is still used as the zero of longitude on some maps. 



famous Peak of Tenerife (Pico 
de Teyde), 12,200 feet high, 
reaches far above the cloud- 
belt. The vines, bananas and 
other fruit trees of the lower 


Co J^L*5Pam*sG5^ 28* slopes give place in turn at 


higher levels to forests of 
laurels, oaks and pines ; a 



French West Africa 


953 


Spanish Sahara. — The Spanish Sahara extends along the west coast 
of the desert between Capes Blanco and Bojador, with an average width 
of about 170 miles. It consists of a granite plateau with vegetation only 
in the depressions, roamed over by predatory nomadic tribes. While the 
early relations of the Portuguese and other nations with these coasts for 
the purpose of trade and fishing were confined chiefly to Arguin, south of 
Cape Blanco, the Spaniards of the Canaries established themselves in 1476 
at Santa Cruz de Mar Pequena, north of that cape, and at other posts, but 
their fortresses soon fell into ruins. In 1878 they again turned their atten- 
tion to these coasts, and a protectorate was proclaimed in 1884, but their 
efforts to obtain a footing in the interior (Adrar) have been without result, 
that country being recognised as French in 1900. The principal factory 
is at Rio de Oro, a spot which was known at a very early date, as it is 
shown on the Catalan map of 1375. 

Spanish Guinea. — Spain owns a small area near Corisco Bay, just 
north of the equator, but the territory is almost valueless for trade, as 
French expansion has entirely cut it off from the interior. 

Fernando Po. — Fernando Po is the largest and the nearest to the 
coast of the four volcanic islands which run in a south-westerly direction 
into the Gulf of Guinea in a line with the volcanic peak of Kamerun (Fig. 
465). It has roughly the shape of a parallelogram, of which the northern 
half is almost entirely filled by the great peak of O-Wassa or Santa Isabel 
(Clarence Peak), 9,350 feet high, an extinct volcano with a still existing 
crater. It slopes steeply on all sides but the south, where it is joined by a 
low ridge to the basaltic cordillera which runs east and west through the 
south of the island. Most of the surface is clothed with dense forest, but 
there are also some grassy uplands. The native inhabitants are the Bubi, 
a Bantu tribe. The island was discovered by the Portuguese, but ceded 
to Spain in 1778. Santa Isabel , on the north coast (occupied early in the 
nineteenth century by Great Britain), is the only town. Some cacao, coffee 
and cinchona are cultivated, but the climate is unhealthy to Europeans. 

Annobon, the last of the four islands, is also the smallest. 

STATISTICS. 

Area (square miles) 

Canary Islands 2,900 

Spanish Sahara 70,000 

Spanish Guinea 9,000 

Fwnando Po and Annobon 800 

II.— FRENCH WEST AFRICA 

By M. Zimmermann, 1 

Of the “ Annates de Geographie," Paris. 

History. — The beginning of French influence in West Africa may be 
traced back to the discoveries of Dieppe sailors on the coast of Senegambia 
in the fourteenth century. The attractions of the gold of Bambuk and the 

1 Translated from the French by the Editor. 


Population. 

292.000 

100.000 (?) 
(?) 

30.000 


954 The International Geography 

slave trade led to the origin of Goree, near Cape Verde, and the first 
attempts at penetrating the interior, particularly those of Andre Brue from 
1697 to 1723 ; but the real development of French interests only com- 
menced with the able administration of Colonel Faidherbe (1854-1865). 
He extended the colony of the Senegal from the coast towards the interior 
and pointed to the upper Niger as the next object of French ambition. In 
1866 France possessed only the Atlantic coast from Cape Blanco to Sierra 
Leone (except Gambia and Portuguese Guinea) as well as the upper 
Senegal ; the vast expansion of this territory has taken place since 1880. 
As Faidherbe had conquered the Marabout El Haj Omar, his military 
successors overthrew the Toucouleur empire of Ahmadou by a series of 
glorious victories, conquered the Almamy Samory, and from 1883 to 1894 
pushed the French arms from Bammako, the first post on the upper Niger, 
to Timbuktu. Thus the colony of the French Sudan was added to those of 
Senegal and the Southern Rivers (Casamance, Pongo, Mellacoree, &c.). The 
French rights on the Ivory Coast have been acted upon since 1884, and 
Dahome was definitely conquered in 1892. All of these colonies, including 
Dahome since 1902, are combined in the General Government of French 
West Africa ( Gouvernement general de T Afrique Occidentale Franfaise ). 
Since 1895, when, in consequence of the treaty of 1890 with the United 
Kingdom, France lost all rights to the central Sudan, being confined to the 
north of a line drawn from Say on the Niger to Barrua on Lake Chad, 
French exploration and conquest have mainly been directed towards the 
unknown region lying within the great bend of the Niger and forming the 
hinterland of the Guinea Coast colonies. The convention of 1898 de- 
finitely fixed the British and French positions in the Sudan, modifying the 
Say-Barrua line to the advantage of France towards Sokoto and Zinder, 
and moving its starting point down the Niger from Say to Ilo. Inter- 
national rivalry in this region has had at least the one good consequence of 
a great increase in geographical knowledge. The extent of the equatorial 
forest and of the bush, the course of the coast rivers Volta, Komoe, Sas- 
sandra, Bandama, Kavalle, the course and the characteristics of the Niger 
itself, are all definitely fixed, and the work of Hourst, Toutee and their 
fellows, crowns the labours of Mungo Park, Caillie and Barth. 

Configuration. — The geology and the relief of French West Africa 
appear to be fairly simple. As far as the Niger it forms an undulating 
region of plains or low plateaux diversified occasionally by small granitic 
areas rising to a greater height. In the bend of the Niger the elevation of 
3,500 feet is rarely reached or surpassed ; although the peak of Komono, near 
Kong, reaches 4,600 feet, and that of Hombori, in Masina, is between 2,500 
and 3,000 feet. There are no continuous mountain chains ; the hypothetical 
Kong Range has been effaced from the map by the expeditions of Binger, 
but there are great plateaux of ancient rocks covered with red ferruginous 
earth or laterite. These play an important part in determining the water- 
sheds of the vast surrounding plains with their gentle and undecided slopes. 


French West Africa 955 

X, 

\ ^ 

By far the most important is the plateau of Futa Jallon in which the 
Senegal, the Gambia, the Niger, and a multitude of smaller rivers take their 
rise. It is the great reservoir for the waters of this part of Africa. With a 
length of about 200 miles from north to south it presents an abrupt face 
towards the east, and descends in a gentle slope to the Atlantic on the west. 
The high plains which compose it rarely reach elevations exceeding 2,500 
or 3,000 feet ; but it is connected with the plateaux and mountains of from 
3,000 to 4,000 feet which form the hinterland of Sierra Leone and the 
Mandingo Mountains east of the Niger. The bend of the Niger contains 
the plateaux of Sikasso, Kipirsi and Mossi, with elevations of about 2,000 
feet, and a great number of scattered highlands. All the rest forms a plain 
covered with sand or clay, usually red in colour. The great development 
of Archaean and ferruginous rocks explains the particular richness of all 
West Africa in gold and iron. Gold has been produced from a very 
ancient time in Bambuk, on the Faleme, and in Wangara ; and at the pre- 
sent day it is employed by natives in trade, and is worked in Futa Jallon at 
Bure, and in various parts of the Niger bend. 

Climate, Hydrography and Productions. — In West Africa, as 
indeed in the greater part of that continent, climate is the most important 
element of differentiation between regions. Between the Sahara and the 
Gulf of Guinea it determines all the zones of transition from the arid desert 
to the great equatorial forest. The northern border of Senegambia and 
the Sudan, although visited by regular summer rains, has a very dry cha- 
racter ; it borders immediately on the desert region from which there is an 
important trade in typical products of arid countries — gums ( Acacia verek), 
ostrich feathers and salt. Further towards the south the rainy season is 
longer, and the number of rainy days increases from 35 per annum on the 
Senegal to 84 on the Casamance and 137 on the Rio Nunez in French 
Guinea. The duration of the storms increases also from a few hours to 
several days. The arid northern desert, dotted with acacias and other 
thorny plants, and raising horses and camels, gives place to the open 
woods of the Sudan with clumps of baobabs and karite, cultivated fields 
yielding harvests of rice, maize, millet, hemp, cotton and sesame, and 
herds of cattle and flocks of sheep on the plateaux of Futa Jallon and 
Mossi. Finally, south of 8° or 9 0 N., stretching for a breadth of from 100 
to 200 miles to the Guinea Coast, comes the belt of tropical forest, where 
the principal commercial products are all derived from trees, especially 
from the oil-palm (Elczis Guineensis), various woods, india-rubber, kola-nuts, 
mahogany, &c. The temperature of the forest region of the Ivory Coast 
and Dahome, shows the typical equatorial uniformity, averaging from 75 0 
to 8o° F. ; and the year is divided into two dry and two wet seasons. 

The hydrography corresponds to these divisions. The Senegal, 1,000 
miles in length, and the Niger, with a length of 2,500 miles, draw the supply 
of their upper courses in a large number of tributaries from the southern 
Sudan ; but when they reach the latitude of 15 0 N. both begin to shrink in 


956 The International Geography 

the desert area where no affluents reach them. The Niger, however, re- 
enters the equatorial zone and again receives notable tributaries after its 
great sweep to the north. Unfortunately neither of these great rivers is so 
valuable a means of transport as could be desired. The rapids of Kayes on 
the Senegal, and those of Bammako, Ansongo, and Bussa (where Mungo 
Park met his death) on the Niger, putting a stop to through navigation. 

Peoples. — The ethnology of French West Africa is a confusion which 
has not yet been satisfactorily disentangled. On the Senegal the Moors 
(Braknas, Trarzas, Duaish) of mixed Hamitic and Negro blood are nomads 
devoted to stock-raising and to the trade in gums and salt. They live on 
the right or Saharan bank of the river, and also in the Sahel between the 
upper Senegal and the middle Niger. Towards Timbuktu and the 
northernmost part of the great bend of the Niger the French have to deal 
with the Tuareg Berbers (Kel es Suk, Kel Antassar, Iregenat) and with the 
Arabs, both peoples living amongst laborious populations of Negroes (Son- 
rhai) whom they have enslaved. In the Sudan properly so called and in 
the western colonies the dominant race is the Peulh or Fula, a pastoral 
people of coppery complexion and of slender figure, whose origin is 
obscure ; and the Toucouleurs, an enterprising warlike and very fanatical 
race of mixed Fula and Negro blood. All the peoples named above are 
Mohammedans, Islam being the sole, or at least the dominant, religion of 
the desert, the banks of the Niger below Segu and of Futa Jallon. The 
other peoples are of Negro race and practice fetishism ; the chief are the 
Mandes or Mandingos (Sarrakole, Malinke, Bambara), who are an agri- 
cultural and warlike people ; the Wolofs and Serere on the Senegal coast ; 
and the Susu, Agni, and Ewe on the Guinea coast. The people inhabiting 
the bend of the Niger are extremely complicated in their affinities ; it is 

sufficient to mention the Diula, most of 
whom are small traders. Finally the 
marshes of Guinea and the equatorial forest 
shelter the remnants of many conquered 
tribes approaching extinction, people who 
have become degraded and lead a purely 
savage life, being often cannibals. 

The Colony of Senegal. — As the 
oldest colony, that of Senegal presents the 
most regular development. It is a flat 
country as far as Bakel, 400 miles up the 
navigable river. The climate, although 
tropical with summer rains, is subject to 
the influences of the desert, and this in- 
fluence is also to be seen in the often bare 
and burnt soil, the thorny vegetation, the use of the camel, and the 
mingling of the Moors with the Fula and Toucouleur elements of the 
population. All the ports of the colony, Goree, Rufisque, and especially 



Fig. 455 . — The St. Louis-Dakar 
Railway. 


\ 


French West Africa 


957 


Dakar , on a magnificent bay, lie to the south of Cape Verde and are 
united to the capital, St. Louis, at the mouths of the Senegal, by a railway 
of 140 miles, with its terminus at Dakar (Fig. 455)* St. Louis is one of 
the finest towns of West Africa, and also one of the oldest. The trade 
of Senegal deals principally with ground-nuts cultivated in the colony, 
and gums coming from the desert. 

French Guinea. — The old colony of the Southern Rivers ( Rivieres du 
Sud) now called French Guinea {La Guinee fran;aise) includes (with the 
exception of the three rivers of Portuguese Guinea) the basins of the 
numerous coast streams which flow from Futa Jallon to the Atlantic 
between the British colonies of the Gambia and Sierra Leone. Since 1897 
Futa Jallon and its capital, Timbo, have been occupied by the French. 
The low unhealthy Guinea coast peopled by the remains of beaten races, 
Manjaks, Nalus, Bagas and Jolas, who are being driven towards the west by 
the stronger Fulas and Mandingos, seems to be one of the most promising 
parts of West Africa. It supplies a great abundance of india-rubber and 
ground-nuts, and seems capable of also yielding coffee, cacao, and kola-nuts. 
The port of Konakry has in recent years acquired real importance, and is 
attracting the trade of Futa Jallon. French Guinea has also a special 
importance with regard to communication with the Niger, and a road has 
been constructed behind the territory of Sierra Leone, to bring the upper 
Niger at Faranna into relation with the port of Konakry. The construction 
of a railway between these points has also been begun. 

The Ivory Coast and Dahome. — Both the Ivory Coast {La Cote 
d'Ivoire ) and Dahome form parts of the French establishments of the Gulf 
of Guinea, although they are separated on the coast by the British Gold 
Coast Colony and the German Togoland. The coast is bordered by sand- 
bars shutting in marshy lagoons and overgrown by mangroves and dense 
bush. The constant surf along the shore renders landing very difficult, 
the rollers on the shallow margin of the sea acquiring tremendous force. 
A wharf has been constructed at Kotonu in Dahome to overcome these 
dangers as far as possible. The special importance of the Ivory Coast lies 
in its large rivers, the Sassandra on the west, the Bandana in the centre, 
and the Komoe to the east. The efforts of explorers have eventually resulted 
in establishing communication between the upper parts of these rivers and 
the Bani-Bagoe, a tributary of the upper Niger ; but unfortunately all these 
rivers are broken by rapids not far from the coast. The Ivory Coast produces 
a certain amount of gold at Baule and Attie, timber, especially mahogany, 
palm-oil and palm kernels. The old warlike and bloodthirsty kingdom 
of Dahome has now been pacified, and its trade consists mainly of the 
export of palm-oil and kernels, while its imports are those of the whole 
Guinea Coast — cloth, spirits and firearms. The principal stations on the 
Ivory Coast are Bingerville (Ajame), Grand Bassam, Assinie and Grand, 
Lahu, each on a sand-bar separating a great lagoon from the sea, while 
those of Dahome are Kotonu , Agoe, Great and Little Popo and Whyda. 


958 The International Geography 

The Senegambia-Niger Territories. — These territories, formerly 
the French Sudan, are the part of French West Africa which has awakened 
the liveliest hopes and called forth the greatest efforts in France. To 
afford it an outlet to the sea a railway was commenced in 1880 from Kayes 
on the Senegal, which for a long time had its terminus at Bafulabe, further 
up the same river, but has now almost reached Bammako on the upper 
Niger. With the same object the projects of a trans-Saharan railway from 
Algeria, and of a trans-Nigerian railway from Konakry have been seriously 
brought forward. These are only projects, but their magnitude demon- 
strates the remarkable isolation of the Sudan, shut in by the plateaux of 
Futa Jallon on the west, the equatorial forests of the Guinea Coast on the 
south, and the Sahara on the north, and measures the importance of open- 
ing up communications with that promising country. It explains also the 
enormous value of the navigable Niger, the upper and middle courses of 

which, as far as Ilo, have been con- 
firmed to France by the Franco- 
British Convention of 1898. The 
hope of being able to extend French 
territory on the right bank of the 
Niger below the rapids and so 
secure direct communication with 
the sea has had to be abandoned ; 
but the convention concedes the 
principle of making the Niger an 
international waterway by creating 
two French enclaves in the Niger 
territory below Bussa to serve as 
river ports for commercial pur- 
poses. The convention also officially makes the French colonies of the 
coast continuous with the French Sudan. It now remains to open up and 
utilise this vast region, which as yet is merely held in military occupation 
by small garrisons scattered over the country in many places, including 
Siguiri, Segu, Bandiagara, and Timbuktu in the upper Niger country, 
Wagadugu and Nikki in the Niger bend, and Zinder between the Niger 
and Lake Chad. The native population of the region has been decimated 
by long-continued wars. 

French Congo. — The foundation of French Congo dates back to the 
French settlements on the Gabun in 1843, while its immense territorial 
development is due to the patient explorations and enlightened administra- 
tion of Savorgnan de Brazza since 1875. Its area is about three times that 
of France, and although its boundaries are not yet all defined, it includes 
the basins of the Gabun, Ogowe (a river 500 miles in length), and the 
Niari-Quillu, and stretches along the right bank of the Congo from Stanley 
Pool to the Ubangi. Since 1890 the explorations of Crampel, Mizon, 
Maistre, Clozel, Gentil and Marchand, have extended French Congo north- 
wards beyond the Sanga River to Lake Chad, including the basin of the Shari, 



Liberia 


959 


and eastwards to the Nile watershed. The convention of 1898 gave 
France the right to the eastern shore of Lake Chad. The right bank of 
the Ubangi, the course of the M’bomu and of its tributaries are dotted with 
French posts — Bangui, Bangaso, Zemio, Rafai and others. The great 
difficulty is that of communications through the forests of the Crystal 
Mountains from Loango, the chief seaport on the coast, to Brazzaville , 
the capital of the colony, situated on Stanley Pool. A railway has been 
projected, but not commenced. The people, mere remnants of conquered 
tribes, the Pongos, Balumbos, Ashangos, or primitive dwarf races like the 
Akoas, are but poor material for successful colonising ; they are besides 
oppressed by the Fans or Pahoins, a robber tribe. Thus the colony yields 
little save natural products, india-rubber, ivory and wood, and a little palm- 
oil ; its trade as yet is only one-quarter of that of the Congo Free State. 
The primeval forests of the Ogowe are the home of the gorilla, the largest 
anthropoid ape. 


STATISTICS. 

(Estimates only.) 


Trade in dollars. 



Area sq. miles. 

Population. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Senegal and dependencies 

. . 96,000 

200,000 

6,000,000 

2,000,000 

French Guinea 


? 

750,000 

1,150,000 

Ivory Coast 


1,250,000 

750,000 

700,000 

Dahome 


? 

2,000,000 

1,850,000 

French Sudan, French Congo, &c. 

. . 1,000,000 ? 

? 

2,000,000 

1 10,000 

Total of French West Africa 

.. 1,387,000? 

? 

11,500,000 

5,810,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

L. G. Binger. “ Du Niger au Golfe du Guinee par le pays de Kong et le Mossi ” (1887-89). 
2 vols. Paris, 1892. 

F. Dubois. “ Tombouctou.” Paris, 1896, and translation, “ Timbuctoo the Mysterious.” 
London, 1896. 

F. Foureau. “ Au Sahara.” Paris, 1897. 

— Toutee. "Dahome, Niger, Touareg.” Paris, 1897. 

P. L. Monteil. ‘‘De Saint-Louis a Tripoli par le lac Tchad.” Paris, 1895, 


III.— LIBERIA 

By Edward Heawood, M.A. 

Extent and Surface. — The Negro Republic of Liberia occupies about 
300 miles of the Guinea coast immediately to the west of Cape Palmas, the 
point at which the rounding off of the western limb of Africa begins. Sierra 
Leone lies to the west, while the north and east are surrounded by French 
West Africa. Liberia is entirely confined to the basins of the coast 
streams (the chief of which is the St. Paul), nowhere extending quite 150 
miles into the interior. The coast is, as a rule, high, the series of lagoons so 
characteristic of the more eastern coasts of Guinea being here but slightly 
developed, owing possibly to the greater exposure to the Atlantic gales. 


1 To 9 0 N. 


960 The International Geography 

Behind a narrow strip of mangrove and pandanus swamps traversed by 
the lower courses of the streams, the country rises in one or more steps 
which are marked by the occurrence of rapids in the rivers. The greater 
part of the surface appears to be covered by forest, for as the interior 
frontier is still undefined, it is uncertain whether the republic includes 
any large area of the open plateaux of the Mandingo country. 

History and Government. — Liberia had its origin in a settlement 
of freed slaves — named Monrovia, in honour of the United States president 
— formed by the American Colonisation Society in 1821. The territory was 
gradually extended by the incorporation of successive strips of coast, and 

in 1847 the settlers were placed under a republican 
constitution. Treaties with native chiefs brought 
large interior districts under the nominal pro- 
tectorate of the republic, but in 1894 the territory 
was curtailed by the agreement with France which 
fixed the eastern frontier at the Cavalli river. 
The Manna river is the boundary on the side of 
Sierra Leone. The official language is English. 
The well-known Krumen are the most important tribe. No white man can 
by law become a citizen. The products are those of the forests and of 
plantations, including Liberian coffee, palm-oil and kernels, and sugar. 
Besides Monrovia , the capital, the chief port is Great Bassa. 


miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii 



0 

> 


iiiiiiiiiiititiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiifi 


iiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiii 


iHiiiiiiitiiwiiiiiifitimiiiiimiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiii 1 


n 

Fig. 457. — The Liberian Flag. 


STATISTICS ( estimates ). 


Area of Liberia (in square miles) 
Population of Liberia . . 

“ Monrovia 


14,000 
1,000,000 


STANDARD BOOK. 

Sir H. H. Johnston. “Liberia.” 2 vols. London, 1906. 


IV.— BRITISH WEST AFRICAN COAST COLONIES 

By Sir Harry H. Johnston, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., 

At one time Consul for the Niger Coast Protectorate and the Cameroons. 

Historical. — The British West African colonies include the Gambia, 
Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, the last-named being formed in 1899 
to include Lagos, the Niger Coast Protectorate, ^nd the territory formerly 
administered by the Royal Niger Company. The Gambia was an English 
settlement in the days of Queen Elizabeth, and the Gold Coast settlements 
date back to Charles II., in which reign also the British hold on the 
Gambia was strengthened. Sierra Leone was founded towards the close 
of the eighteenth century out of purely philanthropic reasons for the 
repatriation of African slaves. Lagos was taken in i860 in order to stop 
the slave trade. The Niger Coast Protectorate was acquired between 






The Gambia 


961 

1884 and 1888 for the purpose of protecting British markets from absorp- 
tion by Germany and France. About 1883 all these West African colonies 
were on the point of being connected almost without break of continuity 
along the coast, but the British Government shrank from the responsi- 
bility of supporting the zealous local officials, consular and colonial. The 
gaps thus left open were promptly filled by France and Germany, and 
therefore the British West African colonies at the present day are scattered 
and of relatively small extent. 

THE GAMBIA 

Position and Surface.-^The colony of the Gambia (and in esti- 
mating the area of these colonies the foolish and fine distinction between 
colony proper and protectorate or sphere of influence is ignored) consists 
of a narrow strip along the banks of the river Gambia from its mouth to 
the cessation of navigability at a point about 220 miles from the sea. 
Much of the land is low-lying and swampy, though above McCarthy 
Island the country along the banks becomes a little more hilly. The river 
Gambia is one of the few really satisfactory African rivers as regards 
navigability ; there is never less than twenty-six feet of water on the bar at 
extreme low tide. Why it is not more highly rated as one of the few good 
harbours of the west coast of Africa the writer is at a loss to understand. 

Climate, People and Resources. — This colony possesses a fairly 
healthy climate for West Africa ; it is far less insalubrious than any other 
British West African possession. Lying much further north than the 
other colonies it has an appreciable winter, and from November till March 
the climate is actually good. The rainfall is not more than 44 
inches per annum, and is restricted mainly to the summer months. The 
resources of the country are entirely agricultural, and the principal 
product is the ground-nut ( Arachis ). Other articles of export are hides, 
bees-wax, palm kernels, india-rubber and rice. The flora and fauna 
belong more to the Ethiopian sub-region than to the West African ; there 
are no anthropoid apes, but most of the big African mammals, such as the 
giraffe and the larger antelopes, are present. 

The natives chiefly belong to three different stocks, the Wolof, Felup 
and Mandenga (or Mandingo). There are also a few Fulas in the north. 
The Wolof are the handsomest of all negro races, very black, but with 
almost European features. The Mandenga and Felup are of light brown 
complexion, with hair which tends to be long and wavy rather than closely 
curled. They are evidently negroid rather than negro, and in a greater 
degree than the Wolof exhibit Hamitic affinities. The Felup, on the other 
hand, belongs to a marked and ugly negro type. The languages which 
they speak seem to offer a far-off resemblance in structure to the Bantu 
languages of central and southern Africa. The Felup are chiefly pagans ; 
but most of the other negro and negroid peoples of the Gambia are 
Mohammedans. 


962 The International Geography 

Besides agriculture, cotton is grjDwn, woven and dyed by the natives, 
and these manufactures are often exported to other parts of West Africa. 
“ Gambia cloths ” enjoy great local renown. 

The system of intercommunication is almost entirely by water. A 
Government steamer runs weekly to and from the capital, Bathurst, at the 
mouth of the river, to McCarthy Island, about 150 miles inland. Bathurst 
is the one town of any importance. The trade of the Gambia has 
diminished of late years, and less than half is with the British Empire. 

SIERRA LEONE 

Boundaries, Surface and Climate. — Sierra Leone is bounded 
on the north and west by French West Africa, and on the east and 
south-east by Liberia. The northern half of the territory is moderately 
mountainous, the hills even extending to the coast at the Sierra Leone 
peninsula. The southern part is low and swampy, especially in the 

Sherbro district. The climate of all Sierra Leone is unhealthy, but the 

« 

coast decidedly so ; yet some improvement is discernible, and there is 
less loss of life amongst Europeans at Freetown than in former days, 
when it was called “ the white man’s grave.” The all-year-round tem- 
perature is high, averaging 83° F. ; and the rainfall heavy, said to reach 
the extraordinary average of 138 inches at Freetown, but diminishing 
considerably in the interior, where it probably does not exceed 50 or 
60 inches per annum. The country is traversed by a good many rivers, 
the more important of which are the Great and Little Searcies, the Rokel, 
and the Bamopamo or Sherbro river, many parts of which are unexplored. 
The Rokel is navigable for 40 miles from the sea, and the Sherbro 
river for about twenty miles. Other means of communication are simply 
the narrow African paths and human porterage, though there is a good 
deal of canoe navigation on the lagoons and creeks which break up the 
indefinite coast line in the south. Horses are in use amongst the natives 
of the far interior, but will not thrive on the coast. The highest mountain 
is Mt. Daro, 4,396 feet in height. On the northern versant of the range 
from which these mountains rise the Niger takes its source. 

Flora, Fauna and People. — The flora and fauna of the coast belt 
of Sierra Leone are typically West African. The chimpanzee is still found 
in the Sherbro district, the only part of West Africa where anthropoid 
apes are known west of the Cameroons. The vegetation along the coast 
is extremely luxuriant ; in the mountains of the interior, however, where 
the rainfall is less, the land is much barer and forest only exists in 
patches. 

The native population is entirely negro or negroid, belonging to the 
Mandenga and Timne stocks. The Mandenga form the bulk of the races 
in the north-eastern part of the colony, but have pushed their way to tne 
coast in various places through the more truly negro peoples, with whom 


Gold Coast 


9 6 3 


they are now to a great extent mixed. The Timne, Bulom, and other allied 
peoples are absolute negroes, belonging to a stock which forms the main 
coast population between the river Gambia and the borders of Liberia. 
They speak languages which in structure, though not in vocabulary, offer a 
striking resemblance to the Bantu family. At Freetown and one or two 
other points on the coast there are large settlements of Krumen, a race 
probably indigenous to Liberia. The coast peoples are pagan or nominally 
Christian, and those of the interior are Mohammedans, many of them 
using Arabic characters for writing. 

Government and Trade. — Patches of territory along the coast are 
directly administered by the Colonial Government. 

The interior still remains under the rule of native 
chiefs supervised by travelling commissioners. There 
are few or no manufactures, and agriculture is much 
neglected. Trade chiefly takes place in the wild pro- 
ducts of the country, such as palm-oil, kola-nuts, 
india-rubber, copal, oil-seeds and ginger. Hides are 
exported, and also cattle to a slight extent. A small Fig. 45 s -—The Badge 
trade is done in tropical fruits such as pineapples, s,trra Leone - 
which are exported to Great Britain. The only town of any importance is 
Freetown, the capital at the mouth of the Rokel river, with the best harbour 
in all West Africa. 



THE GOLD COAST 

Surface and Climate. — The British possessions on the Gold Coast 
are bounded on the west and north by French territory, and on the east 
by the German colony of Togoland. The country is generally low-lying, 
with the exception of a range of hills stretching north-west from the lower 
Volta into Ashanti. It is doubtful whether the land anywhere reaches a 
height exceeding 2,000 feet. The principal river is the Volta, navigable by 
small boats not more than 60 miles from its mouth, and rising very far in 
the interior, right up in the bend of the Niger, in two long streams, the 
Black and the White Volta. The river Ankobra is navigable for about 50 
miles. The Pra was long remarkable as the boundary between Ashanti 
and the rest of the Gold Coast in its upper waters. The rainfall varies 
extraordinarily ; in the western districts near the coast probably exceeding 
100 inches per annum ; in Ashanti and other interior districts ranging from 
50 to 70 inches. The eastern part of the colony is much dryer, though its 
low-lying and swampy nature makes it equally unhealthy. Round about 
Accra there is a remarkable dry patch in which the annual rainfall 
scarcely reaches 18 inches. The climate everywhere seems to be terribly 
unhealthy for Europeans ; the two chief maladies are black-water fever 
and dysentery. The mean temperature for the year is 85°. 

Flora and Fauna. — The fauna and flora are those of the typical 
West African region. As far as is known there are no anthropoid apes. 



964 The International Geography 

The antelopes are chiefly represented by the genus Cephalophus, a low and 
primitive type of antelope. A guinea fowl ( Agelastes ), also of low type, 
exists, and there is a great abundance of monkeys and baboons, including 
the Diana and Colobus (the latter furnishing the monkey skins of com- 
merce), and the great Mandrill baboon. The flora of the Gold Coast 
is very little known, and would probably yield surprising results if in- 
vestigated. 

People and Government. — The natives are a fairly homogeneous 
type of West African, except in the north, where there has been some slight 
intermixture with a higher negroid race. The stock to which the inhabi- 
tants belong is related linguistically (except in the extreme west) to the 
races of the Lower Niger, and, in an extremely distant way, to the Bantu 
group. In the west the people have more affinity to the Kru tribes of 
Liberia. 

The coast belt, and now Ashanti also, are directly administered by 
the Imperial Government. Elsewhere in the interior the people are 
governed by their native chiefs under the supervision of travelling com- 
missioners. The Gold Coast Colony is the best governed and most pros- 
perous of British West African possessions ; and though it is disastrous in 
the loss of life it entails to Europeans, it is of great importance to British 
commerce. 

Trade and Towns, — There are almost no manufactures, nor is 
agriculture much developed ; nevertheless trade in the wild products of 
the country is considerable. The chief articles of export are : india-rubber, 
palm-oil, gold, kola-nuts, monkey skins, ivory and timber. In the eastern 
part of the Gold Coast poultry of all kinds thrive remarkably, and are 
exported as provisions for ships, mainly at Kwita. The rivers of the 
western part of the colony roll down from the mountains the gold dust 
which for centuries has given this country the name of the Gold Coast. 
Gold mining might be carried on to a more considerable extent were it 
not for the climate. The most important town is the capital, Accra, and 
other trading towns are Cape Coast, Elmina, Kwita , and Axim. Native 
towns where there are no European settlers vary so much from year to 
year in extent or existence that they are hardly worth enumerating ; but 
the capital of Ashanti, Kumasi, will probably remain the administrative 
centre of that district. Salaga , an important native city of an entirely 
Mohammedan character, came definitely under British influence in 1899, 
when the mountainous country to the north of the Volta, formerly a neutral 
zone, was divided between the Gold Coast and German Togo. 

Means of communication are very bad. The rivers are mostly unnavi- 
gable, or only navigable by means of native canoes. The vegetation is 
extremely luxuriant, and even the native paths are frequently blocked. In 
the dry and open country of the far interior horses are in use, and in 
the eastern districts they can be kept in good health and condition near 
the coast. 




965 


The Niger Coast 

LAGOS AND THE NIGER COAST PROTECTORATE 

Position, Boundaries and Surface. — Lagos and the Niger Coast 
Protectorate may be appropriately considered together, for they are 
naturally conterminous and geographically similar, and though separate 
for some purposes, they form part of Nigeria as one administration. 
They are bounded on the west by the French possessions of Dahome 
and Porto Novo, on the north by 'the part of Nigeria formerly the Royal 
Niger Company’s territory, and on the east by the German colony of 
Kamerun. Lagos lies entirely to the west of the course of the main branch 
of the Niger, while the Niger Coast Protectorate occupies most of the rest 
of the delta. 

Much of this land on the Niger delta is, of course, flat and swampy ; 



Fig. 459. — The Niger Delta. Creeks not accurately surveyed are dotted. 


but high land is not very far away from the coast regions. There are hills 
rising to over 1,000 feet — even, it is said, in places to 3,000 feet — in the 
protected States at the back of the limits of the actual colony of Lagos. 
There are mountains of perhaps 6,000 feet at the extreme east of the Niger 
Coast Protectorate, within the loop of the Cross River, which, under the 
name of the Rumbi Range, are connected with the great volcanic peak of 
Kamerun just outside British territory. To the north of the Cross 
River the land is undulating, and probably rises into hills before the 
territories of the Royal Niger Company are reached. A great deal of 
the land of the Niger delta, though only a few feet above the level of the 
sea, is free from marsh, and has even an exceedingly pleasant aspect, as in 
the well-cultivated I bo country. The river system is mainly composed 
of the Niger river and its well-nigh innumerable offshoots or their 


966 The International Geography 

independent tributaries, and of the Cross River which, except near its 
estuary, is quite separate from the Niger system. From the borders of 
the Kamerun district to the east of Dahome — almost to the Gold Coast 
on the west — there is a system of intercommunicating lagoons and creeks 
all along the coast-line. If certain narrow creeks were annually cleared of 
vegetation, it would be possible to pass in a native canoe from the German 
Kamerun to the eastern border of the Gold Coast colony without going 
out to sea (Fig. 459). Over all this territory the network of deltaic branches 
affords the most remarkable facilities for transport by water. On the other 
hand, the movements of any land force are seriously impeded, and the native 
paths through the jungle are little used, except in the Cross River region, 
a dry and fairly elevated country. Some of the mountainous region on the 
eastern frontier of the Niger Coast Protectorate appears to be of volcanic 
origin ; elsewhere the hills are masses of granite and disintegrated granite, 
forming the hard, red soil which is the formation of the higher land, the 
remainder of the country being purely alluvial, and formed by the detritus 
brought down by the Niger. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The climate of all this region is 
excessively unhealthy ; it is perhaps the unhealthiest part of Africa. Yet the 
natural products are so rich, and trade is so profitable, that there is probably 

a much larger proportion of Europeans here than in 
other West African possessions, and life is more com- 
fortable and in some respects more civilised. The 
mean annual temperature is about 84°, and it is very 
rarely indeed that the thermometer in the lowlands goes 
below 75 0 ; while the rainfall is seldom less than 100 
inches annually, and sometimes reaches 130 inches. 
Fig. 460 .— The Badge In the districts along the upper Cross River a far more 
of Lagos. pleasant climate is attained, with cool nights, and 

even an appreciable cold season. The rainfall there is not so heavy — 
possibly not more than 70 or 80 inches per annum. With the hot sun 
and abundant rainfall the forests are beautiful to a degree of luxuriance 
scarcely equalled elsewhere in Africa, except possibly in parts of the 
Gabun. The banks of the rivers within reach of the tidal influence 
are bordered with gigantic mangroves, which rise in a tropical forest 
of great density, singularly beautiful in places, and magnificent in its 
scenic effects. The tree of trees of the Niger delta is the oil-palm. 
This district produces the best palm-oil in all Africa. The fauna is 
more disappointing to the eye, though the abundance and variety of the 
lower forms of life makes up for the comparative scarcity of mammals 
and birds. The elephant still lingers in the uninhabited parts, even 
quite near to the coast, and I have more often seen wild elephants in the 
Niger Coast Protectorate than in any other part of Africa, even on 
the river Congo. On the other hand, it Is doubtful if anthropoid apes are 
found anywhere in the lower Niger. A remarkable lemur (the Potto) is 



The Niger Coast 967 

peculiar to this district. The most prominent birds are the grey parrot 
and the large blue plantain eater ( Schizoris ). 

People. — The inhabitants belong to several distinct stocks. They are 
all absolute negroes, yet on the upper Cross River, people with finely-cut 
features may be met with from time to time, and here, as among the Efik 
people of Old Calabar, the skin is yellow-brown rather than black. Some 
of the tribes in the almost unexplored parts of the Niger delta are singu- 
larly savage-looking — black-skinned and low-browed, seeming to represent 
some stranded stratum of very old type. Cannibalism is extraordinarily 
prevalent except where European influence has long prevailed. The 
people of the upper Cross River fatten slaves for months before killing 
them. A rough classification distinguishes : (1) The Yoruba-Jekri stock, 
which would also include the Jebus and other peoples round Lagos ; (2) 
The Bini stock, or the people of Benin and Sobo ; (3) The Ijos, or the 
people of the central Niger delta near the coast (Bonny and Brass), who, 
like the Bini, appear to have been the earliest settlers in the delta ; (4) The 
Kwos of the district between Opobo and Old Calabar ; (5) The I bo of 
the districts between the Lower Niger and the Cross River; (6) The Efik 
people of Old Calabar ; (7) The tribes of the upper Cross River ; (8) The 
Akwa, between the Cross River and the Kamerun watershed (the last 
five groups speak what may almost be called semi- Bantu languages) ; and 
(9) the few tribes speaking Bantu languages on the extreme south-eastern 
border of the Niger Coast Protectorate. This district appears to have been 
very populous in times past, so much so that the struggle for existence 
created a gigantic traffic in slaves, which attracted Europeans, and even 
produced a certain amount of half-indigenous civilisation. The kingdom 
of Benin was a State of some antiquity which had apparently acquired 
some knowledge of art and industry from the Niger districts, which in 
their turn had been partially civilised by Mohammedan influence. The 
civilisation of Yoruba is entirely Mohammedan, and almost all the people 
of that country belong to that religion ; which also exists at Lagos, but 
elsewhere in the Niger delta is quite unknown. The Yoruba people are 
ordinarily amply clothed, and this style of Mohammedan clothing has also 
extended in some degree to the town of Lagos ; but where untouched by 
Islam the people are extraordinarily nude, even when to some extent 
civilised by contact with Europeans. In the eastern part of the pro- 
tectorate women go entirely nude before they are married, and do not 
wear any appreciable clothing afterwards. Men were formerly so careless 
on this score that chiefs of considerable wealth, even able to read and 
write English, have had to be rebuked by the writer for appearing at his 
consular court without a particle of clothing except a peaked cap. Where 
Mohammedanism does not prevail the religion is a form of Fetishism. 
Human sacrifices are the order of the day, and the religion is probably 
more bloody and cruel than anywhere else in savage Africa. 

Trade. — The total value of the annual trade of Lagos and the Niger 


968 The International Geography 


Coast Protectorate is probably about twice as great as that of the other 
British colonies on the coast taken together. The principal exports are 
palm-oil and palm-kernels, rubber, kola-nuts, copal, gum, shea-butter, a 
little coffee and a little ivory. With the exception of leather work, and 
the weaving and dyeing of cotton garments in Yoruba and Lagos colony, 
there are practically no native manufactures in the country. The people 
of Old Calabar, however, have a pretty taste for carving ivory and decora- 
ting brass plates, and these articles are sometimes exported as curiosities. 

Administration and Towns. — As regards political divisions : the 
Government of Lagos in 1898 included the colony proper, which is a 

small strip of coast between Porto Novo and Benin, a 
number of small adjacent kingdoms, treated as pro- 
tected States, and a sphere of influence which in- 
cluded the large • countries of Abeokuta and Yoruba. 
Lagos is a crown colony under a governor, assisted by 
an executive legislative council. Southern Nigeria is 
under the charge of a High Commissioner, whose seat 
of government is at Asaba. Other important towns 
are Idda, near the boundary of Northern Nigeria, 
and Akassa at the Nun mouth of the Niger. 

The principal towns of the Niger delta are Lagos, Brass, in the eastern 
division of the Niger Coast Protectorate, Bonny, Opobo, Old Calabar. 
There are also the following trading stations where Europeans reside : — 
Badagry, Leki, Akorodu, New Benin, Forcados, Kwo-ibo, and New Calabar 
(no connection with Old Calabar). In addition, towns of importance, either 
for historical association or for trade, are Epe, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Odeondo, 
Benin, Bende, Oguta, and Aron. The population of these towns varies 
from 100,000 to 5,000 according to local circumstances, such as the 
goodness or badness of their rulers, the state of trade, or the influence of 
Europeans. None of them, except perhaps Abeokuta and Benin, are 
of any permanence in the way of buildings. A railway has been con- 
structed from Lagos to Abeokuta, a distance of 50 miles. 



Fig. 461 . — The Pro- 
tectorate Badge. 


Ic 


STATISTICS. 

( Estimates for the most part.) 







Area 

(square miles). Population. Europeans. Exports. Imports. 


The Gambia 

2,700 

150,000 

50 

$750,000 

$600,000 

Sierra Leone 

30,000 

3,500,000 

250 

$2,250,000 

$2,250,000 

Gold Coast 

53-ooo 

2,000,000 

800 

$4,250,000 

$4,250,000 

Lagos and Niger Coast 



$8,000,000 

Protectorate 

80,000 (?) 

6,000,000 

1,000 

$8,000,000 


POPULATION OF TOWNS ( estimated ). 

In the Gambia : — Bathurst, 6,ooo. 

In Sierra Leone : — Freetown, 30,000. 

In Gold Coast : — Accra, 16,000 ; Cape Coast, 11,600 ; Elmina, 10,500. 

In Lagos and the Niger Coast Protectorate Lagos. 30,000 ; Old Calabar, 15,000 ; 
Brass, 10,000 ; Opobo, 10,000 ; Bonny, 6,000. 






Nigeria 969 


STANDARD BOOKS 

Miss Kingsley. “West African Studies.” London, 1899. 

( H. Bindloss. “ In the Niger Delta.” Edinburgh, 1899. 

J. K. Trotter. “The Niger Sources/' London, 1897. 

A. B. Ellis. “ History of the Gold Coast of West Africa.” London, 1893. 

. Various Works on the Peoples of the West African Coast. London, 1887 to 

i 1894. 

E. D. Morel. “ Affairs of West Africa.” London, 1902. 


V.— NORTHERN NIGERIA 


By Lieut.-Colonel A. F. Mockler-Ferryman 

Position and Extent. — That portion of the south-western Sudan 
1 the Niger basin which was developed by the Royal Niger Company 
“lad a coast-line extending from the Forcados River on the west, to the 
<-un mouth of the Niger on the east, a distance of 100 miles, being 
'.edged in between the various districts of the Niger Coast Protectorate, 
nland the boundaries were less clearly defined, though its limits north- 
wards have been fixed by the Anglo-French Agreement of 1898 as a line 
irawn from a point ten miles above Ilo on the Middle Niger to the point 
!>f intersection of the 14th parallel of north latitude with the meridian 
assing 35' east of the centre of the town of Kuka, on Lake Chad, such 
ine being so traced as to include within the Niger Company’s territories 
he whole of the Empire of Sokoto. On the west, the area was bounded 
py the colony of Lagos, and by the hinterland of French Dahome, 
while its north-eastern boundary to the south of Lake Chad runs with 
;he western boundary of the German Kamerun colony as determined by 
he Anglo-German Agreements of i8§5 and 1893. The tract of territory 
described thus roughly — for the actual boundaries have not so far been 
surveyed — includes an area of some 500,000 square miles, with a population 
approximately estimated at thirty millions, within which there naturally 
exists a great variety of country and of inhabitants. Practically there 
were two well-marked zones, separated by the parallel of 7 0 N., the 
southern part being now united with the Coast Protectorate under the name 
of Southern Nigeria ; it is low-lying, swampy and unhealthy, with pagan 
inhabitants. The northern part, now Northern Nigeria, is an undulating, 
dry and healthy region, peopled principally by Mohammedans, 
v Hie River Niger.— The river system of this part of West Africa is 
t e, for, if we except the portion of Hausaland and Bornu which lies 
v ae edge of the basin of Lake Chad, the whole of Nigeria is drained 
o the river Niger and its numerous tributaries. After flowing past 
v ibuktu, the Niger enters the territory to which it has given its name 
< ts junction with the Dallul Mauri, about ii° 45' N., from which point, 
T .il it eventually empties itself into the Atlantic, it receives many minor 
ers and streams, none of which, however, add much to its volume except 
iringthe rains. The fall of the river from its source to its mouths averages 
arely afoot per mile, and in the dry months, even its largest tributary, the 


970 The International Geography 

Benue, is unnavigable by vessels drawing more than two feet of water. 
The principal tributaries of the great river in its course from Ilo down- 
ward, are, on the left, the Mayo-Kebbi, or Sokoto River, from Sokoto and 
its neighbourhood, and the Kaduna through Nupe ; while on the right the 
small rivers that drain the countries of Borgu and Ilorin flow in, the 
watersheds in each case lying outside the limits of Nigeria. At Lokoja, 
in 8° N., the Benue river joins the Niger, which in the very wet season 
it rivals in size. Taking its rise in the Bubanjidda mountains, this 
magnificent waterway flows west and south-west, receiving throughout its 
course of some 700 miles such lesser rivers as the Faro, Tarabba, Donga 
and Katsena from the south, and the Kedara and innumerable small 
streams from the north. From the Niger-Benue confluence to the sea is a 
distance of about 300 miles. The Niger descends in one large stream 
until it reaches the town of Abo in 5J 0 N., at which point the delta 
commences, and the river splits into innumerable interlacing channels, 
the more important mouths being those of Forcados (Warri), Nun (the 
principal), Brass, New Calabar and Bonny (Fig. 459). The large Lake 
Chad, to which the north-east angle of Nigeria reaches, receives only one 
river of any size flowing from the territory, this is the Yobe or Yeou, which 
rises some 450 miles west of the lake. 

Surface and Productions. — The land is everywhere fertile, and 
produces vast crops with the minimum of cultivation, while many articles 
of commercial value are found among the natural products. Of these, 
palm-oil, rubber, shea-butter, kola-nuts, various fibres, oil seeds and 
spices may be mentioned. Valuable timber trees grow in the southern 
forests, iron in abundance is forthcoming in many parts, tin and galena 
have been found in the Benue districts, and ivory is still offered for sale in 
considerable quantities. Of the fauna it is sufficient to say that the 
hippopotamus is met with in all the large rivers ; that herds of elephants 
roam the forests, most abundantly in the neighbourhood of Lake Chad, 
and in the country to the south of the Benue ; that various species of 
antelope are found everywhere ; while lions, wolves, hyaenas, civet cats, 
and many varieties of monkeys abound in Upper Nigeria. 

People. — The inhabitants may be classified as members of two main 
families, Negroes who are still pagans and Fulas who are Mohamme- 
dans, with a cross between the two known as Negroids, and also of 
Mohammedan faith. The aborigines were probably pure negroes, and 
the Fula element is an introduction of recent times, while the 
negroids are the result of Mohammedan conquest and subsequent 
intermarriage. The Idzo, Ibo, and Igara on the Lower Niger, the Borgu 
on the Middle Niger, and the Igbiri, Mitshi, and Juko on the Benue are 
amongst the most important of the many tribes of pagan negroes, either 
wholly independent or only partly under the influence of the Mohammedan 
Fulas. The languages spoken by these tribes are all different and abso- 
lutely distinct, though merging into one another on the borders. The 


Nigeria 971 

remainder of Nigeria, and certainly the most valuable part, is inhabited 
by the Yorubas, Fulas, Hausas, and Bornus, with languages of their own 
and, two centuries ago, forming separate nations. 

Occupations and Trade. — The pagans are for the most part 
agriculturists, though cultivating only to an extent sufficient to supply 
their own wants ; fishing and hippopotamus-hunting are indulged in by 
the tribes dwelling on the river banks, and elephant-hunting by those 
inhabiting the more inland parts. The collection and manufacture of 
palm-oil and rubber occupy the attention of the bulk of the coast 
population ; north of the limits of the oil-palm, the European traders 
encourage the collection of various gums, fibres, oil seeds and spices. 
The Nupes and northern Yorubas, though mainly occupying themselves 
with husbandry, are far-famed among Sudan tribes as blacksmiths, workers 
in brass, leather and glass, as weavers, and as canoe-builders ; while the 
.great Hausa nation furnishes the merchant and industrial classes of the 
western and central Sudan. Hausa merchants convey their wares to all 
parts of central Africa, to the Mediterranean, to the Atlantic, and even 
into the countries bordering on the Upper Nile, the chief articles of 
commerce being cotton-cloth and tobes woven at Kano (the Hausa capital), 
leather- work, embroideries, and kola-nuts. The Fulas are warriors and 
slave-raiders, but their original occupation of peaceful herdsmen is still 
followed by a proportion of the people, who wander throughout the 
country with their herds and flocks. The numerous waterways afford 
excellent communications in the delta, while Northern Nigeria is intersected 
by regular caravan routes, which are, however, merely narrow tracks trodden 
down by the native carriers and beasts of burden. The trading steamers of 
the Royal Niger Company ply on the main Niger and Benue for a distance 
•of several hundred miles from the .sea, and good roads have been made in 
the immediate vicinity of the trading stations. 

Native Kingdoms. — The various native kingdoms are governed by their 
own rulers, who in all cases, in return for an annual subsidy, acknowledge 
British suzerainty. In the Niger delta the semi-independent chiefs are 
innumerable, but Northern Nigeria consists, besides the minor kingdom of 
Borgu and such few pagan tribes as have not as yet been Conquered by 
the Fulas, of the two great empires of Sokoto and Bornu (capital Kuka, 
population 50,000). The Sokoto or Fula Empire, which comprises the 
old Hausa States and the once-independent kingdom of Gando, contains 
seventeen provinces, including Adamawa, Kano, Nupe, Yoruba (Ilorin), and 
Lafia — the last three owing allegiance to Gando as well as to Sokoto. Each 
of these provinces is governed by an emir, who is virtually the sovereign 
of a small kingdom, though liable to be deposed at the will of the Sultan of 
Sokoto. The system of government and inspection is thoroughly organised, 
with a complete scheme of taxation for each province, the inspecting officer 
being responsible that the emirs pay thfeir annual tribute, which usually con- 
sists of slaves. 

63 


97 -2 The International Geography 

Government and Towns of Nigeria. — The government of 
Northern Nigeria passed from the hands of the Royal Niger Company 
into those of a High Commissioner acting directly for the British Govern- 
ment in 1900. The seat of administration is Zungeru , on the Kaduna. 
At the confluence of the Niger and Benue is the small native town of 
Lokoja, whose central situation caused it to be selected as the military 
headquarters of the Royal Niger Company and provisionally of the new 
Imperial forces. On the middle Niger the only towns worthy of notice 
are Egga, Rabba, and Bussa, while Ilorin, the northern Yoruba capital, lies 
about seventy miles south of Rabba on the great trade route between 
Hausaland and Lagos. The Benue towns, with the exception of Yola, 
the capital of Adamawa (population 10,000), are small and unimportant, 
the principal being Loko , the port of Nassarawa, and Ibi, which is the 
Benue headquarters of the Royal Niger Company, with populations con- 
siderably under 6,000. The chief towns of the Fula Empire are the 
capitals of the several provinces, of which may be mentioned Sokoto (popu- 
lation 15,000), Wurno (5,000), Gando (6,000), Bida (15,000), Zaria (30,000), 
Nassarawa (10,000), Kano (70,000), and Bauchi or Yakoba (100,000), the 
estimated population in all cases being a mere approximation, and the 
relative importance of each depending on its situation with regard to 
the main trade routes of the country. There are no statistics of Nigeria 
which can be looked on as definite, the organisation of the country having 
been too recently undertaken to admit of complete surveys or censuses 
being attempted. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. F. Mockler-Ferryman. “ Up the Niger.” London, 1892. 

“ Imperial Africa.” London, 1898. 

C. H. Robinson. “ Hausaland.” London, 1896. 

J. Thomson. “Mungo Park.” (World’s Great Explorer Series.) London, 1890. 

S. Vandeleur. “ Campaigning on the Upper Nile and Niger.” London, i898j 


VI.— GERMAN WEST AERICA 

By Graf von Pfeil. 1 

Togo. — The colony of Togo has not quite 60 miles of coast, which, run- 
ningalmost east and west near the west end of the Bight of Benin, consists 
of a narrow low strip of yellow sand. Behind this a belt of forest separates 
the sea coast from the long lagoon which runs parallel to nearly the whole 
length of it. Some distance further inland there is a lake, which must be 
considered as belonging to the lagoon system. There is no harbour on 
the coast and landing is rather difficult through the heavy surf, the 
“ Kalema,” which breaks upon the coast all the year round. Togo has a 
number of rivers ; two, which nearly form the eastern and western 


1 Having no personal knowledge of Togo the author has consulted mainly the 
“ Mittheilungen aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten,” and other works cited at the end. 


German West Africa 


973 



Fig. 462 . — The Flag of the 
Genua it Protectorates. 


boundaries, the Mono and Volta, are of considerable size, and the latter is 
navigable in some part of its upper course. Two ranges of mountains 
traverse Togo from south-west to north-east, and form the hilly southern 
border of the plateau of the western Sudan. The plateau is an undulating 
prairie with a slight incline towards the west, and with little vegetation 
beyond tall grass. Vegetation on the coast is remarkable for the oil-palm, 
wild coffee, shea-butter tree, rubber plants, baobab 
and a very good quality of ebony. The climate is 
not healthy ; it possesses the character of the 
southern hemisphere, the hottest months being 
December and January, the least warm July and 
August. There are no people of Bantu race in this 
colony, whose inhabitants belong exclusively to the 
Sudanese tribes. On the coast fetishism is preva- 
lent, while in the north Mohammedanism is rapidly 
gaining ground. The people are agriculturists and 

good traders ; on the plateau they are warlike and constantly at feud with 
each other. Togo is a German colony, with a governor, a staff of officers, 
and a police corps of 150 natives, a court of law and a hospital. The 
governor’s residence is Sebbe, and there are two government stations in the 
interior, namely, Kratji and Misahohe. Bismarckburg is also a trading station. 

Kamerun. — Position and Surface. — The German colony of 
Kamerun (the Cameroons) has only about 190 miles of coast on the Bight of 
Biafra, which is deeply indented by the outlets of a comparatively large 
number of rivers (Fig. 466). All these have one peculiarity in common, the 
lowest part of their course turning in a north-westerly direction. The reason 
for this is found in the “ Kalema,” a deep sea swell which breaks with 
great force upon the coast all the year round. The largest indentation is 
Kamerun Bay, which is an excellent harbour. The coast forms a strip of 
very low land, narrow in the south and widening to about 30 miles near 
the bay. East of this the country rises gradually and forms a range of 
mountains with meridianal direction, a valley separates them from a 
second steeper rise, the ascent to the main plateau of the African 
continent, which here presents the form of undulating grassy plains. The 
plateau extends to about 8° N., where it abruptly descends to the 
valley of the Benue river, to which its northern slope gives birth. The 
Kamerun Peak rises from a volcanic rift which reaches nearly to Lake 
Chad as indicated by the two mountain ranges, Chebchi and Mandara ; its 
altitude is about 12,480 feet. At the foot of the peak rise two gaseous 
springs, while further up hardly any water is retained by the porous lava, 
of which the mountain is composed. The greater part of the Kamerun 
coast is taken up by mangroves, which fringe some of the estuaries 
far inland ; further south, the Batanga coast is grassland. The 
mountains are covered with dense forest, in which the oil-palm, rubber 
plants, kola-nut, ebony and the wild coffee tree occur frequently. The 


974 The International Geography 

Kamerun Peak is dotted with the same forest up to 8,300 feet, beyond 
which vegetation diminishes gradually, and ends with short grass, which 
covers the summit. The fauna is that which is peculiar to tropical Africa, 
but is remarkable for its anthropoid apes, the chimpanzee and gorilla. 
A number of rivers, some of them, for instance the Nyong and Lokunja, 
navigable for steam launches for a number of miles never exceeding 
thirty, run into Kamerun Bay. The Lokunja, though the smaller, is 
navigable for some distance above the rapids, which intersect all the rivers 
where they break through the range of mountains west of the steep 
plateau border, whence all the Kamerun rivers descend in high cascades, 
forming insuperable barriers to navigation. The only river likely to prove 
navigable, even on the plateau, is the Sannaga, which joined by the 
Mbam, forms the main water-course of Kamerun. The northern part 
of the country sends its water west to the Benue or east through the 
Shari to Lake Chad. 

People and Government of Kamerun. — Among the inhabitants 
two groups may be distinguished, the Bantu and the Sudanese. 
The former live mainly to the south of 7 0 N., the latter as a 
rule north of that parallel in the State of Adamawa. The Bantu are 
great traders, the Sudanese agriculturists, who imported from the 
north the horse and horned cattle. There is little industry beyond 
carving in wood and the smelting of iron. For purposes of administration 
Kamerun is divided into three districts, with leading officials subordinate 
to the Governor. There are two courts of law, and a number of colonial 
troops are garrisoned in various stations throughout the country, of 
which Mpini , Victoria , Buea , and Yaunde deserve special notice. Rio 
del Rey, Bibundi , Little and Great Batanga, and Kribi are ports of call. 
Kamerun (now known as Duala ), the chief harbour, is also the seat of the 
Landeshauptmann, or Governor ; it has a custom house, post, and tele- 
graph. In a good hospital colonial officials and missionaries receive 
medical and other attention gratuitously. 

STATISTICS ( Estimates ). 

Area (square miles). Population. 


Togo 23,160 .. .. 2,500,000 

Kamerun 191,130 .. . . 3,500,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

E. Zintgraff. “ Nord- Kamerun.” Berlin, 1895. 

S. Passarge. “Adamaua.” Berlin, 1895. 


VII.— CONGO FREE STATE 

By Sidney Langford Hinde, 

Formerly Captain in the Congo Free State Forces. 

Position and Boundaries. — The Congo Free State ( LEtat Inde- 
pendent du Congo), occupies the heart of Central Africa, and is crossed by 
the equator. The great river, the mouth of which was formerly known as 


975 


Congo Free State 

the Zaire, received its name of Congo from the chief of a small tribe in the 
neighbourhood of Boma, the Portuguese supposing him to be king of the 
whole country. The Congo is not so called by the natives in any part of 
its course, but is known to them by different names according to the 
district through which it flows. Except for a narrow strip at the mouth 
of the river, giving access to the Atlantic, the western boundary of the 
State is the Congo itself, and its great northern tributary, the Ubangi, 
separating the Free State from French Congo. The river Mbomu is the 
northern boundary. Eastwards, on the Upper Nile, the State occupies a 
district on lease from Great Britain ; and further south the boundary is 
the Central African Rift Valley and the eastern shores of Lakes Albert, 
Albert Edward and Tanganyika, separating the State from British and 
German East Africa. The southern boundary, towards British Central 
Africa and Portuguese West Africa, is irregular, not following definite 
physical features, and in some parts undecided. The range in latitude 
is from 5 0 N. to 13 0 S. ; and in longitude from 17 0 to 30° E. 

Physical Features. — The vast country coincides roughly with the 
basin of the Congo, excluding only the tributaries on the right bank from 
Manyanga to the mouth of the Ubangi, the northern tributaries of the 
Ubangi and Mbomu, the eastern tributaries of Luapula, before it enters 
Lake Mweru, and the head waters and western tributaries of the Kassai. 
The Congo river, which is about 2,500 miles long, is called at its source 
the Chambezi, and drains consecutively the four great lakes Bangweolo, 
Mweru, Tanganyika, and Leopold II. There is some reason to suppose 
that the drainage from Tanganyika by the Lukugu into the Congo is of 
recent date. The main river, at Matadi only a few hundred yards wide, 
is very broad in its middle reaches and studded with myriads of islands. 
In the section between Basoka and Bangala (Nouvelle Anvers), it varies in 
width from fifteen to over thirty miles. Many of its tributaries form ex- 
cellent waterways for hundreds of miles, and vary in width from one to ten 
miles in the navigable portions. Of these the Kassai, Ubangi, and Lomami 
are larger in every respect than any rivers in Europe. Generally speaking, 
all the rivers of the Congo system have a different native name after 
passing some large physical feature, such as a cataract or lake, a fact 
possibly due to these natural barriers separating native races or kingdoms. 

Taken as a whole the Congo basin consists of flat, high-lying table- 
lands. There are mountains only to the eastward where the river 
approaches the Atlantic, and, cutting through them, falls by cataracts 
to the level of the coast plains. In the interior of the Congo Free State 
there are no mountain ranges. More than half of the State may be said 
to consist of continuous forest, probably the largest tree-clad area in the 
world, not excepting even the Amazon and the Malay Archipelago. 
Throughout the forest, india-rubber trees grow in larger quantity than in 
any other known region. As far as is yet known there are only two large 
lakes, Leopold II. and Matumba actually within the Congo Free State; 



The International Geography 


but the western shores of Albert Edward, Tanganyika and Mweru form 
part of the eastern boundaries. Many points as to the geography of the 
interior are still very indefinite. Rumour has placed a large lake between 
the Lomami and Lake Leopold II., but it has not yet been discovered or 
localised. Much of the country is unapproachable by rivers in which 
canoe navigation is possible, and has therefore not yet been visited by 
Europeans. 

In almost every part of the State iron is found in workable quantities. 
Copper is less profusely distributed, but the copper mines in the west 
between the Kassai and the Atlantic, and in Katanga to the south, are 
extremely rich. The iron and copper are worked by the natives, but 
up to the present time there has been no search for the noble metals, 
though the rocks which fringe the Congo basin on every side may 
eventually prove a fruitful field for the prospector. 

Climate. — From the standpoint of European colonisation, the climate 
of the Congo is bad : all forms of malarial disease are rife owing to the 
moist heat. But with a better knowledge of tropical diseases, and of the 
precautions necessary to guard against them, such as the choice of sites for 
houses and stations, it may be possible for Europeans to settle in the 
country. Hitherto, the State officials and others have had to live in a 
most primitive manner since, owing to the difficulties of transport, luxuries, 
comforts, or even medicines, have been almost unobtainable. The high 
death-rate of Europeans in the Free State should therefore not be taken as 
an argument against the attempt to develop the country. The temperature 
averages about 8o° in the shade over the greater part of the country, and 
during several months in the year violent storms or tornadoes of short 
duration are very prevalent, which sometimes cause a fall of 30° or 40° in 
temperature in half an hour. 

Flora and Fauna. — The flora and fauna differ in many respects 
from those of any other country within the same degrees of latitude. In 
the forest are found ebony, teak, oil-palm and mahogany of good quality, 
besides many other useful and ornamental woods. Wild coffee, india- 
rubber, creepers and cotton abound throughout the whole forest region ; 
as do also yams, plantains, papaw and pine-apples. The vegetables culti- 
vated in the country are cassava, maize, rice, pea-nuts, sweet potatoes, 
bananas, beans, sorghum (Kaffir corn), tobacco and coffee. Immense 
herds of elephant are found in every part of the Congo Free State, and 
leopards, buffalo and wild cattle inhabit the plains. A great variety of 
fish, as well as hippopotami and crocodiles swarm in all the rivers. 

People. — There are at present over 100 tribes recognised in the 
Congo basin, but it is possible that as many more are to be found in the 
yet unexplored regions. Nearly all speak Bantu dialects, and most of them 
have been, or are cannibals. None of the tribes are so dark in colour as 
the Sudanese. Each tribe or race is governed by a chief whose power is 
absolute ; and large tribes are divided into sections under petty chiefs, who 


977 


* Congo Free State 

have complete control in their own districts, but are subservient to the 
great chief who holds the power of life and death over them in common 
with all his subjects. Some tribes have absolutely no form of religion, 
while among the more superstitious races fetish worship, or propitiation of 
evil powers, exists. As a consequence the “ witch doctor ” is a power 
amongst them second only to the chief. The natives in several parts of the 
country are clever workers in iron, copper and wood. In certain districts 
such as the Kassai, they weave beautifully ornamented cloths from the 
palm and other fibrous plants. 

Means of Communication and Trade. — The great rivers on the 
plateau have become the highways of trade, the numerous steamers 
employed being supplied with wood for fuel from the forests on the banks. 
The cataracts of the Congo have been the chief obstacle to the develop- 
ment of the country, since transport on the road constructed around 
them was both difficult 
and costly. As a result 
of many years labour in 
the face of the greatest 
difficulties, a railway, 250 
miles in length, has been 
built from the extremity 
of the navigable portion 
of the lower river, at 
Matadi, to Leopoldville 
on Stanley Pool, the base 
from which the internal 
trade is carried on. After Stanley had opened the way, the Arab trading 
chiefs of the east coast — who dealt mainly in ivory and slaves — led many 
expeditions into the Congo basin, using porterage for transport, the native 
porters each carrying a load of about 60 lbs. The river trade by steamers 
and canoes now carries practically the whole available export produce 
of the State to the west coast. These exports are ivory, rubber, palm-oil, 
orchilla-weed, several kinds of gum, pepper and coffee. Steamers on 
the Lower Congo carry on direct trade with Antwerp and Liverpool. 

History and Government. — All efforts to explore the Congo from 
the sea or to discover whence its vast volume of water was derived were 
without effect, and the existence of the great inland course of the river was 
unknown until, in 1876, Sir. H. M. Stanley struck its upper waters in East 
Africa and followed the river to the Atlantic Ocean. On the initiative of 
Leopold II., King of the Belgians, a society called Comite d Etudes du Haut 
Congo was formed in Brussels in November, 1878, with the object of ex- 
ploring and exploiting the basin of the river Congo, the vast size and 
importance of which had just been revealed. In 1879, Stanley, accom- 
panied by fifteen Europeans, returned to the Congo, his first aim being 
to make a practicable road through the cataract region to the upper river. 



Fig. 463 . — The Congo Railway. 


978 The International Geography 


At Vivi, the highest point of the river navigable from the sea, he estab- 
lished a station directly below the last of the cataracts, and made his road 
along the right bank nearly due north to Isanghila, after which it took an 
eastward course, following the river as closely as possible to Manyanga, 
where he crossed and proceeded up the left bank to Stanley Pool. Here 
he established the station now known as Leopoldville. At Stanley Pool a 
steamer was soon launched, and the difficulty of communication with the 
interior was thus greatly reduced, since from Stanley Pool to Stanley 
Falls, 1,000 miles further up the main river, steamers of comparatively 
large size can voyage in safety at all seasons of the year. Mr. Stanley 
spent five years in the work of exploration, and soon after his return to 
Europe the society became merged in the Association Internationale 
Africaine. In 1885 the Berlin Congress guaranteed the Congo Free State 
as a Sovereign Power, and the King of the Belgians — who had borne all 
the expense from the commencement — was proclaimed sovereign. Five 
years later the Belgian government advanced a small loan to the embryo 
State, reserving the right of annexing it as a Belgian colony at a future 
date. The Arab slave-traders, who raided the western part of the country, 
had for many years rendered the position of the few Europeans at remote 
stations exceedingly dangerous ; and the military forces of the State 
were obliged to carry on a campaign against them before the evil in- 
fluence exercised on the more peaceful natives was destroyed. 

The administration of the Congo Free State is carried on by a Governor, 

two Vice-governors, three Inspectors, and sixteen 
Sub-commissioners — one for each of the sixteen 
districts into which the country is divided. These 
are Banana, Boma, Matadi, the Cataracts and 
Stanley Pool on the lower river ; and on the upper 
river and its great tributaries, Kassai, Equator, 
Bangala, Ubangi, Aruwimi, Welle, Stanley Falls, 
Fig. 464 .—The Flag of the Kwango, Lualaba, Arab Zone, Kasongo and 
c° n g° Free state. Luluaberg. Boma, the seat of the administrative 

government, is an active seaport ; and Leopoldville on Stanley Pool is 
its commercial complement as a river port. Many of the native villages 
in the interior straggle for miles along the river banks ; but anything 
like a correct estimate of their population is as yet impossible. The 
total population of the State has been variously estimated; but since a 
great part of its vast area has not yet been explored it is hardly possible to 
say more than that the Congo Free State is well peopled. 



STATISTICS. 

(Rough Estimates.) 


Area of the Congo Free State (square miles) 900,000 

Population „ „ »» . . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 0 ) 000 - 000 

European population (1897) M 74 

Population of Boma .. .. .. .. •• .. •• •• •• 10.000 


979 


Cape Verde Islands 

ANNUAL TRADE OF THE CONGO STATE (in dollars ). 

Exports (1895-96) 2,800,000 

Imports „ • • •• •• . . « « •• • • • • •• •• 2,800,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

H. M. Stanley. “ The Congo and the Founding of its Free State." 2 vols. London, 1885. 
Sir H. H. Johnston. “ The River Congo.” London, 1895. 

A. Chapaux. “ Le Congo, Historique, Diplomatique et Coloniale.” Brussels, 1894. 

A. J, Wauters. “ Bibliographic du Congo” (1880-95). Brussels, 1896. 

S. L. Hinde. “The Fall of the Congo Arabs.” London, 1897. 


VIII.— PORTUGUESE WEST AFRICA 

By Captain Ernesto de Vasconcellos , 1 

Portuguese Royal Navy, 

CAPE VERDE ISLANDS 

Position and Surface. — The Cape Verde archipelago is situated in 
the North Atlantic, 400 miles off the west coast of Africa between 12 0 and 
15 0 N. It is composed of fourteen islands and islets, divided into two 
groups, which, owing to the prevailing north-east trade winds, are named 
respectively, Windward ( Barlavento ) and Leeward ( Sotavento ). The Wind- 
ward group includes the islands of Santo Antao (St. Antony), Sao Vicente 
(St. Vincent), Santa Luzia, Sao Nicolao, Boavista, and Sal ; the Leeward 
islands are Sao Thiago (Santiago), Mayo, Fogo and Brava. The islands 
present an arid aspect from the shore, but in the interior, along the banks 
of the streams, there is a fairly rich vegetation, especially in rainy years. 
The islands are volcanic and all contain craters and recent eruptive rocks. 
The volcano on Fogo, 10,560 feet in height, which was last in eruption in 
1857, the volcanic plateau of St. Antony whence a peak of 7,550 feet rises, 
and the Antonia Peak of 4,870 feet on Santiago, are the most remarkable 
features. 

Climate and Resources. — The climate is better than might be 
expected from the latitude. The archipelago is situated in the trade wind 
zone ; the north-easterly wind blows from November to July, the Tempo 
das Brizas (Time of Breezes) and naturally the healthiest season. From 
August to October the Tempo das Aguas, or rainy season, prevails, and 
this is the hottest and least healthy part of the year. During the breezy 
season the temperature is about 73 0 , and in the rainy season about 79 0 . 
Coffee is the most important product of the Cape Verde plantations ; the 
physic-nut ( Jatropha Curcas ) is more productive here than in America, 
and grows on all the islands ; cereals and sugar-cane are cultivated. 
Salt, coral, and dried fish, are also of some importance. In the fauna 
there are neither wild animals nor venomous reptiles. Most of the 
vertebrates were introduced by the Portuguese colonists. The only 


64 


1 Translated from the Portuguese, 


980 The International Geography 


industries worth mentioning are the making of straw articles in Brava, 
and embroideries and lace in Fogo. 

People and History. — The Cape Verde Islands were discovered by 
Cadamosto in 1456, and first peopled in 1640 by the servants and retainers 
of the Infante D. Fernando, who took there colonists from Alemtejo and 
Algarve and obtained negro labourers from Guinea. These elements form 
the foundation of the present mixed population containing more or less 
European blood. The colony is under a Governor appointed by the 
central government in Lisbon. There is a subordinate administration in 
each island. The principal town is Praia on Santiago, the residence of 
the Governor, and capital of the colonial province. Mindello , inside Porto 
Grande on St. Vincent, which is considered the second town of the 
archipelago, has an excellent harbour, and is a very important coaling 
station. Both of these are placed in connection with the Atlantic sub- 
marine cables. 


STATISTICS. 


1896. 

Area of the Cape Verde Islands in square miles 1,480 

Population „ „ „ 114,000 

Density of Population per square mile 77 

Population of Praia 4,000 

„ Mindello 4,200 


PORTUGUESE GUINEA 

Position and Surface. — Portuguese Guinea is an enclave in the 
French West African possessions some distance south of the Gambia River. 
The littoral is formed by lowlands cut up by numerous water-courses and 
inlets of the sea. Laterite is formed on the barriers near the coast, and the 
whole possession consists of undulating country nowhere becoming 
mountainous. The Geba and the Grande are the principal rivers falling 
into a wide estuary from which a remarkable tidal bore ascends the Geba, 
and in the mouth of which lie many islands, the most important being the 
Bijuga or Bijagos group. These and most of the other Guinea rivers are 
navigable. On their banks there are forests of valuable timber trees, 
including mahogany. 

Climate and Resources. — The climate is generally unhealthy for 
Europeans, especially during the April and November rains, when the 
mean temperature is about 90° F. ; the more favourable dry season lasts 
from December to the beginning of March. Portuguese Guinea is an 
agricultural and commercial colony. In the littoral zone, rice and maize 
are grown as the principal food of the natives, who, with the exception 
of a few warlike and nomadic tribes, are employed in agricultural pursuits. 
The most important products are pea-nuts, india-rubber, wax, tobacco, 
indigo and cotton. The kola tree ( Sterculia accuminata ) occurs on the 
banks of the Geba. Coffee, palm-trees, and all leguminous plants flourish. 
The fauna includes antelopes, the elephant, panther and many monkeys, 
while termites abound and are destructive to buildings. Cattle, sheep, 


Sclo Thome and Principe 981 

goats and pigs are kept as domestic animals. The natives of Guinea 
belong to ten different races, which are subdivided into many tribes. 
The highest races are the Fula, Mandingo, and Biafada, who are con- 
stantly engaged in war with each other. The history of the movements 
of these people is given elsewhere. As a general rule the Fulas are the 
most numerous and bravest of all the Guinea tribes. The Bijagos inhabit 
the Bijagos Islands between the Orango and Geba channels ; and live 
as a rule on the produce of the sea. The capital of Portuguese Guinea 
is Bolama, on one of the islands, but Bissao, on the shore of the great 
estuary, is the commercial centre. There are about 67,000 inhabitants in 
the possession. 

PORTUGUESE ISLANDS IN GULF OF GUINEA 

Sao Thome and Principe. — The islands of Principe and Sao 
Thome (Princes Island and St. Thomas), lie in a straight line with 
Fernando Po and the Peak of Kamerun, almost bisecting the Bight of 
Biafra. They constitute a province under a Portuguese Governor. Sao 
Thome is nearly on the equator, 150 miles west by north of Cape Lopez. 
It has an area of 320 square miles, with a 
population of 22,000. The littoral zone, 
covered by dense tropical vegetation, leads 
up to remarkable mountain peaks of volcanic 
origin, rising in Sao Thome Peak to 7,020 
feet. The only commercial port is Anna de 
Chaves, where the town of Sao Thome is 
situated. The dry season lasts from June to 
September, and is the best of the year ; the 
rainy season occurs between September and 
June. In the lowlands the temperature 
ranges from 66° to 8i° F. ; in the middle 
zone from 57 0 to 68° F., while on the highest 
cultivated land the cold is felt to be un- Fig. 465.-77**? Islands of the Gulf 
pleasant. The people inhabiting these Glllllu1, 

islands are a mixture of the ancient Portuguese colonists named Creoles, 
speaking a language somewhat similar to the Cape Verde creole, and 
labourers under contract from various parts of the African continent. The 
Angolares, inhabiting the south-east coast of the island near Angra de Sao 
Joao, were originally the survivors from an Angola ship lost on the Sete 
Pedras Bank. 

The island of Principe, 90 miles north-east of Sao Thome, has an area 
of only 44 square miles and a population of 2,700. It is covered by even 
more luxuriant vegetation than Sao Thome, but does not possess the alpine 
species of that island, as the greatest elevation, the Peak of Principe, only 
reaches 2,720 feet. There are two natural harbours, of importance on 
account of their size, Santo Antonio, the commercial port and seat of the 



982 The International Geography 

custom house and local government, and the Bay of Agulhas on the west 
coast, which has not yet been utilised. The climate is warmer than that of 
Sao Thome and with a greater rainfall. 

The products, which make this colony one of the best in West Africa, 
are : cacao, coffee, cinchona, vanilla, india-rubber and balsam-trees. The 
species yielding timber are varied and rich. Commerce is entirely carried 
on by Portuguese ships with the mother country. 

ANGOLA 

Position and Extent. — The colonial province of Angola, exposed to 
the South Atlantic, has a stretch of coast line of 1,020 miles from the Congo 
to the river Cunene. It is bounded on the north by French Congo and 
the Congo Free State, the latter also forming the boundary on the east ; 
on the south by German South-West Africa, and on the south-east by 
British Central Africa. It is the largest of the Portuguese colonial 
possessions. 

Surface. — The coast lands are low in the north crossed by hill-spurs, 
and high in the south where the edge of the African plateau approaches the 
sea. There are numerous natural harbours, some of which, such as Loanda, 
Lobito, Mossamedes, Port Alexander, and Bahia dos Tigres (Great Fish 
Bay) are particularly good. Angola is an elevated territory, the great 
mountain ranges of the edge of the plateau following the curves of the 
coast. On the north an extensive mountain range forms the watershed 
between the numerous rivers flowing west to the Atlantic and those flow- 
ing north to the Congo, including the great streams of the Kwango and 
Kassai. The south of Angola is a great plateau descending abruptly 
towards the sea, forming the “ Chella ” whence numerous torrents swell 
the rivers flowing to the ocean. The plateau of southern Angola has an 
altitude of between 6,500 and 5,000 feet ; the highest peaks are found in the 
Bailundo regions south of the Kwanza, where the Lovili mountains reach 
7,800 feet and the Elonga mountains 7,500. The geological features of 
Angola, as far as known, include the sandstones of the Congo basin and a 
part of the ancient schistose zone of West Africa. Cretaceous strata occur 
between Great Fish Bay and the river Dande, with some exposures of 
Tertiary (Miocene) rocks. Eruptive rocks occur in the Mezas mountains 
in Mossamedes. The province is crossed by numerous rivers, many of 
which are navigable on their lower and middle courses. They belong to 
five great hydrographic basins : that of the Congo draining the interior 
of the northern half ; the Kwanza entirely within the colony ; the Cunene, 
which forms the southern boundary and drains most of the healthy 
Benguela and Mossamedes plateau ; the Cubango in the south, which flows 
to the inland Lake Ngami ; and finally the Zambezi, draining the entire 
south-east of the colony up to the Katima rapids. 

Climate, Resources and Trade. — The cool ocean-current flowing 


Angola 983 

along the coast from the south, together with the regular sea breeze, 
modify the heat natural to the latitude, especially in the south of the colony. 
In the north and centre, on the coast lowlands and along the rivers, malaria 
is endemic ; but on the highlands of the interior comparative comfort is 
enjoyed, and on the Benguela and Mossamedes plateau the climate is 
similar to that of the south of Europe. At Sao Salvador do Congo in the 
north of the province, at an altitude of 1,800 feet, the mean temperature 
observed during four years was 73 0 F. In Loanda the mean temperature 
during eleven years was 74*5°, and in Caconda, on the plateau, about 67°. 
The cool season ( Cacimbo ), lasting from June to September, is the 
pleasantest part of the year ; the rains begin in October and reach their 
maximum in April, severe thunderstorms being common during the last 
three months of their duration. The prevailing sea winds from the west- 
south-west are called “ viragao,” in distinction to the land winds which 
are called “ terraes.” In the north, as far as the Kwanza valley, the chief 
characteristic of the vegetation is a mixture of savannas and groves of oil 
palms ( Elceis Guineensis) ; the savanna region proper occupies the river 
valleys and the plateaux ; and finally there is a coast strip of poor and 
scanty vegetation and an arid zone near Mossamedes, in the south, where a 
desert flora is found. In all these regions up to an altitude of 3,500 feet, 
and on the river banks, the baobab is found ; and the sea is fringed with 
the mangrove ( Rhizophora Mangle). Angola exports the produce of its 
numerous plantations, especially vegetable oils, india-rubber, wax, coco- 
nuts and coffee. Its commerce is carried on with Portugal and other 
Portuguese colonies. 

People and History. — It is not as yet easy to give the necessary 
data for the study of the people of Angola, but it seems that the first 
people who inhabited the country were the Bushmen, successors of the 
Pygmies now represented by the Ba-cancale , Ba-cuisso, Ba-coroca and 
others mentioned by Capello, Ivens, and Serpa Pinto. They are met with, 
living in isolated communities, in the south of the province. In the centre 
and north are the Jagas, invading tribes from the north-east represented 
by the Bangalas ; but the Angola Bantu may be divided into Fiotes in the 
north, from Chiloango to the Dande ; the Bundas from the Dande to the 
Kwanza, and the N’Bundos in the south up to the heights of Mossamedes. 
Angola was discovered by the Portuguese explorers of the fifteenth 
century ; the mouth of the Congo was reached by Diogo Cao in 1482 ; 
and Diaz, in 1488, sailed along the 
whole coast. By the beginning of 
the sixteenth century the Portu- 
guese had important settlements at 
several points. 

Government and Towns. — 

The colonial province of Angola, 
under a Governor-General, is divided into the districts of Congo north 



984 The International Geography 

* 

and south of the Congo river, Loanda, Benguela, and Mossamedes, 
bordering the coast, and Lunda in the extreme north-east. The capital 
is the city of Sdo Paulo de Loanda , usually known as Loanda, a great 
seaport, with a railway running inland through rich plantations for 200 
miles to Ambaca. The principal towns besides the capital are Cabinda 
in the Congo district, Ambnz, Benguela , and Mossamedes , all on the 
coast. 

The extent of the trade carried on between Portugal and the 
Portuguese possessions along the west coast of Africa may be judged from 
the statistics of 1895, which show $9,850,000 of colonial exports to the 
mother country, and $8,700,000 of imports from it. 

STATISTICS ( approximate ). 

Area of Angola province in square miles 457.500 

Population „ „ 2,000,000 

Density of population per square mile 4 . . . 44 

Population of Loanda 14,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. J. Monteiro. “ Angola and the River Congo.” 2 vols. London, 1875. 

k P. Oliveira Martins. “ Portugal em Africa.” Oporto, 1891. 

J. de Vasconcellos. ** As Colonias Portuguezas.” Lisbon, 1897, 


CHAPTER LII SOUTH AFRICA 


I.— THE COLONY OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 

By Thomas Muir, C.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., 

Superintendent-General of Education for Cape Colony t 

and F. C. Kolbe, D.D. 

Position. — The outline of the continent of Africa being familiarly 
compared to a leg of mutton, Cape Colony may be said to occupy the 
shank end of it : indeed, “ the shank end ” is a common nickname for the 
south-western corner in which Cape Town stands. The northern boundary 
of the colony was until recently the natural line of the Orange River, but 
now the territory stretches northward into Bechuanaland, between the 
German possessions on the west and the two Boer colonies on the east. 
By means of this extension, and by means of the Bechuanaland Pro- 
tectorate to the north of it, and Rhodesia still further north, the trade 
route to the interior lies entirely within British territory. Basutoland and 
Natal, lying eastward of the Orange River Colony, complete the north- 
eastern boundary. Separated from the rest of the colony, and almost 
surrounded by German territory, is a small tract of land around Walfish 
Bay, the only natural harbour of any importance between Angola and the 
Orange River. 

Coasts. — The seaboard is strangely inhospitable : the harbours are 
mostly unprotected, and the river-mouths are choked by sand-bars. The 
one good natural harbour on the west — Saldanha Bay — has hitherto lacked . 
fresh water, though it is proposed to bring a supply from a distance, and 
so develop the port. At the south-western corner the Cape Peninsula 
is a striking feature, consisting of Table Mountain facing north, buttressed 
by a range running southwards, and separated from the mainland by a 
strip of sandy plain (Fig. 471). In front of Table Mountain, to the north, 
lies Table Bay, a port which has been robbed of its terrors by a break- 
water and capacious docks ; and eastwards from the peninsula stretches 
False Bay, in a snug corner of which, named Simon’s Bay, there is a 
British naval station. The only other important harbours are (in order) 
Mossel Bay, Algoa Bay and East London. Algoa Bay, in spite of being 
an open roadstead, is yet so favourably situated for the main trade route, 
has so thriving a province immediately behind it, and is so well equipped 
for the receipt and discharge of goods, that its town, Port Elizabeth, 
justly claims the title of “ the Liverpool of South Africa.” 

Configuration. — The direction of the mountain range which forms the 
main watershed of South Africa may be roughly indicated by a line drawn 

985 


986 The International Geography 

parallel to the coast about 150 miles inland. Inland of this line the great 
continental slope trends to the west, as is indicated by the many tributaries 
which go to swell the Orange River ; and on the coast side of the range 
countless rivers and torrents (when there is rain) struggle through the 
minor mountain defiles on a short and rapid journey to the sea. During 
the greater part of the year, when there are no heavy rains, many of these 
rivers are without water, and only dry beds may be seen. The minor 
mountain ranges are also regularly distributed, running east and west, one 
of them half way and the other three-quarters of the way between the 
watershed and the coast ; and these too, of course, give origin to their own 
little streams. Thus the rise to the continental plateau is by well-marked 
stages ; first the shore-slope, then the Little Karroo, then the Great Karroo, 

and finally the High Veldt. 
Generalising widely, it may 
be said that the west coast 
region consists of barren 
and rainless tracts of sand ; 
that a wide band lying 
along the eastern edge of 
this tract, and having its 
base from Cape Town to 
Port Elizabeth, stretches 
first through fertile moun- 
tains and valleys, then 
through wide plains of scrubby bush, and finally across immense grassy 
prairies which merge insensibly into the forests of northern Bechuanaland 
and Rhodesia ; and that on the east of this band the verdant undulations 
of Kaffraria stretch over and beyond the Kei for hundreds of miles, and 
break up eventually into the tumult of the Basutoland hills and the 
diversified surface of Natal. 

Geology. — Geologically South Africa may be regarded as consisting of 
a central basin of younger rocks surrounded by a belt of older formations, 
which is incomplete on the eastern coasts. The older rocks comprise a 
vast series of slates and schists with much intrusive granite in the south- 
west and to the north, separated by a distinct unconformity from succeed- 
ing sandstones, quartzites, and shales. The Table Mountain sandstone is 
the most important formation of this series, as it forms all the chief moun- 
tain ranges in the south-west of the colony, while the auriferous con- 
glomerates of the Transvaal are usually assigned to it. The Central 
Basin is bounded by a curious series of conglomerates collectively known 
as the Dwyka conglomerate, which contains striated boulders probably 
of glacial origin. Within the conglomerate belt lies a vast thickness of 
gently folded shales and sandstones, the lowest known as the Ecca beds, 
to which succeed the Karroo and Stormberg beds. The Karroo beds 
are interesting as yielding peculiar reptilian remains and having a 




987 


Cape Colony 

considerable number of diamantiferous pipes, especially near the border 
of Cape Colony and the Orange River Colony, while the Stormberg beds, 
are conspicuous as the South African coal-bearing formation. 

The whole of the peripheral area is much contorted, flexured, and 
faulted ; and, as a result of one of the faults on the south, an area built up 
of the younger Ecca beds remains, which points to a former much greater 
extension of the more recent central formations. The entire region has 
suffered enormous denudation ; and, as many of the formations, especially 
towards the interior, consist of beds lying almost horizontally, table-like 
mountains are extremely common. 

Climate. — The variation of climate in Cape Colony is dependent on 
rain rather than on temperature, the latter having a comparatively mode- 
rate range. Thus along the sea-coast the thermometer averages 6o° F. in 
the coldest month and 70° in the hottest. During the colder season the 
isothermals run east and west, in the summer time north and south. 

There seem to be three regions of rainfall : the Eastern, which gets its 
rain in the hot season ; the South-western, with its rainfall in the winter 
and the North-western, with practically none 
at all. This arrangement may be explained 
by the direction of the prevailing winds and 
of the mountain ranges. The chief wind 
in summer is the south-eastern, which is the 
rear-guard of the trade wind strengthened 
by the monsoon effect of the hot cen- 
tral regions. In the south-west there is 
little to check its career as it hurries with 

its moisture to the tropics and reveals itself Fig. 468 .— Temperature and Rainfall 
as a rain wind only by clouds on the of Cape Town and Durban. 

mountain tops. In the east, however, it has to ascend over the watershed 
and much moisture is precipitated in the process. In winter, on the other 
hand, the winds are from the north-west, and those that come directly from 
the sea drop their rain at the south-western barrier of mountains, while 
those that reach the east get there unladen. The high and dry air of the 
Karroo, and the regularity and moderate character of the seasonal changes, 
have caused Cape Colony to be increasingly regarded as a desirable health 
resort, though some complain that long residence has a slightly enervating 
effect. 

Resources and Industries. — The chief farm products are wool, 
mohair, skins, grain (wheat, mealies, Kafir corn, &c.), wine, and brandy, 
with a minor yield of ostrich feathers and tobacco. Fruits of all kinds 
grow readily, but they have only lately begun to be systematically culti- 
vated. At the census of 1891 there were in the country 2 \ million cattle, 
23 million sheep and goats, and 155,000 ostriches. In that year the yield of 
wheat was 2J million bushels, and of mealies and other grain 4J million 
bushels. Tobacco was produced to the extent of 11,000,000 lbs., but 


1 K° 

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The International Geography 


it has not yet reached a high level of excellence. The total yield of 
wine was 6 million gallons, and of brandy i^- million ; the latter is, as a 
rule, very inferior, and but little of the former recommends itself to 
connoisseurs. The facts that Cape grapes have a very large proportion of 
sugar and that the pressing has to be done in the hottest time of the year, 
militate against success in the production of high-class wines. 

The mineral wealth of the country consists predominantly of diamonds. 
The seventy square miles at Kimberley, owned by the De Beer’s Company, 
form the richest diamond mine in the world, with an output of some 3^ 
million carats per annum, representing a value of about $22,500,000. There 
are also valuable and interesting copper mines in Namaqualand near the 
mouth of the Orange River. A fair supply of serviceable coal is found at 
the northward bend of the watershed. Of other metals and minerals there 
are samples enough to raise many hopes. 

Flora. — South Africa is peculiarly rich in plant life, about one-sixth of 
the genera of the whole world being found in it, and 142 natural orders 
are represented. European gardens have been enriched by many pelar- 
goniums, heaths, proteas, irises, lilies, and orchids native to the Cape. 
There seem to be five different floral regions in Cape Colony, between 
which the watershed is the dominant dividing line. To the south of it 
there are two, one in the south-west and south of the Colony, and one 
stretching almost from Port Elizabeth, through the Transkei and Natal 
into tropical Africa. On the other side of the watershed there are the 
Karroo region and the Kalahari region, both centrally situated, and a Com- 
posite region towards the north-east. 

The South-western region is the special home of what is known every- 
where as Flora Capensis, including all the flowering plants enumerated 
above. The silver tree and, among orchids, the Disa grandiflora are 
famous, and everlasting flowers form a notable export. The arum lily 
is the commonest wild flower. The aloe grows freely, and in the south 
central forests many valuable timber trees are found, such as the 
yellow-wood and Cape mahogany. Oaks, pines, and many other trees 
have been introduced, and are easily cultivated, but the pine is almost 
the only tree that holds its own without help against the native plants. 
The region has a remarkable affinity to south-western Australia, and 
many Australian trees, especially gums, have been successfully introduced. 

The Tropical region is characterised by dense bush and forest, such as 
the Addo bush in the Eastern Province. Here the whole country is greener 
and more luxuriant, and many trees have splendid foliage and showy 
flowers. Euphorbias are common, and the palm begins to appear. 

The Karroo region, being one of great dryness and subject to extremes 
of heat and cold, presents a general appearance of scattered shrubs on 
bare or stony soil. A species of acacia is the only tree in the whole region, 
and even that is not very abundant. Yet after a heavy rainfall the appear- 
ance of the country improves with astonishing rapidity, and its occasional 


Cape Colony 989 

evanescent beauty has to be seen to be believed. The plants, having to 
struggle for existence, protect themselves from drought by succulence and 
by thorniness from seekers after food. 

The Composite region slopes to the north-east into the Orange River 
Colony. It consists of vast treeless plains of dry moorland and heath, with 
grassy patches here and there. It gets its name from the extraordinary 
predominance of composite c in its flora. 

The Kalahari region, in Bechuanaland, is principally a grass country, 
with isolated shrubs and trees. 

Fauna. — The fauna of Cape Colony has been reduced by human 
agency to a mere remnant of what it formerly was, and it was never much 
differentiated from that of the rest of the continent. The physical aspect 
of the country accounts for the predominance of the ungulates among 
mammals : the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the zebra, the 
giraffe, the buffalo, and more than thirty kinds of antelope, once occupied 
the land, and were preyed upon by the lion, the leopard, and other hunting 
animals. Most of the native animals have now been driven to the north or 
killed out ; the quagga is quite extinct, and the “ white ” rhinoceros nearly 
so. The birds are more remarkable for plumage than for song. Birds of 
prey are well represented. The stately secretary bird is strictly protected 
on account of its services against snakes. The ostrich has been domesti- 
cated. Of snakes there are not many varieties, but they are fairly plentiful, 
and the very worst vipers ( e.g ., the puff-adder) are among them. Scorpions 
and spiders abound, and the insect world is of great and often unpleasant 
interest. Thanks to the cold current along the Agulhas Bank, there is an 
excellent supply of fish, which is being more and more utilised every year. 
Cured fish and tinned lobster are now articles of export. 

Native Races. — As far as can be ascertained, the first inhabitants 
of South Africa were the stunted, yellowish-brown Bushmen, who lived 
by hunting only, a pursuit in which they trusted to poisoned arrows and to 
cunning rather than to strength. Their language abounded in clicks and 
deep gutturals. They were monogamists, but their cohesive power as a 
people was of the slightest. They were apparently proof against civilisa- 
tion, and were it not that they have shown some signs of feeling for art in 
their rude cave-paintings, one would be inclined to assign them to the lowest 
grade of humanity. They have dwindled away before the progress of the 
white man, and now practically no longer exist as a people. The second 
arrivals, the Hottentots, brought hairy sheep and a kind of cattle with 
them. The first Europeans found them living along the west coast and 
the Orange River. The race is nearly all mixed now, but in their original 
state they were a flat-nosed, yellow people of medium height, pastoral but 
not agricultural ; with clicks in their language like the Bushman, but not 
harsh gutturals ; using poisoned arrows too, but with assegais and knobkerries 
as well. The present dominant native races of South Africa are of Bantu 
stock, and generally known as Kafirs. They have gradually made their way 


990 The International Geography 



southward within historical times. These people — the Zulus, Basutos,Fingos, 
Pondos and Bechuanas — are taller, stronger, and better formed than the 
earlier races, except on the west of the Kalahari desert, where the Damaras, 
who are Bantu, are inferior to the Namaquas, who are Hottentots. They have 
a high organisation of law, government, and discipline ; they add agricul- 
ture to their main occupation of keeping cattle ; they use clubs, axes, and 
shields as well 4 as assegais and kerries ; and their languages are not only 

free from clicks (unless these have been introduced), 
but are governed by intricate grammatical rules and 
by principles of harmony of sound. The Bantu are 
amenable to civilisation, and some individuals among 
them have reached a high grade of education. 

Settlement. — While the southward movement of 
unsettled races was still going on by land, a com- 

FIG. ^.-Average top. petitive movement of Europeans began by sea. It 
ulation of a square was almost a chance whether the Portuguese, or 
mile of Cape Colony. D u t c h, or the English should first settle at the 

southern extremity of Africa. The Portuguese arrived first, rounding 
the Cape under Bartholomew Diaz in 1488, in the search for the sea- 
route to India. Not foreseeing that it would not always be necessary 
to hug the shore on the voyage to the East, they thought they were 
gaining the best chance of a monopoly by establishing themselves well 
to the north on the east coast. Some pioneer Englishmen claimed the 
Cape peninsula for the rule of James I., in the year 1620, but the Home 
Government was not alive to the importance of such a base for trade, and 
the Dutch seized the neglected opportunity. They arrived in 1652, and 
under such wise rulers as Van Riebeek and Van der Stel the little nucleus 
of a colony gradually pushed out its borders. In 1688 Huguenots, driven 
out of France by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, arrived in 
sufficient numbers and with sufficient energy to bring about a permanent 
change in the new country. This blend of French with 
Dutch has, in the course of two centuries, resulted in 
the formation of a perfectly distinct nationality which 
loves to call itself Afrikander, and it has developed 
out of the original Dutch language a colloquial dialect 
known as Kaapsche Hollandsch. The typical Afrikander 
— the South African Boer — is characterised by sturdy 
and courageous independence, a somewhat sensitive fig . 470 .—The Arms 
pride, a warm-hearted hospitality, and great attach- °f the Colony of the 
ment to old religious and domestic customs. He 
defends himself from the consequences of want of reserve by a quality 
which is too genial to be called cunning, but which he himself calls 
“ slimness.” 

In 1806 the Cape of Good Hope passed into British hands. In 1820 
the arrival of English settlers laid the foundations of prosperity in the 



Cape Colony 991 

eastern division of the colony. Subsequently, various collisions with the 
indomitable Afrikander spirit, such as that which arose from the mis- 
management of the Slave Emancipation Act, resulted in the great “ trek ” 
of emigrant Boers, which laid the foundations of the lately suppressed 
South African Republics. In 1872 Responsible Government was con- 
ferred on the Colony, and under this freedom the various races may in 
time settle into equilibrium, though the process has been impeded by the 
feelings once more aroused during the late war. 

Railway System. — Since Cape Colony has no navigable rivers, and 
canals are out of the question, and even roads present serious difficulties, and 
since the centres of population are far apart, the development of a good 
system of railway communication is of the very first importance. This is 
still more evident in view of the fact that the Cape is largely dependent on 
its trade with the interior. From a purely topographical standpoint one 
would expect that commerce would find its way to Rhodesia and the 
Transvaal through ports on the west or east coasts, approximately in the 
same latitudes as these districts ; but the development of Africa has pro- 
ceeded on such lines that hitherto the Cape has had the advantage of the 
worn channels of trade. One contributory cause is the unhealthiness of 
the tropical seaboard. The routes of the main railway lines have conse- 
quently been determined by the necessity of keeping these channels open ; 
so that from Cape Town, from Port Elizabeth, and from East London lines 
run northwards, intercommunicating by branches near the coal district, 
and then running in two parallel lines, one through the Orange River 
Colony to the gold fields of the Transvaal, and one past the diamond fields 
of Griqualand West through Bechuanaland to Rhodesia and the Zambezi, 
with a promise of early extension to Lake Tanganyika. Other lines bring 
Grahamstown, the city of the settlers in the east, and also Aliwal North, 
into communication with the main lines ; and a longer loop diverges so 
as to join Port Elizabeth to Graaff-Reinet, “the Gem of the Karroo.” Near 
Cape Town, a side branch runs to Malmesbury, the wheat district ; and in 
the north-west a small line serves the copper mines of Namaqualand 
(Fig. 437). Other lines, now being made, will connect the east with the 
west. 

Much of the trade of the colony, and of the shipping at Cape Town, is, 
in normal times, concerned with the transport of material to the Transvaal 
and the export of gold from the mines. 

Divisions and Towns. — The political divisions of Cape Colony are 
not of much importance as such, but the broad distinction between East 
and West is more than merely nominal. The stream of English immigra- 
tion, finding the West already occupied, was diverted chiefly to the East, thus 
largely altering the balance of nationalities. From time to time, indeed, 
there has been much agitation in the East for separation, but the feeling 
of common interest has up till now carried the day, and in spite of a 
little natural jealousy the claim of Cape Town to remain the capital of the 


992 The International Geography 

whole country is everywhere admitted. In population, Cape Town main- 
tains its historical lead, being equal in this respect to the next three towns 
together, namely, Kimberley, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown. Besides 

being the seat of government, it 
has the advantage of unrivalled 
residential charms in its suburbs ; 
its situation at the foot of Table 
Mountain, flanked by the Devil’s 
Peak on one side and the Lion 
Mountain on the other, entit- 
ling it to rank among the most 
beautifully placed cities in the 
world. Its population is very 
diversified ; Dutch as well as 
English is freely spoken among 
the European inhabitants, and 
besides types of all the black 
races there are some ten thou- 
sand “ Malays,” descendants of Asiatics originally imported as coolies. 

Kimberley , founded as a mining camp in 1870, depends for its impor- 
tance entirely on the diamond mines. Its site was originally of the most 
unpromising kind, and Kimberley fever had for a time an unpleasant 
notoriety. But now the town is well built, efficiently drained, and 
abundantly supplied with water. Like Mafeking, further north, it sus- 
tained a protracted siege during the war. Port Elizabeth had likewise to 
overcome the niggardliness of nature ; its low hills were formerly 
covered with scanty bush or bare sand, but water has been brought 
from a distant river, and now its parks and tree-lined streets are 
pleasant to look upon. Grahamstown , once the chief town of what 

was called the Frontier, has lost much of its importance. It is neither 
a great centre of trade, nor has it mineral wealth in its vicinity. It is, 
however, beautifully situated in an amphitheatre of hills, and its climate 
is unrivalled. 

The district of Kaffraria, between the Great Kei and Natal, may be 
separately mentioned as being still in a transitional state of govern- 
ment. Most of the land is in the hands of the natives, who are some- 
what paternally ruled over by special magistrates. Pondoland, the 
south-eastern portion of this region, was not annexed to the colony 
until 1894. 

Basutoland formed part of Cape Colony from 1871 until 1884. The 
natives, who, like many mountain-dwellers, are high-spirited above the 
average, revolted in 1879 * and although the colonial government was able 
to maintain its authority, the subsequent friction was so great that the 
Imperial government found it best to turn the territory into a Crown 
Colony. Basutoland is sometimes called the Switzerland of South 
Africa. 



Natal 


993 


STATISTICS OF CAPE COLONY. 

1875. i8gr. 

Area of Cape Colony, square miles 191,416 221,311 


1898. 

276,947 


Population : — 

Census of 1875 (whole Colony as then constituted) 

Colony as in 1875 

Whole Colonv 


Census of 1891 


Europeans. 

236,783 

336,938 

376,987 


Blacks. 

484,201 

619.547 

1,150,237 


Total. 

720,984 

956,485 

1,527,224 


ANNUAL TRADE (in Pounds sterling). 


1873-77. 1883-87. 1893-97. 

Imports 5,400,000 5,100,000 14,400,000 

Exports . . . . 5,400,000 7,000,000 16,000,000 

Export of Diamonds 1 1,550,000 3,160,000 4,140,000 

Export of Gold 2 25,000 33,000 7,925,000 

Other Exports 3 3,825,000 3,807,000 3, 935, 000 


DESTINATION OF ONE YEAR’S IMPORTS. 


Rhodesia and Orange Free 

Merchandise entered For Cape S.A. B. Bechuana- State and 

for consumption in Total. Colony. Republic. land. Basutoland. 

1897 £16,095,000 £9,870,000 £4,600,000 £570,000 £1,055,000 


STANDARD BOOKS 

John Noble. “ Illustrated Official Handbook of The Cape and South Africa.” Cape 
Town, 1893. 

“The Guide to South Africa,” published for the Castle Line. London. 

J. Whiteside. “A New Geography of South Africa.” Cape Town. 

G. M. Theal. “ History of South Africa, 1486-1872.” 5 vols. London, 1888-9 
R. Wallace. “The Farming Industries of Cape Colony.” London, 1896. 

E. and O. Reclus. “ L’Afrique australe." Paris, 1901. 

W. Bleloch. “The New South Africa.” 1901. 


II. — NATAL 

By the Right Hon. James Bryce, O.M., F.R.S. 

Position and Divisions. — The British colony of Natal lies on the 
coast of the Indian Ocean, between Cape Colony and Basutoland on the 
west and the Portuguese territories on the north-east, being bounded on 
the north by the Orange River and Transvaal Colonies. Apart from an 
area lately detached from the latter, it consists of three districts — Natal 
proper, Zululand, and Tongaland, which it is more convenient to describe 
separately, as their economic and social conditions differ . 

Natal Proper. — Natal proper is, with the exception of the level 
strip along the coast, only a few miles wide, a hilly country, nearly 
all of which is over 2,000 feet above sea-level, while some of the 
mountains attain 7,000 feet. On the frontier of Basutoland a few 
points are still loftier, approaching 11,000 feet. The ground rises 
pretty uniformly from the coast northward, and along the line of the 
Orange River Colony it touches the central watershed of South Africa, 
which is here the outer or south-eastward rim of the great central 
plateau. Except on the Basuto frontier the mountains are usually rounded 


1 The staple export of the Colony. 2 In transit from the Transvaal. 

3 Illustrating the stationary condition of all exports of the Colony except gold and diamonds. 


994 The International Geography 

in their outlines, and covered with grass. The valleys are often wide and 
open, but there is very little level ground, and no extensive plains, such as 
are met with on the great inland plateau, or along the shore of the ocean 
further north. The climate is damp along the coast, but becomes con- 
stantly drier as one goes inland ; for nearly the whole of the rainfall comes 
from the south-east, and most of it is received by the hills towards the 
ocean. The rainfall, which is 42 inches at Durban, on the sea (Fig. 468), 
diminishes to 30 inches in the highlands of the north close to the Trans- 
vaal border. The heat of the coast strip, moderated by the south-east 
trade-wind which blows steadily for most of the year, is somewhat greater 
than the latitude would explain, and seems to be largely due to the 
influence of the warm Mozambique current. The climate is on the 
whole a very healthy one, for its dryness prevents the heat from being 
enervating to Europeans, and the winters are cool ; indeed in the northern 
highlands they are sometimes severe, and heavy snow-falls are not 
uncommon. 

Resources of Natal. — The fauna of Natal differs little from that of 
the eastern parts of Cape Colony. The flora resembles that of the eastern 
region of Cape Colony rather than that of the more lofty and arid Trans- 
vaal and Orange River Colonies. It is only on the coast strip that vegetation 
is luxuriant, and such crops as sugar, rice, bananas, and pine-apples can 
be grown. But the rainfall is sufficient to give herbage on the moun- 
tains, so that the proportion of arid desert land is small. The valleys, 
especially in the southern and western districts, are often well wooded, 
while in the northern highlands few trees are seen, except stunted acacias 
and willows. Probably no part of South Africa has so large a proportion 
of its surface available either for tillage or for pasture. Nearly all of it is 
now in pasture, and the chief occupation is the rearing of cattle and sheep. 
This is owing partly to the thinness of the white population, partly to the 
fact that in many of the inland valleys costly irrigation works are 
desirable, if not absolutely necessary as a security against the droughts. 
Tea is grown on the hills towards the coast, while cereals, especially 
maize, and tobacco do well in the inner valleys. 

Gold has been found, but the reefs are little worked, and silver, copper 
and lead also exist. The mineral of most importance is coal, of which 
there are extensive beds. It is largely worked round the villages of New- 
castle and Dundee. In point of quality it is inferior to the best European 
or American coal, but equal to any that has been found in Africa. Con- 
siderable deposits of iron exist close by, and promise a successful develop- 
ment of iron industries whenever it becomes cheaper to make iron goods 
than to import tkem. There are at present no manufacturing industries 
of any importance, and no places large enough to be called towns 
except Durban, practically the only seaport, and Pietermaritzburg, the 
capital. 

People of Natal. — Of the white inhabitants fully two-thirds are of 


Natal 


995 

British, and less than one-third of Dutch origin. Nearly all can speak 
English, but Dutch is used to some extent, especially in the North. The 
native Kafirs are mostly heathen, live under their own headmen, and pre- 
serve most of their native customs. They are now usually quiet and 
peaceable. Few can speak any language but their own, the Zulu tongue 

being that of the majority. Indians, who are largely 

Mohammedans, have recently immigrated either from . • . ♦ 

Zanzibar and other ports on the East African coast or , * # 

from the western provinces of India. Many are gar- .... 

deners, cultivating fruit farms on the south coast ; 

others are indentured coolies, at work on the sugar 

9 ° ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 

plantations for a term of years, and others have 
become mechanics or small shopkeepers in the towns. Fig — Average pop- 

A law has been passed for the exclusion of all immi- illation of a square 
grants unable to write a letter in European characters. mile °- r Natal ' 

There is little or no intermarriage between the black and white races, 
who, however, live quietly together. 

' History and Government. — Natal was discovered by Vasco da 
Gama on his voyage to India in 1497, and received its name because it 
was first seen on Christmas Day. The Portuguese, however, did not 
claim it, and it remained untouched by Europeans till a few Englishmen 
established themselves at the harbour then called Port Natal (now Durban) 
about 1824. The British Government was at that time unwilling to acquire 
new African territory which might involve them in fresh wars. The 
ferocious Chaka, king of the Zulus, had shortly before ravaged the 
country, slaughtered a large part of the native inhabitants, and left most 
of it vacant. This fact, together with its reported advantages of soil and 
climate, came to the knowledge of the Boer emigrants who had quitted 
Cape Colony (in disgust at the proceedings of the British Government) in 
1836, and led a large body of them to cross (in 1838) the passes from the 
great interior plateau and occupy the valleys in the centre of Natal. They 
defeated the Zulus and set up a republic — which they called Natalia, and 
built the town of Pietermaritzburg. The British Government, however, 
following the advice of the Governor of the Cape, conceived that no 
independent State ought to be suffered to establish itself on the coast, and 
accordingly dispatched to Port Natal a force, which, after a short war, 
compelled the Boer emigrants to leave or submit. At first a dependency 
of Cape Colony, Natal was created a separate colony in 1856. Meanwhile 
immense numbers of Kafirs flocked in, especially from the north and 
east, and though the number of whites increased steadily, the proportion 
of Kafirs to whites has continued to be about ten to one. Zululand was 
conquered in a war with the native king Cetewayo in 1879, and in 1887 
(after a part of it had been occupied by freebooters from the Transvaal, 
and detached from the rest of the country) was declared to be British 
territory. In 1893 responsible government was granted to the colony, and 



The International Geography 

\ 


in 1896 Zululand and Tongaland were incorporated with it. The northern 
part of the colony was the scene of important military operations during 
the earlier part cff the Boer War (1899-1902), the chief feature of which 
was the defence and ultimate relief of Ladysmith. The government is r as 
in the other self-governing British colonies, in the hands of a Governor 
sent from home (whose functions resemble those of a constitutional king), 
and of a legislature with a Cabinet responsible to it. There are two 
Chambers — a Legislative Council of eleven, and an Assembly of thirty* 

seven members ; the former appointed by the Governor 
for ten years, the latter elected for four years by the 
people on a franchise which is (for whites) almost 
universal. All Kafirs and Indians are unenfranchised. 

The customs tariff is lower as regards most articles 
of import than that of the South African Customs Union, 
which Natal has not entered. The chief exports are wool, 
Pig. 473 —The Badge sugar, hides and maize. The railway lines (600 miles 
Nata1, i n length) belong to the State, and run through from 
Durban to the Transvaal and Orange River Colonies. Elementary education 
is provided by the State for all white people, and by the mission schools for 
a certain, though relatively small, part of the blacks. There is no university. 

Zululand. — Zululand is divided by the Tugela River from the rest of 
Natal, of which it now legally forms a part. The population is nearly all 
Kafir. Except a plain along the coast, which is hot and generally unhealthy, 
it is a high country, though hilly rather than mountainous, with no point 
reaching 5,000 feet, and very little land above 3,000. The higher parts 
are grass-covered, and furnish some of the best pasture-land in South 
Africa. Gold has been found, and the reefs are believed to be very 
promising, but neither they nor the other mineral deposits thought to 
exist (including coal, iron and silver) have as yet been carefully examined. 
The natives live under their tribal chiefs, preserving their primitive usages, 
and though brave and warlike, they have of late years been quiet. 

Tongaland. — Tongaland is a strip of country mostly flat, and in 
many places marshy and unhealthy (since the heat is great), which stretches 
along the coast northward from Zululand to the frontier of the Portuguese 
territories, between Swaziland and the Indian Ocean. It consists of 
several petty principalities under native chiefs, who have at various times 
within the last few years (the last of them in 1894) been brought under 
British protection. The Tongas are a branch of the Bantu family, who 
speak a language quite different from that of their neighbours the Zulus 
and Swazis (the latter being near of kin to the Zulus). They are less 
martial than the Zulus, but generally similar in their customs. They are 
nearly all heathen, and no whites, except a very few missionaries, live 
among them. So far as is known their country has no great economic 
value, and it has no deep-water port. The people have been studied most 
in the adjoining parts of Portuguese East Africa, where the Ba-Ronga are 
a Tongan tribe. 



Southern Rhodesia 


997 


STATISTICS OF NATAL. 


1879. 1891.* 

Area of Natal, square miles (estimate) 21,150 .. 32,500 

Population 361,587 . . 724,283 

White population 22,654 . . 47,888 

Density of population per square mile 17 . . 23 

Population of Durban 17,127(1884) 25,512 

„ Pietermaritzburg 14,231 „ 17,500 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling). 

1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95. 


Imports 940,000 . . 1,900,000 . . 2,920,000 

Exports 815,000 .. 900,000 .v 1,323,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

J. Bird. “Annals of Natal, 1495 to 1845.” 2 vols. Pietermaritzburg, 1888. 

R. Russell. “Natal, the Land and its Story.” Pietermaritzburg. 5th edit. 1897. 
H. Junod. “ Les Ba Ronga.” Neuchatel, 1898. 


HI— SOUTHERN RHODESIA AND BECHUANALAND 


By F. C. Selous. 


British South Africa. — The British possessions on the great table - 
land of South Africa, outside the two self-governing colonies of the Cape 
of Good Hope and Natal, and the recently annexed Boer colonies, extend 
northward to the boundaries of the Congo State and the southern shore of 
Lake Tanganyika, with the Transvaal, Portuguese East Africa and British 
Central Africa on the east, and German South-West Africa and Portuguese 
West Africa on the west. The territory may be divided into Southern and 
Northern Rhodesia, separated by the Zambezi, in the east and north, both 
under the charge of the British South Africa Company ; and the Bechuana- 
land Protectorate in the south-west. Northern Rhodesia has been referred 
to under British Central Africa. 


SOUTHERN RHODESIA 

Position and Boundaries. — Southern Rhodesia lies immediately 

•/ 

to the north of the Transvaal Colony, from which it is separated by 
the Limpopo or Crocodile River, which forms its southern boundary. 
Northwards it extends to the Zambezi. Its eastern boundary with 
Portuguese East Africa was defined by the Anglo-Portuguese Agree- 
ment of June 11, 1891, as the edge of the Manika plateau. To the west it 
is bounded by a line running south and east from the junction of the 
Chobi with the Zambezi, to the headwaters of the Shashi, and thence along 
the course of that river to the Limpopo ; practically the old line of 
demarcation between the territories of Khama and Lo Bengula. It lies 
entirely within the tropics, extending in latitude from 22 0 S. toT6° S. and 
in longitude from 26° E. to 33 0 E. 


* Includes Zululand. 


998 The International Geography 

Surface. — Through this territory there runs an elevated region which 
extends from the source of the Shashi on the west, north-eastwards to the 
source of the Hanyani or Manyami River, and thence trends south-eastwards 
to the sources of the Odyi and Pungwe. Along this elevated backbone 
runs the watershed between the Zambezi and Limpopo drainage areas, in 
the western and central portions of the territory, and between the Zambezi 
and Sabi further east. The whole country along the watershed exceeds 
4,000 feet above sea-level, rising gradually from about 4,000 feet at the 
source of the Shashi in the west towards the north-east, where it reaches 
5,400 feet at the source of the Hanyani River. In the Inyanga plateau, 
where the Ruenya, Odyi, and Pungwe rivers take their rise, it culminates 
in an altitude of over 7,000 feet, and sinks abruptly to the east. The 
surface of the elevated belt consists of open undulating grassy downs. To 
the north and west they slope gradually towards the Zambezi and the 
northern Kalahari desert, little or no broken country being met with near 
the watershed, but the open grass-land gradually gives place to continuous 
forest on the lower slopes. On all other sides the high plateaux are bounded 
by a belt of broken country which varies in breadth from 20 to 50 miles. 
In the south-west (Matabeleland) this belt may be described as hilly, and 
there is a fall of some 700 or 800 feet in a distance of from 20 to 30 miles ; 
but in the east (Mashunaland) the descent to the low plam~ border 

the east coast, and extend up the valley of the Zambezi, becomes abrupt 
and of a mountainous appearance. From the Inyanga plateau to the lower 
valley of the Pungwe there is a fall of over 5,000 feet in less than 100 
miles. 

Hydrography. — The highest portions of the plateau are granite, but on 
the slopes to the north, north-west, south, and south-west, ranges of hills 
of different formation run through the granite, and amongst them numerous 
gold-bearing quartz-reefs occur. On the value of these reefs the speedy 
development of the country must largely depend. The whole of the high 
plateau is well watered, the more easterly portions being intersected in 
every direction by innumerable small streams, which are fed from springs 
welling out from the head of almost every valley on the open downs. 
Most of these never run dry even in the driest seasons, being probably 
supplied from underground reservoirs in the granite, in which great 
quantities of water are yearly stored during the rains. Anomalous as it 
may seem, the highest portions of the plateaux of Southern Rhodesia are 
thus the best watered, though they are not dominated by mountain ranges. 
The innumerable small streams of the highest part of the downs gradually 
collect into brooks, and these converge to the main rivers which drain the 
country, and finally reach the Zambezi, the Limpopo or the Sabi. Follow- 
ing the watershed across the open downs which lie between the sources of 
the Hanyani and the Umniati rivers, where the altitude is between 5,000 
and 6,000 feet, a little stream of running water will be met with at nearly 
every mile. But crossing from the Hanyani to the Umniati, some 2,000 


Southern Rhodesia 


999 


feet lower down the slope, all these are found .to be collected into a few 
small rivers, and stretches of country occur perhaps 20 miles wide 
without a single stream. Down still farther in the Zambezi valley not a 
single stream of water flows into the river between the mouth of the 
Hanyani and that of the Umniati (there called the Sanyati), a distance of 
perhaps 150 miles, the intervening country being entirely waterless during 
the dry season. 

The Zambezi, which divides Southern Rhodesia from British Central 
Africa, is one of the largest rivers in Africa. It is navigable by steamers 
of light draught from its mouth for 300 miles to the Kuroa Basa rapids above 
Tete ; whilst a steamer placed on the river above those rapids might reach 
the mouth of the Gwai, 600 miles farther, if it could make its way against 
the strong current which rushes through the narrow defile of Kariba. 
From the mouth of the Gwai onwards 
a succession of rapids and two large 
waterfalls make the Zambezi unnavi- 
gable for any long distance without a 
break. The fall known as Mosi-a-tunya 
(smoke-sounding) by the natives, which 
was discovered by Dr. Livingstone in 
1851, and named by him the Victoria 
Falls, is second to none in the world in 
magnificence, for although I will not 
say that it is finer than Niagara, it yet 
surpasses that stupendous cataract in 
some respects, and as a whole appeals 
quite as powerfully to the imagination. 

The magnitude of these falls will be 
understood from the bald statement 

that they are 2,000 yards in width and 

* 

.450 feet in perpendicular height. The Fig. 474 .—The Victoria Falls on the 
vast volume of water falls, not into an Zambezi. 

open gorge like Niagara, but into a narrow rift, whence the escape is by a 
still narrower zigzag ravine through a mass of hard rock. The falls are 
about 225 miles distant from Bulawayo, in a direct line, and the railway 
which crosses the river just below the falls was opened in 1905. The falls of 
Gonye on the Upper Zambezi, though not to be compared to the Victoria 
Falls, are yet very beautiful. They are also in British territory, being 
situated on that section of the Zambezi which flows through Northern 
Rhodesia, the central division of British Central Africa. 

Climate and Resources. — The climatic conditions of a territory 
which includes the low-lying valleys of the Zambezi and the Limpopo, as 
well as the high open plateaux of Matabeleland and Mashunaland, are 
naturally very diverse. In the low parts of the country the heat is often 
very oppressive ; malarial fever of a severe type is prevalent at certain 



iooo The International Geography 

times of the year, and such districts are not suited for European colonisa- 
tion. But the climate of the high plateaux, above the fever limit, is very 
fine and bracing, and the whole of Southern Rhodesia which lies above 
4,000 feet seems destined soon to be settled by Europeans, whilst the area 
may possibly be extended in the couse of time to a somewhat lower level, 
as the cultivation and drainage of the land proceed. On the high plateaux 
the heat even in the hottest weather is not excessive, the shade temperature 
seldom exceeding 90° in the higher parts of eastern Mashunaland ; in 
western Matabeleland, where the heat is greater, ioo° F. in the shade is 
very exceptional, and at an altitude of 5,000 feet these temperatures are 
not very trying. On the plateau the nights are cool the whole year round ; 
during the winter months of May, June, July and August, they even 
become cold and frosty. At that season the days are always bright and 
clear, pleasantly warm but not too hot. During the months of November, 
December, January, February and March, heavy rains may be expected, 
with thunderstorms during October and April, and occasionally a little 
light rain during the winter months. The season of continuous rain 
sometimes sets in early in November, at other times not until late in 
December, and as a rule the heaviest rains take place after Christmas. 
The rainfall is heavier in the east than in the west. The average is 
probably about 40 inches in the former district and 25 in the latter ; but 
observations are not yet sufficiently numerous to enable one to speak 
definitely. In the rainy season which ended in April, 1891, a rainfall of 
53 inches was recorded in Salisbury, Mashunaland, but the following year 
the rainfall was under 25 inches. 

Agricultural Prospects. — It is clear that the most valuable portions 
of Rhodesia, those best fitted for agriculture and pasturage, are the districts 
lying on the broad back of the plateau along which the watershed runs. 
With few exceptions the lower one descends towards the valleys of the 
Zambezi and the Limpopo, the drier and more desolate the country 
becomes. For stock farming no portion of South Africa is better suited 
than the high plateaux of Rhodesia, in evidence of which when the forces 
of the British South Africa Company entered Matabeleland in 1893, there 
were over 200,000 head of horned cattle in that territory alone. Further 
eastward, too, cattle do equally well. A small flock of merino sheep was 
introduced into the country a few years ago and has thriven well, and it is 
quite possible that in the not distant future sheep farming may become as 
profitable as in any other part of South Africa. All European vegetables 
and many kinds of fruit do well ; in fact, if a supply of water is assured 
either as rain or by irrigation during the dry season, almost everything 
required by civilised man can be grown. Excellent crops of wheat and 
oats may be raised all over Rhodesia during the dry season by irrigation, 
but if sown during the rainy season they are liable to suffer from rust. 

Big Game. — Elephants, once very plentiful throughout the greater 
portion of Rhodesia, had become so much reduced in numbers by constant 


Southern Rhodesia 


IOOI 


hunting and the indiscriminate slaughter of females and calves as well as 
males, by hordes of natives armed with good guns and rifles, and a few 
Boer and British hunters, that the export of ivory from Matabeleland in 
anything but very small quantities had practically ceased before the 
country was taken possession of by the white men, in 1893. There are still, 
however, a good many elephants wandering about over the vast unin- 
habited tracts of country lying between the high plateaux of Matabeleland 
and Mashunaland and the Zambezi. As the natives of the country have 
now been disarmed, or if possessed of firearms, have no means of obtain- 
ing ammunition, and as the elephants are now so scattered and so wild 
that it would not pay a European to hunt them, and as, moreover, it is now 
a penal offence to shoot one, it may be hoped that these fine animals 
will again gradually increase in numbers in those districts of Rhodesia 
which are unfitted for European settlement. 

All other classes of game, especially giraffes and many species of 
antelopes, which have been spared by the recent visitation of rinderpest,, 
are too, owing to the fact that the natives have been disarmed, and in 
spite of the increase of the European population, undoubtedly on the 
increase. Buffaloes, elands and koodoos have suffered so seriously from 
rinderpest that it is possible that they may become extinct. Lions are 
still numerous, and commit serious depredations upon the settlers’ live 
stock. They are therefore destroyed whenever it is possible to do so. 

History. — But little is known of the ancient history of Southern 
Rhodesia. Rock paintings of a character identical with those found in the 
mountain caves of Cape Colony and the Orange Free State seem to show 
that the country was once inhabited by Bushmen. This pygmy race must,, 
however, have been destroyed, or driven into the western deserts at a very 
remote period. Remarkable ruins of stone-built fortifications and temples,, 
curiously carved and containing evidence that the builders worked in gold,, 
are scattered over the plateau. They point to the early possession of the 
country by a civilised people, possibly the Sabasans from Arabia, and 
some believe that Southern Rhodesia contained the Ophir of Solomon. 
The Bantu races spread over the whole land, and, though divided into- 
several sections, all the various clans spoke dialects of one language. 
Early in the nineteenth century Rhodesia was invaded by two Zulu tribes, 
the Abazwang indaba and the Abagaza, who, after devastating large areas of 
country, fought with one another, and the Abazwang indaba being defeated 
crossed the Zambezi and now live on the plateau to the west of Lake 
Nyasa under the name of Angoni, while the Abagaza settled in the 
highlands near the Sabi river. In 1837 another Zulu clan, under the chief 
Umziligazi, left the Transvaal and settled in the west of Rhodesia, now 
known as Matabeleland. For over fifty years they preyed upon the 
surrounding peoples generically known as Mashunas, and depopulated 
enormous areas of country. In 1890 the Rhodes pioneer expedition occupied 
the east of the country, which had suffered greatly from the Matabele. 


1002 The International Geography 

Towns and Railways. — The township of Salisbury was established 
in 1890, and subsequently townships were laid out at Victoria , Umtali and 
Melsetter. Salisbury is most easily reached from the east coast by railway 
through the excellent seaport of Beira in Portuguese territory. As a result of 
the war of 1893 Matabeleland was definitely added to the territory of the 
British South Africa Company. Early in 1894 the European township of 
Bulawayo was established, some three miles distant from the old native 
kraal, near the top of the plateau close to the watershed. This town, which 
has already become an important place, has been connected with Cape Town 
(a distance of 1,600 miles) and with Salisbury. Lines have also been con- 
structed from Bulawayo to the Victoria Falls via the Wankie coal-fields 
and to the Gwanda gold-fields ; and from Gwelo (one of the most impor- 
tant of the more recent townships) to the Selukwe district ; while another 
will shortly be made from Salisbury to the Mazoe district in the north-east. 

THE BEGHUANALAND PROTECTORATE 

Position and Surface. — North of British Bechuanaland, which 
is now under the government of Cape Colony, lies the Bechuanaland 
Protectorate, containing the territories of several native chiefs, of whom 
the most important are, Batheon, Sebele (the son of Sechele), Linschwe 
and Khama. The southern portion of the Protectorate lies to the 
north of Bechuanaland proper, and extends west of the Transvaal 
for an indefinite distance into the Kalahari desert. In this part of the 
territory the natives live in large villages, most of which are situated 
on the headwaters of the Notwani and its tributaries flowing to the 
Limpopo. Before the terrible plague of rinderpest passed through 
the country in 1896 these people possessed large herds of cattle which, 
though spread over the country during the rainy season, were all collected 
along the rivers, round wells, or wherever there was permanent water, 
during the long dry season. The great waterless wastes of the Kalahari 
desert which lie to the west of the settlements are used as hunting grounds 
and are only permanently inhabited by a few scattered families of a people 
of Bantu origin, known as Bakalahari (i.e., they of the desert), who live near 
the few permanent wells, and collect skins and ostrich feathers for their 
Bechuana masters. 

The Bechuanaland Protectorate lies mainly on the western slope of the 
high plateaux of South Africa, and almost the whole of it has an altitude 
of about 3,500 feet. It is for the most part dry and arid, but good crops of 
maize, native corn ( Holcus sorghum ) and pumpkins are grown during the 
rainy seasons by the Bechuanas. Cattle, sheep and goats thrive well all 
over the country wherever there is water, as the pasturage is everywhere 
plentiful, and, except along the courses of the rivers, where fever is rife during 
the rainy season, the country is healthy for Europeans. 

Khama’ s Country. — By far the largest portion of the Protectorate is 
ruled over by the well-known and enlightened chief Khama, whose lands 


Bechuanaland 


1003 


extend from latitude 23 0 30' S. in the south, where they march with Sebele's 
country, to the junction of the Chobi with the Zambezi in latitude i7°5o' S. 
On the east they are bounded by the Transvaal and Southern Rhodesia, 
whilst to the west they extend in the southern portion for an indefinite 
distance into the Kalahari desert, and further north are divided by an 
undefined line from the country of Moremi, a chief whose principal settle- 
ment is on the Okovango River to the north of the desolate Lake Ngami. 
Both Khama and Moremi claim jurisdiction over the country lying along the 
southern bank of the Chobi to the east of Linyanti ; although this strip of 
•country has been assigned to Germany — by an Anglo-German convention 
without reference to either chief. Almost the whole of Khama’ s country 
is very sparsely peopled or entirely without permanent inhabitants ; 
the vast majority of his tribe live together in the town of Palapye, the 
largest native town in South Africa, and the remainder are occupied in 
lending the great herds of cattle which graze along the banks of the 
Limpopo and other rivers. Before the visitation of rinderpest Khama and 
his people were very rich in cattle and also possessed large herds of 
fat-tailed sheep, and goats of a fine, large breed. 

North-Western District. — The great desert wastes lying between 
the Botletlie River and Southern Rhodesia, and extending to the Chobi 
in the north, are uninhabited save by a few families of half-starved 
Masarwa Bushmen, wandering savages, who build no huts, do not till 
the ground, nor keep any kind of domestic animals save jackal-like dogs, 
but live on roots and honey, frogs and tortoises, with an occasional 
feast when they succeed in killing a large animal in a pitfall or with a 
poisoned arrow. The Bechuana tribes inhabiting the Protectorate are a 
branch of the great Bantu family who people South Africa, to the east of 
the Kalahari desert. South of the Zambezi the Bantu race may be divided 
linguistically into three branches, viz., that formed by the tribes speaking 
-Zulu and cognate dialects, those which speak Chiswina or dialects of that 
language, and those which speak Sechuana or Sasuto. All these languages 
and dialects have been derived from one parent language probably at no 
very distant period in the past, as they are still all nearly allied. 

A strip of country along the Transvaal frontier is reserved to the 
British South African Company, and along it the railway to Bulawayo which 
now runs beyond the Zambezi is carried. 

STATISTICS (estimates). 

Area square miles. Population. 

Southern Rhodesia 141,000 . . 450,000 

Bechuanaland Protectorate * 213,000 . . 200,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

P. C. Selous. “Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa.” London, 1893. 

“ Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia.” London, 1896. 

J. Bryce. “ Impressions of South Africa.” London, 1897. 

D. Randall-Maclver. “Medieval Rhodesia.” London, 1906. 

S. Passarge. “ Die Kalahari.” Berlin, 1904. 

65 


1004 The International Geography 

IV.— THE ORANGE RIVER COLONY 

By the Right Hon. James Bryce, O.M., F.R.S. 

Position and Surface. — The Orange River Colony is part of the 
great plateau of South Africa, and is not marked off by any natural 
boundaries of the first rank from the territories which border it on the 
north, west, and south. On the north and north-west it is divided from 
the Transvaal by the Vaal River, a stream of small volume except after 
rains, and from Cape Colony on the south by the Orange, but the physical 
character of the country on both sides of these rivers is similar. The surface 
is mostly level or gently undulating, with some ridges of hills and many 
isolated and frequently flat-topped eminences {kopjes), often bold in outline, 
but seldom rising more than 500 to 700 feet above the surrounding country. 
The whole plateau, however, has an elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet 
above the sea. The scenery, though in some places pleasing, cannot be 
called fine except along the river Caledon, where the views of the lofty 
Maluti Mountains in Basutoland are often very striking. During and 
immediately after the rains of early summer (November and December) 
the wide plains, dressed in fresh verdure, have an expansive beauty of 
their own under the brilliant air, but for the rest of the year they are arid 
and monotonous, and the landscape is somewhat dreary. The only con- 
siderable rivers are the Vaal on the north-east, the Caledon on the south- 
east, and the Orange, which forms the south-west boundary and carries 
the water of the other two to the Atlantic. They are not navigable. 

Climate, Flora and Fauna. — The climate is the normal one of the 
plateau, practically rainless during eight months of the year, with frequent 
heavy showers during the summer months of November, December, 
January and February, but a low annual rainfall. No part of South Africa 
is more healthy and bracing. Although snow seldom falls and soon dis- 
appears when it has fallen, the winter cold is severe in the higher and 
more exposed spots. In no part of South Africa is the want of w r ood 
more felt ; there are no forests, and few trees are found except thorny 
acacias on the open plains and willows along the watercourses. The wild 
animals, which were once very common, have now become comparatively 
rare ; but large herds of the beautiful springbok are still met with. 

Resources. — The mineral resources of the Colony, so far as they 
have been explored, are much inferior to those of the Transvaal. Very 
little gold has been found, but there is one important diamond mine at 
Jagersfontein, in the western part of the Colony near the Vaal River. Coal 
is found in the Kronstad and Heilbron districts in the north, but the coal 
deposits have not yet proved to be large in extent nor of high quality. 
Tillage is at present practically confined to the strip of fertile land 
which lies along the right bank of the Caledon between Ficksburg 
and Wepener. This is one of the best agricultural districts in South 


1005 


Orange Free State 

Africa, producing heavy crops of cereals without irrigation, for the rain- 
fall there is comparatively good, as the mountains of Basutoland are not 
far distant. Other places might be cultivated if a larger neighbouring 
market encouraged the construction of irrigation works, and if capital 
were available for the purpose. The main reliance of the inhabitants is 
in cattle-breeding, and farms are large, for the pasture, though thin in 
the hilly districts, is good, and (save in exceptionally dry seasons) water 
can be found almost everywhere. Since the great outbreak of cattle 
plague in 1895 and the war of 1899-1902 the number of cattle has been 
greatly reduced. There are no manufactures. 

History .-^When the country which is now the Orange River Colony 
was first explored (1800-1830) by hunters, and afterwards by mission- 
aries and wandering traders from Cape Colony, much of it was 
uninhabited, and large parts were in the hands of nomad Bushmen. 
There were considerable tribes of Kafirs of the great Bantu family, some 
of which had fled thither to escape the attacks of the Zulus, while some 
few Griquas, a mixed race of Dutch and Hottentot blood who lived chiefly 
by hunting, had moved eastward from Cape Colony and dwelt in the 
extreme west near the Orange river. About 1830 the cattle farmers in 
the outer part of the Colony began to drive their herds at certain seasons 
across the Orange river for change of pasture, and in 1836 the “ Great 
Trek,” an emigration en masse of some thousands of Dutch farmers from 
the Colony, brought a considerable white population for the first time into 
these regions. These emigrants desired to escape from the sovereignty of 
the British Crown, and were for some years permitted to live in practical 
independence. They did not, however, either eject the Kafir tribes or main- 
tain any regular government among themselves ; and their frequent quarrels 
with the natives, inducing trouble on the borders of the Colony, ultimately 
induced the British Government, w 7 hich had always continued to claim 
their allegiance, to move forward. In 1846 a British fort was erected and 
a garrison placed at Bloemfontein, and in 1848 the territory between the 
Orange and Vaal rivers was annexed under the name of the Orange River 
Sovereignty. The Dutch settlers, aided by those who had settled north- 
east of the Vaal, rose in arms and were defeated by Governor Sir Harry 
Smith, but troubles presently broke out with the Basuto Kafirs living to 
the south of the Sovereignty, and in 1854 the British Government (which 
had two years previously renounced its authority over the emigrant Boers 
who lived beyond the Vaal) withdrew from the Sovereignty, considering 
that it involved more expenditure and trouble than it was worth. The 
Sovereignty was recognised as independent, under the name Orange Free 
State, on undertaking never to permit slavery or the slave trade. In 1899 
war broke out between the Free State (allied with the Transvaal) and the 
United Kingdom, and, although Bloemfontein was occupied by the British 
army early in 1900, was prolonged for two years more, the supremacy of 
the British Crown being finally recognised by the peace of May 31, 1902. 


ioo6 The International Geography 



r lG. 475. — The Flag of the 
former Orange Free State. 


During the existence of the Orange Free State the government was 
vested in a popular assembly called the Volksraad, and in a President 
assisted by an Executive Council. This system worked smoothly, and 
the history of the Free State from 1854 to 1899 was, on the whole, free 

from trouble or excitement. The most important 
events were the successive wars with the Basuto 
Kafirs, in one of which the fertile territory along 
the north bank of the Caledon river was con- 
quered from that tribe, and the dispute with the 
British Government over the district in which the 
town of Kimberley now stands, where diamonds 
were discovered in 1869. Although sympathising 
with their kinsfolk in the Transvaal Republic, the 
people of the Orange Free State never assisted them against the British 
power until the war of 1899-1902. Before the war, about four-fifths of 
the white population were of Dutch origin, and the Dutch language — or 
rather a South African dialect of it — was generally spoken, except in 
Bloemfontein , the capital, and the only place large enough to deserve the 
name of a town, where nearly everybody knew something of both Dutch 
and English. In 1890 there were about 130,000 natives, some living in a 
tribal state and cultivating the land or keeping cattle, but the majority 
in the employment of the whites. Nearly all the 
whites and a great part of the Kafirs belonged to 
the Dutch Reformed Church, which received a 
grant from the public treasury. One line of rail- 
way, forming part of the trunk line which runs 
from Cape Town to Johannesburg and Pretoria, 
passes through the colony from end to end, and 
several branches have been constructed, while others 
are either under construction or contemplated, in- 
cluding one to join the main line with the Natal 
system via Harrismith. The colony was granted 
responsible government in 1907 with a constitution similar to that of the 
Transvaal. 



FlG. 476 . — Average pop- 
ulation of a square 
mile of the Orange 
River Colony . 


STATISTICS. 

1880. 

Area of Orange Free State, square miles (estimate) . . 48,326 

Population .. 

White Population 61,022 

Density of population per square mile 3 

Population of Bloemfontein . . . . . . . . 2,567 


1890. 

48,326 

207,503 

77,716 

4 

3,459 


Imports . . 
Exports . . 


ANNUAL TRADE (in pounds sterling) 1891-95. 


1,000,000 

1,500,000 


The Transvaal 


1007 


V.— THE TRANSVAAL COLONY 

By the Right Hon. James Bryce, O.M., F.R.S. 

Position and Surface. — The Transvaal Colony, formerly the South 
African Republic, and now (since 1894) including the dependent native 
territory of Swaziland, is bounded on the east by Portuguese East Africa 
and the British territories of Tongaland and Zululand, on the south by 
Natal and the Orange River Colony, on the west by Cape Colony and the 
British Bechuanaland Protectorate, on the north by territories of the British 
South Africa Company. About one-sixth of its area lies within the tropics. 
Physically it consists of two regions. The larger part belongs to the great 
South African plateau, and has an average altitude of from 4,000 to 5,500 
feet, some valleys sinking to 3,000, and a few eminences rising to 6,000 
feet. Like the rest of that great plateau, this part is bare and arid, covered 
with thin grass, and here and there with a still scantier growth of thorny 
trees and shrubs. It goes by the name of the High or Grass Veldt. About 
one-third of the area, forming the northern portions of the country and a 
long but comparatively narrow strip along the eastern border are much 
lower, from 1,000 to 3,000 feet above sea-level, and much hotter ; they are 
in most places well wooded, and are called the Bush Veldt. The most 
considerable range of mountains runs nearly north and south, forming the 
eastern edge of the great plateau to which the High Veldt belongs. 
This range is a part of the great chain which bears the name of Drakens- 
berg or Quathlamba, and some of its summits reach 7,000 feet. The 
smaller range of the Magaliesberg runs westward from Pretoria, dividing 
the basin of the Vaal river from that of the Limpopo. The only large 
rivers are the Vaal, which forms the southern boundary of the Transvaal, 
the Olifants (Elephant’s) river, and the Limpopo, which rises near Pre- 
toria, flows first north-westward to the Bechuanaland frontier, then turns 
north and east, and forms for a long distance the northern boundary. 
None of these is navigable. 

Climate. — The physical aspects, climate, fauna and flora of the 
High Veldt region are those typical of the South African Plateau. The 
rainfall is largest on the eastern mountain range, exceeding there 30 inches 
in the year, while on the western plains it is perhaps only 15 inches. 
As all the rain falls during the summer months, and nearly all of it in 
December, January, and February, the surface is very dry and parched 
during the rest of the year. The summer heat is intense, although tempered 
by strong south-easterly breezes ; while the winter cold is severe only in a 
few of the highest districts, such as the ridge of the Witwatersrand. There 
is, however, little frost and practically no snow, because of the dryness of 
the cold weather. The High Veldt is as a rule healthy, owing to its dry- 
ness ; but malarial fevers oc^ur in the lower grounds on the banks of streams. 
On the other hand the Bush Veldt region, being comparatively low and 


1008 The International Geography 

in many places marshy, covered with long grass and often with thick wood, 
is very feverish, particularly in the Limpopo valley and along the Portuguese 
frontier. In these woody regions the largest number of wild animals 
remain. The elephant and rhinoceros, together with the buffalo and many 
of the large antelopes, may still be killed in the north-eastern districts ; the 
lion, though growing rarer, is not yet extinct, and the leopard is still 
abundant. All the larger and some even of the smaller rivers are full of 
crocodiles, and the hippopotamus is found in the Limpopo. 

Agricultural Resources. — Many parts of the lower grounds are well 
suited for tillage, having a rich soil and a sufficient rainfall, but owing to the 
sparseness of the population and the prevalence of fever, only a trifling 
area is as yet under the plough. Cotton and sugar might be raised, as well 
as maize, which is at present practically the only crop. Artificial irrigation 
is necessary in most parts of the dry High Veldt, where the tillage as yet is 
mostly of the market-gardening kind along the streams. Excellent tobacco 
is raised, which might be made an important article of export. All the 
surface, except those lower parts of the Bush Veldt which are infested by 
the tsetse-fly, and some parts of the High Veldt where the soil is excep- 
tionally poor and stony, is fit for live stock ; and the keeping of cattle or 
sheep was, until the discovery of gold, practically the only occupation of 
the people. The grass is in most places so thin that the pastoral farms are 
very large, and it is the custom of the farmers to drive their herds in winter 
to the lower grounds of the Bush Veldt, and in summer to the High Veldt, 
where good fresh grass springs up after the rains of November and Decem- 
ber. The cattle were enormously reduced in number by the plague which 
Appeared in 1896 ; but the country is capable of supporting a much larger 
number than it has ever yet had. 

Mineral Resources. — In minerals the Transvaal is, so far as we yet 
know, far richer than any other part of South Africa. It has large deposits 
of coal, though not of the best quality ; the output for 1897 was returned at 
1,667,000 tons. Associated with the coal there are extensive beds containing 
iron. Copper, silver and lead have also been found, but are little worked. 
There are three districts in which diamond-mines are worked, though on a 
comparatively small scale. The gold which has made the country famous 
occurs in three forms, viz., alluvial deposits, quartz reefs, and beds of con- 
glomerate rock. The alluvial deposits occur in the valleys of the eastern 
mountain range, and do not seem to be important. The quartz reefs also 
occur chiefly in these mountains on the edge of the plateau. Some of them 
have been worked for more than twenty years, and many exist which have 
not yet been fully explored. They would receive more attention but for the 
superior attraction of the conglomerate beds where the goldTs found, not 
in “pay-shoots” here and there along the line of a quartz reef, but uniformly 
diffused through the sandy and clayey matter of the beds. The conglomerate 
is called “ banket,” the Dutch name for almond toffee, on account of its 
appearance, fragments of quartz being imbedded in the arenaceous 


The Transvaal 


1009 



Fig. 477 . — The Rand. 


matter. These auriferous beds occur along the edge of a geological 
basin about 46 miles long and 15 broad in the southern part of the 
republic. The northern rim of this basin is formed by the long rocky 
ridge called the Witwatersrand, and the gold-field, first discovered in 
1884, is hence known as The Rand. 

Before the war it produced about 
£ 16,000,000 worth of gold annually, 
and the Transvaal ranked as the first 
gold-supplying country of the world. 

The large mass of rock which is known 
to contain gold, and the generally 
uniform diffusion of the metal through 
it, gives gold-mining on the Rand a 
certainty found nowhere else, and 
make it worth while to expend large 
sums on sinking shafts and establishing costly machinery. The draw- 
backs are the difficulty of securing sufficient labour, as the hard work must 
be done by Kafirs, who dislike underground toil, and are moreover uncer- 
tain labourers (especially prone to drink), and the heavy cost of machinery 
and of food. 

People. — The Transvaal as a whole is very thinly peopled, and many 
parts of it, especially in the north-east, have no fixed white inhabitants, the 
cattle farmers being really nomadic in their habits. On the other hand, 
the Witwatersrand mining district has in Johannesburg the largest town in 
South Africa, and is studded with smaller towns. More than half of the 
white population live on or near the Rand. Of the whites in 1899 pro- 
bably one third, or 75,000, were descendants of the Dutch emigrants from 
Cape Colony, most of them speaking only the South African dialect of 
Dutch. These figures have, of course, changed since the late war, both 
absolutely and relatively. The remainder, numbering probably 150,000 
(though no exact figures are obtainable), had been drawn to the country by 

the gold-mines, and include English or Dutch speaking 
colonists from the Cape and Natal, natives of Great 
Britain, of Australia, of North America, and of Ger- 
many, with a few Frenchmen and Italians, as well as 

Russians. A great many are Jews. The great 

* 

majority of the new-comers speak English, and they 
form the trading and artisan part of the population, 
Fig. 478 .—Average pop- as well as the skilled miners. The natives are either 

ulation of a square (1) tribal Kafirs living under their own chiefs in 

mile of the Tfciiisvcicil . n *i j t • ji 11 i j » • i 

J Swaziland and in the northern and eastern districts, 

(2) domesticated servants of white masters, or (3) comparatively wild 

Kafirs who have come to the mines to work for a few weeks or months 

only, and then return with their wages to their remote homes. 

History. — The history of the Transvaal Colony, although short, 




ioio The International Geography 

has been chequered and troublous. In 1836 a large number of Boers 
(i.e., farmers of Dutch extraction), left Cape Colony in disgust at the 
wrongs which they held themselves to have suffered at the hands of the 
British Government. Many of them settled to the north-east of the Vaal 
river, and, defeating the natives who attacked them, formed several small 
self-governing communities which ultimately coalesced into one republic. 
The British Government continued to claim the Boers as its subjects till 
1852, when, by the Sand River Convention, it recognised the South African 
Republic as independent. During the twenty years that followed, the 
communities were involved in serious trouble with the natives. The con- 
dition of the Republic became so serious that the British Government 
feared that its colonies might also be involved in native wars, the inquiries 
it made led it to believe that annexation would not be unwelcome to the 
people, as this would ensure their protection against the Kafirs and im- 
prove their material interests. Accordingly the country was annexed in 
April, 1877. The Boers were, however, more strongly attached to their 
independence than the British had supposed, and some grave mistakes, 
made by the government increased the spirit of resistance. In the end of 
1880 it broke out in insurrection, the few British troops were compelled 
to surrender or were cooped up in the forts ; and the Boers who marched 
to the Natal frontier inflicted three defeats on the small British army 
which was preparing to recover the country. Convinced that the annexa- 
tion had been a mistake, made in ignorance of the sentiments of the 
people, and fearing that a general war of races might break out in South 
Africa if the conflict were prolonged, the British Government recalled the 
large force which it had sent out, and which could easily have crushed 
all resistance, and in 1881 concluded a convention whereby the autonomy 
of the Transvaal was recognised subject to the suzerainty of the British 
Crown and to certain conditions, which were modified by the Conven- 
tion of London in 1884. The Republic enlarged its boundaries by acquiring; 
(in 1888) one of the best regions of Zululand, and in 1894 it was allowed 
to annex Swaziland, the territory of a small native tribe lying on its. 
eastern border. In 1885 the wealth of the banket (conglomerate) gold- 
bearing beds of the Witwatersrand became generally known, and the 
immigration of foreign miners suddenly and immensely swelled. By 
1895 there were probably about 100,000 of these new-comers, and they 
outnumbered the whole of the Boer population. Being excluded from 
political rights, they set on foot an agitation to obtain a share of power, 
and in December, 1895, a body of mounted police in the service of the 
British South Africa Company entered the Republic in order to support 
the agitation. The invading force was, however, defeated and obliged to 
surrender. 

In October, 1899, war broke out between the South African Republic 
and the United Kingdom. Johannesburg and Pretoria were occupied by 
the British troops in June, 1900, but the Boers protracted the struggle 


The Transvaal 


ion 


until May 31, 1902, when a treaty of peace was signed, by which the 
country came under the British Crown. The colony was granted re- 
sponsible government in 1906, and is administered by an elected house 
of representatives and an upper house nominated by the Governor. 
The Boers belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, but all sects have 
been tolerated, although Roman Catholics and Jews were until re- 
cently subject to political disabilities. Education has hitherto been in 
a backward state, especially among the pastoral and semi-nomadic popu- 
lation ; and there are no manufactures, nor, in- 
deed, any handicrafts except those connected 
with mining. 

The railways in the Transvaal belonged, before 
the war, to a corporation called the Netherlands 
Railway Company, but have now been taken 
over by the Government, and are known as the 
u Central South African Railways." They radiate 
from Pretoria and Johannesburg to the coast at 
Delagoa Bay on the east, to Cape Town through the Orange River 
Colony in the south, and to Durban through Natal in the south-east. There 
are also one or two branch lines, and a trunk line to the north has been 
carried as far as Pietersburg. Pretoria is the seat of the legislature, 
public offices, and law courts, but Johannesburg , the centre of the 
Rand gold-field, is by far the largest and wealthiest town. English is 
now spoken by the majority of the inhabitants, but Dutch is still the 
language generally spoken by the rural population. The vast majority 
of the native Kafirs are heathen and speak only their own languages ; a 
few, however, understand Dutch. 



v 

FIG. 479 . — The forme t 
Transvaal Flag. 


STATISTICS. ( Estimates .) 


Population „ . . 

White Population „ . . 

Density of population per sq. mile 
Population of Johannesburg. . 

„ Pretoria (white) 


Imports 

Exports (including gold) 


, square miles 

1890. 

1898. 

.. 113,642 

.. 119,139 

• • • • 

.. 479.128 

867,897 

• • • • 

.. 119,128 

. . 245,397 

• • • • 

4 

7 

• • • • 

40,215 

. . 102,078 

5.000 

(in pounds sterling). 

. . 10,000 

1881-85. 

1891-95. 

1896. 

. . 700,000 

. . 5,726,000 

. . 14,000,000 

. . 500,000 

. . 5,000,000 

• • “ “ 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. L. Distant. “ A Naturalist in the Transvaal.” London, 1892. 

F. H. Hatch and J. A. Chalmers. “The Gold Mines of the Rand.” London, 1895. 
C. J. Alford. “ Geological Features of the Transvaal.” London, 1891. 

<r. M Theal. " History of South Africa." 5 vols. London, 1888. 

J. Bryce. “ Impressions of South Africa.” London, 1897. 

6.6 


1012 The International Geography 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

W. L. Distant. “A Naturalist in the Transvaal.” London, 1892. 

F. H. Hatch and J. A. Chalmers. “The Gold Mines of the Rand.” London, 1895. 

C. J. Alford. “ Geological Features of the Transvaal.” London, 1891. 

G. M. Theal. “ History of South Africa.” 5 vols. London, 1888. 

J. Bryce. “ Impressions of South Africa.” London, 1897. 

VI.— GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA 

By Graf von Pfeil. 

Position and Surface. — The coast of German South-West Africa, 
about 800 miles long, possesses no important harbours. Angra Pequena 
and Walfish Bay are gradually being filled with sand by the north-running 
coast current. Swakopmiinde is likely to become useful with artificial 
aid. South-West Africa may be termed the western part of the Kalahari 
plateau, which rises gradually and reaches its highest elevation in a 
region indicated by a line drawn from Mount Omatoko to the Awas 
Mountains, with an altitude of 8,500 and 6,900 feet respectively. The 
west end of the plateau is precipitous, forming a mountain range with 
meridianal direction, and approaches in Namaland nearer to the coast 
than in the northern part of the country. West of Windhoek the 
Mountains develop into ranges with more independent character. From 
its central and most elevated part the plateau slopes to the north and 
south as indicated by its river system. The Nosob, Awob and Fish rivers 
rise in the central mountainous district, and run south and east. Herero- 
land sends the Uomatako in a north-east direction to the Okovango. 
The precipitous western border of the Kalahari and also the adjacent 
district called the Kaoko, send their scanty waters through a number 
of rivers to the Atlantic ; but only the Swakop and Kuiseb are important. 
The Cunene, which for some distance forms the northern boundary 
of the protectorate, does not belong to its river system ; the Orange 
River, which forms the entire southern boundary, only belongs to it in 
so far as it is the recipient of all the rivers with a southerly course. With 
the exception of these two streams and the Okovango no South-West 
African river is perennial. After heavy rains they fill suddenly, and run 
for a short time ; but water can as a rule only be obtained by digging in 
the sand which fills their beds. The so-called pans, Etosa and others, are 
remarkable remnants of a lacustrine formation. Parallel with the coast 
runs a sandy desert belt, about 35 miles broad in the south, and narrow- 
ing to a point in the north. East of this belt a strip of mimosa bush 
extends to the foot of the mountains, which together with the Kalahari 
plateau form excellent grazing land. The porous calcareous sandstone 
which nearly everywhere composes the tableland, and covers the under- 
lying gneiss and granite, retains a large portion of the yearly rains, 
and yields water readily when dug into. Numerous hot springs exist. 
The climate is nowhere malarious except in the neighbourhood of the 


South Atlantic Islands 1013 

Okavango and Zambezi. In the mountainous districts ice occurs 
frequently. 

People and Government —Bushmen and Bergdamaras are pre- 
sumably the primitive inhabitants. Bantu tribes, Hereros and Ovampos, 
immigrated from the north. The Hottentots came from south of the 
Orange River. The Bantu tribes differ in languages and customs, 
and live under influential chiefs. The Hottentots, with but one com- 
mon tongue, are divided into many clans ruled by small but sometimes 
warlike chiefs. The Bergdamaras live in insignificant communities 
without chieftains. The Bastards, the progeny of Boers and Hottentots, 
are nearly all Christians, and form communities with tribal habits and 
rulers. The Bushmen roam in the Kalahari in yearly decreasing numbers. 
Vegetation is scanty ; the littoral district produces simply mimosas, the 
desert north of Swakop the welwitschia, on the banks of the rivers 
occurs the arra tree, on the sandy dunes the nara. Rare specimens of 
elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe and buffalo still exist ; antelopes are plentiful. 
South-West Africa was declared a German possession in August, 1884, 
after Liideritz of Bremen had previously bought the land by private 
contract from native chiefs. For purposes of administration the pro- 
tectorate is divided into three main districts, each the seat of a court of 
law, of an administrative officer and garrison for a number of colonial 
troops. Windhoek, the largest and most central settlement, is the residence 
of the military governor. A railway has been made to it from the coast 
at Swakopmund. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

F. J. von Biilow. “Drei Jahre im Lande Hendrik Witboois.” Berlin, 1896. 

K. Dove. “ Deutsch Siid-west Afrika.” Gotha, 1896. 

« 

VII.— ISLANDS OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC 

By Edward Heawood, M.A. 

Ascension. — The island of Ascension, eight miles in length, rises in 8°S. 
from the longitudinal ridge which divides the South Atlantic into an eastern 
and western trough. It is entirely composed of extinct volcanic cones, 
and except on Green Mountain (2,820 feet) in the south-east, the surface is 
parched and barren, water being scarce, but the climate is very healthy. 
Land crabs roam all over the island, and turtles frequent the shores in large 
numbers in the breeding season. Ascension was discovered by the Portu- 
guese in 1501, but was long unoccupied. It was garrisoned by Great 
Britain in 1815, and is entirely under naval rule, being, in fact, treated as a 
man-of-war. The anchorage is on the north-west coast, where is the small 
settlement of Georgetown. Landing is difficult on account of the rollers. 

St. Helena. — The island of St. Helena, in 16 0 S., 800 miles south-east 
of Ascension, is an isolated volcanic cone rising from the depths of the 


1014 - The International Geography 



Fig. 480 . — St Helena. 


eastern Atlantic. It is bounded by precipitous cliffs, and is composed of 
rugged ridges and plateaux, the highest ground (2,700 feet) forming a semi- 
circle concave to the south. When first visited, 
the island was covered with a rich vegetation, 
but the introduction of goats, coupled with the 
destruction wrought by man, ruined the red- 
wood and ebony forests, and the soil has 
since been in great part washed away by 
rain, leaving the slopes barren. Willows, pop- 
lars, and other plants of the temperate zone, 
have been introduced, and the native flora 
remains only in the most inaccessible parts. 

St. Helena was discovered in 1502, and, lying in the track of ships 
carried homewards from the Cape by the trade winds, soon became an 
important place of call. Occupied by the East India Company in 1651, it 
became a Crown Colony in 1834, but its importance 
has greatly declined since the introduction of steam 
navigation and the opening of the Suez Canal. It 
is famous as the place of exile of the first Napoleon 
(1815-21). The settlement of James Town occupies 
the mouth of a narrow valley on the north-west or 
lee side of the island, debouching on James Bay. 

The natural resources of the island are not great ; but Fig. 481 .—The Badge 
the fisheries off the coast are capable of development. st Helena ' 

Tristan da Cunha, with a few neighbouring islets, rises from the 
southern end of the same ridge as Ascension, in 37 0 S. It is bleak and 
inhospitable, being exposed to storm and rain for nine months in the year. 
Its highest summit — a rounded cone rising from a plateau ending in a cliff 
— is snow clad except in mid-summer. The one species of tree, Phylica 
arborea, stunted but fairly plentiful, is almost confined to the group. 
Tristan was occupied by Great Britain in 1816-17, and the present popu- 
lation (which has lately fallen to about fifty) consists of the descendants of 
a few of the garrison who remained, reinforced by settlers of various 
nationalities. They look to the British Government for protection, and are 
dependent on the occasional visits of men-of-war for communication with 
the rest of the world 



STATISTICS (approximate). 


Ascension (area in square miles) 58 

Population- of Ascension .. .. .. 200 

St. Helena (area in square miles) . . . . 47 

Population of St. Helena 4,000 

Tristan da Cunha (area in square miles) 45 

Population of Tristan da Cunha 50 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. B. Ellis. “ West African Islands.” London, 1885. 

J. C. Melliss. “St. Helena, a Physical and Topographical Description of the Island.” 

London, 1875. 

Mrs. D. Gill. “Six Months in Ascension. 1 ’ London, 1878. 



CHAPTER LIII.— ISLANDS OF THE WESTERN 

INDIAN OCEAN 


I.— MADAGASCAR 

By Rev. James Sibree, 

Antananarivo. 

Position and Exploration. — Madagascar is situated in the Indian 
Ocean, about 230 miles distant (at its nearest point) from the south-east 
coast of Africa, and is nearly twice as large as the United Kingdom. It 
extends from 12 0 to 25 0 S., and from 43 0 to 50^-° E. ; its length, from 
north to south, is 980 miles, the main axis of the island running north-north- 
east and south-south-west. Its broadest portion is near the centre, where 
it is 350 miles across ; from this part of the island its northern half forms 
a long, irregular triangle, while south of it the average breadth is 250 
miles. Although known to Arab merchants for more than a thousand 
years past, and frequently visited by Europeans since the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, Madagascar is still but imperfectly explored ; since the 
year 1865, however, numerous journeys have been made in the interior, 
and every year sees some fresh portion of the country mapped more or 
less accurately. Conspicuous in this work have been missionaries, both 
Protestant and Roman Catholic ; of the former the late Rev. Dr. Mullens, 
whose large map (1879) embodied all that was known up to that date ; and 
of the latter, Pere D. Roblet, S.J., whose fine map (1889) includes not only 
his own and other surveys, but also the discoveries of the distinguished 
French traveller and scientist, M. Alfred Grandidier, whose great work on 
the island, which is to include over fifty quarto volumes, was commenced 
in 1875 and is still (1903) in progress. 

Configuration. — Madagascar has a very regular and compact form, 
with but few indentations, considering its great length of shore-line. More 
than half of the eastern coast runs in an almost perfectly straight line ; but 
the north-west portion is broken up by a number of spacious inlets, some 
of them land-locked and of considerable area. The island consists of two 
great natural divisions, (1) an elevated interior region, raised from 3,000 to 
5,000 feet above the sea ; and (2) a comparatively level country surrounding 
the high land, and not much exceeding 600 feet in altitude, narrow on the 
east, but wide on the west and south ; it is broken up towards the west by 
three prominent ranges of hills running north and south. 

1015 


1016 The International Geography 

The elevated region is composed chiefly of gneiss and other crystalline 
rocks, with enormous quantities of red clay-like earth consisting of decom- 
posed gneiss. It is a mountainous region, there being very little level ground, 
except the river valleys, and some extensive and fertile plains, occupying the 
beds of ancient lakes. The general face of the interior country consists of 
bare rolling moors, from which the unstratified rocks protrude and form the 
highest parts of the hills ; these have mostly a rounded dome or boss-like 
outline, but in some districts present a very varied and picturesque appear- 
ance, resembling titanic castles, cathedrals, pyramids, and spires. This 
interior highland comprises about half the total area of the island, and is 
not exactly central, the watershed running down the eastern side of the 
island at no great distance from the coast. Ankaratra, probably an 
ancient volcano, with summits nearly 9,000 feet above sea-level, is the 
highest mountain of Madagascar. 

The lower region is fertile and well-wooded, especially on the eastern 
side of the island, which is bathed by the constant rains brought by the 
south-east trade-winds. The western and north-western portions consist 
principally of Secondary strata, of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, 
with some Eocene and Quaternary beds. From the south-east to the 
north-west and north groups of extinct volcanic craters occur, as well as 
streams and sheets of lava. These old cones and vents are very numerous 
near Lake Itasy (19 0 S., 47 0 E.), in the Betafo district, about 50 miles 
further south, and to the north on the island of Nosibe, and adjacent 
coast. Hot springs are found in many parts of the island, and slight 
earthquake shocks are felt every year. 

Hydrography. — Owing to the slope of the high land almost all 
the chief rivers of Madagascar flow to the west coast, crossing three- 
fourths of the breadth of the island. The Betsiboka, the Tsiribihina, the 
Mangoky, and the Onilahy are the largest and most important, and some of 
them can be ascended by vessels of light draught for a hundred miles or 
so, until rocky bars stop navigation. The eastern rivers, the largest of 
which is the Mangoro, cut their way through the ramparts of the high 
land by magnificent gorges amidst dense forests, descending by a suc- 
cession of rapids and cataracts. The largest lake is the Alaotra, in the 
Antsihanaka province. A remarkable chain of lagoons extends for about 
300 miles along the east coast, south of Tamatave, forming a natural water- 
way, which has been improved by the cutting of canals where necessary. 

Climate. — The climate of the high interior districts is temperate and 
healthy, with no intense heat ; but that of the coasts is much hotter, espe- 
cially on the west ; and from the large area of marsh and lagoon, malarial 
fever is prevalent and frequently fatal. The seasons are two, the hot and 
rainy season, from November to April, and the cool and dry season during 
the rest of the year. Rain, however, falls almost all the year round on the 
eastern coast, but is much less frequent on the western side. No snow is 
known, but hail showers and terrific thunderstorms are frequent in the hot 


1017 


Madagascar 

season, and hurricanes occur every few years. The average yearly rainfall 
at Antananarivo for 16 years was 53 inches ; at Tamatave, 90 to 100 inches, 
at Mojanga, on the north-east coast, 50 inches ; while average mean 
annual temperature at the same places was respectively 62°, 75 0 , and 79 0 F. 

Flora and Fauna. — All round the island is a nearly unbroken 
belt of dense forest, varying from 10 to 15 miles across, but most 
largely developed in the north-east. The flora is therefore very rich and 
varied, and contains large numbers of trees producing valuable timber, 
as well as numerous species of palm, bamboo, tree-fern, pandanus, baobab, 
tamarind, and euphorbia. The flora is divided by Rev. R. Baron into 
three regions — eastern, central and western. Among the most cha- 
racteristic forms of vegetation are the traveller’s-tree, the Rofia palm, the 
Madagascar spice-tree, the Casuarina, and the Tangena ; and also the 
curious lace-leaf plant, as well as numerous species of orchids and ferns. 
Many trees have large and showy flowers. Three-fourths of the species 
and one-sixth of the genera of the plants are endemic, showing that the 
island is of immense antiquity. About 4,000 indigenous species are known, 
and there is one natural order, Chlsenaceae, with 24 species, confined to the 
island. 

The fauna contains several exceptional and ancient forms of life, com- 
prising many species and even genera known nowhere else ; but, considering 
its proximity to Africa, the country is markedly deficient in the larger 
carnivora and in ungulate animals. Madagascar is specially the home of 
the Lemuridas, there being 38 known species of this and allied families of 
Quadrumana, and also the very curious aye-aye ( Cheiromys ). It is the 
chief habitat of the chameleons, about half of all the known species being 
found here. Of land-birds, 38 genera and 125 species are peculiar to the 
island, many of them being unlike any other living forms. The remains 
of many species of extinct struthious birds (^pyornithidae) are found in 
recent deposits, some of them being of gigantic size (over ten feet high), 
and laying the largest known egg (12J in. by 9J in.). Fossil remains of 
immense tortoises, saurians, and lemuroids have also been discovered. 1 

People. — The Malagasy people appear to be mainly derived from 
the Malayo-Polynesian stock, and they have also numerous points of 
connection with the Melanesian tribes, from which the darker element 
of the Malagasy is probably derived. There is also an admixture of 
African blood, especially in the western regions ; and there is an 
Arab element both on the north-west and south-east coasts. The 
Hova, the most advanced, civilised and intelligent Malagasy tribe, 
inhabiting the central province of Imerina, and the dominant race for the last 
century, are probably the latest immigrants and the most purely Malayan 
in origin. Other important tribes are the Betsileo (southern central), Bara 
(further south-west), Tanala (south-eastern forests), Betsimisaraka (east 

1 A decree of the Governor-General in 1898 reserves to Frenchmen alone the right of 
collecting or searching for these fossils. 


ioi8 The International Geography 

coast), Sihanaka (north-east central), and Sakalava (nearly the whole west 
coast). All the coast peoples, who are much subdivided, appear to be 
closely connected with each other in language ; and, although there are 
many dialectal differences, the language of the whole country is substan- 
tially one, and is nearly allied to Malayan and Melanesian. The Malagasy 
not having had their language reduced to writing until the early part of ' 
the nineteenth century, have no ancient literature, but their numerous 
proverbs, songs, fables and folk-tales, and their oratorical gifts, as well as 
the copiousness of their language, prove their intellectual acuteness. In 
their heathen state they are immoral, untruthful and cruel in war ; but 
they are also courageous, affectionate and firm in friendship, kind to their 
children and their aged and sick relatives, law-obeying and loyal, very 
courteous and polite, and most hospitable. While retaining some 
traditions of a Supreme Being, they practised, and in parts of the island 
still practise, a kind of fetishism, together with divination, curious ordeals 
and ancestor-worship. 

History. — Madagascar was first mentioned under its present name by 
Marco Polo (1300), but the Portuguese navigator Diogo Diaz was, in 1500, 
the first European to see the island. Colonies were subsequently formed 
on the coast by the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English, and the French, but 
none of these w T ere maintained for long ; although the French held the 
islands of Ste. Marie and Nosibe, until the war of 1883-85 resulted in their 
obtaining the protectorate of the whole country, and the war of 1895 
gained for them the sovereignty of Madagascar. The island is now a 
French colony, ruled by a Governor-general, with subordinate officers at 
all the principal towns and ports, and native officials acting under French 
authority. 

Up to the middle of the seventeenth century Madagascar was divided 
into a number of independent chieftaincies. About that time, however^ 
the Sakalava, a warlike tribe on the south-west coast, conquered the 
whole western side of the island, and founded two powerful king- 
doms. Early in the nineteenth century the Hova, under Andrianam- 
poinimerina (died 1810) and his son Radama I., threw off the Sakalava yoke 
and gradually made themselves masters of all the northern half of the 
island, and of much of the interior and the eastern seaboard. Radama 
abolished the export slave-trade and gave encouragement to English 
missionaries, who commenced work at his capital in 1820. They reduced 
the language to a written form, translated the Holy Scriptures, formed 
numerous schools, founded Christian churches, and introduced many of 
the arts of civilised life. The accession of Queen Ranavalona I. in 1828 
stopped progress ; a severe persecution of the native Christians ensued, 
until the accession of Radama II. in 1861 reopened Madagascar to 
Europeans. Thenceforward continuous progress has been made in 
commerce and civilisation. Under Queen Ranavalona II. (1868-83) 
Christianity was outwardly accepted by the peoples of the central 


1019 


Madagascar 

provinces. In 1895 there were 1,600 Protestant Christian congregations, 
with 280,000 adherents, but the Roman Catholic influence, then much 
smaller, has largely increased owing to the methods adopted by the 
Jesuit missions. Several colleges and high schools, as well as hospitals, 
dispensaries, leper asylums and orphanages, have been established ; 
and the mission presses issue 250,000 copies annually of various publi- 
cations. 

Trade and Communication. — The things made in Madagascar 
are literally “ manu ’’-factures, since all are made by hand. The Malagasy 
are skilful in the weaving of cloths or lamba for their own use, of silk, 
cotton, hemp and rofia fibre, from which cloths called rabannas are made 
and exported to Mauritius and Reunion. They also plait a great variety of 
strong and beautiful mats of different vegetable fibres ; many thousand 
mat bags are sent to the Mascarene Islands for packing sugar, and fine 
straw hats are made, and are the usual head-covering of the Hova and 
other tribes. The principal exports of Madagascar are cattle, hides, gum-- 
copal, india-rubber, bees-wax and rice, and, more recently, ebony and 
other valuable woods ; coffee, tea, sugar and vanilla are also being 
cultivated by Europeans. The chief imports are cotton goods, iron- 
mongery, crockery, tinned provisions and rum. The principal trade is from 
the eastern ports to Mauritius and Reunion, and also with Europe, India,. 
America and South Africa, but France takes a preponderating share. , The 
whole foreign trade was estimated in 1901 at about £1,650,000, of which 
sum imports (mainly cottons) accounted for about £1,300,000. The soil 
of the coast plains, especially of the east side, is fertile, and could supply 
quantities of most tropical productions. Iron is abundant, especially as 
magnetite, and also as haematite and ironstone ; and the Malagasy are 
skilful in the working of this and all other metals. Other mineral pro- 
ductions are copper, galena (lead), sulphur, and gold in considerable 
quantities. Until the French occupation there were no roads in the 
country, but these have now been constructed between the principal 
towns, while a railway has been made from Tamatave to the capital, and 
others are projected. Telegraph lines have also been opened. Away 
from the main routes the chief means of conveyance is a kind of light 
palanquin, carried by four bearers, and all merchandise and produce 
is carried on men’s shoulders. The rivers are largely used by native 
canoes. 

Towns. — The towns are few and of no great size, the largest being 
the capital, Antananarivo (French, Tananarive) originally a tribal chief 
village, then the Hova capital, and finally the chief town of Madagascar. 
It is built on the summit and slopes of a long, rocky ridge rising about 
700 feet above the surrounding valleys. It doubtless owes its position to 
its situation on the edge of a magnificent and extensive rice-plain, watered 
by the river Ikopa and its tributaries, which also supports several hundred 
neighbouring villages. It contains many large and handsome buildings— 




1020 The International Geography 

palaces, churches, public offices, colleges and schools, and private 
residences of brick and stone. The only other inland town of importance 
is Fianarantsoa, the capital of the Betsileo province, also near a fine rice- 
plain, and with many handsome buildings. The chief ports are Diego - 
Suarez in the extreme north, Tamatave, Vatomandry, Malta no ro , Mananjara 
and Fort Dauphin on the east coast, and Majunga in the north-west. 


STATISTICS. 


f These figures are estimates only.) 


Area of Madagascar (square miles) 
Population of Madagascar .. 

„ „ Antananarivo 

„ „ Tamatave . . 

* „ Fianarantsoa 


. . 230,000 

. . 4,000,000 

. . 60,000 

. . 12,000 

. . 10,000 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. Grandidier. “ Histoire Physique, Naturelle et Politique de Madagascar.” Many 
volumes. Paris, 1876 (in progress). 

E. F. Gautier. “ Madagascar, Essai de Geographic Physique.” Paris, 1902. 

J. Sibree. “The Great African Island.” London, 1880. 

“ Madagascar before the Conquest.” London, 1896. 


II. — SMALLEE ISLANDS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN 

By the Editor . 1 

Islands of Indian Ocean. — The British colony of Mauritius is an 
island in the western Indian Ocean, in 20° S., and about 500 miles east of 
Madagascar. Several distant groups and scattered islands are attached to it 
politically. The principal are the Seychelles, Rodriguez, the Amirantes 
and the Oil Islands, the latter including the Chagos Group, of which Diego 
Garcia is the most important. The islands of Mauritius and Reunion 
crown a small rise of the ocean floor everywhere surrounded by depths 
exceeding 2,000 fathoms, and Rodriguez and the Chagos archipelago are 
similarly isolated. The other islands, however, and some extensive banks 
are all based on the great sickle-shaped rise, the western arm of which 
is occupied by Madagascar, as shown in the sketch-map (Fig. 482). 
These islands are particularly interesting, from the biological point of view, 
on account of the singular character and distribution of some of their 
animals and plants. 

Mauritius — Physical Features. — The coasts of Mauritius are 
generally low, with several deep openings, and fringed by coral reefs. 
There are, however, only two good harbours — Port Louis, in the north- 
west, and Grand Port, in the south-east ; but the latter, being exposed 
to the south-east trade wind, is now little used. The central part of 
the island consists of a plateau, rising into three principal groups of 
mountains ; that in the south-west containing the highest summit in the 


1 Assisted by E. J. Hastings. 


Islands of the Indian Ocean 1021 


island, Piton de la Riviere Noire, which reaches 2,700 feet. The Port 
Louis group, in the north-west, culminates in the remarkably shaped peak 
of Mount Peter Botte. The north is low, and in part jungle-covered. 
There are numerous streams, tor- 
rents during the rainy season, but 
at other times of small volume. Vol- 
canic rocks predominate, but coral 
rock also occurs. The forests, which 
formerly covered a great part of the 
island, are now represented by a 
narrow coast belt of trees, known as 
the Pas Geometriques, and some other 
Government reserves in different 
parts. Ebony was formerly abun- 
dant, the coco-nut flourishes, and 
amongst special forms may be noted 
a species of pandanus, the fibres of 
which are used for the manufacture 
of sugar sacks, and the Ravenala, 
or travellers tree, found on the 
plateaux. The only indigenous mam- 
mal is the fruit-eating bat ; the 
numerous monkeys, deer and hares 
have been introduced. The dodo 



lover20D0fm.lS3overl000 fm.Q under|Q00frnf]3lan<l 
....... .lOOfmlihs. 


Fig. 482 . — Islands of Western Indian Ocean. 


mm&X. 

liHI 


• -•7.V. -.v 


and a large land tortoise which abounded on the island when the first 
European visitors arrived are now quite extinct. The climate is, on 
the whole, healthy, but epidemics of malarial fever have occurred, and 
it appears now to be endemic amongst the native population. The 

average rainfall may be taken for the lower 
parts at about 50 inches, but in the high 
plateaux (at Curepipe) it exceeds 130 inches. 
Hurricanes sometimes occur, and cause great 
destruction. 

History and Government of Mau- 
ritius. — The island was discovered in 1505 
by Mascarenhas, a Portuguese navigator, and 
by him named Cerne, the supposed ancient 
name of Madagascar ; in 1598 a Dutch captain 
landed at Grand Port, and gave the island 
its present name in honour of Prince Maurice. 
In the middle of the seventeenth century the 
Dutch attempted, unsuccessfully, to make a 
many of the slaves whom they brought from 







Fig. 483. — Mauritius . 

settlement at Grand Port 
Madagascar escaped to the woods, and later these Marons caused much 
trouble to the colonists. In 1715, the Dutch having abandoned the island, 



1022 The International Geography 

it was taken by the French East India Company. Mahe de Labourdonnais,; 
who arrived as governor in 1735, proceeded with energy and success to 
develop the resources of the island, establishing Port Louis as the seat of 
government, introducing the sugar industry, and encouraging the culti- 
vation of cotton and indigo. The colony continued to flourish, and even 
acquired a degree of local independence, but at the same time it was 
active in its hostility to British interests and commerce in the east. It was 
accordingly captured by a British expedition in 1810, and its cession was 
formally acknowledged by the Treaty of Paris, when Reunion, which 

had also been taken, was restored to France. The 
present government is that of a Crown Colony, the 
entire administration being vested in the Governor ; 
various modifications have, however, been effected at 
different times, the most important being that of 1885, 
when a representative element was introduced. The 
population at the time of the British occupation con- 
Fig. 484 —The Badge sisted, besides the French settlers, chiefly of negroes, 
of Mauritius. m ost of whom had been brought in as slaves. On the 

abolition of slavery Indian coolies were imported to supply labour, and 
this has resulted in a great predominance of Indians, who now form 
two-thirds of the population. 

Trade and Towns of Mauritius. — Agriculture is the only 
important industry, and sugar-cane is the staple crop. Almost all the 
necessaries of life have to be imported from India, Australia, Cape 
Colony and the United Kingdom. The principal export is sugar, which 
forms nine-tenths of the total. Two lines of railway run through the 
island. There is regular communication with Marseilles and Ceylon. 

Port Louis, the capital and chief town, is situated on the north-west 
coast. It is enclosed on the land sides by mountains, which cut it off from 
the prevailing south-east winds, and thus, in part, account for its rather 
unhealthy character. The houses are built on the slopes of the hills, and 
there is a good water supply. The harbour is defended by fortifications, 
and concentrates the foreign trade of the island. Curepipc, on the interior 
plateau, at an elevation of over 1,800 feet, enjoys a cool and healthful 
climate, and is now the principal sanatorium. There are important botanic 
gardens and a well-equipped observatory to the north-east of Port Louis. 

Amongst the small dependencies of Mauritius which cannot be further 
noticed are the St. Brandon Isles, Aldabra, noted for its large land tor- 
toises, and the Amirantes Islands, yielding coco-nut oil. 

STATISTICS. 

Area of Mauritius Island (in square miles) 

Population of Mauritius . . 

Density of population per square mile. . 

Population of Port Louis (with suburbs) 


1881. 1891. 1901. 

• • 705 . . 705 • • 705 

. . 360,411 .. 370,934 .. 378,195 

• • 5 11 * » 5^6 . . 536 

. . 70,000 . . 62,046 . . 52,740 



Islands of the Indian Ocean 


1023 


ANNUAL TRADE OF MAURITIUS (in dollars ). 


1871-75. 1881-85. 1891-95- 

Imports 11,965.000 .. 13,440,000 .. 15,950,000 

Exports , . . . . . . • . . 15,280,000 . . 18,870,000 . . I3.335. 000 


The Seychelles. — The Seychelles archipelago lies 930 miles 
north of Mauritius, in about 4 0 S. The group consists of thirty-four 
islands, many of which are merely uninhabited rocks. They are moun- 
tainous, composed of volcanic rock, and rising to nearly 3,000 feet, well- 
watered and fertile, with groves of coco-nut palms and fine timber trees, 
and capable of producing all kinds of tropical plants. The characteristic 
product of the group is the coco de nier , a kind of double coco-nut, which 
grows only in two of the islands (Praslin and Curieuse), and is found 
nowhere else in the world. Coco-nut oil is the staple product, and vanilla 
is an important culture. The islands are surrounded by coral reefs. The 
climate is excellent. Mahe, the principal island, has on the north-east 
Port Victoria , the small capital, with a fine, sheltered harbour. 

The islands, said to have been discovered by the Portuguese in 1505, 
were explored, by direction of Labourdonnais, in 1743, an< ^ a ^ ew years 
later were annexed by France. In 1794 they were taken by the British. 
The majority of the inhabitants are of African descent; the few whites are 
•chiefly of French origin. 

Rodriguez.— Rodriguez lies 350 miles east of Mauritius in 19 0 40' S. 
It is of volcanic origin, mountainous (rising to 1,760 feet), exceedingly 
picturesque, and possessing in the south-west beautiful stalactite caverns. 
It is well-watered, fertile and enjoys a good climate. Maize, fruits and 
vegetables of various kinds are cultivated ; cattle and goats are reared, 
and fishing is an important industry. The inhabitants are chiefly African. 
The island was discovered early in the sixteenth century by a Portu- 
guese, Diego Rodriguez. In the eighteenth century it was occupied by 
the French, and in 1809 seized by the British as a base of operations 
against Mauritius. 

The Chagos Archipelago.— Oil Islands is the general name given 
to various scattered groups, which have no physical connection, lying 
between 6|° and io° S., and between 77 0 and 48° E., including the Ch&gos, 
Eagle or Trois Freres, and Cosmoledo Island. They are mainly used for 
the production of coco-nut oil, and are for the most part exploited by 
Mauritian proprietors. The inhabitants are few, chiefly African and 
Malagasy, and are under the jurisdiction of a travelling stipendiary magis- 
trate, representing the Mauritius government. Diego Garcia, one of the 
Chagos group, in 7 0 S., is a coral atoll enclosing a fine harbour, of special 
importance as a coaling station on the routes between the Red Sea and 
Western Australia, and between Mauritius and Ceylon. 


1024 The International Geography 

in.— REUNION. 

By M. Zimmermann. 

Reunion. — The island of Reunion, formerly called Bourbon, situated 
in 2i°S. and 55-J 0 E., near Mauritius, is one of the Mascarene group lying 420 
miles to the east of Madagascar (Fig. 482), It is entirely volcanic, although 
there are no longer active volcanoes in the north-western part where the 
eroded cliffs of lava surround great corries, or cirques, formed by subsi- 
dence, and rise in rugged peaks over 6,500 feet in height. The Piton des 
Neiges attains an altitude of 10,070 feet. Volcanic activity still manifests 
itself in the south-east, where the Piton de la Fournaise reaches the height 
of 8,200 feet. Most of the inhabitants live near the coast, on which there 
are many small towns, while in the interior, more than 2,500 feet above 
the sea, the sanatoria of Salazie and Hellbourg are situated on the wind- 
ward, or north-eastern, side of the island. The mean annual temperature 
on the coast at St. Denis is 78° F., and the rainy season lasts from 
December to April. The island was occupied by the French in 1664, 
and, thanks to the richness of the coffee plantations, it was one of the most 
successful of the colonies of the early period. In the nineteenth century 
the place of coffee as a staple production was taken by sugar, and the 
planters prospered greatly for a time, although now the competition of 
beetroot sugar has almost ruined the island. The production fell from 
82,000 tons of sugar in i860 to 34,000 in 1894 ; in the same period 
the trade of the colony diminished to one-fifth of its former amount, 
and the population is also falling off. In addition the suppression of 
slavery and the institution of universal suffrage have transferred political 
power from the whites to people of colour : Chinese, Malays, Hindus and 
Arabs. A railway runs from St. Benoit on the north-east coast to the 
capital, St. Denis, in the north, and continues round the coast to St. Pierre 
on the south-west ; it is remarkable for the number and length of its tunnels. 

Remote Dependencies. — The lonely volcanic islets of St. Paul and 
Amsterdam, situate about 37 0 S. in the Indian Ocean, midway between 
Africa and Australia, and the desolate island of Kerguelen in 50° S. and 
70° E., are recognised as French possessions. The islands have hitherto 
been little visited, except occasionally by sealing and whaling ships. 
Kerguelen has, however, been touched at by various scientific expeditions, 
including those of the Challenger and Valdivia, of the astronomers who 
observed the Transit of Venus there in 1874, and the German Antarctic 
Expedition, which kept up a magnetic observatory during 1902. 

STATISTICS (about 1895). 


Area of Reunion, in square miles 965 

Population . . . . . 172,000 

Density of population per square mile 178 

Population of St. Denis 26,000 

# 


STANDARD BOOK. 

M. Mounier. “Crags and Craters ; Rambles in the Island of Reunion." London, 1896. 


V 


BOOK VII.— THE POLAR REGIONS 


CHAPTER LIV.— THE NORTH POLAR REGIONS 

I.— THE ARCTIC RECORD 

By Sir Martin Conway. 

Arctic Exploration. — The earliest venture in Arctic exploration was 
the voyage of Pytheas beyond the British Islands about b.c. 300, when the 
first rumours of the frozen sea and the Arctic night were heard. The 
voyage of the Norseman Othere, who about a.d. 840 rounded the North 
Cape and reached the White Sea, is of special interest, as being recorded 
by King Alfred the Great in a note on his translation of Orosius’ History 
of the World ; this was the first record of geographical discovery in the 
English language. A new period of exploration was introduced by the 
desire to find a northern passage to Asia under the stimulus of the voyages- 
of Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan ; this led to the development 
of an extremely valuable trade in cod, seals and whales, which introduced 
the period of whaling voyages, and the associated cruises of men-of-war 
sent north by various governments to assist vessels in distress or to explore 
and protect the fishing grounds. A period of great scientific expeditions- 
next ensued, sent out by governments for the purpose of investigating 
terrestrial magnetism and conditions of climate, which merged into the still 
current period of small private, or semi-private expeditions animated by 
scientific or adventurous motives, and each usually dependent on some 
definite theory or plan. 

The Search for a Northern Passage. — The voyage of Cabot in 
1497 was the first which set out with the intention of finding a way to the 
Indies by the North-west. It resulted in the discovery of the Newfound- 
land fisheries and the continent of North America. In 1553 the expedition 
of Willoughby and Chancellor, and in 1580 that of Pet, to find a passage 
round the north of Asia failed to get beyond the entrance of the Kara Sea,, 
but opened up the profitable trade of the Muscovy Company with the White 
Sea. Meanwhile Sir Martin Frobisher made a dashing cruise to the west- 
ward, and, misled like all the voyagers in northern seas of his period by 
the errors of the map of the Zeni, believed that he had discovered the 
beginning of the passage in the deep bay which now bears his name. In- 
1578 Sir Francis Drake, finding it prudent after a privateering voyage 
against the Spanish ports on the Pacific coast of South America to return 

1025 


1026 The International Geography 

to England by an unfrequented route, spent some time in a vain search for 
the hypothetical Strait of Anian from the Pacific side. 

Towards the end of the sixteenth century the merchants of London 
and of Holland took up the question of a North-west or North-east Passage 
very seriously. John Davis was sent out successively in 1585, 1586, and 
1587, and as a result of his explorations he pointed to the entrance of 
Hudson’s Bay as one possible route, and passing northwards up Davis 
Strait he reached 72 0 N. on the west coast of Greenland, where he reported 
“no ice to the north, but a great sea, free, large, very salt and blue and 
of an unsearchable depth.” He named the headland at which he turned 
“Sanderson his hope of a North-west Passage to India,” and Sanderson’s 
Hope it remains to-day. Barents, a heroic Dutch pilot, made three great 
voyages between 1595 and 1597, which cannot be better summarised 
than in the title-page of the English translation of his story : — 

“The True and Perfect Description of three voyages so strange and 
woonderful that the like, hath never been heard of before. Done and 
performed three yeares, one after the other, by the ships of Holland 
and Zeland, on the north sides of Norway, Muscovia, and Tar tar ia, towards 
the Kingdomes of Cathaia and China : shewing the discoverie of the 
straights of Weigates, Nova Zembla, and the country lying under 8o° ; 
which is thought to be Greenland, 1 where never any man had bin before : 
with the cruell Beares and other monsters of the Sea, and the unsupport- 
able and extreame cold that is found to be in those places. And how that 
in the last voyage the shippe was so enclosed by the Ice that it was left 
there, whereby the men were forced to build a house in the cold and desart 
country of Nova Zembla, wherein they continued ten monthes together, 
and never saw nor heard of any man, in most greate cold and extreame 
miserie ; and how after that, to save their lives, they were constrained to 
sail over 350 Dutch miles which is above 1000 miles English, in little open 
boates, along and over the maine Seas, in most great daunger, and with 
extreme labour, unspeakable troubles and great hunger.” 

Barents, brave and cheerful to the end, died on the boat voyage, the 
first of a long series of Arctic victims. 

Hudson in 1607 sailed due north between Greenland and Spitsbergen 
in the attempt to reach Japan across the pole. He reached the farthest 
north so far attained, 8o° 23'. In 1613, when following up Davis’s western 
route, he was cast adrift by a mutinous crew in the bay which perpetuates 
his name. Baffin, the most successful of the many who sought for a 
passage from Davis Strait in those years, traced the outline of that gulf 
north to 770 35', pointing out and naming the entrances of Smith and Jones 
Sounds, and as he believed it to be closed to the northward it came to be 
called Baffin Bay. For 236 years no other navigator went so far in that 
•-direction ; and attempts to find a North-west or North-east Passage were 


1 This was Spitsbergen. 


The Arctic Record 


1027 


gradually given up. Russian travellers traced out the north coast of Asia 
on land ; Dezhneff in 1648, and Vitus Bering in 1728 made pioneer sea- 
excursions through Bering Strait. The employes of the Hudson Bay 
Company subsequently performed the same service for the north coast of 
America, Mackenzie tracing the Mackenzie River to the sea in 1798. 

The Whaling Cruises. — During the seventeenth and eighteenth 
centuries and the first thirty or forty years of the nineteenth, large whaling 
fleets visited the seas east of Greenland and Davis Strait every year, and 
many of the ships sailed far to the north. Two of the British government 
expeditions in the eighteenth century are specially memorable ; that under 
Phipps in 1773 (accompanied by the great Nelson as a midshipman), which 
reached 8o° 48' north of Spitsbergen, and that under Captain Cook on his- 
third voyage in 1776, when he tried in vain to force a way first eastward 
and then westward from Bering Strait. 

The greatest of the whalers was Scoresby, a master in his craft and one 
of the most fortunate, an earnest student of nature and a keen explorer. 
He traced out much of the almost inaccessible east coast of Greenland and 
in 1806 he carried his ship to the farthest north of the period, 8i° 30'.^ In 
connection with whaling many government expeditions were sent out 
to investigate the conditions of ice-navigation, to relieve distressed and 
shipwrecked crews, or to search for new and profitable whaling 
grounds. 

In one of the few expeditions which set out with the avowed purpose 
of trying to reach the pole Sir Edward Parry, in 1827, sailed north of 
Spitsbergen, and by sledging over the ice-floes succeeded in reaching the 
remarkable latitude of 82° 45'. He continued to struggle on until he found 
the southward drift of the floes in the East Greenland current carried him 
more miles to the south in one day than his men were able to drag the 
sledges northward. During the previous century the Arctic seas had 
become familiar to seafaring men to an extent that it is now difficult 
to realise, and it was a common thing for many vessels to winter in 
the ice. 

The Achievement of the Northern Passages. — Scoresby’s dis- 
coveries revived the dormant interest in Arctic exploration, and in 1818 Sir 
John Ross was sent out by the British government to search for a North- 
west Passage by sea. Ross explored Baffin Bay, but failed to find its 
northern opening, although he met and for the first time described the 
most northerly tribe of Eskimo. Mistaking Lancaster Sound for a closed 
bay, he returned without adding to the knowledge of the north-west. In 
the following year Sir Edward Parry was sent out with the Hecla and 
Griper , and succeeded in penetrating Lancaster Sound, threading the 
channels of the Arctic archipelago to the entrance of Banks Strait, and 
thus earned a reward of ^5,000 offered by the British government to the 
first Arctic explorer who passed no 0 W. Several subsequent voyages led 
to no advance on this journey. In 1829, on a private expedition under Sir 


1028 The International Geography 

John Ross, his nephew, Sir James Clark Ross, fixed the position of the 
North Magnetic Pole on the peninsula of Boothia Felix in 70° 5' N. and 
96° 44' W. For ten years small parties under conditions of extraordinary 
hardship continued to trace out the Arctic coast of North America by land, 
Sir John Franklin, Sir George Back, Sir John Richardson, and Mr. T. 
Simpson won fame from their heroic and successful efforts in this field. 

In 1845 a finely-equipped expedition sailed from England in the Erebus 
and Terror, 'which had just returned from their successful Antarctic voyage, 
and Sir John Franklin, although fifty-nine years of age, insisted on taking 
command. His instructions were to use every effort to reach the Pacific 
from Lancaster Sound. On July 26, 1845, the vessels were spoken by a 
whaler in Davis Strait : they were never seen again. In 1848 anxiety 
as to the explorers became acute, and vigorous efforts were made by 
land and sea, through government and private expeditions, to discover their 
fate. As a result no part of the Arctic regions has been so minutely 
explored as that to the north of America. Ships were sent out both by 
Lancaster Sound or Hudson Bay and by Bering Strait with orders to leave 
nothing undone which might throw light on the fate of the Erebus and 
Terror and their crews. McClure in the Investigator entering Bering Strait 
in 1850, made his way eastward to Barrow Strait, where the ship grounded, 
and after wintering two years the party left it and travelling over the ice 
returned to England by a vessel from Baffin Bay. The North-west Passage 
was not made again until 1905, by Amundsen. The numerous naval 
•expeditions sent out through the straits leading off Baffin Bay encountered 
an almost unparalleled succession of misfortunes, but many magnificent 
pieces of exploration resulted, amongst them the sledging journeys of 
Sir Leopold McClintock, which have never been surpassed. In 1854 
Dr. John Rae on a land journey learned from the Eskimo that a 
great disaster had occurred, and that the Franklin expedition was totally 
lost. In the following year the British Admiralty gave up the search, 
which was, however, pursued with increased energy by private effort 
directed by the determination of Lady Franklin. In 1857 Sir Leopold 
McClintock sailed in the steam yacht Fox , was beset by ice in Melville 
Bay and drifted 1,200 miles to the southward in the Arctic current before 
getting free ; but the voyage was at once resumed and finally crowned 
with success. In the spring of 1859 he discovered, in a cairn on King 
William Land, the only document relating to the Franklin expedition ever 
found. It stated that Franklin died in June, 1847, and that the ships 
had been deserted in April, 1848, off the north coast of King William 
Land, after having been beset in the ice for eighteen months, the crews 
intending to retreat over the ice to the mainland of North America. 
Not one survived, and the tragic story remains shrouded in mystery. 
Yet these men had “ forged the last link of the North-west Passage 
with their lives,” for the ships had reached waters navigable to the 
Pacific. 


The Arctic Record 


1029 


w so 


TO* 60* 30* 40* >0*W 


In curious contrast to the sufferings in the North-west, the record of 
the single achievement of the North-east passage is one of unclouded 
success. Baron A. E. Nordenskiold sailed from Tromso with a Swedish 
expedition in the Vega in June, 1878, passed through the Kara Sea, rounded 
Cape Chelyuskin, and was stopped by the winter ice when within 120 
miles of Bering Strait, which was entered in July, 1879, an d so first 
and last voyage to Eastern Asia by way of the Arctic Sea was accom- 
plished. 

Expeditions of the “Alert ” and “Discovery.” — Between 1852 and 
i860 Sir Edward Inglefield, Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, and Dr. Isaac J. Hayes, in 
the British and American Franklin Search expeditions, explored Smith Sound 
to the northward, and Hayes believed that he had seen a great open Polar 
sea. In 1870 another American expedition under Hall went still further, and 
penetrated in the Polaris to 82° 1 1', where Robeson Channel widens into the 
Arctic Sea. So promising did this route appear that in 1875 a great Polar 
expedition was fitted out by the British government in the Alert and 
Discovery, and placed under the command of Sir George Nares, who was 
recalled from the scientific circumnavigation of the Challenger for this 
purpose. Making his way through Smith Sound and the northern channels 
with much difficulty, for the ice was un- 
favourable, Nares wintered in 82° 25' N., 
on the edge of the Palaeocrystic Sea, as he 
termed the hummocky ice-blocks which 
beset the margin of the Arctic Sea. His 
sledging parties traced out the extreme 
northern coast-lines for hundreds of miles, 
and on one expedition Commander (now 7 
Rear-Admiral) Albert Hastings Markham 

succeeded in reaching 83° 20', a higher 

1 1 1 j*. 1 j 1 1 1 1 1 FlG. 4-8 ^.— The Smith Sound Region, 

north latitude than had ever before been * D 

obtained ; but the sledge parties suffered terribly, scurvy, the bugbear 
of Arctic travellers, having appeared. Scientific observations of great value 
in geology, natural history, and especially in meteorology and on the tidal 
conditions of the Arctic Sea, w r ere made continuously. 

International Circumpolar Observations. — Shortly after the 
return of the expedition, and of Payer and Weyprecht from their dis- 
covery of Franz Josef Land, a scheme was set on foot by the German 
government for the systematic and simultaneous international study of 
the physical conditions round the w T hole border of the unknown polar 
areas. The plans were settled at tw r o International Polar Conferences 
held at Hamburg, under the presidency of Dr. George Neumayer, in 
1879, and at Bern in 1880 ; they included complete meteorological and 
physical observations at special stations situated as far north as possible for 
a full year, w ? ith simultaneous observations at a number of permanent 
observatories in all parts of the w r orld. The stations which were ultimately 



1030 The International Geography 

established are enumerated with various particulars in the accompanying 
table, and it is to be noted that French and German expeditions were sent 
at the same time to Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia to obtain similar 
records for the Antarctic area. 

THE INTERNATIONAL CIRCUM-POLAR STATIONS. 

£at. N. Long. Place. Duration Leader. Nationality. 

78° 28' i6° E. ... Spitsbergen July, 1882-Aug., 1883 Ekholm ... Swedish. 

69056' 23° E. ... Bossekop ... June, 1882-Aug., 1883 Steen ... Norwegian. 

67024' 260 36' E. Sodankyla ... Aug., 1882-Sept., 11883 Lemstrom, &c. Finnish. 

72025' 520 44' E. NovayaZemlyaAug., 1882-July, 1883 Andreyeff ... Russian 

71° o' 64° (app vox.) Kara Sea ... Sept., 1882-Sept., 1883 Hovgaard ... Danish. 

73023' 1240 E. ... Lena delta ... Aug., 1882-July, 1884 Jurgens ... Russian. 

710 16' 1580 40' W. Pt. Barrow... Sept., 1881-Aug., 1883 Ray ... UnitecLStates. 

62039' 1150 44' W. Fort Rae ... Sept., 1882-Aug., 1883 Dawson ... British and Canadian.. 

81044' 640 45' W. Grinnell Land Aug., 1882-July, 1883 Greely ... United States. 

66° 36' 670 192' W. Kingawa Fjord Aug., 1882-Aug., 1883 Giese ... German. 

64011' 510 40' W. Godthaab ... Aug., 1882-Aug., 1883 Paulsen ... Danish. 

700 o' 8® 28' W. Jan Mayen ... July, 1882-Aug., 1883 Wohlgemuth Austro-Hungarian. 

The most remarkable of these expeditions was that led by Lieutenant 
(now General) A. W. Greely, of the United States Army. In addition to carry- 
ing out the programme of the international observations at the most northerly 
station, he and his party explored Grinnell Land and other lands, and made 
long sledge journeys towards the Pole, the highest latitude attained by 
Lieutenant Lockwood and Sergeant Brainard being 83° 24', about four 
miles beyond Markham’s farthest. The expedition sent to bring Greely’s 
party home failed through mismanagement, and his retreat was one of the 
most disastrous and heroic in the annals of Arctic travel. Most of his men 
died of disease or starvation, and the surviving six were only rescued w ? hen 
at the last extremity. 

The “Tegetthof” Expedition. — In 1872 an Austro-Hungarian ex- 
pedition was sent out by the generosity of Count Wilczek under the com- 
mand of Lieutenant Weyprecht for sea service and Lieutenant Payer for 
land exploration, with the object of attempting to cross the Polar area from 
the neighbourhood of Novaya Zemlya. Off that island in August, 1872, their 
ship, the Tegetthof, was beset in the ice in 76° 22' N., and drifted with the 
wind and currents on the whole northward and westward for a year. 
Thus they were carried in August, 1873, to an unknown archipelago (Franz: 
Josef Land), where the helpless vessel remained fast for nearly another 
year. Payer made extensive explorations with dog- sledges, and reached 
Cape Fligely, 82° 5' N., as his farthest point. The expedition abandoned 
the Tegetthof in May, 1874, an d returned safely in boats to Novaya Zemlya. 
Mr. Leigh Smith, in the Arctic yacht Eira , succeeded in reaching Franz 
Josef Land easily in 1880, and extended the explorations ; but on returning 
in the following year the Eira was lost, and Mr. Smith and his party passed 
the winter in an improvised hut as bravely as Barents three centuries 
before, escaping during the next summer by a daring boat journey across 
the open sea to Novaya Zemlya. Another British expedition, fitted out by 
Mr. A. C. Harmsworth, under the leadership of Mr. F. G. Jackson, spent 


The Arctic Record 


1031 

three years in Franz Josef Land in 1894-97, accumulating scientific 
observations. 

The Drift of the “ Jeannette” and of the “Fram.” — Wrangell 
Land, discovered by an American whaler to the north-west of Bering 
Strait in 1867, was at first believed to stretch far towards the Pole. In 
1879 Captain W. G. De Long, of the United States Navy, passed through 
Bering Strait in the Jeannette , intending to winter on this land ; but 
his vessel was caught in the ice and drifted north-westward, passing 
north of Wrangell Land, which proved to be a small island. For nearly 
two years the Jeannette drifted northward and westward, but was crushed 
by the pack ice, and sunk in June, 1881, when in 77 0 15' N. The crew 
retreated over the ice with boats and sledges to the New Siberian Islands, 
and thence to the Siberian coast, where the leader and most of his 
company perished from hardship and starvation. In June, 1884, some 
objects were found on an iceberg off Julianehaab, in the south-west of 
Greenland, which appeared to belong to the lost Jeannette. Some 
authorities believed that the relics did not come from that ship, but 
others, including Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, maintained that the ice had really 
drifted across the Polar area and out into the East Greenland current. 
Confirmed by other pieces of evidence, Dr. Nansen concluded that there is 
a regular drift across the Pole from the Asiatic to the Greenland side, and 
he planned an expedition to take advantage of it. Scurvy, the curse of most 
previous Arctic journeys, he proposed to avoid by the scientific com- 
position of the food carried ; the risk of his ship being crushed in the ice 
was to be evaded by the form of the vessel, which would cause it to be 
lifted out of the water by the pressure of ice on its sides ; there was to be 
no battling against drifting ice or hostile currents because he was to “ take 
a ticket with the ice,” running into the pack near the place where the 
Jeannette sank. If these arguments and expedients, suggested by the 
history of Arctic voyages and disasters, were correct and sufficient, he 
expected to return in three years. In August, 1893, with twelve com- 
panions, Nansen sailed in the Fram (“ Forward”), coasted the north-west 
of Asia, and entered the ice-pack in 78° 45' north of the New Siberian 
Islands in autumn. In the summer of 1895, when the ship, resting 
securely on the surface of the ice, had drifted to 84° N., Nansen and one 
companion, Lieutenant Johansen, left her and travelled northward on ski 
with dog-sledges until compelled to turn. The “ Farthest North” attained 
on the sea-ice was 86° 14', a point within 250 miles of the Pole. They 
reached one of the islands of the Franz Josef Land group, in time to pass 
the winter of 1895-96 in a shelter, half-cave half-hut, living on the flesh of 
polar bears and walruses. In the early spring they met Mr. Jackson, and 
returned in his steamer in August, 1896. By the most remarkable 
coincidence in Arctic history, the Fram broke out of the ice north of 
Spitsbergen on the very day when Nansen arrived at Vardo ; she had 
drifted exactly in the manner foreseen, and the fortunate thirteen returned 


1032 The International Geography 

to Christiania in perfect health on the uninjured Fram. Scientific results 
of the highest importance had been obtained, and an advance made of 3 0 
of poleward progress. 

Other recent Expeditions. Nansen crossed the ice-covered plateau 
of Greenland from east to west for the first time in 1888. Mr. R. E. 
Peary, civil engineer in the United States Navy, landed in 1891 on the 
west coast of Greenland, north of Melville Bay, where he wintered, and 
in 1892 made a splendid journey across the northern edge of the 
inland ice to Independence Bay on the north-east coast, a distance of 
600 miles, afterwards returning to his base. In 1895 he succeeded in 
again reaching Independence Bay in very bad conditions of weather, 
with the loss of all his stores, and only the timely discovery of musk 
oxen saved him and his companion from starvation ; but the further 
advance he had hoped to make was impossible. With extraordinary 
perseverance he continued to spend year after year in the far north 
endeavouring, though without much result, to train the native Eskimo for 
long journeys over the frozen sea, and although he came home in 1902, 
his plans were not abandoned. In 1896 and 1897 the writer explored the 
interior of Spitsbergen, and crossed it for the first time ; and in 1898 
Professor Nathorst circumnavigated that island group, and definitely 
established the geography of the region between it and Franz Josef Land. 
An attempt by the Swedish engineer Andree to cross the North Polar 
area in a balloon must be classed with the mysterious tragedies, of explora- 
tion. On July 11, 1897, he ascended in the north of Spitsbergen with two 
companions, and drifted away to the north. Pigeon messages dated two 
days later showed that the direction of progress had been north-easterly ; 
no trustworthy news has since been received. The Duke of the Abruzzi 
with a well-equipped expedition in the Stella Polare wintered to the north 
of Franz Josef Land in 1899-1900, and one of his staff, Captain Cagni, 
succeeded by a splendid sledge journey in reaching 86° 34' N. on the 
frozen sea, the farthest north yet attained. An American expedition to 
the same region in 1902 led to no advance in knowledge, but prepared 
the way for future exploration. Captain Sverdrup spent the years 1898- 
1902 exploring the Arctic Archipelago west of Smith Sound, and Commander 
Peary attained the “ farthest north ” of 87° 6' in the Roosevelt in 1906. 

There is no reason to fear a cessation of enterprise in this direction 
until the North Pole is reached, and that sentimental incentive withdrawn. 
If this consummation is delayed for many years, the exploration of the 

-Jf 

Arctic regions will probably be much more thorough, and eventually more 
complete than if some fortunate adventurer quickly succeeds in reaching 
the coveted latitude of 90°. The commercial motive to Polar exploration 
has practically gone with the collapse of the whaling industry, and only 
science and adventure continue to tempt men into the unknown remoteness 
of “ the white North.” 


The Arctic Regions io 33 


STANDARD BOOKS. 

A. W. Greely. " Handbook of Arctic Discoveries.” New York and London, 1896. 

Sir C. R. Markham. "The Threshold of the Unknown Regions.” 2nd ed. London, 1876. 

" Life of John Davis the Navigator ” (includes historical references). 

London, 1889. 

A. Chavanne and others. “ Die Literatur iiber die Polar-Regionen der Erde ” (over 6,000 
titles). Vienna, 1878. 

Sir John Barrow. "Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions.” 
London, 1818. 

" Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic Regions from/ 

the year 1818 to the present time.” London, 1846. 

A. H. Markham. "Life of Sir John Franklin ” (includes a summary of the Franklin 
Search). London, 1891. 

Note. — A very full list of narratives of voyages will be found in Greely’s " Handbook.” 


II.— THE ARCTIC REGIONS 

By Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, G.C.V.O., 

Norwegian Minister in London. 

Definition. — The Arctic circle, in 66° 32' N., forms the southern limit 
of the circumpolar region, inside which the Sun does not set during some 
part of the summer (giving the perpetual Polar day with the midnight 
Sun), and where the Sun does not rise some part of the winter (giving the 
Arctic or Polar night). This region is called the Arctic or North Polar 
region. As the distance of the Arctic circle from the pole is 1,408 geo- 
graphical miles, 1 the diameter of this region is 2,816 miles ; and its total 
area is 8,201,883 square miles, more than one-fourth of which is still un- 
known. Taking it as probable that this unknown region is principally 
sea, it must strike one upon looking at a circumpolar map of the Arctic 
region how by far the greater part of this area is covered by sea, whilst 
the land principally forms a circular fringe along its outer margin, being 
the northern terminations of the two great continental masses of the 
world — the European-Asiatic and the American-Greenland. Thus the 
Arctic circle, which is 8,640 miles long, passes about four-fifths of its 
distance over land and only about 1,800 miles over water ; the principal 
parts of this water are the Norwegian-Greenland Sea (the broad gap 
between Norway and Greenland), Davis Strait, and Bering Strait which 
are the three entrances from the open ocean into the Polar Sea. 

The Arctic Sea. — The Polar or Arctic Sea must be considered as 
a branch of the Atlantic Ocean ; it is a large gulf extending as a deep 
depression northwards between Norway and Greenland. The width in 
its narrowest part, between the Lofoten Islands (Norway) and Shannon 
Island (east coast of Greenland), is about 700 miles ; but further north it 
broadens out to cover the whole central part of the Arctic region. On 
the other side of the Pole, just opposite Norway, it has a quite narrow 
communication with the Pacific Ocean through Bering Strait, 49 miles 
broad and only 27 fathoms deep. The Polar Sea is quite shallow along 

1 The geographical, nautical, or sea-mile used throughout this article is one-sixtieth of 
an equatorial degree. 


1034 The International Geography 


its whole margin, a shallow submarine plateau extending some distance 
northwards from the continents on both sides. These plateaux, or 
drowned plains, evidently mark an old extension of these continents, 
remnants of which still exist as the Arctic lands, Spitsbergen, Novaya 
.Zemlya, Franz Josef Land, the New Siberian Islands, and the American 
Arctic Archipelago. Between Spitsbergen and Norway this plateau is 
in the deepest part 260 fathoms under the sea-surface ; in the Barents 
Sea, between Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, and Novaya Zemlya, the 
depth is about 100 to 160 fathoms. The deepest depression on this 
plateau, 400 fathoms, occurs just east of Vaigach Island in the Kara Sea. 
Along the whole Siberian and American coasts its depth is less than 100 
fathoms. Its northern limit is not known on the American side. On the 

Siberian side, east of 
the New Siberian Is- 
lands, it still exists in 
77 0 N. or 350 miles from 
the main land, with no 
greater depth than 80 
fathoms, and generally 
much less. North of 
the New Siberian Is- 
lands the plateau, with 
depths of 50 fathoms 
or less, extends a similar 
distance north from the 
mainland to nearly 79 0 
N., where the bottom 
suddenly sinks to form 
a deep sea, with depths 
of 2,000 fathoms. The 
northern and eastern 
extension of this sea is 
still unknown, but west- 
ward we know it extends north of Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen, 
with depths of more than 1800 fathoms (probably much more), and 
the plateau on which these lands are situated probably sinks abruptly 
not very far to the north of the known land. In 84^-° N. north-east of 
Franz Josef Land (about 75 0 E.) the depth is 2,020 fathoms. From the 
north-west corner of Spitsbergen a submarine ridge with depths of 400 


Fig. 486 . — The Arctic Regions. 



and 430 fathoms extends for an unknown distance in a north-westerly 
direction. It may separate the great depths of the Arctic Sea from those 
in the Greenland and Norwegian Sea, the deepest part of which is the 
Swedish Deep of 2,650 fathoms, west of Spitsbergen (78° N.). This de- 
pression is separated from the great depths of the Atlantic Ocean by the 
•shallow Faeroe-Icelandic (or Wyville Thomson) submarine ridge (250 to 


The Arctic Regions 1035 

300 fathoms deep), passing from Scotland by the Faeroes and Iceland to 
Greenland. 

West of Greenland there is another gulf, extending from the Atlantic 
Ocean for 1,170 miles northward into the Arctic region, in its southern part 
called, Davis Strait, in its northern, Baffin Bay. Like the Arctic Sea, it has 
a submarine ridge or barrier in the south, whilst it is very deep further 
north. Davis Strait is in its narrowest part, between Holstenborg, in 
Greenland, and Cumberland Peninsula (Baffin Land), 160 miles broad, 
and only about 120 fathoms deep. Baffin Bay, somewhat broader and 
very deep, is in communication with the Polar Sea by the narrow 
•channels of Smith, Jones, and Lancaster Sounds. 

Circulation of the Arctic Sea. — The circulation is very much the 
same in both these branches of the Atlantic Ocean. On the right hand or 
•eastern side a comparatively warm current runs in ; on the left hand or 
western side a cold current runs out. This condition is to a great extent 
caused by the rotation of the Earth. A part of the Gulf Stream runs 
through the strait between the Faeroes and Scotland, northward along the 
north-west coast of Norway and the west coast of Spitsbergen, into the 
Polar basin. The depth of the channel between the Faeroes and Scotland 
is between 400 and 500 fathoms, which determines the depth of the 
current. The northern branch of the Gulf Stream keeps the same 
depth even far north in the Polar Sea. On the west coast of Spits- 
bergen it is found to be about no miles broad, and 400 to 500 fathoms 
deep. The temperatures of the water are between 32 0 and 38° F. 

The course of the Gulf Stream drift inside the Polar basin is not 
well known ; probably it runs north-east and east, north of Spitsbergen 
and north of Franz Josef Land. As the cold surface water is diluted by 
additions of fresh water from the Siberian and American rivers running 
northward into the Polar Sea, it is less saline and lighter than the warmer, 
but more saline Gulf Stream water, wffiich consequently sinks under the 
cold surface layer. In the sea north of Spitsbergen, in about 84° N., the 
warm Gulf Stream water is found filling the space between 100 fathoms 
and 490 fathoms depth, with temperatures above 32 0 (from 32 0 to 34 0 F.). 
The current consequently reaches to the same depth as further south. 
North of Franz Josef Land, in 85^° N. and 6o° E., the temperature of the 
water between 100 fathoms and 450 or 500 fathoms is also above 32 0 . As 
far east as north of the New Siberian Islands, in 8i° N. and 130° E., we 
find almost the same thing : between 120 fathoms and 380 fathoms depth 
the temperature of the water is above 32 0 (32 0 to 33 0 ). How the conditions 
are in this respect in the rest of the Polar basin is unknown. It receives 
another though comparatively insignificant contribution of warm water 
through Bering Strait, where the temperatures are from 37 0 to 48° F. The 
water running out of the Polar basin is mostly very cold. The water of 
the East Greenland Polar current running southward along the east coast of 
Greenland has temperatures between 31 ’8° and 29*3°, only quite near the 
67 


1036 The International Geography 

Greenland coast there is a thin layer of warmer water in about 100 fathoms 
depth, with temperatures from 32 0 to 32-8°. 

If we consider the Barents Sea separately we find in it the same con- 
ditions as in the Greenland Sea, a warm current forming a branch of the 
Gulf Stream running in on the right hand {i.e. y the southern side) east- 
ward round the North Cape in Norway, and a cold current running 
out on the left hand (i.e., the northern side) along the south coast of 
Franz Josef Land and the south-east coast of Spitsbergen. Whether 
much of the warm water actually enters the Polar basin through the 
opening between Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land may be con- 
sidered as doubtful. 

In Davis Strait a current runs north on its east side along the west 
coast of Greenland, consisting partly of warm Atlantic water, partly of 
water from the East Greenland Polar current which rounds Cape Farewell 
and runs west and north-west along the western coast, carrying drift ice 
with it for some distance, until the floes are broken up and melt, exposed 
to the warmer Atlantic water ; and they seldom come further north than 
Godthaab, in about 64° N. On the west side of Davis Strait a cold 
Polar current flows out from Baffin Bay southward along the east coast 
of Baffin Land, carrying much drift-ice as well as Greenland icebergs out 
past Newfoundland. This polar current is not only formed by the water 
running north on the east side of Davis Strait, but it receives also con- 
tributions through Smith Sound, Jones Sound, and Lancaster Sound, 
where the currents run into Baffin Bay. 

Ice Conditions of the Arctic Sea. — The warm and cold currents 
of the Arctic Sea naturally determine the formation and distribution of 
the sea-ice or drift-ice. Where warm currents run in northwards there is 
but little ice formed, and the ice is carried away northward ; thus we find 
no ice on the north coast of Norway, comparatively little on the west 
coast of Novaya Zemlya, and generally none in summer on the west coast 
of Spitsbergen, and comparatively little even in winter. As may be ex- 
pected, it is in this region that open sea is found furthest north ; in favour- 
able seasons open water may occur at least as far as 82° N. north of 
Spitsbergen. In Davis Strait and Baffin Bay the conditions are not so 
favourable, but in good seasons the west coast of Greenland is nearly free 
of ice as far north as Smith Sound. West and north-west of the New 
Siberian Island there is much open water in summer, extending at least to 
79 0 N. On the East Siberian and Alaskan side of the Polar basin there is 
comparatively little open water. North of Bering Strait it seldom extends 
much higher than 73 0 N. 

Where the cold polar currents run out or southward we generally 
find much ice, which is constantly being carried out of the Polar Sea, and 
often far south. Thus the south coast of Franz Josef Land, the east and 
south-east coasts of Spitsbergen are blockaded most part of the year by 
drift-ice. The same is the case along the whole east coast of Greenland, 


The Arctic Regions 1037 

where the ice is carried south of Cape Farewell. Along the east coasts of 
Baffin Land and Labrador masses of floe-ice are carried still further south. 

The distribution of the ice varies during the year, not only because of 
the difference in the melting on account of the variation of solar heat in 
summer and winter, but also to a great extent on account of the seasonal 
changes in the winds and currents. Observations are, however, lacking on 
this subject. The interior Polar Sea or the Polar Basin is mostly covered 
with floating ice, which does not form a continuous or unbroken ice- 
sheet, as it is always being broken up into floes by the winds and 
tidal currents. This ice is in constant motion, mainly on account of 
the winds. The winds often change their direction, and before the 
direction of the drift of the ice can be changed, the result may be heavy 
ice pressures, breaking and piling up the ice in ridges and hummocks. 
Such pressures also arise from the changing tide-currents, especially at 
spring-tide. This is principally the case near the outskirts of the Polar 
Sea. The average direction of the winds during the year is from the 
Siberian and Bering Strait side towards the Greenland side of the Polar 
Basin. The drift ice is consequently yearly being carried across the Polar 
Sea in this direction, and is either carried southwards along the east coast 
of Greenland, or is choked up against the north coast of Greenland, 
Grinnell Land, and the American Arctic Archipelago, perhaps at last to 
find its way out through some of the channels. 

Icebergs. — Icebergs are quite different in their origin and formation 
from the sea-ice or floe-ice, and occur only in the outskirts of the Arctic 
Region, especially in Greenland and Labrador waters. While the floe-ice is 
formed on the surface of the sea, icebergs originate from the glaciers, and 
are formed on land. Their height above the sea may be 200 feet or more, 
about eight times the bulk of ice seen above water is submerged, thus the 
weight of a single berg may be millions of tons. Most of them are formed 
in the glacier-fjords on the east and west coast of Greenland. By the 
Polar current they are carried southward along the east coast, round Cape 
Farewell. On the west coast they drift northward until they are all 
carried across Davis Strait or Baffin Bay into the Labrador current, which 
floats them southward into the Atlantic Ocean, where they form a well- 
known danger. 

Climate. — The physical condition of the Arctic regions is mainly 
affected by the climatic conditions, but our knowledge in this respect is 
still so deficient that it is very difficult to make any useful generalisation. 
The atmospheric pressure and the wind regulate the movements of the 
currents and drift-ice. These conditions regulate the temperature and the 
precipitation, which again regulate the formation of ice and the accumu- 
lation of snow into glaciers and ice-caps. At the same time the tempera- 
ture, the currents and the distribution of ice affect the winds. 

Arctic Winds. — The winds of the Arctic regions taken as a whole, 
cannot be said to be very strong, neither can the Arctic region as a whole 


1 03 8 The International Geography 

be said to be very windy. But on the outskirts in such places as Franz 
Josef Land, Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, and also Greenland, where there 
is an immense expanse of ice-covered sea or land on one side, whilst the 
open sea is not far off on the other, the climatic conditions are un- 
settled, and strong gales may be very frequent, especially in winter. 
These gales also bring sudden changes of temperature, and rises of more 
than 35 0 F. in less than a day are not uncommon. Remarkably warm 
winds sometimes occur on the coast of Greenland ; they are, however, mere 
local phenomena akin to the fohn of the Alps. Fogs and precipitation are 
frequent. In the interior of the Polar Basin the climate is quite different. 
Over these extensive plains of ice-covered sea the climatic conditions are 
very uniform and have great stability. Gales are comparatively rare, and 
are never strong. The same clear weather, especially in the winter, with 
comparatively little wind may last almost continuously for weeks or even 
months. The temperature varies very little, though a strong wind nearly 
always brings a rise of temperature. Fogs are only formed in the late 
summer, when there is much fresh water in ponds on the top of the ice, 
and many open channels between the floes. 

Arctic Temperature. — The temperature is mainly influenced by the 
winds and currents, and by the distribution of ice and land. Extensive 
land-masses will, on account of the radiation of heat, cause a very low 
winter-temperature, and also a comparatively low annual temperature ; this 
will be still more the case if the land is covered by a snow or ice sheet. 
An extensive sea will, even when it is covered by floating ice, cause a com- 
paratively high annual temperature and reduced extremes both of summer 
and winter. On account of the peculiar distribution of land and water in 
the Arctic regions we can therefore understand that the lowest temperature 
is not to be sought near the geographical pole, but near the great land- 
masses. The lowest temperature ever observed on the Earth is — 90° F. 
( — 68° C.) in Verkhoyansk, in East Siberia, only some fifty miles north 
of the Arctic circle, whilst the lowest temperature observed during three 
winters in the Polar Basin as far north as between 85° and 86° N. was 
only — 63° F. Instead of one pole of cold there are two, or rather three ; 
one in north-eastern Siberia (north of Yakutsk), one in the north of America 
(north of the Parry Islands), and a third in the interior of Greenland. 
The highest annual temperatures inside the Arctic regions are to be 
found along the north coast of Norway and the west coast of Spitsbergen, 
where the Gulf Stream, with much open and warm water, exercises a 
remarkable warming effect. 

Arctic Flora. — The distribution of the vegetation in the Arctic region 
is greatly influenced by the temperature of the summer, the winter tem- 
perature is not of much importance. Thus the line of forest can be said nearly 
to follow the July isotherm of 50° F. Forests of pine trees or larch go 
farthest north in the north of Norway, and along the Siberian rivers, where 
on the Khatanga they reach the farthest point, nearly 73 0 N. North of 


The Arctic Regions io 39 

the line of forest, dwarf birches, willows, and other low shrubs grow, 
besides a quantity of Arctic flowers, grasses, mosses, and lichens. In 
Greenland there are no forest, or real trees, but in the south the dwarf 
birch, the juniper, the alder ( olnus ), and especially the willow may form 
small low woods, which in sheltered places may even reach the height of 
a man or more. In north Greenland only creeping dwarf willows are 
found. In Arctic America there is a somewhat similar distribution of 
bushes and shrubs. In Spitsbergen the only bushes found are rare 
dwarf birch and some dwarf willows. In Franz Josef Land there are no 
bushes or shrubs, the vegetation consists only of the most Arctic plants 
and flowers, including Saxifraga oppositifolia, Draba alpina, Cochlearia fenes- 
trata, and the Arctic poppy (Papaver nudicaule). 

Arctic Fauna. — The distribution of animals is perhaps less influenced 
by the climate. In the Arctic Seas there is an abundance of lower animal 
life on the bottom as well as at intermediate depths, even in very high 
latitudes, though it decidedly decreases with the latitude or perhaps rather 
with the distance from the open sea. Fishes are not very numerous far 
north, some species of cottas, a small species of codfish ( Gadus polaris ) 
and a few others are probably the most Arctic of all. The Polar shark 
(Scymnus borealis) also seems to go very far north into the ice-covered sea. 

Birds do not occur in a large variety of species in the Arctic regions, 
but there is often a great abundance of individuals, and the bird-rocks or 
rookeries of Spitsbergen, Franz Josef Land, and Greenland, with thousands 
of guillemots, dovekies, little auks, kittiwakes, fulmars or mollymawks, and 
various species of Arctic gulls, form a very characteristic feature of Arctic 
scenery. In summer straggling birds may probably be found everywhere 
inside the Polar Basin. 

Mammal life is found on most of the Arctic lands as well as in the sea. 
Of land mammals the polar bear and the polar fox are most widely dis- 
tributed ; they are found straggling over land and sea almost everywhere 
inside the Arctic circle. The reindeer has also a great circumpolar 
distribution ; it occurs in all Arctic Europe, Siberia, Arctic America, Green- 
land (on the west coast and on the north-east coast), Spitsbergen, and 
Novaya Zemlya, but not in Franz Josef Land, though post-glacial reindeer 
antlers have been found there. The reindeer does not go so far north as the 
musk ox, which now, however, only occurs on the north-east coast and 
the north coast of Greenland and in Arctic America, though in earlier 
periods it had a quite circumpolar distribution. In the Arctic Seas there is 
more mammal life than in any other part of the ocean, and here we even 
find some of the largest animals which ever lived, the whales. The best 
known whale by name is the Greenland whale or the right whale, which 
is very valuable on account of its long whalebone. It was once abundant 
and had a wide distribution, but is now nearly extinct ; it does not go far 
into the ice-covered seas. There are several other, but less valuable, large 
species of whales, besides a good many smaller ones. The most Arctic of all 


1040 ' The International Geography 

whales is the narwhal or sea-unicorn, which goes far into the ice-covered 
sea, and occurs in the Polar Basin as far north as 85° N., and probably 
much further. The walrus is a circumpolar Arctic animal, but is now 
nearly extinct in a good many places, where quantities were killed in 
earlier times. Of seals there are several more or less Arctic species — the 
bladdernose (hood seal), the saddle back (harp seal), the bearded seal 
( Phoca barbata), and others. The most Arctic species is the ringed seal 
( Phoca fcetida or hispida), which straggles far north into the Polar Basin at 
least north of 85° N. 

Arctic People. — The human race is distributed along the whole fringe 
of European, Asiatic, and American land inside the Arctic circle. There 
are a good many distinct tribes. In Arctic Norway the original Arctic 
people are the Lapps. In Arctic Russia and Siberia there are various tribes 
of Samoyeds, Zyryans, Tunguses, Yakuts, Chukches, and others. The 
greater part of the Arctic Siberian coast is not, however, inhabited. In 
Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land there have never been any permanent 
habitations, but in Novaya Zemlya a few families of Samoyeds live. The 
most polar of all people are without doubt the Eskimo. 

GREENLAND 

Greenland is the largest and also in many respects the most inte- 
resting Arctic land. From 59 0 45' N. it extends over more than twenty-three 
degrees of latitude to north of 83° N., its northern termination being still 
unknown. The greatest breadth is in 77 0 30' N. — about 690 miles. Its 
area has been estimated to be 512,000 square miles. The whole interior of 
this land, or more than 320,000 square miles, is completely buried under an 
enormous glacier ice-sheet, or inland ice, which only leaves exposed a more 
or less narrow belt of barren, rocky ground along the shore, cut into by 
deep and narrow fjords, very much like those of Norway. The broadest 
exposed strip is 100 miles wide on the west coast, in the district 
of Holstenborg, 67* N., and 60 miles in the district of Godthaab, about 
64^° N. Elsewhere it is quite narrow, and the margin of the inland-ice 
approaches the outer sea coast. The same is the case along most of the 
east coast, except in the northern part, between 70° N. and 74 0 N., where 
the margin of the true inland-ice appears to be situated in some place at 
a distance of about 130 miles or more inland from the sea ; but the land 
outside is partly covered by local glaciers. The northern part of Green- 
land, north of 82° N., does not seem to be covered by the inland-ice or by 
glaciers. 

Configuration and Glaciers. — Greenland is unusually mountainous. 
Wherever the coast is seen it is rocky and jagged, with high peaks and 
mountains and deep valleys and fjords. Along the whole of the east coast 
mountains between 5,000 and 8,000 feet are quite common, often not far 
from the sea. The highest peak known is Petermann Peak, near Franz 
Josef Fjord, which is estimated at 11,000 feet. On the west coast the 


The Arctic Regions 1041 

mountains are not so high, but even there peaks of 5,000 or 6,000 feet 
are not uncommon. We know nothing of mountains in the interior, as 
they are entirely covered by the inland ice, but if the ice-sheet were 
removed it is highly probable that the surface of the land would resemble 
that exposed near the coasts. The fjords were once filled with glaciers 
coming from the inland ice and discharging into the sea to throw off 

icebergs. Many of them are still partly filled with glaciers in this way, 

and most of them have glaciers discharging into them, and thus pre- 
venting us from tracing them in their whole length. Along the coast 

there are numerous islands, the largest known being Disco Island, in about 
70° N. on the west coast. There is probably no other land of the same 
size which has such an enormous coast-line compared with its area. The 
largest fjords on the west coast are Umanak Fjord, North and South 
Strom Fjord (both about 90 miles long), and Godthaab Fjord. On the 
east coast, amongst others, Scoresby Fjord is about 160 miles long, and 
Franz Josef Fjord probably of similar length. These are longer than 
any in Norway, and are probably the largest typical fjords in the 
world. 

There are still some parts of the Greenland coast which have not been 
explored, especially the north-east coast between Cape Bismarck and 
Independence Bay (8i° 37 ' N.), on the east coast, and between the latter 
and Cape Washington, on the north-west coast. The east coast, be- 
tween 66° and 69° N., also still waits to be explored. 

Geology. — The geological structure of Greenland is naturally little 
known, as we can only judge from the exposed rocks seen along the coast. 
According to these it is probable that by far the greater part of the rocky 
surface of the present Greenland consists of Archaean formations principally 
gneiss and other crystalline rocks. In the middle parts of the country, about 
latitude 70° to 73 0 N., there is a flow of basalt over great parts of the west 
coast at Disco Island, Nugsuak Peninsula, and Svartenhuk Peninsula, as 
well as of the east at Scoresby Sound and further north. These basalts, 
which probably are of Tertiary origin, cover considerable layers of the 
Tertiary and partly also the Cretaceous formations, which they have thus 
prevented from being destroyed ; and on Disco and the Nugsuak Peninsula 
there are some of the most famous localities for Tertiary plant-fossils 
in the world. Jurassic strata are found in several places on the east 
coast (about 70 0 N. and 75 0 N.). They are perhaps of the same for- 
mation as in Franz Josef Land, Spitsbergen, Ando in Norway, and in 
Russia. 

Greenland does not seem to have much mineral wealth. Cryolite is 
the only mineral mined, and is a speciality for Greenland. There is 
only one mine, at Ivigtut, on the south-west coast (in6i° 10' N.). Native 
iron is found in several places, the most remarkable find is the iron of 
Ovifak (or Uifak), on Disco Island — several large masses, the largest 
of which is calculated at twenty tons. This iron is evidently of telluric 


1042 The International Geography 

origin, and has originally been included in the basalts. In 1897 a stil? 
larger mass was brought back from Cape York, in North Greenland, which 
is estimated to weigh ninety tons, and is believed to be of meteoric 
origin. 

The Inland Ice. — Instead of river systems we find in Greenland the 
great inland ice, and instead of great rivers we find the moving glaciers, 
the prolongations or outlets of the inland ice, slowly moving into the sea,, 
and thus chiefly effecting the drainage of the country. The greater part 
of the precipitation in Greenland is not rain, but snow which, to a great 
extent, does not melt, but is accumulated on the surface of the inland ice, 
and by the pressure of its weight gradually becomes transformed into* 
glacier ice. This, being a plastic or viscous mass, is pressed out to the 
sides by the pressure inside the ice mass, and it slowly flows outward, as a. 
lump of pitch or wax which is placed on a table. The pace with which it 
moves is regulated by the pressure — the higher pressure or the greater 
mass added on the top the quicker is the motion. Thus the inland ice 
sends out glaciers through the valleys and into the fjords, the ice at the 
end of some glaciers being from 1,000 to 2,000 feet thick. The rate 
at which the glaciers advance into the sea differs much, and to a. 
great extent depends on the extension and thickness of that part of the 
inland ice for which they form the “ outlet ” or “ drainage.” The highest 
rate of glacial motion ever known is that of the Upernivik Glacier,, 
on the west coast, 73 0 N., which in summer advances 99 feet every 
twenty-four hours. The Jacobshavn Glacier, and other known glaciers,, 
move about 50 to 60 feet daily in the summer time. In winter the 
motion is somewhat slower. The actual amount of ice discharged into 
the sea from Greenland may be estimated at 1,000,000,000 tons annually 
at least. 

The drainage of Greenland is not, however, effected by this outflow of 
solid ice only. A great deal more is accomplished by running water. Oa 
the surface of the inland ice there is much melting going on during 
summer near its outer margins. The water thus produced finds its way 
as small brooks down through the enormous ice-sheet to the bottom, and 
runs as sub-glacial rivulets from under the glacier-covering into the sea. 
Where the ice-sheet is very thick, the temperature of the ice is probably 
near its melting point at the bottom, on account of the internal heat of the 
Earth. Some melting is therefore probably also going on from this cause, 
producing water which joins the sub-glacial rivers. 

The inland ice covers the whole interior of Greenland, extending as a 
regular shield from coast to coast. Its surface forms a smooth snow-plain, 
arching high above the irregularities of the underlying ground, and sloping 
quite slowly and gradually from the highest ridge in the interior towards 
the coast on all sides. The highest ridge is in the southern part of the 
country, somewhat nearer the east coast than the west, and has, between 
64° and 65° N., a height of 9,000 feet above the sea-level. How these 


The Arctic Regions 1043 

conditions are in the interior further north where the inland ice is broadest 
is still unknown. What the thickness of the ice-sheet is we cannot know 
so long as the heights of the mountains underneath are unknown, but as 
the bottom of the valleys are not probably on the average more than 2,000 
— or let us say 3,000 — feet above sea-level, the thickness of the ice must at 
any rate in some places be above 6,000 feet. A sufficiently cold climate 
is not the only condition necessary to produce an inland ice ; it also 
depends on the quantity of precipitation. The precipitation in the most 
northern part of Greenland does not seem to be sufficient for its forma- 
tion, and therefore the land north of 82° N. is probably not covered 
by continuous ice. 

People of Greenland. — The hardy Eskimo race extends along the 
whole Arctic coast of America and Labrador, along the coasts of the eastern 
islands of the American Arctic Archipelago, and along the coast of Green- 
land as far north as Smith Sound (about 78° or 79 0 N.). A small Eskimo 
tribe is also found on the Asiatic side of Bering Strait. The Eskimo live 
mainly by hunting and fishing on the sea, and are therefore bound to be a coast 
people. In the summer they go hunting and fishing in their small boats or 
kayaks, made of drift-wood covered with sealskin. In the winter they travel 
over the frozen sea in their sledges with dogs, which are their only domestic 
animals. They are a far and quick-travelling people, and traces are found 
of them over vast tracts of country where they do not live at present. In 
the summer they live in tents made of skins, in the winter they live in low 
stone huts, or, where stone is not available, they build snow-huts of a peculiar 
shape, resembling beehives. They are a gifted and hardy race, and with 
admirable skill they have known how to make their ingenious weapons out 
of pieces of driftwood, bones, skin, and stone, partly, also of native iron — the 
only means which a barren nature originally gave them : now they have 
of course got iron, as well as firearms from the Europeans, but these gifts 
have not been wholly to their advantage. 

In Greenland there is altogether a population of .about 10,000 Eskimo, 
and a few hundred Danes who administer the country. The Greenland 
Eskimo are, however, no longer a pure race, but are greatly mixed 
with European blood. The contact with European civilisation has there, 
as elsewhere, been of very doubtful advantage to the natives, who show 
a slow but certain decadence. 

The Eskimo and half-breeds of southern Greenland are to some extent 
grouped around the Danish settlements, all trade with which is a Govern- 
ment monopoly of Denmark. Some of the principal administration and 
trading centres are Julianehaab, the most southerly (6o° 40' N.), Godthaab, 
and Upernivik, the most northerly, in 72 0 48' N. The Eskimo of Smith 
Sound, a small tribe, have no dealings with the Danish settlements. The 
principal settlement on the east coast is Angmagsalik in 65° 30' N., where 
there are a few hundred Eskimo, and lately a Danish mission has been 

established. 

68 


1044 The International Geography 

ARCTIC ISLANDS 

ft 

Franz Josef Land. — Franz Josef Land is a group of numerous 
comparatively small islands situated in about 8o° to 82° N., and extending 
from longitude 42 0 E., eastward, probably beyond 62° E., but the eastern 
extension is still unknown. Land was reported further north and named 
Oscar Land and Petermann Land, but recent explorations seem to have 
proved that they do not exist. Some of the islands of Franz Josef Land 
are comparatively low and flat, but the highest are 2,000 to 3,000 feet 
above the sea-level, consisting of basalt, 1 partly resting on a thick forma- 
tion of Jurassic clay. The islands are with few exceptions completely 
ice-capped, the ice-covering sloping regularly into the sea on all sides, 
allowing the basaltic rocks to project only here and there along the 
coasts. These islands therefore have a more glacial aspect than any 
other Arctic land ; they are, however, much too small to form the base 
of any glaciers or ice-sheets of importance. Icebergs are formed in a 
good many places, but they are few and small compared with those of 
Greenland, and they do not travel far, for round Franz Josef Land the 
water is too shallow to float icebergs of any size 

Spitsbergen. — Spitsbergen is a group of islands situated between 
76° and 8o£° N., and between io° and 32 0 E. The principal islands are 
West Spitsbergen, which is the largest, North East Land, Barents Land, 
Edge Land (or Stans Foreland) ; on the west coast is Prince Charles Fore- 
land, and to the east is Wiche Land (or King Karl’s Land) ; to the south- 
east is Hope Island. Besides these there are many small islands, the most 
northern being the small Seven Islands (8o° 48' N.). To the east of North 
East Land land was seen in 1702, and called Gilles Land. It is perhaps 
this island which Norwegian walrus-hunters believe they have seen several 
times, and which they have called White Island or New Iceland. In the sea 
between Spitsbergen and Norway there is a small island called Bear Island. 

The margin of Spitsbergen is a typical glaciated coast, much like that of 
Greenland and Norway. It is deeply cut and intersected by long and narrow 
fjords and sounds. Though comparatively small as the island of West 
Spitsbergen is, it has fjords of considerable length — Ice Fjord, on the west 
coast, is 60 miles long ; Wiide Bay, on the north coast, is 50 miles long ; 
Bell Sound, on the south-west coast, is 30 miles ; Hinlopen Strait, between 
West Spitsbergen and North East Land, is a narrow channel, 100 miles 
long, with the character of a typical fjord. 

Spitsbergen is a mountainous country with peaks and valleys, but the 
mountains do not rise to great heights, as a rule no more than 2,000 to 4,000 
feet. The most important mountain-ranges with more alpine forms are 

1 Though basalts and lavas of comparatively recent geological origin (Tertiary and 
perhaps Jurassic) occur in many places in the Arctic regions, there is only one active 
volcano known north of the Arctic circle, viz., the little island Jan Mayen, east of Green- 
land in the Greenland Sea, with the Beeren Berg (7,000 feet). 


The Arctic Regions io 45 

situated near the west coast. Eastward the land is lower, and the mountain 
are generally more rounded. The highest peaks known in Spitsbergen 
are Horn Sunds Tinder, near South Cape (76° 55' N.), about 5,000 feet. 

The snow and ice seem in Spitsbergen to have a tendency to accumulate 
and cover the land more in the east part of the country than in the west — 
a condition similar to that in the south part of Greenland. 

The interior of West Spitsbergen is not covered by a genuine inland ice, 
like that of Greenland, overflowing the whole area and drowning all the 
valleys and mountains. In various parts of the island, however, extensive 
local glaciers, or a glacier-covering, exist in the interior, which is not mighty 
enough to drown the main features in the orographical configuration of the 
underlying land. They resemble the great ice fields of N orway, and discharge 
glaciers down through the valleys into the ends of the fjords, where the 
ice breaks off, but the pieces are not large enough to be called icebergs. 

The greater part of North East Land is covered by an ice-sheet, which 
may be called a small inland-ice. The height of its smooth, regularly 
curved surface, gradually sloping downwards towards the coasts, is more 
than 2,000 feet above the sea in its highest part. On the east and south 
coast this inland ice descends into the sea, whilst the west and north coast 
is not covered by ice. 

Spitsbergen consists mostly of primitive rocks. Some districts, especially 
in the eastern part, are overflowed with basalt, probably of Jurassic or 
Tertiary origin, and perhaps similar to the great basalt flow of Franz Josef 
Land. In some parts of West Spitsbergen there are Tertiary formation 
with interesting plant fossils. 

The mineral wealth does not seem to be of much importance, though 
in some places there are beds of tolerably good coal. 4 

Novaya Zemlya. — Novaya Zemlya, which is divided into two large 
islands by the narrow sound, Matochkin Shar, is a quite Arctic land, and its 
whole character resembles that of Spitsbergen. The land is mountainous, 
and the coast is intersected by fjords, which are not very long. In the 
north there are extensive glaciers in the interior, probably similar to that of 
West Spitsbergen, and glaciers discharge into the ends of the fjords. 

Arctic Siberia. — Arctic Siberia is to a great extent low and barren 
undulating plains, the tundra intervening between the northern forest 
limit and the desolate Polar shores, and intersected by great rivers. The 
most mountainous part of Arctic Siberia seems to be Taimyr Land, where 
there appear to be several, though not very high, mountain ranges. The 
north coast of Siberia, which is as a rule very low and flat, is not so much 
intersected by fjords or bays as the coasts of most Arctic lands. An excep- 
tion is perhaps to be found in the little-known but somewhat mountainous 
coast between the mouth of the Yenisei and the Taimyr Bay, where there 
probably are fjords, and where there are a good many islands lying 
scattered in the shallow sea outside. 

Arctic Siberia has no glacial covering, and here are not even any local 


1046 The International Geography 

glaciers known. If such exist, almost the only place where they can be is 
the Chelyuskin Peninsula (the most northern point), and even there they 
must be very small. The reason of this is that the climate is too dry to 
allow of any yearly accumulation of snow. Along the northern coasts there 
are only patches of snow in the depressions and small valleys, which do not 
vanish in summer. One of the most interesting features of Arctic Siberia 
is that the soil is frozen for great depths below the surface, with inter- 
vening layers of real blue ice, called rock-ice or ground-ice. On the top 
of this rock-ice there may be a layer of soil, a foot thick or more, on 
which forests of larch and other trees grow. Frozen remains of the 
mammoths and other animals, which have lived there probably later than 
the Ice Age, are found, and in some cases the frozen corpses of mammoths 
still retain their flesh, skin, and hair. 

New Siberian Islands. — The New Siberian Islands, north of the 
Siberian coast, are surrounded by a very shallow sea, and are compara- 
tively low with rounded forms. They contain Silurian and Tertiary 
formation, the latter with a highly interesting fossil flora (the “ wood- 
hills ” of New Siberia). On some of them, especially the southern one, 
Great Liakhoff Island, there are important finds of mammoth remains 
and valuable mammoth tusks. To the north of these islands are San- 
nikoff Land and Bennett Land ; the size of these is unknown, but they are 
probably not very large. 

Arctic America. — Arctic North America is in character much like 
Arctic Siberia, but is somewhat more mountainous. North of the continent 
the numerous islands of the Arctic Archipelago are comparatively low, and 
have generally more or less rounded mountain forms. There is nowhere 
sufficient precipitation to form an inland ice, though on some of them, 
especially in the east, there are great local glaciers, e.g ., Baffin Land, 
North Devon, Ellesmere Land, and Grinnell Land. The last named, the 
northern part of which is also called Grant Land, is, besides Greenland, the 
most northern land visited by man. It rises to elevations of 2,000 and 
3,000 feet. In this land (in Lady Franklin Bay, 8i° 45' N.) is found the 
most northern deposit of coal, with a fossil Tertiary flora, including thirty 
species of plants, pines, birch, poplar, elm, and hazel. 

STANDARD BOOKS. 

0 

(The titles of descriptions of exploring expeditions are too numerous to be recorded— 

See lists in Greely's Handbook, and works by Nansen, Peary, Conway, 
Jackson, the Duke of the Abruzzi, Sverdrup and others, published since 

1895) 

“Manual of the Natural History, Geology, and Physics of Greenland and adjacent 
regions." Published by the British Admiralty. London, 1875. 

“ Meddelelser om Gronland." 16 vols. Copenhagen, 1879-85. 

A. E. Nordenskiold. “Studien und Forschungen im hohen Norden." Leipzig, 1885. 

H. Mohn and F. Nansen. " Durchquerung von Gronland." Gotha, 1893. 

Reports of the International Circumpolar Observations of 1882-83 in 31 quarto volumes 
in various languages. 


CHAPTER LV.-THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS 


By Sir John Murray, K.C.B., F.R.S., 

Director oj the Reports of the “ Challenger ” Expedition. 

The Antarctic. — The term Antarctic is applied to that region of the 
Earth’s surface surrounding the South Pole. The Antarctic Ocean is, 
strictly speaking, bounded to the north by the Antarctic circle, but the 
term is usually applied to the great circumpolar ocean which is affected by 
floating pack ice. The whole of the Southern Ocean may, indeed, be at 
times affected with ice, Antarctic icebergs being frequently encountered 
north of lat. 45 0 S. in the 
southern parts of the 
Pacific, Atlantic, and 
Indian Oceans. 

History of Explo- 
ration. — After the tor- 
rid or fiery zone of the 
ancients was crossed to- 
wards the end of the 
fifteenth century, the 
vague conception of a 
vast continent towards 
the South Pole was wide- 
spread among geog- 
raphers and explorers, 
and New Guinea and 
parts of the land about 

Magellan Strait were be- 
lieved to be portions of FlG ’ 487 -—The Antarctic Regions and Southern Ocean. 

it. With the progress of exploration the outlines of this southern con- 
tinent became more and more circumscribed. Tasman, in 1642, showed 
that Australia and Tasmania were surrounded by water to the south, but 
New Zealand, which he visited, was believed to be part of the Austral 
continent, even up to the time of Cook’s first voyage, when New Zealand 
was proved to be an island. In 1772 Kerguelen went to explore the land 
reported to the south of the Cape of Good Hope, and sighted Kerguelen 
Island, which he supposed to be a part of the great southern land. 

At last, in 1772, Cook was dispatched on his second voyage with the 
express object of finally settling the question of the existence of the 
reported southern continent, and he proved that if it existed it did not 

1047 



Known Land 
Supposed Land 
I Cl 13 


1048 The International Geography 

extend beyond the Antarctic circle. Cook pushed as far south as lat. 71 0 10 
S. in long. 107° W., while two later explorers attained even higher southern 
latitudes, viz., Weddell, who in 1823 penetrated as far as lat. 74 0 15' S. 
southwards of South Georgia, and Sir James Clark Ross, who in 1842 
reached lat. 78° io' S., discovering Victoria Land, and landing upon 
Possession and Franklin Islands. Of other explorers we may mention : 
Smith (1819), Bellingshausen (1820), Powell (1821), Morrell (1823), Biscoe 
(1830), Kemp (1834), Balleny (1839), D’Urville (1839-40), Wilkes (1839-40), 
and Moore (1845). More recently Dallman, in 1873-4, visited the neigh- 
bourhood of Graham Land ; in 1874 Challenger Expedition penetrated 
beyond the Antarctic circle on the voyage from the Cape of Good Hope 
to Australia. Between 1893 and 1895 whalers from Scotland and Norway 
visited the Antarctic regions, landings being effected on Seymour Island 
by Larsen, and on Victoria Land at Cape Adare by Kristensen. The 
Belgica, under Gerlache, explored Hughes Bay in the Antarctic summer 
of 1898-99, penetrated the ice-pack and reached 71 0 36' S. in 87J 0 W. 
The ship remained fast in drifting ice for a whole year, and her crew 
were the first to winter south of the Antarctic circle. The German Deep- 
Sea Expedition, under Chun, visited the Antarctic seas in 1898, reaching 
64° 14' s. north of Enderby Land. A British expedition in the Southern 
Cross was sent out in 1898 by Sir George Newnes, under Borchgrevink, 
who wintered at Cape Adare in 1899, and in 1900 succeeded in reaching 
78° 50' S., to the east of Mount Erebus. On January 1, 1903, Captain 
R. F. Scott, sledging southward from the Discovery , which had wintered in 
Macmurdo Strait, carried the British flag to 82° 17' S, the highest south 
latitude yet attained. His expedition sailed for the Antarctic regions in 
1901, simultaneously with a German expedition on the Gauss under Dr. E. 
von Drygalski, which entered the ice south of Kerguelen. A Swedish 
expedition, under Dr. Otto Nordenskiold, spent the years 1902-3 south of 
the Falkland Islands ; and the Scotia , under the command of Mr. W, S. 
Bruce, explored Weddell Sea in 1903, and discovered a snowy coast named 
Coats Land. Mr. Shackleton in the Nimrod resumed exploration in 1907. 

Antarctic Land. — Looking upon the land sighted or explored at 
various points (Victoria Land, Wilkes Land, Kemp Land, Enderby Land, 
Graham Land, and Alexander I. Land), as forming part of one and the 
same land-mass, it has been estimated that the Antarctic continent (Antarc- 
tica) has an area greater than that of Australia, or nearly four million square 
miles. The form and structure of the Antarctic icebergs show that they 
have been formed on large land-surfaces, and the rock fragments and 
debris, scattered over the floor of the Southern Ocean as these icebergs 
melt while floating towards the north, belong to lithological types charac- 
teristic of continental land, including gneiss, granite, mica-schist, quartz- 
iferous diorite, grained quartzite, sandstone, limestone, and shale. D’Urville 
descibes rocky islets off Adelie Land composed of granite and gneiss ; 
Wilkes found on an iceberg near the same place boulders of red sandstone 


The Antarctic Regions 1049 

and basalt ; Chun dredged up a mass of red sandstone weighing 5 cwt. 
north of Enderby Land. Borchgrevink and Bull brought home fragments 
of mica-schist and other continental rocks from Cape Adare in 1895 ; 
Donald brought back from Joinville Island pieces of red jasper or chert ; 
while Larsen brought from Seymour Island pieces of fossil coniferous wood 
and fossil Molluscan shells closely resembling species from the lower Ter- 
tiary of Britain and Patagonia. All these geological finds indicate conti- 
nental land. The ranges of mountains and peaks discovered by Ross in 
iVictoria Land appear to be formed of ancient crystalline rocks, with 
volcanic cones towards the south, 7,000 to 15,000 feet in height, Mount 
Erebus (160 miles to the west of which Ross believed the south magnetic 
pole to be situated) being in active eruption at the time of his visit ; Larsen 
visited one of several active volcanoes to the south of Cape Horn. 

Antarctic Ice. — The icebergs of the Antarctic differ entirely from 
those of the Arctic regions. When observed near their origin, they are 
found to be huge, flat-topped, perpendicular-sided, floating ice-islands, 
sometimes many miles in length, having a thickness of from 1,200 to 1,500 
feet, of which about one-sixth or one-seventh projects above the level of 
the sea, the great mass of the berg being below sea-level. They have 
frequently a stratified or laminated structure, and have undoubtedly been 
broken off and floated away from a great ice-barrier or ice-wall, like that 
along which Ross sailed for 300 miles about lat. 78° S. This ice-barrier is 
evidently the sea-face of an enormous glacier or ice-cap creeping slowly 
over the low-lying lands of the Antarctic continent towards the sea. When 
this ice-cap is pushed into depths of 200 or 300 fathoms portions are 
broken off and form the table-shaped icebergs, which on being floated to 
the north and becoming disintegrated may assume various shapes. Where 
the coasts of the Antarctic continent are occupied by high mountain ranges, 
as for instance, off the east coast of Victoria Land, the seaward face of the 
pack-ice is only 10 to 20 feet high, and at Cape Adare a landing was 
effected on a pebbly beach, occupied by a penguin rookery, where no 
land-ice descended to the sea. There have been many speculations about 
the thickness of the ice over the Antarctic continent towards the South 
Pole, Croll believing that it might be as much as 12 to 24 miles. It is, 
however, extremely improbable that ice of this thickness exists. 

Atmospheric Pressure and Temperature. — Our knowledge of 
the atmospheric conditions in the Antarctic is very meagre, being derived 
from few observations mainly during the southern summer, but these 
seem to indicate that there is a girdle of low atmospheric pressure, 
south of the 45th parallel of south latitude, and outside of the ice-bound 
region, with a mean pressure of less than 29 inches, accompanied by 
strong westerly and north-westerly winds and large rainfall. The extreme 
south polar area appears to be occupied by a vast permanent anticyclone, 
much more extensive in winter than in summer, out of which south-easterly 
winds blow from the pole towards the girdle of low pressure. Ross’s 


1050 The International Geography 

barometric observations indicate a gradual rise in the pressure south of 
lat. 75 0 S. As regards the temperature of the air, it is evidently, even in 
summer, extremely low, the mean of all the observations taken by Ross to 
the south of lat. 63° S. being 28.7° F., and his maximum 43.5 0 F. The 
winter minimum reported at Cape Adare or by the Belgica in 71 0 30' S. 
was — 45 0 F., but the Discovery found —62°. The atmosphere is apparently 
dry over the ice-covered land, the moisture separating in the form of small 
snow-crystals, while farther north the air is often near the point of satu- 
ration, and more moisture is precipitated. 

The Antarctic Ocean. — The temperature of the surface waters of 
the Antarctic Ocean appears to be higher in summer than that of the air. 
Thus Ross’s observations south of lat. 63° S. give a mean daily temperature 
of 29.8° F. (compared with 28.7° F. for the air), varying from 27.3 0 to 
33.6° F. Below the surface of the sea the Challenger observations show 
that in summer there is a wedge-shaped stratum of cold water sand- 
wiched between warmer water at the surface and at the bottom. This 
stratum was traced from 65° to 53 0 S., and had a temperature at the 
southern thick end of the wedge of 28° F., and at the northern thin end of 
32.5 0 , while that of the overlying water varied from 29 0 F. in the south to 
38° F. in the north, and that of the underlying water from 32 0 to 35 0 F. 
In fact the whole of the water in the greater depths of the Antarctic 
Ocean has a temperature of 32 0 to 35 0 F., being pretty much the same as 
the temperature of the deepest bottom water throughout the great ocean 
basins, even in the tropics. The Valdivia found in 64° S. a mass of com- 
paratively warm water of high salinity sandwiched between colder layers 
of deep and superficial water. The annual range of temperature in the 
waters within the pack-ice area never appears to exceed io° F. 

The available data for the depth of the Southern and Antarctic Oceans 
indicate a gradual shoaling from deep water towards the Antarctic conti- 
nent, although between the latitudes of the Cape of Good Hope and of 
Kerguelen depths ranging from 2,500 to 3,100 fathoms were found by the 
Valdivia between 55 0 and 64° S. To the south-east of South Georgia, Bruce 
showed that Ross’s sounding of 4,000 fathoms was erroneous ; but south of 
Australia the Challenger found depths of 2,600 and 1,950 fathoms, and 
nearer the Antarctic circle depths of i,8oo, 1,300, and 1,260 fathoms; 
Wilkes sounded in 500 and 800 fathoms off Adelie Land ; Ross had 
soundings of 100 to 500 fathoms off Victoria Land ; and depths of 164 
to 480 fathoms have been recorded east of Joinville Island. The Belgica 
found depths under 200 fathoms in the pack west of Palmer Land. 

Our knowledge of the Antarctic marine deposits is derived from the 
Challenger soundings, the observations of Hooker with Ross’s expedition, 
and the soundings of the Valdivia. The deposit in the far south, surround- 
ing the Antarctic continent, is Blue Mud, containing glauconite, composed 
mostly of land-detritus, mixed with remains of pelagic and bottom-living 
organisms. To the north of this Blue Mud, there is apparently a con- 


The Antarctic Regions 1051 

tinuous circumpolar band of Diatom Ooze, made up principally of the 
frustules of diatoms which lived in the surface waters, along with pelagic 
shells and some land-debris dropped by floating icebergs. This Diatom 
Ooze when dried is usually pure white or cream coloured, and looks not 
unlike chalk. Northwards of the Diatom Ooze the deposit is Globigerina 
Ooze, consisting mostly of the shells of pelagic Foraminifera, passing in 
very deep water into the characteristic deep-sea deposit Red Clay, asso- 
ciated with manganese nodules, sharks’ teeth, and ear-bones of whales. 

Marine Fauna and Flora. — Marine life, in the surface, intermediate 
and bottom waters of the south Polar sea, is very prolific. Pelagic Algae, 
especially Diatoms, abound in the upper layers to the depth of 50 fathoms, 
forming an abundant food supply for the pelagic animals, such as Copepods, 
Amphipods, and Molluscs, &c., and for the animals living at the bottom. 
Pelagic calcareous organisms, like the Pteropods and Foraminifera, which 
are so numerous, both in species and individuals, in the surface waters of 
the tropics, become less and less abundant towards the Polar seas. 

Of the shallow-water bottom-living (benthonic) fauna of the Antarctic, 
we have information only in the case of the more northerly islands, 
like Kerguelen, Bouvet, and South Georgia, but the available observations 
seem to indicate that in the shallow waters around Antarctic lands, in 
depths less than 25 fathoms, life is not so abundant as in depths 
of 100 fathoms and more. The deep-sea fauna of the Antarctic 
region has been shown by the Challenger to be exceptionally rich, a much 
larger number of species having been obtained than in any other region 
visited by that expedition, and the Valdivia's dredgings in 1898 confirm 
this. In the cold waters of the Antarctic there is a very feeble develop- 
ment of shells and other calcareous structures in marine organisms when 
compared with what obtains in tropical waters. As with' the pelagic 
organisms, so in the case of the benthonic fauna, a great many species 
and genera are recorded from the colder waters towards both the north 
and south Polar seas which are unknown in the intervening tropical 
area. The pelagic larvae of benthonic animals are almost unknown in 
Polar waters, where most of the bottom-living species appear to have a 
direct development ; this has been directly observed in several species 
of Echinoderms and Crustaceans in the cold waters of both hemispheres. 

Antarctic Mammals and Birds. — There are many whales in the 
great Southern and Antarctic oceans, some of which appear to be closely 
allied to if not identical with those in the Arctic seas. The right whale 
( Balcena mysticetus) is not found in the south, but a small w r halebone 
whale which has been described under the names B. australis and B. novce- 
zealandice seems to be identical with Balcena biscayensis of the northern 
hemisphere. The humpback and rorqual whales appear to be identical 
with those in northern seas, and the same may be said of the grampuses, 
pilot whales, ziphioid whales, and dolphins. Thirteen species of seals are 
known from the Antarctic. Of these Macrorhinus leoninus is supposed by 


1052 The International Geography 

some naturalists to be identical with the Macrorhinus from the coasts of 
California. The sea lion ( Otaria jubata ) is widespread in the Antarctic, 
but is now much less abundant than formerly. The fur seals belong to 
the same genera as the North Pacific species. The penguins are the most 
characteristic birds of the Antarctic, and some species exist in prodigious 
numbers — their rookeries being found on nearly all the islands and points 
of land free from land ice. The discovery of a penguin rookery at Cape 
Adare is most important for the future of Antarctic exploration, for it 
shows that there is open water every year, and an abundant supply of food 
and fuel. The peculiar sheath-bill ( Chionis ) is usually found in all penguin 
rookeries. The albatrosses and other Procellaridae are most abundant and 
breed in almost all the Antarctic Islands, together w T ith terns, skuas, and 
gulls. The southern skua ( Stercorarius antarcticus ) appears to be identical 
with the Arctic species. On Kerguelen a small teal ( Querquedula eaioni) is 
most abundant. Fishes have nowhere been observed in abundance in 
the waters of the Antarctic, although fish remains are most frequent in the 
stomachs of penguins and seals. The naturalists of the Belgica and of the 
Southern Cross collected a few insects as well as mosses or lichens in the 
most southerly lands. It is unlikely that any land mammals exist on the 
Antarctic continent. 

What Remains to be Done. — From a geographical point of view 
much remains to be done in defining the topography of the land and the 
sea-floor within the Antarctic circle. This is by far the largest abso- 
lutely unknown area now remaining on the Earth. Our knowledge of 
the physical and biological conditions of high southern latitudes is most 
fragmentary, and it is satisfactory to know that the exploration of this great 
unknown region is now being seriously undertaken by civilised and pro- 
gressive nations. It cannot be doubted that a successful exploration of 
the Antarctic would make a great advance in the philosophy of terrestrial 
science. 


STANDARD BOOKS AND PAPERS. 

James Cook. “ Voyage toward the South Pole and Round the World.” London, 1777. 

J. Weddell. “ Voyage towards the South Pole, 1822-24.” London, 1827. 

J. Dumont D’Urville. “ Voyage au pole sud et dans l’Oceanie, 1837-40.” Paris, 1842-54. 
C. Wilkes. “ United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-42.” 5 vois. 1845. 

J. C. Ross. “ Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Region^ 

1839-43.” 2 vols. London, 1847. 

Sir John Murray. “ On the Deep and Shallow- water Marine Fauna of the Kerguelen 
Region of the Southern Ocean,” 7 rans. Roy. Soc., Edin., vol. xxxiii., 1896. 
H. R. Mill. “The Siege of the South Pole” (a History of Antarctic Exploration). 
London, 1905. 

G. von Neumayer. “ Auf zum Siidpol.” Berlin, 1901. 

K. Fricker. “ Antarktis.’’ Berlin, 1898. Translated as “ The Antarctic.” London, 1900. 
A. Rainaud. “ Le Continent austral.” Paris, 1893. 

C. E. Borchgrevink. “ First on the Antarctic Continent.” London, 1900. 

L. Bernacchi. “To the South Polar Regions.” London, 1901. 

A. de Gerlache. “ Voyage de la Belgica” Paris, 1902. 

F. A. Cook. “Through the First Antarctic Night.” New York and London, 1900. 

R. F. Scott. “ The Voyage of the Discovery.” 2 vols. London, 1905. 

E. von Drygalski. “ Zum Kontinent des Eisigen Siidens.” Berlin, 1904. 

O. Nordenskjold (and others). “Antarctica.” London, 1905. 

R. C. Mossman (and others). “ The Voyage of the Scotia .” Edinburgh, 1906. 


I 


A ACHEN (Aix-la-Chapelle), 
282, 288 
Aalborg, 210 
Aar, river, 258 
Aarau, 264 
Aargau, 264 
Aarhuus, 210 
Ab-i-Panja river, 465 
Ababdeh tribe, 926 
Abaca, 803 

Abagaza, people, 1001 
Abancay, 839 

Abazwang indaba, people, 1001 - 
Abbaya, lake, 931 
Abbazia, 315 
Abdesh-Shems, 453 
Abeokuta, 968 

Aberdeen, 157 ; fisheries, 149 
Abo, 412 

Aborigines of Brazil, 868 ; Central 
America, 787 ; Dutch New 
Guinea, 644 ; North America, 
676 ; New South Wales, 596 ; 
Porto Rico, 800 ; Queensland, 
590 ; South America, 822 ; South 
Australia, 616 ; Tasmania, 612 ; 
Victoria, 604 ; W. Australia, 623 
Abruzzi, 364 ; Appennines of, 356 
Abruzzi. Duke of, in Arctic, 1032 
Abyla, 378 

Abysmal Area, 46, 91 

Abyssinia, 934, 935 

Acadia, 687 

Acajutla, 788 

Acampsis river, 440 

Acapulco, 781 

Acarai mountains, 879 

Acatenango, Mount, 783 

Acclimatisation, 98 

Accra, 964 

Accrington, 173 

Achaia, 349 

Achill Island, 187 

Achin, see Atjeh 

Aconcagua mountain, 816, 850 

Azores Archipelago, 384 

Acroa, people, 869 

Adalia (Attalia), 444' ; Bay of, 439 

Adam, Mount, 863 

Adam’s Bridge, 504 ; Peak, 504 

Addis Halem 935 

Adana, 443 

Adamawa, 971 

Adare, Cape, 1049 

Adelaide, 619 ; Climate, 615 ; 

Foundation of, 585 ; river, 615 
Adelie Land, 1050 
Adelsberg, 303 

Aden 454 ; harbour, map, 455 
Adenara islet, 572 
Adige river, 303, 304, 306, 355 
Adirondack mountains, 668, 671, 
727, 734 

Adjacent Isles of the Philippines, 
559 ; of Portugal, 384 
Adjustment of rivers to land, 59 
Adowa, 935 
Adrar, 953 

Adrianople, 343 ; basin. 332 
Adula, 259 
Adur, river, 180 
JEgadian islands, 353 


INDEX 


zEgina, gulf, 348 
^tolia, 348 
Afghanistan, 464-468 
Afiaj district, 456 
Africa, Configuration, map, 890 ; 
Continent of, 889-903 ; Popula- 
tion of, 103 ; Vegetation map of, 
895 

Afridi people, 467 
Afrikander people, 990 
Agassiz, Lake, 695, 743, 750, 
Agaua, 656 

Agave, in Bahama, 803 ; in Central 
America, 786 

Aggraded = filled up, 672 

Agni, people, 956 

Agoe, 957 

Agra, 489 

Agram, 323 

Agri, River, 357 

Aguadilla, 800 

Agulhas, Bay, 982 ; Bank, Cur- 
rents on, 70 ; Fisheries on, 989 
Ahmedabad, 492 
Aidin (Tralles), 443 
Ailao, 517 
Aimore people, 869 
Ainiak people, 467 
Ain Safra, 906 ; Shehat, 916 ; 

Smara, 908 
Aintab, 451 
Ainu people, 108, 549 
Air, Action of ocean on, 71 ; Tem- 
perature of, 72 
Aire valley, 170 
Airolo, 265 

Aitoff, D., Russian Empire, 386-421 
Aix, 253 

Aix-la-Chapelle, 288 
Ajau people, 945 
Ajudhia, 489 

Ak-Hissar (Thyateira), 443 

Akabah, gulf, 452, 629 

Akaroa, 628 

Akassa, 968 

Akhtuba river, 390 

Aki, 553 

Akkerman, 409 

Akoa people, 959 

Akorodu, 968 

Aksu river, 397 

Aksum, 935 

Akureyri,2i3 

Akwa people, 967 

Akvab, 496 

Alabama, 745 ; Coastal Plain, 
Map, 746 ; river, 746 
Alagoas, 875 
Alagcez Mountain, 395 
Alai Mountains, 396 

Xlands islands, 197 
Alaotra lake, 1016 
Alashehr (Philadelphia), 443 
Alaska, 667, 677, 770 ; Acquisition 
of, 71 1 

Ala-tagh mountains, 396 
Alatau mountains, 398 
Alausi basin, 831 
Albania, 343 
Albanians, 334 

Albany. N.Y., 729, 731, 736 ; 

Western Australia, 625 

1053 


Alba Realis, 322 
Albemarle Island, 658 
Albert-Edward, Mount, 635 ; 
Nyanza, 931 

Albert Nyanza, 931 ; Discovery 
of, 901 

Alberta, 701, 702 
Albury, New South Wales, 600 
Alcacer do Sal, 381 
Aldan, river, 400, 426 
Alderney, 186 
Alemtejo, 380 
Alengon, 251 
Aleppo, 449, 451 
Aleutian islands, 667, 770 
Alexander, Archipelago, 770 
Alexander the Great, 8 ; in Afghan- 
istan, 467 ; in Asia Minor, 441 ; 
in Egypt, 924 ; in India, 480 
Alexandretta, 451 
Alexandria, 927 
Alexandrina Lake, 614 
Alexandropol, 409 
Alexandrovo, 418 
Alexandrovsk, 407, 412 
Alfa fibre, 909 
Alfurs, 644 
Algarve, 382 
Algeria, 900, 906-913 
Algiers, 91 1 ; department, 907; 

Temperature and Rainfall, 908 
Algoa Bay, 985 

Algonkian (Algonquian) tribe, 106, 
683 

Alicante, 377 

Alice Springs, Climate, 615 ; Tem- 
perature and Rainfall, 581 
Aliwal North, 991 
Allahabad, 488 
Allan valley, 157 

Allegheny Mountains, 670, 671 ; 
Structure of, 40 ; Plateau, 671, 
721, 727, 73L 732 ; river, 734 
Allemanni, 260 
Allen, Lough, 189 
Aller river, 271 
Alligator river, 615 
Alluvial fan, 57 ; plain, 56 
Alluvium, 56 ; Geological position 
of, 51 

Almaden, 374 
Almeria, 377 
Along bay, 519 
Alpaca, 821 ; in Peru, 837 
Alpine Foreland, 284 ; of Ger- 
many, 267 ; of Austria, 304 
Alpine Provinces of Austria, 302 

Alps, 125, 256, 353 ; Divisions of, 
126 ; Eastern, 299 ; Geological 
divisions of, 129 ; Glaciers of, 
126 ; of Germany, 267 ; Italian, 
354 ; Passes of, 126 ; Map of 
Chief Passes, 127 ; Relative 
extent of, 396 ; Section across, 
257 ; Western, 237 
Alsace, 241 
Alsace-Lorraine, 287 
Altai mountains, 398 
Altenburg, 290 
Altitude, definition, 15 
Alto Peru, 840 
Altona, 295 


1054 The International Geography 


Altos, 788 

Altvater mountain, 292, 309 
Altyn Tagh mountains, 539 
Aluta river, 327 

Alvarado in Central America, 787 
Amacura river, 878 
Amadeus, Lake, 615 
Amager island, 210 
Amalfi, 359, 361, 365 
Amanus, Mons, 448 
Amapala, 788 
Amatique bay, 783 
Amazon basin, 865 ; river, 816, 
873 ; valley, 868 

Amazonas, Peru, 839 ; Brazil, 873 
Amazonian, Region of Peru, 835 ; 
Slope of Ecuador, 831 ; States of 
Brazil, 873 
Ambaca, 984 
Ambala, 490 
Ambalema, 828 
Ambato, 833 
Amberno river, 642, 643 
Amboyna island, 571 
Ambriz, 984 
Ambrym island, 647 
America, Name of, n ; North 
and South contrasts, 664 ; Struc- 
ture of, 40 

American or Red Race, Classifi- 
cation of, 102, 106 
Amiens, 249 
Amida, 448 
Amisus, 443 
Ammeberg, 203 
Ammer, lake, 272 
Amoy, 535 
Ampanam, 572 
Amraoti, 493 
Amritsar, 490 
Amsterdam, 222 
Amsterdam islet, 1024 
Amu-daria river (Oxus), 396, 397 
Amur river, 399, 400, 539 
Anaa island, 657 
Anahuac plain, 776 
Anamalai hills, 494 
Anatolia, 439-445 ; railway map, 443 
Ancachs, 837 
Ancohuma, Mount, 817 
Ancona, 364 
Ancyra, 443, 444 
Andahuaylas, 839 
Andai, 643 
Andalusia, 374, 376 
Andalusian mountains, 369, 370 
Andaman islands, 499 
Andean, Basins of Ecuador, map, 
830; Countries, 824-848; Pro- 
vinces of Argentina, 855; Region 
of Peru, 834 
Anderlecht, 228 
Andermatt, 263 

Andes, mountains, 816; of Argen- 
tina, 850 ; of Bolivia, 840 ; of 
Chile, 843 ; of Colombia, 824 ; 
of Ecuador, 829 ; of Peru, 834 
Andorra, 377; la Vieja, 378 
Andree, explorer, 1032 
Androscoggin river, 725 
Anegada, 807 
Aneto, 371 

Angara, river, 400, 426 
Angers, 251 
Angkor-wat, ruins, 518 
Angles, people, 144 
Anglesea, 164 
Anglo-Parisian Basin, 235 


Angmagsalik, 1043 
Angola, 982-984 
Angolare people, 981 
Angoni people, 949, 1001 
Angora (Ancyra), 443, 444 
Angora goat, 441 
Angouleme, 245 

Angra, Pequena, 1012 ; de Sao 
Joao, 981 ; do Heroismo, 384 
Anguilla Island, 808 
Anian, Strait of, 1026 
Animals and Plants, distribution 
of, 82 ; Pelagic, 90 ; See also 
Fauna and Flora 
Animals, Land, groups of, 90 
Ankaratra, 1016 
Ankobra river, 963 
Ankole, 938 
Ann, Cape, 722 
Anna de Chaves, 981 
Annam, 516 
Annamite people, 517 
Annan river, 160 

Annapolis, Md., 731 ; Valley, 686 
Annatom island, 647 
Annobon, 953 
Anping, 554 

Ansariyeh mountains, 449 ; people, 
450 

Ansitan, 539 
Ansoes, 644 
Ansongo rapids, 956 
Antananarivo (Tananarive), 1019 
Antarctic, Land, 1048 ; Ocean, 
1047, 1050 ; Ocean, Position 

of, 61 ; Regions, 1047-1052; 
map, 1047 
Antarctica, 1048 
Antecedent rivers, 732 
Anthracite in Pennsylvania, 727; 

in South Wales, 150 
Anthropogeographical relations, 

99 

Anthropogeography, definition, 5 
Anti- Balkan Mountains, 331 ; 
Lebanon Mountains, 449; Tau- 
rus Mountains, 439 
Anticline, definition, 53 
Anticosti Island, 689 
Antigua (Guatemala), 783, 789 '» 
Island, 807 

Antillean mountain system, 667 
Antioch, 451 

Antioquia, 827 ; mountain, 825 

Antipodes Island, 627 

Antis people, 822 

Antisana, mountain, 830 

Antivari, 337 

Antofagasta, 846 

Antonia Peak, 979 

Antrim, Co., 189, 193 

Antumey (Annatom) Island, 647 

Antwerp (Anvers), 229 

Anyanja people, 949 

Anzin, 249 

Aomori, 551 

Aorangi, mountain, 628 
Aosta, 126 
Apache tribe, 779 
Apamea, 443 
Aphelion, 72 
Apia, 654 

Apian “Cosmographia,” 2 ; Maps 

of, 31 

Apollonia (Valona), 344 
Appalachian, Belt, 715 ; Moun- 
tains, 670, 681 ; Northern con- 
tinuation of, 690 


Appennine Foreland, 357 
Appennines, 125, 352, 355 
Appenzell, canton, 263 
Apple Tree (Yablonovyi) Moun« 
tains, 398 
Apsheron, 394 

Apulia, 364 ; (Le Murgie), 358 
Apulum, 323 
Apure river, 885 
Apurimac, 839 ; river, 835 

Aquitaine, 236 

Arab Geographers of Middle Ages, 
10 

Arab Zone province, 978 
Arabah depression, 449 
Arabia, 451-456 ; Petrsea, 453 
Arabian region, 433 
Arabs, 437, 453, 898, 910, 914, 917, 
926, 937, 939, 956, 978 
Arad, 322 
Arafura Sea, 577 
Araguaya river, 874 
Aragon' 373, 377 ; river, 370 
Arakan, 472, 496 
Aral, Lake, 396, 425 
Aralo-Caspian basin, 395 
Aram-Naharaim, 447 
Arapey river, 857 
Ararat mountain, 395, 440 
Ararat, Victoria, 609 
Aras river, 457 
Araucanian people, 822, 845 
Arawak people, 800 
Arawary river, 883 
Araxes river, 395 
Arcadia, 349 

Archaean rocks, Geological posi- 
tion of, 51 
Archangel, 41 1 
Archipelago Vilayet, 444 
Arco, 306 

Arctic, America, 1046 ; Archi- 
pelago, 703, 1027, 1046 ; Record, 
1025-1033 ; Regions, 1033-1046 ; 
Regions, map, 1034 ; Sea, 41, 62, 
1033; Siberia, 1045 
Arctogaeic Realm, 88 
Arden, Forest of, 174 
Ardennes, 224, 237 
Arecibo, 800 
Ared district, 456 
Arequipa, 838 
Arfak mountains, 643 
Argaeus, Mount, 439 
Argau, 264 
Argentina, 849 
Argentine Republic, 849-856 
Argos, 349 
Argovia, 264 
Arguin, 953 
Argun river, 400 
Arguni bay, 642 
Argyll, 156 
Arhuaco people, 827 
Arid, climates, 80; regions and 
river work, 57 
Aristotle, 8 
Arizona, 765 

Arkansas Highlands, 753 
Arkhangelsk (Archangel), 411 
Arklow, 189 

Arlberg tunnel, 262, 306 
Armenian nation, 436 ; plateau 
395 , 427 

Armenians, 403, 442 
Armidale, N.S.W., 600 
Armorican region, 235 
Arnawi, 466 


Arnhem, 222 
Arnhem Land, 576, 578 
Arno river, 356 
Aroa, 887 
Aron, 968 
Arrowsmith, 31 
Arroyo, 800 
Arta gulf, 346 

Artesian wells in Atlantic States, 
721 ; in Queensland, 591 ; in 
Sahara, 908 ; in S. Australia, 618 
Aruba island, 806 
Arun, river, 180 
Arundel, 180 • 

Aruwimi province, 978 
Arya tribes, 478 
Aryan languages, 132 
Arzeu, 91 1 
Asaba, 972 

Asama-yama volcano, 546 
Ascension island, 1013 
Ashango people, 959 
Ashanti, 964 
Ashford, 180 
Ashio, 548 

Asia, Continent, 422-438 ; Moun- 
tain systems, map, 427 ; Minor, 
plateau, 425 ; Minor, see Anatolia 
Asiatic Turkey and Arabia, 439-456 
Askhabad, 417 
Askja, volcano, 213 
Asosan, volcano, 546 
Asphalt in Trinidad, 81 1 
Aspromonte, 357 
Ass, Wild, 540 
Assab, 935 

Assam, 473, 495 ; Forests, 477 

Assiniboia, 702 ; District, 701 

Assinie, 957 

Assiut, 927 

Assuan, 923, 927 

Assyria, 450 

Assyrian Empire, 447 

Astorga, 376 

Astrakhan, 414 

Astrolabe bay, 639 

Asturias, 371, 376 

Asuncion, 862 

Atacama desert, 821 

Atbara river, 920 

Atel, 414 

Athabasca, district, 702 ; Lake, 
681 ; river, 681, 698, 703 
Athapascan people, 106 
Athens, 348 
Atjeh, 565, 566 
Atjinese people, 557 
Atlantic, City, 718 ; Coastal P\ain, 
718 ; Coastal Plain (map), 720 
Atlantic Ocean, currents of, 69 ; 
configuration of bed, 60 ; origin 
of, 36, 41 ; position of, 61 ; Salinity 
of, 64 ; Shore Line of United 
States, 717 

Atlas mountains, 41, 370, 890, 904, 
907 

Atmosphere, 3, 4 ; and climate, 
72-82 ,- Effects of heat on, 74 ; 
Pressure of, 76 

Atoll, 62 ; Map of typical, 657 

Atolls in Pacific, 649 

Atrato river, 824, 828 

Atrek river, 457 

Attalia, 444 

Attica, 347 

Attie, 957 

Attopeu, 517 

Atures rapids, 884 


Index 


Auburn, Me., 725 ; N.Y., 736 
Auckland, 634 ; Islands, 627 
Augila, 916 
Augsburg, 284 
Augusta, Me., 723 
Aulad 'Aly Bedawin, 926 
Aullagas, lake, 840 
Aurangabad, 498 
Aures range, 907 
Aussig, 308 
Austin, Tex., 755 
Austral plant division, 88 
Australia, Continent of, 575-586 ; 
Fauna of, 87 ; Felix, 605 ; Felix, 
extinct Volcanoes of, 579 
Australian, Alps, 594, 602 ; Cor- 
dillera, 588 ; people, 104 ; region, 
87 - 

Austria, 302-315 ; statistics, 325 
Austria-Hungary, 298-301 ; Origin 
of, 136 ; Provinces of, 301 
Austrian, Alps, 302 ; Gap, 303 
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, 298- 
326 

Auvergne, 239 
Aux Cayes, 802 
Avalon Peninsula, 705 
Avars, 319 

Avenches (Aventicum), 264 
Aventicum, 264 
Avignon, 253 
Avila, 376 

Avon river, 166, 174, 176, 179 

Awas mountains, 1012 

Awe, Loch, 156 

Awob river, 1012 

Ax, 377 

Axarfjord, 213 

Axim, 964 

Axis (Espigao) mountain of Brazil, 
866 

Ayacucho, 839 

Aylesbury, Vale of, 179 

Aymara people, 822, 841 

Ayolas, Juan de, in Paraguay, 862 

Azimuth, definition, 15 

Azoques, 833 

Azores, see Azores, 384 

Azov sea, 407 

Aztecs, 779 

Aztlan, 779 

Azuay province, 833 

Azure Coast, 253 

B A- CANCALE People, 983 ; 
Coroca people, 983 ; Cuisso 
people, 983 ; Ronga, 996 
Bab el-Mandeb strait, 425, 452 
Baba, Cape, 422 
Babylonia, 447 

Back, Sir George, Arctic Voyage, 
1028 

Backbone (Epinha^o) of Brazil, 
866 

Bactria, 467 

Bad Lands of Dakota, 758 
Badagry, 968 
Badajoz, 376 
Badakhshan, 397, 465 
Baden, Grand Duchy, 286 ; near 
Vienna, 306 
Baer, Von, 56 
Bafulabe, 958 

Baffin, Arctic Voyage, 1026 ; Bay, 
1035 ; Land, 1046 
Baggara tribe, 926 
Baghdad, 448 
Bagneres-de-Luchon, 252 


I0 55 


Bagrada river, 914 
Bahama islands, 667, 803 ; climate, 
792 

Baharieh oasis, 928 
Bahia, 870, 875 ; Blanca, 849 ; dos 
Tigres (Great Fish Bay), 982 ; 
Honda, 798 

Bahr-el-Abiad, 920 ; Azrak, 920 ; 

Gebel, 920 ; Ghazal, 920 
Bahrein islands, 452 
Baikal lake, 400, 401, 426 
Bailundo regions, 982 
Baillie, Alexander F., Paraguay, 
859 ; Uruguay, 856 
Baines, J. A., India, 469 
Baixas do Sorraia, 380 
Bajan people, 567 
Bakalahari people, 1002 
Bakel, 956 

Baker, Sir Samuel, explorer, 901 
Baku, 416 
Bala lake, 165 

Balabac island, 559 ; strait, 566 
Balata in Dutch Guiana, 882 
Balaton-Fiired, 318 
Balaton (Platten) lake, 318 
Bald Mountain, 688; (Lysa Gora), 
392 

Bale, canton, 264 
Balearic islands, 370, 377 
Bali island, 564 
Balkh (Bactria), 467 
Balkan mountains, 331, 338; 

Peninsula, 330-335 ; Peninsula, 
reorganisation of, 136 
Balkhash, lake, 396 
Ballarat, 608 

Balleny in Antarctic, 1048 
Balsam lake, 694 

Baltic Sea, 407 ; Circulation of, 67 
Baltimore, Md., site, 720 ; as a 
seaport, 715 
Baltistan, 499 
Baluchistan, 499 
Balumbo people, 950 
Bambara people, 956 
Bamberg, 285 

Bamboo in Africa, 896 ; in China, 
526 ; in Colombia, ’826; in India, 
477 

Bammako, 958 ; rapids, 956 
Bamopamo river, 962 
Banana, 978 

Bananas in Jamaica, 804 

Banda islands, 571 

Banda-neira island, 571 

Bandana river, 957 

Bandar Abbas, 463 ; Maharani, 515 

Bandjermassin, 568 

Banff County, 156 

Bang Pa Kong river, 508 

Bangala people, 983 ; province, 978 

Bangalore, 498 

Bangaso, 959 

Bangkok, 510 

Bangor, Me., 723 

Bangui, 959 

Bangweolo, lake, 947 

Bani-Bagoe river, 957 

Banka island, 565, 566 

Banks Peninsula, 628 

Bann, river, 193 

Bantam, 562, 563 

Bantu in East Africa, 933 ; people, 
898 ; speech, 104 ; in South 
Africa, 989 

Baobab trees in Africa, 896 ' 

Bara people, 1017 


1056 The International Geography: 


Baraba, steppe, 398 
Baracoa, 795, 798 
Baranof island, 770 
Barawa, 936 

Barbados island, 810; tar, 810 
Barbary States, 904 
Barbuda island, 807 
Barcelona, 377 ; (Venezuela), 887 ; 

Gulf of, 885 
Barcelonnettes, 243 
Bareli, 489 
Barents Land, 1044 
Barents, W., voyage of, 1026 
Bari, 365 ; Bari people, 933 
Baringo lake, 931 
Barma river, 879 
Barisan mountains, 564 
Barito river, 567, 568 
Barka, 916, 917 
Barkul, 540 
Barmen, 288 
Baroda, 497 

Barotseland, see Barutseland 
Barquisimeto, 887 
Barrancas of Mexico, 776 ; Vene- 
zuela, 884 
Barranquilla, 828 

Barren grounds, 89 ; Lands, 682, 

703 

Barrier Mountains, N.S.W., 594 ; 

reef, 62 ; reef, map of, 587 
Barrow-in-Furness, 163 
Barrow river, 193 
Barry Dock, 151, 165 
Barth, explorer, 901 
Bartica, 881 

Barton, C. H., Australia, 575 '* 
Queensland, 587 
Barutse people, 949 
Barutseland, 949, 950 
Barwan river, 594 
Basel, canton, 264 
Bashan, 449 
Bashgul valley, 466 
Basilicata, The, 364 
Basin, 49 ; Ranges, Rocky Moun- 
tains, 765 

Basque Province, 371, 374, 376 
Basques, I33» 240, 372 
Basra, 448 
Bass Strait, 576, 610 
Basse Terre, Guadeloupe, 809 
Bassenthwaite lake, 163 
Basseterre, St. Kitts, 808 
Bastard people, 1013 
Basuto people, 990 
Basutoland, 992 
Batabano, 797 
Batang-hari river, 564, 566 
Batalha-Reis, J., Brazil, 865 
Batanga coast, 973 
Batavia, 562 
Bath, 177 

Bathurst, Gambia, 962 ; N.S.W., 
598. 600 ; Island, 614 
Batjian island, 570 
Baton Rouge, La,, 750 
Battak people, 557, 565, 566 
Battambong river, 509 
Batticalao, 504 
Batum, 416 
Baule, 957 
Bautzen, 276 
Bavaria, 284 

Bavarian Palatinate, 286 

Bavarians, 276, 300 

Bawean Islands, 563 

Bay, 50 ; Islands, 784 ; of Fundy, 


Tides of, 65 ; of Islands, New 
foundland, 705 ; Verte, 686 
Baymen of British Honduras, 790 
Beachy Head, 180 
Bear Island, 1044 
Bearn, Province, 252 
Bear-Paw Mountains, 756 
Beauce, 235, 251 
Beaucaire, 253 
Beaumont, Elie de, 37, 42 
Bechuana people, 990 
Bechuanaland, 1002-1003 ; Pro- 
tectorate, 1002-1003 
Bedawin tribes, 926 
Bedford, 178 
Bedouin, 926 

Bek-Pak-Dala, desert, 396 
Beechworth, Victoria, 609 
Beeren Berg, 1044 
Beetroot in France, 243 ; in Ger- 
• many, 281 
Behaim’s Globe, 35 
Bei-Kem river, 400 
Beira, 946 

Beireuse mountains, 380 
Beirut, 451 

Beja, 380 ; people, 898 
Belad-al-Jerid, 913 
Belaya river, 418 
Beled-es-Sudan, 897 
Belem, 873 
Belep Islands, 644 
Belfast, 193 
Belgae in Britain, 143 
Belgica, ship, 1048 
Belgica prima, 231 
Belgique, 223 

Belgium, 223-230 ; Origin of, 136 

Belgrade, 336 

Belik river, 447 

Belize, 790 ; river, 789 

Bell Sound, 1044 

Bellary. 495 

Belle Isle Strait, 704 

Bellenden Ker Mountains, 589 

Bellingshausen, explorer, 1048 

Bellinzona, 265 

Bello Horizonte, 875 

Belts of Denmark, 208 

Belyi Klyuch, 390 

Ben Lomond, Tasmania, 61 1 ; 

Macdhui, 156; Nevis, 141, 156 
Benadir coast, 936 
Benares, 488 

Benches = river terraces, 55 
Bend of the Niger, 954 
Bende, 968 
Bendery, 409 
Bendigo, 608 
Bengal, 486 
Bengali language, 479 
Bengawan valley, 562 
Benghazi, 916, 917 
Benguela, 984 ; current, 70 
Beni, 842 : river, 841 
Beni Saf. 908 

Benin, 968 ; Bight of, 972 ; people, 
967 

Benkoolen, 562, 565 
Bennett land, 1046 
Benue river, 970 
Beothuk people, 706 
Bequia island, 810 
Berar, 493 

Berber, 927 ; race, 907 
Berbera, 936 

Berbers, 898 ; in Algeria, 910 ; in 
Portugal, 382 ; in Tripoli, 917 


Berbice, 881 ; river, 879 
Berezina, river, 390 
Bergdamara people, 1013 
Bergen, 207 
Berici Monti, 355 
Bering sea, 423 ; strait, 85, 423, 103$ 
Bering Vitus Arctic Voyage, 1027 
Berlenga Islands, 379 
Berlin, 295 ; Temperature and 
rainfall of, 273 ; Treaty of, 136 
Bermejo river, 841, 850 
Bermuda, 708-709 
Bermudez, 887 
Bern, canton, 264 
Bernard, Augustin, New Cale- 
donia, 644 

Bernese Oberland, 258 
Bernina mountains, 259 
Berry, province, 251 
Bertrand Alejandro, Chile, 843 
Berwick, 160, 169 ; county, 160 
Besan^on, 252 
Beskids, 313 ; passes, 311 
Bessarabia, 416 
Betafo district, 1016 
Bethencourt, Explorer, 952 
Betsiboka river, 1016 
Betsileo people, 1017 
Betsimisaraka people, 1017 
Bhagalpur, 488 
Bhamo, 496 
Bhoten, see Bhutan 
Bhutan, 503 
Biafada people, 981 
Biafra, Bight of, 973 
Biainas people, 441 
Bibundi, 974 

Bicameral = with two Houses of 
Parliament, 632 
Bida, 972 

Bidassoa river, 233 
Biddeford, Me., 725 
Bielefeld, 289 
Bienne. (Biel), 264 
Biferno Fortore, river, 357 
Big Game in Rhodesia, 1000 
Big Horn Basin, 762 
Bihar, 474 ; plain, 487 
Bijagos island, 980 
Bijuga island, 896 
Bilbao, 376 
Bileton island, 566 
Bima, 572 
Biminis, The, 803 
Bingen, 288 
Bingerville, 957 
Bingeul Dagh mountain, 440 
Binghampton, N.Y., 736 
Bini people, 967 
Biobio river, 848 

Biogeography, 83-95 ; Definition, 4 
Biological transition areas, 87 
Bionomic Relations, 85 
Biosphere, 4 

Bird of Paradise in Dutch New 
Guinea, 643 ; in the Moluccas, 
570 ; in New Guinea, 637, 640 
Birkenhead, 172 

Birmingham, 175 ; and the Black 
Country, Map of, 175 ; Ala., 728 
Bisaya, 559 
Bischoff, Mount, 61 1 
Biscoe, explorer, 1048 
Bisharm people, 898, 926 
Bishop, Mrs., Korea, 542 
Biskra, 912 

Bismarck Archipelago, 640 
Bismarck, N. Dak., 757 


Index 


!°57 


Bismarck range, 636, 639 
Bismarckburg, 973 
Bissao, 981 
Bitlis, 444 
Bitolia, 343 
Bitter Lakes, 928 
Biwa, lake, 547, 552 
Bizerta, 915 

Black Country, 175; Earth Region, 
405 ; Earth Region of Russia, 
390, *492 ; Forest, 269 ; Hills, 
673 ; Hills, U.S., 757 ; Moun- 
tains, 164, 603, 670 ; Mountains 
(Austria), 31 1 ; Mountains, N.C., 
716 ; Sea, 407 ; Sea, Circulation 
of, 67 ; Sea, Origin of, 41 ; 
Stream of Japan, 70 
Blackburn, 173 
Blackfoot tribe, 683 
Blackpool, 174 
Blackwater river, 188, 194 
Blaeu, cartographer, n 
Blanc, Mont, 126, 237 
Blanche Bay, 641 
Blanco, Cape, 953 
Blantyre, B.C.A., 950 
Bleiberg, 305 
Blida, 912 

Bligh, Governor, 597 
Blizzard, 756 
Bloemfontein, 1006 
Blomidon, Cape, 686 
Blue Grass Country, 733 ; Gum 
Tree, 603 ; Mountains, India, 
472 ; Mountains, Jamaica, 803 ; 
Mountains, N.S.W., 594, 596 ; 
Mountains, Wash., 764 ; Nile, 
920 ; Ridge, 721 
Bluefields, 788 
Bluff, The, 628 
Boavista Island, 979 
Bober valley, 292 
Bocca Serriola, 356 
Bodegas de Babahoyo, 833 
Bodenbach-Zetschen, 308 
Bodensee, lake, 257 
Bodmin moor, 167 
Bodo, 207 ; Rain and temp, curves 
for, 200 
Bceotia, 348 

Boen6, 990 ; in Transvaal, 1010 
Boeroboedur, 563 
Bog, 89 

Boghaz Keui, 441 
Bognor, 181 
Bogong mountain, 602 
Bogota, 828 
Bogs of Ireland, 142 
Bohemia (Bohmen), 306 
Bohemian-Saxon Switzerland, 291 
Bohmen, 306 
Boian lands, 299, 305 
Bois-le-Duc, 222 
Bojador, Cape, 953 
Bokhara, 408, 417 
Bolama, 981 
Boian pass, 467, 499 
Bolivar, province, 827, 833 ; the 
Liberator, 827 
Bolivia, 840-843 
Bolivian Plateau, 817 
Bologna, 363 
Boloven, 517 
Bolton, 173 
Boma, 978 

Bombay, 491, 492 ; Longitude of, 
3 i 

Bomst, Vineyards at, 


Bonaca island, 784 
Bonavista bay, 705 
Bonaire island, 806 
Bone, 912 

Bonifacio, strait, 358 
Bonin islands, 545 
Bonn, 288 

Bonneville Lake in Utah, map, 766 
Bonney, T. G., 37 
Bonny, 968 

Boothia Felix peninsula, 1028 
Bora wind, 314, 319 
Borchgrevink in Antarctic, 1048 
Bordeaux, 252 

Borderland, Hungarian, 323 
Borders, definition, 112 
Boreal plant division, 88 
Borgu, 971 ; people, 970 
Borneo, 566 
Bornholm, 21 1 
Bornu people, 971 
Borrowdale, 163 
Bosna Serail, 324 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 324 
Bosporus, 330, 341 
Boston, 179 

Boston, Mass., 722 ; as a seaport, 
715 ; Harbour islands, 724 
Botany Bay, 584, 597 
Bothnia, Gulf of, 197 
Botletlie river, 1003 
Botocudo people, 869 
Botosani, 329 

Bougainville Island, 647, 648 
Bougie. 912 

Boulder clay, Origin of, 57 
Boulogne, 249, 250 
Boundaries, 112; Maps, 1 13 ; be- 
tween British Guiana and Vene- 
zuela, map, 878 ; of Colombia, 
824 ; in South America, 823 ; of 
States, 712 

Boundary at the Great American 
Lakes, 737; of Maryland, 718; 
between United States and 
Canada, 113; of Virginia, 718 
Bounty Bay, 659 ; Island, 627 
Bourbon island, 1024 
Bourges, 251 
Bourke, 600 
Bournemouth, 181 
Bowen, 591, 592 
Boyaca, 827 
Boyne, River, 192 
Bozen, 306 
Brabant, 221 

Bradford, 170 ; on-Aven, 177 
Bradano Baseuto, river, 357 
Brahmaputra river, 471, 486, 495, 
54i 

Brahui people, 499 
Braila, 329 

Brainard, Sergeant, Arctic Explo- 
ration, 1030 
Brakna people, 956 
Branco, Cape, 813 
Brandenburg, 292, 293 
Brandon, 696 
Branholme, 611 
Bras d’Or, 686 
Brass, 968 
Braunschweig, 293 
Brava island, 979 
Brave West Winds, 70, 78 
Bray Head, 187 

Brazil, 865-877 ; Configuration, 
865 ; Geology, 867 ; Highlands, 

815 


Brazilian Island, 865, 874 
Brazza, Savorgnan de, 958 
Brazzaville, 959 
Brda, 337 ; mountains, 307 
Breakers, 67 
Breccias, 52 
Brecon Beacons, 164 
Breda, 222 
Breidafjordur, 212 
Bremen, 294 
Brenner Pass, 127, 302 
Breslau, 293 
Brest, 251 
Brest-Litovsk, 409 
Breton, Cape, 686 
Brick-tea, 529 

Bridgetown, Barbados, 81 1 
Brieg, 265 
Brier island, 686 
Bright, 609 
Brighton, 181 
Brindisi, 365 
Brionian islands, 314 
Brisbane, 590, 591, 592 
Bristol, 166 

British Borneo, 559-560 ; Central 
Africa, 946-951 ; Columbia, 697- 
700 ; East Africa, 937-940 ; East 
African Protectorate, 938 ; Em- 
pire, def., 138; Empire, Extent 
of, 146 ; Empire, Statistics of, 
196; Guiana, 878-881; Honduras, 
787. 789; Isles. Climate of, 140; 
Isles, Configuration of, 139; 
Isles, Discovery of, 8; Isles, 
Fauna of, 143; "isles, Flora of, 
142; Isles, Population of, 148; 
New Guinea, 635-638; North 
America, 679; North Borneo, 
559 ; Occupation of Egypt, 925 ; 
Pacific Islands, 651 ; Peoples, 
History of, 143 ; South Africa, 
997 ; Sudan, 969 ; West African 
Coast Colonies, 960-969 
Brittany, 251 
Brno (Briinn), 309 
Broads of Norfolk, 182 
Brocken, 290 
Brockton, U.S., 726 
Brody, 313 
Broken Hill, 601 
Brooklyn, 730 

Brooks, W. K., on pelagic fauna, 94 

Broome, 626 

Brothers island, 936 

Brown Willy, 167 

Bruce, James, explorer, 900 

Bruce Peninsula, 694 

Bruce, W. S., explorer, 1048 

Brue, Andre, 954 

Bruges, 225 

Brugg, 264 

Brunei, 560 

Bruni island, 613 

Briinn (Brno), 309 

Brunswick, duchy, 293 

Brusa (Prusa), 443, 444 

Brussels, 228 

Bruxelles, 228 

Briix, 307 

Bryce, James, Natal, 993 ; Orange 
River Colony, 1003 ; Transvaal, 
1007 

Brythonic tribe, 162 
Buache, Philip, contour lines, 31 
Bubanjidda Mountains, 970 
Bubi people, 953 
Budapest, 321 


1058 The International Geography 


Buddhism, 528 
Buddhists in Tibet, 541 
Budweis, 308 
Buea, 974 
Bueleng, 564 

Buen Ayre (Bonaire) island, 806 
Buena Ventura gulf, 824 
Buenaventura, 828 ; rainfall, 819 
Buenos Aires, 849, 853 ; tempera- 
ture and rainfall, 819 
Buffalo, N.Y., site, 738 
Buffaloes in United States, 758 
Buffavente Mountain, 445 
Bug river, 271, 391, 415 
Bugi people, 569 
Buitenzorg, 563 
Bujis Island, 384 
Bukarest, 329 

Bukovina, 300, 311; derivation, 
312 

Bulangan river, 567 
Bulawayo, 1002 
Bulgaria, 338-339 
Bulgarian Foreland, 331 
Bulgarians, 334 
Bulhar, 936 
Bulom people, 963 
Bunda people, 983 
Bundaberg, 591, 592 
Bundelkhand, 497 
Bunter, Geological position of, 51 
Burdekin river, 591 
Bure, 955 
Burgas, 339 
Burgos, 376 
Burgundians, 260 
Burgundy Gate, 125 ; province, 
252 

Burhanpur, 493 
Burin peninsula, 705 
Burlington, I., 744 
Burma, 472, 495 ; geology, 473 
Burma-Sunda mountains, 428 
Burnet’s Theory of the Earth, 37 
Burnley, 173 
Burntisland, 158 
Burrard Inlet, 697, 700 
Burslem, 175 
Burton, Sir R. F., 901 
Burton-on-Trent, Brewing at, 176 
Buru, Cape, Malay peninsula, 422 ; 

New Guinea, 642; island, 570 
Bury, 173 
Bush Veldt, 1007 
Bushire, 463 

Bushmen, 898 ; in German S.W. 

Africa, 1013 
Bussa, 972 ; rapids, 956 
Bussaco Mountains, 379 
Butte City, 761 
Butung Island, 569 
Butter in Denmark, 209 
Buttermere, 163 
Buxton, 169 
Byzantine Empire, 134 
Byzantium, 342 

C AAGUAZU, Cordilleras of, 860 
Cabanas, 798 
Cabinda, 984 
Cabo de la Nao, 370 
Cabot, John, 10, 706; Voyage of, 
1025 ; Strait, 704 

Cabral, Pedro Alvares, discoverer, 
870 

Cabralia bay, 870 
Cacao in Dutch Guiana, 882 ; in 
Ecuador, 833 ; in Grenada, 810 ; 


in Trinidad 812 ; in Venezuela, 
887 

Caconda climate, 983 
Cactus, 766 
Cactuses, 89 

Cadabona, Pass of, 125, 356 

Cadamosto, discoverer, 980 

Cader Idris, 164 

Cadiz, 376 

Caen, 251 

Caesarea, 444 

Cagliari, 365 

Cagni, Captain, 1032 

Caia, river, 381 

Caiapo people, 869 

Caicos islands, 805 

Caillie, explorer, 900 

Cairns, 591, 592 

Cairo, 111., 750 ; Egypt, 927 

Caithness, 155 

Calabria, 39, 357, 364 

Calais, 249 

Calcutta, 487 ; Temperature and 
rainfall of, 474 
Caldas da Rainha, 382 
Caldera, 656 ; of Crater Lake, 768 
Caledon river, 1004 
Caledonian Canal, 156 
Calem, 502 

Cali, Farrallones of, 824 
Calicut, 494, 495 ; Temperature 
and rainfall of, 474 
California, 765 ; Acquisition of 
71 1 ; Gulf of, 668, 774; Valley 
of, 668, 768 

Calisaya Cinchona, 842 
Callao, 838 ; gold mines, 884 
Calle-Calle river, 848 
Callejon da Huaylas, 835, 837 
Calpe, 378 

Calycadnus river, 440 
Cambodia, 517; river, 508 
Cambodians, 518 

Cambrian Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 

Cambridge, 179; Gulf, 620; Mass., 
73i 

Camden, 600 

Cameron, Capt. V. L., explorer, 
901 

Cameroons (Kamerun), 973 
Camel in Africa, 897 ; in N.S.W., 
595; in W. Australia, 621 ; Wild, 
540 

Campania, 364 
Campaspe river, 602 
Campbell island, 627 
Campbellton, 155 
Campbelltown, N.S.W., 600 
Campeche, 774, 781 
Camperdown, 609 
Campos in Argentina, 851 ; region 
of Brazil, 820 
Campsie Fells, 157 
Canada, Dominion of, 679; boun- 
dary with United States, 113, 
723 ; Geological map, 680 
Canar, 833 ; (Naranjal) Basin, 831 ; 

Province, 833 
Canara, 502 

Canary Islands, 377, 952 
Candia, 350 
Canea, 350 
Cannes, 253 
Canso, Gut of, 686 
Cantabrian Mountains, 371 
Canterbury, 180 ; Plains, N.Z., 629 
Canton, 535 ; climate, 526 


Canuku Mountains, 879 
Cao, Diogo, discoverer, 983 
Cape Breton Island, 685 ; Coast, 
964 ; Colony, 985-993 ; Colony, 
Railway system of, 991 ; of 
Good Hope, Discovery of, 10 ; 
Haitien, 802 ; River Goldfield, 
592 ; Town, 992 ; Town, Longi- 
tude of, 31 ; Town, temperature 
and rainfall, 987 ; York Penin- 
sula, 576, 587 ; York Peninsula 
Geology, 578 ; Verde Islands, 
979-980 

Capiberibe river, 875 
Caprera Island, 358 
Captaincies in Brazil, 870 
Capture of rivers, 55, 59 
Caracas, 887 

Caramulo Mountains, 379 
Caravan routes of Tripoli, 917 
Caravaya, 839 
Caraya people, 869 
Carboniferous Formation, Geo- 
logical position of, 51 
Carchi, province, 833 
Cardenas bay, 797 
Cardiff, 151, 165 
Cardigan Bay, 164 
Carenero, 887 
Cariaco Gulf, 887 
Caribbean depression, Origin of, 
41 ; Rar^e, 887 ; Sea, 813 ; 
Sea, currents of, 69 
Caribbees, 792, 805 
Cariboo district, 699 
Carib people (Carahibs), 800, 822, 
869 ; at St. Vincent, 792, 8io ; 
in British Honduras, 790 
Carinthia Duchy, 304 
Carlisle,- 160, 169; Bay, Barbados* 
811 

Carljohansvaern, 206 
Carlsborg, 205 
Carskrona, 204 
Carlsruhe, 286 
Carmel, Mount, 448 
Carnarvon, 164 

Carnegie, Hon. David W., Western 
Australia, 620 
Carnic Alps, 316 

Carniola (Krain), Duchy, 304, 305 
Caroline Archipelago, 655 
Carolina bight, 720 
Carpathia, 388, 391 
Carpathian foreland, 31 1 ; Lands, 
311 ; Mountains, 299, 308, 327, 
33i 

Carpentaria Gulf, 577, 578, 587 
Carpentarian plain, 589 
Carpets in Persia, 461 ; in Turkey, 
34 1 * 442 

Carrantuohill, 194 
Carriacou island. 810 
Carrickfergus, 189 
Carron Loch, 155 
Carse Clays, 101 ; -lands, 153 ; 
of Gowrie, 157 

Cartagena, Spain, 377 ; Colombia, 
828 

Cartago, 784, 789 ; (Costa Rica), 783 
Cartailhac, M., 102 
Carthage, 915 
Cartier, Jacques, 691 
Cartography, Development of, 12 
Caaupano, 888 
Casa-Blanca, 905 
Cascade Mountains, 672, 764, 767 
Cascaes, 383 


Index 


1059 


Cashel, 194 
Caspian Sea, 396 
Cassini de Thury, 29 
Cassiquiare river, 816, 866, 884 
Castile, 373, 376 
Castletown, 186 
Castries. 809 
Castro-vireyna, 839 
Cat Island, 803 
Catalan language, 240 
Catalonia, 374, 377 
Catalonian dialect, 373 
Catamarca, 855 
Catania, 365 
Cataract Hills, 613 
Cataracts in Africa, 891 ; of the 
Nile, 921 

Catingas region, 820 
Catorce, 780 

Catskill Mountains, 671, 732, 734 
Cattaro, 315 ; bay, 337 
Cattle in Argentina, 853 ; in 
Bechuanaland, 1002 ; on the 
Great Plains, U.S., 755 ; in 
India, 477 ; on the Prairies, 739 ; 
in Rhodesia, 1000 ; in Trans- 
vaal, 1008 ; in Uruguay, 857; 
in Venezuela, 885; rearing in 
Africa, 899 

Cauca, province, 827 ; river, 824, 
828 

Caucasic or White Race, 102 ; 

Classification of, 107 
Caucasus, 416 ; Configuration, 
394 ; Mountains, 388 
Causses, Plateaux of, 239 
Cauterets, 252 

Caves, Fauna of, 93 ; Formation 
of, 54 

Cavalli river, 960 
Cavite, 559 
Cawnpore, 488 
Caxamarca, 838 
Cayambe Mountain, 830 
Cayenne, 883 
Cayman Islands, 805 
Cays of Cuba, 793 ; in West 
Indies, 791 
Cayo Romano, 797 
Ceard, 874 

Cedars of Lebanon, 450 
Celebes, 555, 568 
Celestial Equator, definition, 15 
Celtica, 240 

Cenis, Mont, tunnel, 247 
Central Alps, 126 ; America, 782- 
790 ; America, Climate, 785 ; 
Rivers, 784 ; Belt of India. 472 ; 
Cordillera of the Andes, 835 ; 
Guatemala Mountains, 783 ; 
Lowlands of Ireland, 189; Plain 
of England, 171, 174 ; Plateau 
of France, 233, 237 ; Provinces 
of India, 493 ; Ranges of Aus- 
tralia, 579 ; Russia, configura* 
tion, 389 

Cephalonia Island, 349 
Ceram (Serang) Island, 570, 571 
Cerro Cotzic, 783 ; de Apisco, 775 ; 
de Pasco ; 836, 838 ; Duida, 884 ; 
Munchique, 824 ; Quemado. 
783 

Cervin, Mont, 258 
Cetinje (Cettigne), 337 
Cette, 253 
Cettigne, 337 
Ceuta, 377 
Cevennes, 233 


Ceylon, 503-507 
Chachapoyas, 839 

Chaco, 820, 860 ; territory, 856 
Chad, Lake, 892, 958, 970 
Chagos Archipelago, 1023 
Chaix, Prof. Emile, Switzerland, 
256 

Chaki-Chaki, 940 
ChaJcidice peninsula, 330 
Chaldea, 436 
Chaleur Bay, 688 
Chalk Country of England, 178 ; 
Escarpment, 177; Geological 
position of, 51 
Chalons-sur-Marne, 249 
Challenger, Cruise of, 12 ; in 
Antarctic, 1050 
Chama river, 886 
Chambal valley, 497 
Chambezi river, 947, 975 
Chamorro people, 655 
Champenco, 788 
Champion bay, 625 
Champlain, lake, 728 
Chancay, 838 

Chancellor, Arctic Voyage, 1025 
Chanchamayu, 839 
Chanchan river, 831 
Chandernagore, 503 
Changkiakou, 532 
Changsha, 533 “ 

Chauia people, 910 
Channel Islands, 186 
Ch’ao-sien, 542 
Chapala ike. 7^6 
Charcas, 841 
Charente, river, 252 
Charing-nor lake, 541 
Charles Louis mountains, 643 
Charlemagne (Charles the Great), 
135. 3oo 
Charleroi, 225 
Charleston, S.C., site, 720 
Charlestown, Nevis, 808 
Charleville, 591 

Charlotte Amalie, 806 ; Town, 
Dominica, 807 
Charlottenburg, 296 
Charlottetown, 687 
Charnwood Forest, 174, 176 
Chartered Company, 119 
Charters Towers Goldfield, 592 
Charts. 23, 34 
Chat Moss, 172 
Chatham Islands, 627 
Chattisgarh, 493 
Chats Rapids, 693 
Chatyr Dagh, 394 
Chaudiere Falls, Ottawa, 695; 
river, 691 

Chaux-de-fonds, 264 
Chebchi Mountains. 973 
Chechs (Czechs), 308 
Chekiang. 535 

Chellia (Shellia) mountain, 907 
Cheltenham, 177 

Chelyuskin, Cape, 422 ; peninsula, 
1046 

Chemnitz, 291 
Chemulpo, 543 
Chengte, 532 
Chengtu, 534 
Cherbourg, 251 
Cherchel, 91 1 
Cherchen oasis, 540 
Chernagora, 337 

Chernoziom (black earth of 
Russia), 405 


Cherry Creek, 760 
Cher well, river, 177 
Chesapeake bay, 731 ; river, 718 
Cheshire, 171, 174 ; plain, 165, 174 
Chester, 166, 174 
Cheviot hills, 168 
Chibcha people, 822, 827 
Chicago, 740 ; site, 738 
Chichen-Itza, 779 
Chichester, 180 
Chidley, cape, 679 
Chiem, lake, 272 
Chifu, 533 
Chignecto bay, 686 
Chile, 843-848 
Chili (China), 531 
Chillagoe, 592 
Chilian, 848 
Chiltern hills, 178 
Chilwa lake, 947 
Chimbo, 833 ; river, 831 
Chimborazo mountain, 830 ; prc>- 
vince, 833 
Chimbote, 837 
China-clay, 167 ; grass, 529 
China Proper, 521-536 
Chinamen in British Columbia 
700 ; in Dutch East Indies, 561 ? 
in French Cochin-China, 518 ; 
in New Zealand, 633 ; in Siam, 
510 ; in Straits Settlements, 512 ; 
in Trinidad, 812 ; in U.S., 769 
Chinandega, 789 
Chincha islands, 836 
Chinde, 946 ; mouth, 945 
Chinese Central Asia. 539; Empire, 
521-542 ; Empire, Provinces of, 
538 ; language, 527 ; people, 527 
Chinook wind, 80 
Chios island, 444 
Chippewa river, 743 
Chiquimula, 789 
Chiquito people, 841 
Chiriqui mountains, 824 ; vol- 
cano, 784 
Chiromo, 950 

Chisholm, G. G., Europe, 123; 

Chinese Empire, 521 
Chiswina language, 1003 
Chita, 419 
Chitral, 499 
Chittagong, 487 
Chittim, 445 
Chivril, 443 
Chixoy river, 785 
Chobi river, 1003 
Choiseul island, 648 ; sound, 864 
Chong, people, 510 
Chontales, 784 
Chorillos, 838 

Chorography = description of 
places, 2 

Chorokh river, 395 

Choruk Su (Acampsis) river, 440 

Choshi, 547 

Christchurch, N.Z., 634 ; Tem- 
perature and rainfall of, 630 
Christiania, 206 ; Longitude of, 31 
Christiansand, 206 
Christiansted, 806 
Christiansund, 207 
Christmas Island (Indian Ocean), 
514 ; (Pacific), 658 
Chronometer, 11, 18 
Chrysopolis, 443 
Chu river, 397 

Chubut river, 850 ; territory, 856 
Chudskoye, or Peipus, 128 


io6o The International Geography 


Chun, Prof., in Antarctic, 1048 
Chungking, 534 
Chunnenugga ridge, 746 
Chuqui-apu, 842 
Chuquisaca, 842 
Chur (Coire), 127, 263 
Churchill river, 701 
Chusovaya river, 414 
Chutia Nagpur, 473, 487 
dales, 79Q 

Cibao mountains, 801 
Cienfuegos, 796, 797, 798 
Cilento mountains, 357 
Cilician plain, 439 
Cimbrian peninsula, 208 
Cimone, Monte, 356 , 

Cinchona in Ceylon, 505 ; in Peru, 
837 ; in Ecuador, 832 
Cincinnati, 737, 744 
Cintra, 383 

Circumdenudation, Mountains, 55 
Cirque =corry, 50 
Citara, Farrallones of, 824 
Citlaltepetl, 775 
City, definition, 162 
Ciudad Bolivar, 884, 885 
dapperton, Explorer, 900 
Clare Co., 194 

Clarence peak, 953 ; river, 600 
Clay, Weathering of, 54 
Clays, 52 

Clermont-Ferrand, 251 
Cleveland, O., site, 738 ; Hills, 
177 ; iron ore, 150 
Clew Bay, 189 
Cliff, definition, 49 
Climate, definition, 72 ; diagrams, 
explanation of, 82 ; of Africa, 
893 ; of Antarctic Regions, 1049 ; 
of Arctic Regions, 1037 ; of Asia, 
401, 429 ; of Australia, 579 ; of 
Central America, 785; of Europe, 
129 ; of North America, 673 ; of 
South America, 818 ; of West 
Indies, 792 
Climatic areas, 77 
Clontarf, 190 
Clouds, 75 

Cloves in Zanzibar, 939 
Clyde, 151 ; river, 159, 160 ; Firth 
of, 157 

Coahuila desert, 765 
Coal in Austria, 305, 307, 309 ; in 
Belgium, 224, 225 ; in Brazil, 
867 ; in Canada, 087, 699, 702 ; 
in China, 525 ; at Dover, 181 ; 
in France, 149, 244 ; in Ger- 
many, 149, 282 ; in India, 473 ; 
in N.S.W., 596 ; in New Zealand, 
633 ; in Orange Free State, 
1004 ; in Pennsylvania, 733 ; 
in Transvaal, 1008 ; in United 
Kingdom, 149 ; in United States, 
149 ; in Victoria, 604 ; in Wales, 
164 ; Measures, Geological posi- 
tion of 51 ; Importance of, 52 ; 
river, 611 

Coalbrookdale, 164 
Coast-line and development of a 
country, no 

Coast range, B.C., 697, 698 
Coatbridge, 159 
Coati, island, 840 
Coatzacoalcos, 781 
Coban, 789 ; rainfall, 785 
Cobequid Mountains, 686 
Coblentz, 288 
Cobre, 797 


Coburg, 290 ; peninsula, 614 ; 

-Gotha duchy, 290 
Coca in Peru, 837 
Cochabamba, 842 
Cochin, 498 
Cochin-China, 517 
Cochineal insect in Central 
America, 788 

Cochrane, Lord, in Chile, 846 
Cockburn Harbour, 805 
Cockscomb mountains, 789 
Coco de mer, 1023 
Coconada, 495 

Cocos (Keeling) islands, 514 
Cod, Cape, 726 

Cod-fishing in Newfoundland, 706 
Coffee in Arabia, 453 ; in Brazil, 
872 ; in British Central Africa, 
950 ; in Central America, 788 ; 
in Ceylon, 505 ; in Colombia, 
828 ; in Cuba, 796 ; in Dutch 
East Indies, 561 ; in Dutch 
Guiana, 882 ; in Jamaica, 804 ; 
in India, 494, 498 ; in Mexico, 
780 ; in New Caledonia, 646 ; in 
Porto Rico, 799 ; in Reunion, 
1024 ; in Venezuela, 888 
Cofre de Perote (Nauhcampate- 
petl), 775 
Cognac, 252 
Coileque, 502 

Coimbra, 381 ; Temperature and 
rainfall at, 372 

Coire (Chur : Curia Rhsetorum), 
127, 263 

Cojedes river, 885 

Col = pass, 50 

Colac, 609 

Colchester, 182 

Cold Wall current, 69 

Cole, Grenville, A. J., Ireland 187 

Coleraine, 193 

Colla people, 841 

Collie, 620 

Collo, 912 ; dell’Altare, 125 
Colne, estuary, 182 
Coloane Island, 538 
Cologne (Koln), 295 
Colombia, 824-829 
Colombo, 506 
Colon territory, 888 
Colonia, 859 ; do Sacramento, 871 
Colonies, Forms of, 119 
Colonisation, 118 
Colorado, 757, 760, 762 ; Canyons 
of, 55. 672 ; Plateaux, 763 ; river, 
7 6 3. 765 ; river (Argentina). 850 
Columbia, S.C., site, 720 ; District 
of, map. 731 ; Plateaux, 764 ; 
river, 698, 764, 765 
Columbus, 10; at Haiti, 801 ; at 
Trinidad, 812 
Comanche tribe, 779 
Comayagua, 789 
Combaconam, 495 
Comino islet, 306 
Cominetto islet, 366 
Commercial Geography, 120 ; 

definition, 5 
Commodities, 120 
Como, lake, 127, 354 
Compass charts, 26 
Comstock Lode, 767 
Concepcion, 848 
Conception bay, 705 
Conchagua, volcano, 784 
Conchaguita, volcano, 784 
Conchos, Rio, 776 


Congrehoy peak, 784 
Conglomerates, 52 
Congo basin, 892 ; basin, explora- 
tion, 901 ; discovery, 977 ; district, 
Angola, 983 ; Free State, 974-978; 
railway map, 977 
Congress of Vienna, 136 
Conical projections, 22 
Conn, Lough, 193 
Connaught, 193 

Connecticut, 723, 725 ; valley, 

723 

Conococha lake, 835 
Consequent rivers, definition, 58 
Constance, 286 ; Lake, 257 
Constantine, 912 ; department, 907 
Constantsa, 329 

Constantinople, 342 ; foundation 

of, 134 

Constitucion, 848 
Contas river, 875 

Continent, 48; and Ocean, Per- 
manence of, 38 

Continental area, 46 ; climate, 81 ; 
climate in Africa, 894; Core of 
Asia, map, 423 ; form, sym- 
metry in, 37 ; islands, 48 ; 
islands, definition, 62 ; plateau, 
47 ; shelf, 47, 62 ; slope, 47 
Contour lines, 32 

Convection-currents in air, 75 ; in 
sea-water, 63 

Conway, Sir W. Martin, The 
Arctic Record, 1025 
Cook, Captain James, 11, 584, 
605, 612 ; in Antarctic, 1048; 
Arctic voyage, 1027; in Hawaii, 
661 ; in New Zealand, 632 
Cook islands, 656 ; Mount, 628 ; 

strait, 627 
Cook’s bay, 659 
Cooktown, 591, 592 
Coolgardie, 625 ; goldfields, 623 
Co-ordinates, 18 
Coorong, lagoon, 614 
Coosa river, 728 
Copacabana peninsula, 840 
Copenhagen, 210 
Copiapo, 847 
Coppename river, 882 
Copper in Peru, 836 ; in S. 
Australia, 618 ; Mountains, 703 ; 
smelting at Swansea, 165 
Coppermine river, 703 
Copra in Samoa, 653 
Copts in Egypt, 926 
Coquimbo, 848 

Coral Islands, classes of, 62 ; 
Darwin’s Theory of, 41, 44 ; 
Distribution of, 66 ; Theories of, 
62 

Coral reefs in Cuba, 793 ; reefs in 
Florida, 748 ; reefs in Porto 
Rico, 799 
Corbeil, 245 

Cordillera of Australia, 593 ; of 
Bogota, 825 ; del Choco, 824 ; 
of Ecuador, 824 ; of Merida, 
885 ; of Perija, 825 
Cordoba, 376, 780 ; Argentina, 
«54 

Corentyne river, 878, 879, 882 
Corfu Island, 349 
Corinth, 349 ; Ship Canal (map), 
344 

Corinto, 788 
Corio Bay, 602 
Corisco Bay, 953 


Index 


1061 


Cork, 194 

Cork in Algeria, 911 ; in'Portugal, 
382 ; in Tunisia, 914 
Corn, see Maize, 739 
Cornwall-Devon peninsula, 166 
Cornwall, Jamaica 804 
Coro, 886 ; mountains, 886 
Corozal river, 799 
Corrib, Lough, 193 
Corrientes, 854 
Corry, definition, 50 
Cortez in Central America, 787 
Corunna, 376 
Corvo Island, 384 
Coseguina volcano, 784 
Cosmography, 2 
Cosmoledo Island, 1023 
Costa Rica, 789; physical geo- 
graphy, 784 ; seaports, 788 
Cote d'Or, strait, 236 
Coteau of the Missouri, 755 
Cotentin peninsula, 251 
Cotopaxi volcano, 830 
Cots wold Hills, 177 
Cottbus, 276 

Cotton in India, 484 ; in Egypt, 
922 ; in United States, 715 ; 
-spinning in Lancashire, 173 
Coventry, 176^ 

Cracow (Krakow), 313 
Cradle, Mount, 61 1 
Crag and Tail formation, 52 
Craiova, 329 
Crates of M alios, 35 
Crater lake, Oregon, 768 
Crater-lakes, 54 
Crati, river, 357 
Crazy mountains, 756 
Cree tribe, 683 
Cremona, 363 

Creoles in Central America, 787 ; 

in Porto Rico, 800 
Cretaceous Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Crete, 350-351 
Creux, Cape, 371 
Crimea, 388, 393 
Cripple Creek, 761 
Croagh Patrick, 188 
Croatia-Slavonia, 321, 323 
Cromarty firth, 155 
Cronstadt, 409, 41 1 
Crooked Island, 803 
Cross river, 965 
Crossfell, 168 
Crow's Nest Pass, 699 
Croydon, 591 
Crummock lake, 163 
Crustal-movements, 53 
Crust-block mountains, 53 
Crust Blocks, 40, 41 
Cryptozoic Fauna, 93 
Crystal mountains, 959 
Csallokoz Island, 317 
Csepel Island, 317 
Cuba, 793-798 ; railway map, 797 
Cubango river, 982 
Cuchillas, 794 
Cuckmere river, 180 
Cucos, 382 
Cucuta, 886 
Cue. 625 

Cuenca, 833 ; basin, 830 
Cuestas, definition, 752 
Cuilcagh moors, 189 
Cuitzeo lake, 776 
Culebra island, 800 
Cullarin mountain, 594 


Culminating Area, 47 
Cumana, 887 
Cumbel, 825 

Cumberland mountain, U.S., 732 ; 
plateau, U.S., 732 ; tableland, 
671 ; valley, Pa., 728 
Cumnock, 159 
Cundinamarca, 827 
Cunene river, 982, 1012 
Cunnamulla, 591 
Curepipe, 1022 
Curia Rhaetorum (Coire), 127 
Curieuse island, 1023 
Cupang, 573 
Cuprija, 336 
Cuyul, Rio, 799 
Currants in Greece, 347 
Currents of Atlantic Ocean, 69 
Cush, 934 
Cuttack, 488 

Cuyaba, 874 ; rainfall and tempera- 
ture, 868 

Cuyuni river, 879 

Cuzco, 839 

Cyclades, 345. 349 

Cycle of Erosion, 58 

Cyclone tracks, 79 

Cyclops mountains, 643 

Cydamus, 918 

Cymry, 162 

Cynon Valley, 165 

Cypress hills, 702 

Cyprus, 445-446 

Cythera island, 349 

Czemowitz, 313 

Czestochowa, 413 

Czornahora (Black Mountain), 31 1 

D AHOME, 957 

Daiman river, 857 
Dakar, 957 

Dakhel oasis, 919, 928 
Dallman, Capt., in Antarctic, 1048 
Dallul Mauri river, 969 
Dalni, 407, 419, 539 
Damara people, 990 
Damietta mouth. 921 
Danakil tribe, 935 
Danes, 209 ; in Greenland, 1043 
Dar-el-Beida, 905 
Dar-es-Salaam, 944 ; harbour, 940 
Daro, Mount, 962 
Darwin harbour, 864 
Date palm in Egypt, 923 ; in 
Tunisia, 914 

Davis, John, Arctic voyages, 1026 
Davis Strait, 1035, 1036 
D’Urville in Antarctic, 1048 
De Grey river, 621 
De Long, Captain W. G., Arctic 
exploration, 1,031 
Dead Sea, 449 
Debreczen, 322 
Dede Agach, 343 
Dee, river, 156, 165 
Deerfield, 724 
Defile, 50 

Degree, Length of, 19, 25 
Degree-net, 5 

Dekkan, 429, 471, 491, 497, 498 
Dekkan, geology, 473 
Delagoa Bay, map, 946 
Delaware, 718 ; river, 718 
Delft, 223 
Delhi, 490 
Deli, 566 

Delineation of ground on maps, 
3i 


Delta, Formation of, 56 
Deltaic islands, 63 
Delys, 912 

Demarcation Point, 679 
Demavend mountain, 458 
Dembea lake, 931 
Demerara, 881 ; river, 879 
Dempo, Mount, 566 
Dendre river, 225 
Denham, Explorer, 900 
Deniliquin, 601 
Denizli, 443 

Denmark, 208-211 ; railway and 
steamer routes, 209 
Denver, 760 

Deposits, Classes of oceanic, 64 
Depressed Area, 47 ; lands, defini- 
tion, 48 
Derbent, 416 
Derby, 170 

Derbyshire Coalfield, 150 
Derna, 916 

Derwent, river, 171 ; Tasmania, 
611 

Derw r entwater, 163 
Desaguadero, river, 840 
Desertas island, 384 
Deserts of Asia, 432 ; of Egypt, 
919 

Desirade island, 809 

Desna, river, 390 

Despoblados, 375 

Dessau, 293 

Desterro, 876 

Detmold, 289 

Detroit, Mich., site, 738 

Dettifoss waterfall, 213 

Deutsche Bund, 277 

Development of countries, 115 

Deventer, 222 

Deveny, 316 

Devil’s peak, 992 

Devon, 166 

Devonian Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 ; Strata, name 
of, 166 

Devonport, 167 

Dezhneff Arctic voyage, 1027 ; 

Cape (East Cape), 399, 422 
Dhahr el Kosdib Mountain, 449 
Dhalac Islands, 935 
Dhofar, 455 
Dhuspas, 444 

Diagonal Furrow, 332, 342 
Diahot river, 645 
Diano, Vallo di, 357 
Diamond head, 662 
Diamonds in Brazil, 867 ; in Cape 
Colony, 988 ; in Orange Free 
State, 1004 

Diaphragm or first parallel, 26 
Diarbekr, 448 
Diatom Ooze, 65 

Diaz, Bartholomew, discoverer, 
900 

Dicaearch, 26 

Dickson, H. N., Atmosphere and 
Climate, 72 

Diego Garcia, 1024 ; Suarez, 1020 
Dieppe, 251 
Dijon, 252 

Dikhtau mountain, 394 
Diluvium = Boulder- clay, Geologi- 
cal position of, 51 ; Origin of, 57 
Dilli, 573 

Dimbovitsa river, 329 
Dinaric lands, 313 ; region, 333 
Dindings, 514 


1062 The International Geography 


Dineir (Apamea), 440, 443 
Dingwall, 155 

Dip slope, 59 ; definition, 55 
Dirk Hartog island, 620 
Disco island, 1041 
Discovery , ship, 1048 
Dismal Swamp, 721 
Dispersal, Means of, 84 
Distances, measurements on 
maps, 27 

Distribution, Factors in, 86 
Diu, 502 

Diula people, 956 
Divide = water-shed, definition, 
50 

Djokdjokarta, 563 

Djidjelly, 912 
Dnieper river, 390, 414 
Dniester, river, 312, 392 
Doab, 720 

Dobruja, 327, 328, 329 
Doce river, 875 
Doe, Mount, 945 
Dogs, The, 807, 808 
Doko people, 934 
Doldrums, 78 
Dolomites, 306 
Dombes plateau, 253 
Dominion of Canada, 679-704 
Dominion -Land Survey in 
Canada, 684 
Dominica island, 807 
Don, river, 391 ; river, Ontario, 
695 ; river, Yorkshire, 170 
Donegal, 193 
Donets river, 389, 391 
Dongala, 569 
Dongola, 927 
Donnai river, 517 
Dora Baltea, 126 ; Riparia, 126, 353 
Dorah Pass, 466 
Dordrecht, 223 
Dorei, 643, 644 
Dorking, 180 

Dorsal (Stanovoi) mountains, 398 

Dorset downs, 178 

Dorylseum, 443 

Douglas, 186 

Douro river, 368, 380 

Dover, 121, 152 

Downing, Dr. A. M. W., Mathe- 
matical Geography, 14 
Drainage-area, definition, 50 
Drakensberg mountains, 891, 1007 
Drammen, 206 
Drave river, 303 
Dravidian people. 480 
Drenthe, 218, 221 
Dresden, 291 
Drift-ice, 1036 
• Drin river, 333 
Drina river, 335 
Drogheda, 192 
Drohobycz, 312 
Drowned valley, 50 
Drude’s plant regions, 88 
Drumlins in New England, 724 
Druse people, 451 
Drygalski, Dr. E., explorer, 1048 
Du Fief, J., Belgium, 223 
Duaish people, 956 
Duala, 975 
Dublin City, 190, 192 
Dubuque, I., 744 
Du cos, 646 
Eufourspitze, 126 
Dugga, 915 

Duke of York Islands, 640 


Dulcigno, 337 
Dumfries, 160 
Duna river, 317, 391, 411 
Dunaburg, 409 
Dunamiinde, 409 
Dundas, Mount, 61 1 
Dundee, 158 ; Natal, 994 
Dunedin, 634 

Dunes, 57 ; in Denmark, 208 ; in 
Germany, 269 ; in Holland, 216 ; 
in Nebraska, 758 ; in Peru, 834 ; 
in the Sahara, 928 ; in the Tarim 
basin, 540 ; in Western Aus 
tralia, 662 
Dungannon, 189 
Dungeness, 181 
Dunkirk, 249 
Dunwich, 592 

Dupian-Triel and contoured 
maps, 32 
Duran, 833 
Durani people, 467 
Durazzo, 344 

Durban, 994; temperature and 
rainfall, 987 

Durham city, 170 ; coalfield, 150, 
169 

Dusseldorf, 295 

Dutch Antilles, 806 ; Colonies — 
Statistics, 223 ; East Indies, 
560 ; Guiana, 882 ; language, 
220 ; New Guinea, 642-644 ; 
West Indies, 806 ; in Brazil, 871 ; 
in Guiana, 878, 880 ; in Mauri- 
tius, 1021 ; in Sout<h Africa, 990 
Dux, 307 
Dvinsk, 409 
Dyak people, 557, 567 
Dyke of igneous rock, 54 
Dyle river, 225 
Dyrrhachion (Durazzo), 344 
Dzungaria, 539 

E agle island, 1023 
Eaglehawk, 608 
Earn, Loch, 156 
Earth-folds, Theory of, 38 
Earth, The, Form of, 14, 18 ; Plan 
of, 36-45 ; Surface, extent of, 61 ; 
Tetrahedral Theory of, 42 
Earthquakes, 54 ; in Central 
America, 783 ; in Japan, 545 ; 
in Scotland, 156 
East Africa, 930-946 
East Anglian Heights, 178 
East Cape, 422 ; (Dezhneff Cape), 
399 ; East Cape, N Z., 628 
East India Company, 481, 512 
East Prussia province, 293 
East river, 730 
Eastbourne, 18 1 
Easter island, 659 
Eastern Empire, 342 ; Equatorial 
v Africa, 930-940 ; Ghats, 472 ; 
c Rumelia, 332, 338 ; Turkestan, 
539 

Ebbw valley, 165 
Ebro river, 369, 370 
Echuca, 609 
Ecuador, 658, 829-833 
Ecuadorian Andes, 817 
Eden river, 163, 168 
Eder river, 288 
Edessa, 448 

Edge Land (Stans Foreland , 7044 
Edinburgh, 158 
Edmonton, 702 
Edom, 449 


Edward river, 601 
Efik people, 967 
Eger, 307 

Egga, 972 

Egmont, mountain, 628 . 

Egypt, 918-929 ; Organisation of. 

1 19 

Eidsvold, 205 

Eifel, 268, 287 
Eighty-mile beach, 621 
Eindhoven, 222 
Einsiedeln, 263 
Eisenach, 290 
Eisenerz, 305 
Eisling, 231 
El-Arish, Wadi, 448 
El-Araish, 905 
El-Biar, 912 
El Djem, 915 
El-Erg basin, 906 
El Gaah, 929 

El Potrerillo Mountain, 794 
Elba island, 353 
Elbe river, 270, 291, 307 
Elberfeld, 288 
Elbeuf, 245 

Elbruz mountain, 394, 395 
Elburz range, 458 
Elche, 371 
Eldorado, 820 

Electricity and Geographical 
conditions, 147 

Elephant in Africa, 896 ; in Congo 
Free State, 976 ; in India, 477 ; 
in Niger delta, 966 ; in South 
Africa, 1000 
Eleuthera island, 803 
Eleutherus river, 448 
Elevation and Subsidence, 40 
Elgin, county, 156 
Elgon mountain, 931 
Elis, 349 

Ellesmere Land, 1046 
Ellice (Lagoon) Islands, 654 
Ellichpur, 493 
Elmetaita lake, 931 
Elmina, 964 
Elmira, N.Y., 736 
Elonga mountains, 982 
Elsinore, 210 
Elster river, 291 
Elswick Works, 170 
Elvas, 381 
Ely, 180 

Embakh, river, 393 
Emden, 294 
Emilia, 363 
Emmenthal, 264 
Ems river, 270 

Enclosed Seas, Circulation of, 66 
definition, 61 

Endeavour river, 592 ; strait, 587 
Enere, lake, 392 
Engadine, 263 

England and Wales, 161-187 
England, Population of, 148 
English people, 162 
Engler’s plant distribution, 88 
Enkeldoorn, 1002 
Enns river, 303 
Ensenada Honda, 800 
Entebbe, 939 

Entre Rios, 854 . 

Environment, 2, 4 ; Adaptation w t 
98 ; and Man, 115 
Enzeli, 458 

Eocene Formation, $l 
Epe, 968 




Index 


1063 


Ephesus, 443 
Epirus, 343 
Epping Forest, 182 
Equator, definition, 15 ; province, 
978 

Equatorial Belt, Climate of, 78 
Equidistant projection, 21 
Erathosthenes, 26 
Erdely (Transylvania), 322 
Erebus, Mount, 1049 
Erfurt, 290 
Erh-hai lake, 535 
Ericht, Loch, 156 
Erie canal, 736 ; lake, old outlet, 
740 ; lowland, 737 
Eritrea, 935 

Eritrean rift-valley, 931, 937, 941 
Erjes river, 381 
Ermenistan, 440 
Erne, Lough, 193 
Erodi, Dr. Bela, Hungary, 315 
Erosion, Cycle of, 58 ; Features 
due to, 54 
Errigal, 188 
Erythraea, 935 
Erzerum, 443, 444 
Erzgebirge, 291, 306 
Eacaut, river, 224 

Escarpment, 55, 59 ; definition, 49 
Esdraelon plain, 449 
Esk river, Tasmania, 61 1 
Eskimo, 106, 1043; in Canada, 
684 

Eskishehr (Dorylaeum), 443 
Esmeraldas river, 830, 831 ; 

province, 833 

Esparto grass in Algeria, 909 ; in 
Spain, 372 ; in Tunisia, 914 
Espichel, Cape, 380 
Espigao Mountains, 866 
Espinha90 mountains, 866 
Espirito Santo, 875 
Espiritu Santo, 647 
Esquimalt, B.C., 700 
Esquipulas, 788 
Essen, 288 

Essequebo, 881 ; river, 879 
Essex, name, 144 
Es Shayib mountain, 929 
Essonnes, 245 
Estoril, 383 

Estrella mountain, 380 
Estremadura, 374, 376, 380 
Estuary, definition, 50 
Esztergom, 322 
Et-Taif, 453 
Et-Tih, desert, 449 
Eten, 837 
Etive, Loch, 156 
Etna bay, 642 ; Mount, 358 
Eton, 182 
Etheridge, 592 
Ethiopia, 934 

Ethiopian region, 87 ; Faunal 
Region, 896 

Ethiopic or Negro Race, 1012 ; 

Classification of, 103 
Etosa Pan, 1012 
Etruscan Appennines, 356 
Etruscans, 133, 360 
Etsch river, 303 
Etterbeek, 228 
Euboea Island, 348 
Eucalyptus in Australia, 580 ; in 
Victoria, 603 
Euganei, Colli, 355 
Euphrates, river, 440, 447 
Euphorbia in Africa, 896 


Eurasia, 44, 123 ; Resemblance 
with N. America, 665 ; Structure 
of, 40 

Euripus strait, 348 
Europe, 123-421 ; Continent of, 
123- 137; Glaciated Area, map 
of, 129 ; Highland region, map 
of, 124 ; Railway map of, 137 ; 
Rainfall map of, 130 
European Countries, Origin of, 
135 

Euskarian language, 240 
Evans, Sir J., 100 

Evaporation, 75 
Everglades, 747 

Evolution, 3, 12, 95 ; centres, 84 

Ewa, 662 

Ewarton, 804 

Ewe people, 956 

Exe, river, 166 

Exmoor, 166 

Exploits river, 705 

Eyarbakki, 213 

Eyre, Explorer, 617 ; lake, 615 ; 
peninsula, 579, 614 

F AIDHERBE, Colonel, 954 
Faizabad, 489 
Fajardo, 800 
Fakarava Island, 657 
Falasha tribe, 934 
Falcon, State of, 886 
Falkland Islands, 863-864 
Fall line in Canada, 690 
Fall River, Mass., 725 
Falmouth, 167 
False Bay, 985 
Falster, island, 210 
Falun, 203, 204 
Famagusta, 446 
Fan people, 959 
Fanning Island, 658 
Farafah, oasis, 928 
Faredgha, 916 
Faro, 380, 383 
Faroes, 21 1 
Farra, 466 

Farrallones of Cali and Cltara, 824 
Fars, 457, 463 
Fas (Fez), 905 
Faults, definition, 53 
Fauna, Antarctic Arctic, 1039 ; 
Fresh water, 92 ; of Africa, 
896 ; of Asia, 434 ; of Australia, 
582 ; of the British Islands, 143 ; 
of Canada, 683 ; of Europe, 13 1 ; 
of Madagascar, 1017 ; of Shore, 
91 ; of South America, 821 
Faxafloi, 212 
Fayal Island, 384 
Fayum, 924 
Fear, Cape, 720 
Feathertop Mountain, 602 
Fellahin people, 925 
Felup people, 961 
Fen-ho river, 523 
Fenland of England, 179 
Ferahan, 461 
Ferencz Jozsef Peak, 316 
Ferghana province, 395 
Ferguson, John, Ceylon, 503 
Feriana, 915 

Fernando de Noronha island, 875 
Fernando Po, 953 
Ferrara, 363 
Ferrel's Law, 56, 68 
Ferro, island, 31, 952 ; Meridian 
of, map, 952 


Ferrol, 376 

Ferto (Neusiedler) lake, 316, 318 
Fetishism in W. Africa, 967 
Fez (Fas), 905 
Fezzan, 918 
Fianarantsoa, 1020 
Ficksburg, 1004 
Fife, 158 
Figfg, oasfs, 906 
Figuera de Foz, 381 
Fiji Islands, 651-653 ; map, 652 
Filfila rock, 366 
Fingal river, 61 1 
Fingo people, 990 
Finisterre Mountains, New 
Guinea, 639 
Finke, River, 615 
Finland, 408, 412 
Finlay river, 68 t 
Finno-Tartar language, 132 
Finns, 201, 403 
Finsteraarhorn, 258 
Fiote people, 983 
Firenze, 364 
Firth, definition, 50 
Fischer, Dr. Theobald, Italy, 352 ; 

Spain, 368 
Fish river, 1012 
Fiume, 323 
Fjord, definition, 50 
Fjords of South America, 814 ; of 
British Columbia, 697; of Green- 
land, 1040 ; of Spitsbergen, 
1044 

Flags, Scheme of colour for, 
122 

Flax in Egypt, 922 
Flemish language, 225 
Flinders Range, 578, 579, 615 
Floe-ice, 1037 
Flood plain, definition, 56 
Floods of the Nile, 922 ; of the 
Ohio region, 744 ; of the Yellow 
River, 521 

Flora, Arctic, 1038 ; of Africa, 
895 ; of Asia, 432 ; of Aus- 
tralia, 580 ; Capensis, 988 ; of 
the British Islands, 142 ; of 
Canada, 682 ; of Europe, 131 ; 
of Madagascar, 1017 ;of Mexico, 
777 ; of South America, 820 
Florence (Firenze), 364 
Florianopolis (Desterro), 876 
Flores island, 384, 572 
Florida, 747 ; Acquisition of, 71 1 ; 

Strait, 69 
Floridsdorf, 310 
Flower, Sir W„ 96 
Fly river, 635, 636 
Flysch, 51 
Fogo, island, 979 

Fohn wind, 80, 259, 304 ; in Green- 
land, 1038 
Fokien, 535 

Fold Mountains, 44, 53 ; Map of, 
40 

Folding of rocks, 40 • 

Folkestone, 152 
Fonseca gulf, 783, 784 
Fontana, lake, 850 
Forbes, Dr. H. O., Malay Archi- 
pelago, 555 

Forcados, 968 ; river, 969 
Fore Alps, 126 

Forest Carpathians, 31 1 ; of Dean, 
164 ; of Wyre, 164 
Forests, 89 ; and Rainfall, 13 1 ; 
Destruction of, 115 ; of Africa 


1064 The International Geography 


895 ; of Asia, 432 ; of British 
Columbia, 699 ; of Brazil, 868 ; 
of Canada, 682 ; of Germany, 
274; of India, 476; of New 
Brunswick, 688; of Paraguay, 
861 ; of Russia, 403 ♦ 

Forez, plain, 234 
Formigas islet, 384 
Formosa, 552, 553 ; (Argentina) 
territory, 856 

Fort Augustus, 156 ; Benton, 
Mont., 757 ; Dauphin, 1020 : 
Dearborn, 740 ; Dubus, 644 ; 
George, 156 ; Marlborough, 565 ; 
William, 156 ; William, Tem- 
perature and rainfall, 141 
Fortaleza, 874 

Forth Bridge, 157, 159 ; Ports, 151 ; 
River, 158 

Fortresses and Frontiers, map, 
114 

Fortunatae Insulae, 952 
Fortune bay, 705 
Fossils, 51 
Foulness, 182 
Foveaux strait, 628, 629 
Foyers, Falls of, 156 
Foyle, river, 193 
“ Fram,” Drift of the, 1031 
Framlingham, 609 
France, 233-255 ; Central position 
of, 150 ; Coal production, 149 ; 
General geography, 239-255 ; 
Origin of, 135 ; Physical geo- 
graphy, 233-239 ; Physical 
structure of, map, 234 ; Rivers 
and canals of, 245 ; Total trade 
of, 151 

Francia, Dr., in Paraguay, 861 
Frankenwald, 268 
Frankfort-on-the-Main, 286 
Frankish Empire, 277 
Franks, 276 ; in Holland, 220 
Franklin, Sir John, Arctic voyage, 
1028 ; Lady, and Arctic explora- 
tion, 1028 ; District, 702 ; Terri- 
tory, 703 

Franzensbad, 308 
Franz-Joseph, Fjord, 1041 ; Land, 
1044 ; Land, discovery, 1030 
Fraser island (Hervey Bay), 579 
Fraser river, 681, 698 
Fray Bentos, 858 
Fremantle, 625 
Frome, 177 

Frontier, def., 114 ; Changes of, 6 ; 

see also Boundaries 
Fruit in Western Australia, 621 
Fredericia, 210 
Fredericton, 689 
Frederikshald, 206 
Frederikstad, 206 
Frederiksten, Fortress of, 206 
Freetown, 963 ; Climate, 962 
French, Colonies, 119 ; Congo, 
958 ; Guiana, 883 ; Guinea, 957 ; 
India, 503 ; Indo-China, 515- 
520 ; Pacific Islands, 651 ; Pos- 
sessions, Statistics of, 255 ; 
Shore, Newfoundland, 708 ; 
Somaliland, 935 ; Sudan, 958 ; 
West Africa, 953-959 ; West 
Indies, 808 ; in Cape Colony, 
990 ; in Quebec, 691 
Friaulians, 360 
Fribourg, canton, 264 
Friedrich Wilhelmshafen, 641 
Friendly Islands, 653 


Friesland, 220, 222 
Frigid Zone, 78 
Fringing Sea, 61 ; reef, 62 
Frisches Haff, 270, 294 
Frisian islands, 270, 293 
Frisians in Germany, 276 ; in 
Holland, 220 

Frobisher, Sir Martin, 1025 
Fu, Meaning of, 532 
Fuchou, 535 
Fuego, volcano, 783 
Fuegian people, 822 
Fuerteventura island, 952 
Fujikawa river, 546 
Fuji-san, mountain, 546 
Fukien, 535 
Fukuoka, 553 

Fula Empire, 971 ; people, 956, 
970, 981 

Fulda, 289; river, 288 
Funafuti, 654 
Funchal, 384 
Funcho mountain, 384 
Fundy, Bay of, 686, 688 
Fiinen island, 210 
Funing, 535 

Funiu-Shan mountains, 523 
Furneaux, Captain, 605 ; Islands, 
610, 612 

Futa Jallon, 957 ; plateau, 955 
Fyen Island, 210 
Fyne, Loch, 156 

G abes, 915 ; Gulf of, 889 
Gabet and Hue in Lhasa, 
54i 

Gabr people, 463 
Gabun, 958 
Gadara, 450 
Gaelic language, 145 
Gafsa, 915 
Gairdner, lake, 615 
Galapagos islands, 658 ; climate, 
70 

Galashiels, 160 
Galata, 342 
Galatz, 329 
Galdhopiggen, 198 
Galicia, 300, 31 1, 375 
Galilee, 449 
Galla people, 898, 933 
Gallala Mountains, 929 
Galle, 506 

Gallegos people, 373 ; river, 850 
Gallery Forests of Africa, 896 
Gallipoli, 342 
Galloway, 160 
Galtee mountains, 189 
Galveston, 754 
Galway, 193 
Gama, Vasco da, 900 
Gambia, 961-962 ; origin, 960 ; 
river, 892 

Gambler Islands, 658 ; Mount, 615 

Gando, 971, 972 

Ganges river, 471, 488 

Garda, Lago di, 354 

Gargano, Monte, 358 

Ganbalo Mountain, 395 

Garigliano, river, 356 

Gaspe peninsula, 690 

Gastein, 306 

Gateshead, 170 

Gauhati, 495 

Gauls, 240 

Gault, geological position of, 51 
Gauss , ship, i048 
Gawler, 619 ; range, 615 


Gaya, 487 
Gazaland, 945 
Gazelle Peninsula, 640 
Geba river, 980 

Gediz Chai (Hermus) river, 440 
Geelong, 609 
Geelvink bay, 642 
Geest, 219, 270 
Gefle, 204 
Gelderland, 222 
Gellivara, 202, 204 
Gemma Frisius, 2 
General Range (Serra Geral) of 
Brazil, 866 

Geneva canton, 264 ; lake, 258 
Genevra pass, 126 
Genoa (Genova), 361, 362, 363 
Genoffa, Mount, 643 
Geodesy = Science of measure- 
ment of the Earth, 3 
Geographical Cycle, 57 ; mile, 
definition, 27 ; Discovery, his- 
tory of, 7-12; Names, Ortho- 
graphy of, 33; Societies, 12 
Geography, Political and Applied, 
109-121 ; Definition, 2 ; Depart- 
ments of, 3, 6 ; Practical value 
of, 7 ; Principles and Progress, 

1-13 

Geoid, 46 

Geological Formations, Table of, 
51 ; Maps, 34 ; Record, 84 
Geology, relation to Geography, 50 
Geomorphological theories, 37 
Geomorphology = the Science of 
the forms of the Earth’s sur- 
face, 2 

George, lake, 594 

Georgetown, Ascension, 1013 ; 

Demerara, 881 
Georgia strait, 697 
Georgian bay, 693, 742 
Georgians, 403 
Gera, 291 
Geraldton, 625 
Gerez, 380 

Gerlache in Antarctic, 1048 
Gerlachfalva (Ferencz Jozsef 
Peak), 316 

German colonies in Brazil, 870, 
876 ; Chile, 848 ; Confederation, 
277 ; Empire, 266-297 I East 
Africa, 940-944 ; Foreign Pos- 
sessions Statistics, 297 ; New 
Guinea, 639-641 ; Pacific Islands, 
651 ; Races, 108, 275 ; South- 
West Africa, 1012-1013, West 
Africa, 972-974. 

Germany, 266-297 ; Coal Produc- 
tion, 149 ; Map of natural 
divisions of, 267 ; Origin of, 
135 ; Total trade of, 151 
Geuk Su (Calycadnus) river, 440 
Gey sir, 213 
Ges people, 822 
Ghats, 471 

Ghadames (Cydamus), 918 
Gharian, 916 
Ghattar mountain, 929 
Ghazni, 467 
Ghent, 229 
Ghilzai people, 467 
Ghizeh, pyramids of, 924 
Ghogra river, 471, 489 
Giant s Causeway, 193 ; Moun* 
tains (Austria), 306 
Giaour Dagh (Mons Amanus). 
44 8 >45o 


Gibara, 798 
Gibaros, 800 
Gibraltar, 378-379 
Gibson Desert, 622 
Giedeser, 210 
Gijon, 376 

Gilbert (Kingsmill) Islands, 654 

Gilead, 449 

Gilolo Island, 570 

Ginge* in Jamaica, 804 

Ginseng in Korea, 544 

Gippsland district, 602 

Gira river, 638 

Girgenti, 365 

Girin, 539 

Girishk, 466 

Gironde estuary (map), 252 
Glacial Action, 57 ; in British 
Islands, 139 ; in Canada, 689, 
693, 695 ; in Germany, 269 ; in 
New England, 724 
Glaciation of Europe, map, 129 
of North America, map, 669 
Glaciers of the Alps, 126 ; of 
Greenland, 1042 
Gladstone, 591, 592 
Glamorgan, 164 

Glarus, Alps of, 258 ; canton, 263 
Glasgow, 151, 159 ; Growth of, 
116 

Glatz, 292 

Gleichenberg, 306 

Glep More, 156 

Glenelg, S.A., 619 ; river, 603 

Glenfarg, 157 

Glittertind, 198 

Globes, 35 ; Measurement of dis- 
tance on, 27 ; Use of, 19 
Globigerina ooze, 65 
Globular projection, 21 
Glommen river, 199, 205 
Gloucester, 166, 177 ; Mass., 722 
Gneiss, 51 

Gnomonic projection, 34 
Goa, 502 

Gobi desert, 539 ; region, 433 
Godavari, river, 472 ; valley, 473 
Godowns= warehouses, 563 
Godthaab, 1040, 1043 
Goeschenen, 263 
Gogola, 502 
Goitaca people, 869 
Golconda, 431 
Gold Coast, 963-964 
Gold in Asia, 431 ; in Brazil, 867, 
872 ; in British Columbia, 699 ; 
in British Guiana, 880 ; in 
French Guiana. 883 ; in Gold 
Coast, 964 ; in India, 473 ; in 
New Guinea, 638 ; in Mexico, 
780 ; in Rhodesia, 998 ; in Trans- 
vaal, 1008 ; in Venezuela, 884 ; 
in Victoria, 603, 605 ; in West 
Australia, 623, 625; in Yukon, 

703 

Gold Mountains, B.C., 698 
Golden Belt of Brittany, 243 ; 
Horn, 342 

Goldsmid, Sir Frederic J., Persia, 
457 

Golfo Dulce, 783, 785 
Gomera island, 952 
Gonave island, 802 
Gondar, 935 
Gondwana rocks, 473 
Gondwanaland, 41, 429 
Gonye falls, 999 
Goodenough island, 635 


Index 


Goree, 954, 956 
Gorge, 50 

Goro (Karo) Sea, 652 
Gota canal, 203 
Gotaelf, river, 200 
Gotaland, 204 
Goteborg 204 
Gotha, 290 
Gothenburg 204 
Gothland island, 198, 199, 205 
Gottingen. 289 

Goulburn, 600 ; river, 602, 603 
Gourock mountains, N.S.W., 594 
Goyaz, 866, 874 
Gozo Island, 365 
Graaff-Reinet, 991 
Graben=rift-valleys, 53 
Graciosa Island, 384 
Grafton, N.S.W., 600 
Grahamstown, 991, 992 
Grampian Mountains, Victoria, 
603 

Grampians, 156 
Gran, 322 

Gran Canaria Island, 952 ; Chaco, 
820, 860 ; Sasso d’ltalia, 356 
Granada, 377 ; Nicaragua, 789 
Grand Bank, Newfoundland, 69, 
706, 708 ; Bassam, 957 ; Canal 
of China, 530 ; Canyon, district, 
54 ; Cayman, 805 ; Coulee, 765 ; 
(McLean) Falls, 701 ; Falls, 
New Brunswick, 688 ; Lahu, 
957 ; Prairie, 755, > Rapids, 
Mich., 737 ; Soufriere, 807 ; 
Turk Island, 805 

Grande river, 980 ; Terre Guade- 
loupe, 809 

Grandidier, Alfred, 1015 
Grane, 452 
Grangemouth, 151 
Granite, weathering of, 54 
Grant, explorer, 901 ; Land, 1046 
Grass Veldt, 1007 
Grassy vegetations, 89 
Graubiinden, Alps of, 259 
Graz, 305 

Great, Appalachian Valley, 728 ; 
Austral Plain of Australia, 577 ; 
Australian Bight, 576, 578, 614 ; 
Bahama Island, 803 ; Barrier 
Reef, map, 587 ; Basin Area of 
South America, 815 ; Bassa, 
960 ; Batanga, 974 ; Bear Lake, 
681 ; Belt, 208 ; Bras d’Or, 686 ; 
circle courses, 23; circles, defini- 
tion, 20 ; Divide of Australia, 577, 
578 ; Divide in Queensland, 588 ; 
Dividing Range, 602 ; Dividing 
Range of Australia, 593 ; Falls, 
Mont., 757 ; Fish Bay, 982 ; 
Glen, 156 ; Lakes of North 
America, 692, 736 ; Liakhoff 
Island, 1046 ; Plains of Kansas, 
759 ; Karroo, 986 ; Kei river, 
992 ; Plains of North America, 
673 ; Plains of U.S., 755-760 ; 
Popo, 957 ; Powers of Europe, 
136 ; Russians, 404 ; St. Bernard 
Pass, 126 ; Salt Lake, 766 ; Salt 
Lake, Animals of, 83 ; Searcies 
river, 962 ; Slave Lake, 681, 703 ; 
Syrtes, 889; Wall of China, 521, 
53i 

Greater, New York, 730; Sunda 
Islands, 561-568 
Greco-Italic language, 132 
Greece, 344-349 


1065 


Greeks, 442 ; Civilisation of, 133 ; 
in Anatolia, 442 ; in Balkan, 
peninsula, 334 
Greely, General A. W., 1030 
Green, J. R., 115 ; Lowthian, 37, 42 
Green Mountain, Ascension, 1013 ; 
Mountains, 722, 724 ; River 
Basin, 763 

Greenland, 666, 1040-1043 ; People 
of, 1042 ; Sea, Currents in, 1036 
Greenock, 159 

Greenwich, 184 ; Temperature and 
rainfall, 141 

Gregory, Dr. J. W., Plan of the 
Earth, 36; Eastern Equatorial 
Africa, 930 
Greiz, 290 

Grenada island, 810 
Grenadine Confederation, 827 ; 

Islands, 810 
Grenoble, 245 
Gretna Green, 161 
Grey Mountains, N.S.W., 594 
Greytown, 788, 789 
Grijalva river, 776 
Grimsby, 151, 179 ; fisheries, 149 
Grindelwald, 258 
Grinnell Land, 1030, 1046 
Griqua people, 1005 
Griqualand west, 991 
Grisebach’s plant areas, 88 
Grisons, canton, 263 ; Alps of, 259 
Groningen, 218, 221, 222 
Gross Glockner, mountain, 302 
Ground-nuts in Gambia, 961 ; in 
West Africa, 957 
Grunwald, forest, 231 
Gruyere, 264 
Guadalajara, 780 
Guadalcanar island, 648 
Guadalquivir river, 369, 370 
Guadeloupe island, 809 
Guadiana river, 368, 381 
Guajira peninsula, 886 
Guajiro people, 827 
Guallabamba river, 830 
Guam island, 656 
Guamanga, 839 
Guanajuato, 780 
Guanape island, 836 
Guanches people, 952 
Guanchos of Uruguay, 858 
Guanica, 800 
Guano, in Peru, 836 
Guantanamo, 798 
Guap Island, 655 
Guaranda, 833 

Guarani people, 107, 862, 869 
Guardafui Cape, 936 
Guatemala, 789 ; people, 787 ; 
physical geography, 783 ; sea- 
ports, 788 

Guatemala city, rainfall, 785 
Guayacuru people, 869 
Guayaquil, 833 ; Gulf, 831 ; Rain- 
fall, 819 

Guayas province, 833 ; river, 831 
Guaykurp people, 822 
Gudbrandsdal, 199 
Guebre, see Gabrs, 463 
Guernsey, 186 

Guiana, Colonies of, 878-883 ; 
Highland, 815 

Guildford, 180 ; Gap, maps of, 32 
Guinea, Gulf of, 889, 981 ; Islands 
of, map, 981 
Gujarat, 491 
Gujarati language, 479 


io66 The International Geography 


•Gulf Stream, 69, 708 ; Stream 
drift, 14 1 ; Stream drift in 
Arctic Sea, 1035 
Gulhak, 462 

Gunong, Agong mountain, 564; 
Api, island, 571 ; Tahan, moun- 
tain, 515 
Gurabo, 799 
Gurara, oasis, 906 
Gurkhas, 503 
Gwadar, 499 
Gwai river, 999 
Gwalior, 496, 497 
Gwelo, 1002 
Gyger, Map by, 31 
Gympie, 591, 592 
Gyulafehervar (Karlsburg), 323 

H AAR. 287 

Haarlem, 222 
Haase river, 271 
Hadendoa tribe, 926 
Hadramut (Hazarmaveth), 453, 
455 

Hague, The, 223 
Haida people, 684 
Haidrabad (Dekkan), 497 ; Sindh, 
491 

Haiphong, 520 

Haiti and Santo Domingo, 801- 
802 

Hakodate, 553 
Hal-la-san, 542 

Halifax, 170 ; Nova Scotia, 687 
Halle-a-S., 290 

Halmaheira (Gilolo) island, 570 
Halmstad, 204 
Halys, river, 440 
Hamada el Homra, 916, 918 
Hamar, 207 

Hamburg, 294 ; as a free port, 
1 18; temperature and rainfall 

of, 273 
Hami, 539 

Hamilton, 159 ; Bermuda, 709 ; 

Ontario, 695 ; river, 701 
Hamitic people, 107, 898 ; in 
Africa, 897 
Hammam Ali, 447 
Hammerfest, 207 
Hampshire, 186; Tertiary basin, 
181 

Han river, 523, 530, 532 ; (Korea), 
543 . 

Hand hills, 702 
Hang-kiang, 536 
Hanga river, 659 
Hangchou, 535 ; Bay, 533 
Hankow, 530, 531, 534 
Hanley, 175 
Hanoi, 520 

Hanover, 294 ; province, 289 
Hansag, 316 

Hanseatic League, 112, 205, 207 
Hanyang, 534 
Hanyani river, 998 
Haparanda, 204 
Haram, 454 
Harbour Grace, 707 
Harbour Island, 803 
Harfleur, 250 
Hari-rud river, 465 
Harlingen, 222 
Harmsworth. Mr. A, C., and 
Arctic Exploration, 1030 
Harra (lava beds), 453 
Harran, 448 
Harrar, 935 


Harrat el-’Aue, 453 
Harrat Khaibar, 453, 456 
Harris, explorer, 906 
Harrisburg, Pa., 727, 731 
Harrogate, 169 
Hartford, Conn., 723 
Hartlepool, 170 
Hartz, 268. 290 
Haruj es Sod, 916 
Haruk Mountain, 456 
Haruku island, 571 
Harvard mountain, 760 
Harwich, 152, 182 
Haslemere, 181 
Hassa. 453, 456 
Hastings, 181 
Hatchings (hachures), 31 
Hatteras. Cape, 720 
Haud desert, 936 
Hausa people. 971 ; States, 971 
Havana, 798 ; Climate, 794 ; har- 
bour, map, 793 ; province, 795 
Havel river, 271 
Havre, 250 
Hawaii, 660-662 
Hawaiian Chain of Islands, 651 
H awash river, 931 
Hawke Bay, 629 
Hawkesbury river, 597 
Hay, 600 

Hayes, Dr. Isaac J., Arctic Voyage, 
1029 

Hazara people, 467 
Hazarmaveth, 455 
Heart’s Content, 705 
Heaths, 89 

Heawood, Edward, Continent of 
Africa, 889; Islands of the South 
Atlantic, 1013 ; Liberia, 959 ; 
Spanish West Africa, 952 
Hebrides, 154 
Hebron, 449, 451 
Hecataeus, 26 ; Map by, 8 
Hedin, Dr. Sven, 540 
Heidelberg, 286 
Heilbron, 1004 

Heilprin, Prof. A., Mexico, 774' 
Hejaz, 453, 454 
Hekla, volcano, 213 
Helder, The, 219, 222 
Helderbergs Escarpment, 736 
Helena, Ark., 750, 754 
Helgoland, 293 
Hellbourg, 1024 
Hellenic people, 346 
Hellespont, 330 
Helmand river, 457, 458, 466 
Helsingborg, 204 

Helsingfors, 412 ; Longitude of, 31 
Helsingor, 210 
Helvellyn, 163 
Helvetians, 260 

Hemihedral form of Earth, 42 
Hengchou, 530 
Henry the Navigator, 10, 900 
Henry mountains, 763 



Herberton, 592 
Herbertshohe, 641 
Herbertson. Dr. A. J., Asia, 422 ; 
Continent of South America, 

813 

Herculaneum, 365 
Hercynian strike, definition, 268 
Hereford, 164, 166 
Hereroland, 1012 
Herero people, 1013 


Hermon, Mount, 449 
Hermoupolis, 349 
Hermus river, 440 
Hernosand, 204 

Herodotus and the three Conti- 
nents, 8 
Hersfeld, 289 
Heruj el Abiad, 916 
Hervey bay, 579 
Herzegovina, 324 
Hesse, 286, 288 

Hesse-Nassau province, 286, 288 
Hessians, 276 
Hetch-hetchy valley, 767 
Hida-Echu Mountains, 546 
Hierro (Ferro) island, 952 
High plain, definition, 49 ; Tatra 
(Magas Tatra), 311, 316 ; Veldt, 
986, 1007 

Highland Rim, U.S., 733 
Highlands, definition, 48; of 
Scotland, 154 
High wood mountains, 756 
Hikurangi mountain, 628 
Hildesheim, 289 

Hill, Robert T., Cuba, 793 ; Porto 
Rico, 798 

Hills, definition, 49 
Himalaya, Geology of, 472; moun- 
tains, 41, 470 
Himalayan States, 503 
Himyaritic language, 934 
Hinde, S. L., Congo Free State, 
974 

Hindi language, 479 

Hindki people, 467 

Hindu Kush mountains, 465, 489 

Hindu people, 478 

Hindus in Java, 562 

Hindustan, 469 

Hinlopen strait, 1044 

Hinterland, 119 

Hipparchus, 26 

Hippo Regius, 912 

Hiroshima, 553 

Hispaniola, 801 

Hit, 447 

Hittites, 441, 450 
Hjelmar Lake, 200 
Hobart, 605, 613 
Hobson Bay, 602, 606 
Hodeida, 454 
Hogolu islands, 655 
Hog’s Back, 180 

Hokitika, Temperature and rain- 
fall of, 630 
Hokkaido, 552 
Holarctic region, 87 
Holderness, coast, 179 
Holland, see Netherlands, 216 
Hollow, definition, 49 
Holstein, Duchy, 209 
Holstenborg, 1040 
Holy Roman Empire, 135 
Holyhead, 164 
Honan, 533 
Honda, 828 
Hondo river, 789 
Honduras, 789 : Gulf, 782; Moun- 
tains, 784; Physical geography, 
784 ; Seaports, 788 
Honfleur, 250 
Hongay, 519 

Hongkong (Hang-kiang), 536 
Honolulu, 662 
Hood, Mount, 767 
Hope island, 1044 
Horizon, definition, 15 


Index 


1067 


Horn, Cape, 813 

Horn Scientific Expedition, 617 

Horn Sands Tinder, 1045 

Horse latitudes, 78 

Horse, Wild, 540 

Horsens, 210 

Horsham, Victoria, 606, 609 
Horta, 384 
Horten, 206 
Hortobagy puszta, 322 
Horton Plains, 504 
Hoskold, H. D., Argentine Re- 
public, 849 

Hot Lakes District, N.Z., 628 ; 

winds of Kansas, 760 
Hottentots, 898, 989 ; in German 
S.W. Africa, 1013 
Hour-Angle, definition, 15; -Cir- 
cles, definition, 15 
Hova people, 1017 
Hualalai, 662 
Hualiaga river, 835, 838 
Huancavelica, 839 
Huanchaco, 837 
Huanuco, 838 
Huaqui, lake, 840 
Huaraz, 837 
Hubli, 492 

Hue and Gabet in Lhasa, 541 
Huddersfield, 170 
Hudson, Arctic voyage, 1026 
Hudson Bay, 666, 679, 692, 693, 700, 
701 ; river, 728, 729 ; Valley, 728 
Hudson Bay Company, 696 
Huelva, 374 
Huertas in Spain, 374 
Hughenden, 591 
Hugh river, 487 
Huila mountain, 825 
Huleh lake, 449 
Hull, 151. 171 ; Canada, 692 
Humber, 15 1 ; river, Newfound- 
land, 705 ; river, Ont., 695 
Humboldt, A. von, 12 ; Bay, 642 ; 
Current, 70, 659 ; Current and 
climate in Chile, 845 ; Mont, 
645 

Humboldt’s Plant-groups, 88 
Hume, W. F., Egypt, 918 
Humidity, 75 ; Relative, 76 
Humirida mountains, 879 
Hunan, 525, 533 

Hungarian Borderland, 323; gate, 
309 ; Plains (Kis-Alfold), 316 ; 
Sea, 318 

Hungarians, 319 

Hungary, 315-323 > Statistics, 325 

Hunger Steppe, 396 

Hunsriick, 287 

Hunte river, 293 

Hunter Island, 610 ; river, 600 

Hunza, 499 

Huo Island, 657 

Huon Gulf, 639 ; river, 61 1 

Hupe, 534 

Huron, Lake, 692 

Huronian rocks, 693 

Hwai river, 533 

Hwang-ho river 521, 532, 533, 
541 ; Floods in, 57 
Hwangho, 424 
Hyderabad, see Haidrabad 
Hydra, island, 349 
Hydrography and Development 
of a Country, hi; of Africa, 891; 
of Europe, 128 ; of Rhodesia, 
998 ; see also Rivers 
Hydrosphere = Collective waters 

69 


of the Earth, 3, 4, 36 ; Divisions 
of, 61 ; Extent of, 60; Tempera- 
ture zones of, 66 

Hylacomilus (Waldseemiiller), 35 
Hypsographic Curve, 46, 47 

T BADAN, 968 
JL Ibarra, 833 ; Basin, 830 
Iberian meseta, 368 ; peninsula, 

368, 385 

Iberians, 360, 372 
Ibi, 972 

Ibicui river, 877 
Ibiza Island, 370 

Ibo people, 967, 970 ; country, 

965 

Icaria island, 444 
Ice Age, 128 ; in Great Britain, 
139 ; see also Glacial Action 
Icebergs, 63 ; and Gulf Stream, 
69 ; of the Antarctic, 1049 ; of 
Arctic Region, 1037 
Ice Fjord, 1044 ; of the Arctic Sea, 
1036 

Ice-sheet of America, 666 ; of 
Antarctica, 1048 ; of Europe, 
128,666 ; of Greenland, 1040 
Iceland, 212-215 
Ichang, 526, 530 
Iconium, 443, 444 
Ida, Mount, 350 
Idaho, 764 
Idda, 972 
Idria, 305 
Idzo people, 970 
Igara people, 970 
Igbiri people, 970 
Ighli, 906 
Iglau, 309 

Igneous rocks, 52, 54 ; Weather- 
ing of, £7 
Iguassu river, 876 

110 people, 967 
Iiropa river, 1019 

111 river, 540 
Iliyats, 460 

Illampu, mountain, 817 
Illimani mountain, 817, 840 
Illinois, 739 
Illyrians, 334, 360 
Ilmen, lake, 393 
Iloilo, 559 
Ilopango, lake, 784 
Ilorin, 971, 972 
Imatra cataract, 392 
Imbabura, province, 833 
Imerina, 1017 
Inagua island, 803 
Inca Indians, 836 
Incas, Empire of the, 829 ; of 
Cuzco, 822 

Independence bay, 1032 
India, Climate of, 474-476 ; Em- 
pire of, 469-502 ; People of, 
478 ; Railway map, 485 
India-rubber in Bolivia, 842 ; in 
Brazil, 872 ; in Congo Free 
State, 975 ; in French Guinea, 
957 ; in Gold Coast, 964 ; in 
Nigeria, 970 ; in Sierra Leone, 

963 

Indian desert, 471 ; Ocean, circu- 
lation of, 68 ; Ocean, currents 
in, 70 ; Ocean, origin of, 41 ; 
Ocean, position of, 61 ; or 
Oriental Regions, 87 ; Territory, 
759 

Indiana, 739 


Indians in America, 71 1 ; in 
Canada, 683; in Mauritius, 1022; 
of North America, 676 
Indie people, 108 
Indigirka, river, 426 
Indigo in Central America, 788 ; 
in India, 484 

I ndo- African Continent, 97; -Aryan 
people, 480 ; -China, 508-520 ; 
-European Telegraph, 462; -Gan- 
getic plain, origin of, 41 
Indonesian people, 108 
Indrigiri river, 564 
Indus delta, 491 ; river, 470, 476, 
489 

Inglefield, Sir Edward, Arctic 
voyage, 1029 
Ingul river, 415 
Ingur river, 395 
Inhambane, 945 

Inland-ice of Greenland, 1040- 
1042 

Inland Sea, definition, 61 
Inn river, 303 ; valley, 127, 263 
Innsbruck, 305 
Innerste river, 289 
Innuits in Canada, 684 
Insolation, 74 
Interlaken, 264 

Intermont basin, 49 ; basins in 
Rocky Mountains, 762 
Internal Drainage, Basins of, 63 ; 

Old World Region of, 426 
Inverness, 155, 156 
Invierno in Central America, 785 ; 

in Colombia, 826 
Inyanga plateau, 998 
Iodine in Chile, 846 
Ionian Islands, 349 
Iowa, 751 
Ipoh, 514 

Ipswich, 182 ; Queensland, 593 
Ipurina people, 869 
Iquique, 847 
Iquitos, 839 

Iraklion, 350 

Iran, Countries of, 457-468 
Iranian desert region, 433 
Iranic people. 108 
Irawadi river, 472, 486, 496 
Irazu, volcano, 784 
Iregenat people, 956 
Ireland, 187-194 ; Bogs of, 142 ; 
Mountain Axes of, 188 ; Rain- 
fall of, 142 
Iris, River, 440 
Irish language, 145 
Irkutsk, 418 

Iron Gates, 331 ; Map of, 317 
Iron Mountain, Mo., 753 
Iron ore in Algeria, 908 ; in Cuba, 
797 ; in France, 244 ; in Ger- 
many, 282 ; in Spain, 376 ; in 
United Kingdom, 149 ; in 
United States, 734 
Iroquoian people, 106 
Iroquois people, 684 
Irrigation, in ; on the Great 
Plains, U.S., 757 
Irtysh, river, 399, 400 
Isabel island, 648 
Ischia, island, 353 
Iser mountains, 292 
Ishikari-gawa river, 547 
Ishmaelite people, 453 
Iskanderun (Alexandretta), 451 
Isker, river, 331 ; valley, 339 
Islam in Africa, 899 


io68 The International Geography 


Islands, 48 ; Classes of, 62 ; Con- 
tinental, 48, 62 ; of the South 
Atlantic, 1013-1014 ; of the Wes- 
tern Indian Ocean, 1020-1024 
Isle of Man, 186 ; of Pines, Cuba, 
795 ; of Wight, 181 
Ismid (Nicomedia), 443 
Isobars, 77 
Isonzo river, 314 
Ispahan, 463 
Issyk-kul, lake, 396 
Istria peninsula, 313 
Itala, 936 

Italian peninsula, 352 
Italians, 360 ; in Brazil, 869 
Italy, 352-365 ; Origin of, 135 
Itapicuru river, 875 
Itasca, lake, 743 
Itasy, lake, 1016 

Itatiaia (Mantiqueira) mountain, 
865 

Itenez river, 841 

Ithaca, island, 349 

I til, 414 

Ivangrod, 409 

Ivigtut, 1041 

Iviza island, 370 

Ivory Coast, 957 

Ivory Nuts in Colombia, 826 

Ixelles, 228 

Ixtaccihuatl, 775 

Izalco, volcano, 784 

TABALPUR, 493 
J Jackson, Mr. F. G., and Arctic 
Exploration, 1030 
Jacobshavn Glacier, 1042 
Jacobites, 447 
Jade in Kashgaria, 540 
Jade Gate, China, 523 
affna, 506 
! aga people, 983 
_ agersfontein, 1004 
' aguaribe river, 874 
j aipur, 496, 497 
alapa, rainfall, 777 
] alisco, 774 

’ aluit Trading Company, 655 
’ amaica, 803 ; climate, 792 
ambali, Canal de, 831 
; ambi, 565, 566 

J ames Bay, 1014 ; Range, 615 ; 

River, U.S., 756 ; Town, 1014 
Jammu, 499 
Jamna river, 471, 488 
Jan Mayen, 1044 
Janina, 344 

Japan, 545~554 
Japen Island, 642, 644 
Jarrah trees, 621 
Jassy, 329 
Jat people, 467 
Jauja, 838 

Java, 501; People of, 562; Sea, 
563 

Jaxartes, River, 397 
“ Jeannette,” Drift of the, 1031 
Jebel Akhdar, 455, 916 ; Dokhan, 
923 ; es Soda, 916 ; es Zeit, 919 ; 
Esh, 919 ; Gharib, 929 ; Nefusa, 
916 ; Silsileh, 919 ; Sinjar, 447 ; 
Zeit, 923 
Jebu people, 967 
Jedda, 454 
Jefara, 916 

Jefferson City, Miss., 752 
Jehol, 532 
Jelalabad, 466 


Jelebu, 514 
Jenolan Caves, 600 
Jequitinhonha river, 875 
Jerba, 915 
Jerid, 915 
Jersey, 186, 187 
Jerusalem, 451 

Jervis, Cape, 614 ; island, 658 
Jesuits in Brazil, 871 ; in Para- 
guay, 862 
Jevero people, 832 
Jews in Algeria, 910 ; in Balkan 
Peninsula, 335 ; in Europe, 133 ; 
in Galicia, 312; in India, 479 ; 
in Russia, 403 ; in Tripoli, 917 
Jibuti, 935 

Jigger, Spread of, 86 
Jihun gorge, 439 

Jihun (Amu-daria) river, 397 ; 
(Pyramus) river, 397, 440 

J ishm island. 452 
odhpur, 497 
Jofra, 916 

Johannesburg, ion 
Johansen, Lieutenant, 1031 
Johnston, Sir Harry — British Cen- 
tral Africa, 946 ; British West 
Africa, 960 ; Tunisia, 913 
Johor, 515 ; Bharu, 515 
Joktanite People, 453 
Jokulsa river, 213 
Jones Sound, 1035 

I onkoping, 204 
oost Van Dyke Island, 807 
ordan river, 449 
orullo mountain, 775 
ostedalsbrae, 199 
otunheim, 198 
owf oasis, 456 
uan de Fuca, Strait, 697 
Juan Fernandez Islands, 658 
Juanacatlan, Fall of, 776 
' ub river, 892, 931 
’ ubaland, 938 
] ubones basin, 831 
' ucuapa (Salvador), 783 
udaea, 449 
! ujuy, 856 
( uko people, 970 
] ulfa, 463 
ulian Alps, 316 
] ulianehaab, 1043 
' ulius Caesar, 143 
umna, see Jamna 
' ungfrau, 258 ; railway, 263 
' ungles in Asia, 433 
’unin, 838 

' unki de Baracoa, 794 
] upiter, Ammon oasis, 928 
’ ura, mountains, 237, 256, 259, 285 
’ urassic Belt of England, 176 ; 
Formation, position of, 51 

S ute in India, 484 
utland, 208, 210 
yi&nd, 208 

K ABIN, 508 

Kabompo river, 947 
Kabul, 467 
Kabyles people, 910 
Kabylia, 907 
Kadesh, 450 
Kadiac island, 770 
Kaduna river, 970 
Kaffraria, 992 

Kafir, people of Kafiristan, 467 ; 
of Natal, 995 ; in South Africa, 
989 


Kafiristan, 468 
Kafue river, 947 
Kaga, 553 
Kagera river, 942 
Kagoshima, 551 
Kahlengebirge, 310 
Kaifeng, 533 
Kaikoura range, 628 
Kaikouras, 629 
Kam, 461 

Kaingaroa plains, 630 
Kaiping, 531 
Kairwan, 915 
Kaisariyeh (Caesarea), 444 
Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, 283, 294 
Kaiser Wilhelms Land, 639 
Kaiserin Augusta river, 639 
Kajeli, 571 

Kalahari, 1012; Desert, 1002; 

Region, 989 
Kalgan, 532 

Kalgurli, 626 ; Goldfields, 623 
Kalmuk people, 403 
Kalungwisi river, 947 
Kalymna island, 444 
Kama, river, 390, 414 
Kamchatka, 399, 429 ; Climate, 
70 

Kamerun (Cameroons), 973, 974 ; 

Bay, 973 ; Peak, 973 
Kamiab, 465 
Kamilaroi language, 584 
Kamisa tribe, 459 
Kampala, 939 
Kampar river, 564 
Kamyshin, 389 

Kan, Dr. C. M„ Dutch New 
Guinea, 642 ; The Netherlands, 
216 

Kan-Kiang river, 530, 533 
Kanakas, 647 
Kanara, 491 

Kanarese language, 479, 492 
Kanawha river, 732 
Kanazawa, 551, 553 
Kandahar, 467 
Kandy, 506 

Kane, Dr. Elisha Kent, Arctic 
Voyage, 1029 
Kang-won, 543 
Kangaroo Island, 614 
Kangaroos in Australia, 582 ; in 
the Moluccas, 570 
Kangeang Island, 563 
Kano, 971, 972 

Kansas, 751 ; City, 759 ; plains of, 
759 

Kansu, 532 
Kaoko, 1012 
Kapuas river, 567, 568 
Kapunda, 619 
Kara-daria, river, 397 
Kara Sea, 423 
Kara Su river, 449 
Karachi, 491 

Karakoram mountains, 465 
Karashahr, 540 
Karen people, 510 
Kariba defile, 999 
Karikal, 503 

Karim on Java island, 563 
Karlsbad, 307, 308 
Karlsburg (Apulum), 323 
Karnten, 304 
Karo Sea, 652 
Karpas, 445 
Karpathos island, 445 
Karri trees, 621 


Karroo, 986 ; beds, 893 ; region, 
988 

Kars, 409 

Karst, 305, 337 ; Map of, 314 ; 
phenomena, 54, 303, 356 ; 

phenomena in Cuba, 794 ; pla- 
teau, 303 
Karufa river, 642 
Karun river, 458 
Kas, people. 510 
Kashgar, 540 
Kashgaria, 539 
Kashkai tribe, 459 
Kashmir, 489, 498 
Kasim, 456 

Kasongo province, 978 
Kasos island, 445 
Kassa, 322 

Kassai province, 978 ; river, 975, 
982 

Kassel, 289 
Katar coast, 452 

. Kathiawar, 497 ; peninsula, 478 
Katif, 456 
Katima rapids, 982 
Katla, volcano, 213 
Katrine, Loch, 160 
Kattegat, 197 
Kauai Island, 662 
Kaulun, 537 ; peninsula, 536 
Kauri pine, 631 
Kavari river, 472, 495 
Kavirondo, 938 
Kawhia, 629 
Kayan people, 567 
Kayes, 958 ; rapids, 956 
Kazan, 414 ; river, 684 
Kazbek mountain, 395 
Ke Island, 570, 571 
Keane, A. H., Distribution of 
Mankind, 96 

Kebnekaise, mountain, 198 
Kebra Basa Rapids, 999 
Kedah State, 509 
Keeling or Cocos Islands, 514 
Keewatin, 701 
Keilberg, 291 
Kel Antassar people, 956 
Kel es Suk people, 956 
Kelantan State, 509 
Kelat, see Khalat 

Keltic clans, 144 ; language, 132, 
240 

Keltie, Dr. J. Scott, Political and 
Applied Geography, 109 
Kelto-Iberians, 107 
Kelts, 360 
Kelung, 554 
Kema, 569 

Kemp in Antarctic, 1048 
Kennebec river, 723 
Kennet, river, 179 
Kent, 148 

Kentucky caverns, 732 
Kenya mountain, 891, 931 
Keppel bay, 588 
Kerbela, 448 
Kerch strait, 394 
Kerguelen island. 1024 
Keria oasis, 540 
Kerio river, 931 
Kermadec islands, 60, 627 
Kerman, 461, 463 
Kerry Co., 194 
Keswick, 163 

Keuper, Geological position of, 
5i 

Key West, 748 


Index 



Keys (Cays) in West Indies, 791 ; 

of Cuba, 793 
Khabur, river, 447 
Khaibar Pass, 467, 490 
Khalat, 499 
Khamar-Daban, 398 
Khama’s Country, 1002 
Khan Tengri mountain, 387 
Khania (Canea), 350 
Khansin wind, 920 
Kharbin, 419 
Khargeh oasis, 919, 928 
Kharkov, 415 
Khartum, 927 
Khas tribe, 518 
Khasia hills, 495 
Khazr river, 447 
Kherson, 415 

Khingan mountains, 399, 539 ; 
river, 400 

Khita (Hittites), 450 
Khiva, 408, 418 
Khmer people, 517, 518 
Khomair, 907 
Khone rapids, 516 
Khorasan, 461, 463 
Khotan, 540 ; oasis, 540 
Khulm, 467 
Kiakhta, 539 
Kialing-kiang, river, 534 
Kiangsi, 533 
Kiangsu, 533 
Kiau river, 538 
Kiauchou, 538 ; Bay, 533 
Kieff, 400, 414 
Kiel, 210, 294 

Kikuyu people, 933 ; scarp, 931 
Kilauea, 662 

Kilia mouth of Danube, 328 
Kilimanjaro mountain, 891, 941 
Killarney lakes, 194 
Kilmarnock, 159, 161 
Kimberley, 992 ; W.A., 621 
Kina, 927 

Kinabalu mountain, 567 
King George Sound, 620, 625 
King Island, 610 ; Karl’s Land, 
1044 ; Sound, 620 
Kingani river. 941 
King’s County, 193 ; Lynn, 179 
Kingsmill Islands, 654 
Kingston, Jamaica, 804 ; Qnt., 
695 

Kingstown, Dublin, 192 ; St. 

Vincent, 810 
Kingtechen, 533 
Kinsha-kiang river, 534 
Kinta, 514 
Kinzig valley, 287 
Kipirsi, plateau, 955 
Kircher, Athanasius, 34 
Kirchhoff, Dr. Alfred, German 
Empire, 266 
Kirghiz people, 403 
Kirin (Ginn), 539 
Kirishima-yama, volcano, 54 
Kiriwina Island, 635 
Kirk, Sir John, 901 
Kirkcaldy, 151, 158 
Kirkwall, 155 
Kirunga volcano, 891 
Kis-Aliold, 316 
Kishinev, 416 
Kishon valley, 449 
Kisogawa river, 547 
Kitaigorod, 413 
Kitakamigawa river, 547 
Kiti, t>55 


Kitium, 446 
Kittatinny valley, 728 
Kiukiang, 533 

Kiyev (Kieff), 406, 414 . 

Kizil Irmak (Halys) river, 440 

Kiobenhavn, 210 

Eiagenfurt, 305 

Klamath river, 768 

Klang river, 514 

Klarelf, river, 199 

Klausenburg, 322 

Kleber, 908 

Kling people, 512 

Klondike, Gold in, 771 ; river, 703 

Klosterneuburg, 310 

Klyuchev, Mount, 399 

Knivskjelodden, 197 

Kobdo, 539 

Kobe, 553 

Kokan. 417 

Koki, 938 

Kola, in Portuguese Guinea, 980 ; 
river, 412 ; nuts in Gold Coast* 
964 ; nuts in Niger Delta, 968 ; 
nuts in Nigeria, 970 ; nuts in 
Sierra Leone, 963 
Kolarian people, 480 
Kolbe, Dr. F. C., Cape Colony, 985 
Kolding, 211 
Koln, 295 
Kolomea, 313 

Kolozsvar (Klausenburg), 321, 322 
Kolyma, river, 426 
Komoe river, 957 
Komono mountain, 954 
Konakry, 957 
Kong range, 954 
Kongsberg, 205 
Konia (Iconium), 443, 444 
Konigsau, river, 266 
Konigsberg, 293, 294 
Konigsee, lake, 272 
Konkan, 491 

Konstanz (Constance), 286 
Kooringa, 619 

Kootenay district, 699 ; people, 
684 

Kopais, lake, 348 
Kopaonik mountains, 336 
Kopjes, 1004 
Korat plateau, 509 
Korea, 542-544 
Koreans, 543 

Korintji lake, 564 ; mountain, 
566 

Korsor, 210 

Korsovo, 343 

Kos island, 444 

Kosciusko, Mount 594 

Koshtantau, mountain, 394 

Kota-raja, 566 

Kotonu, 957 

Kotsuke, 547 

Koweit (Grane), 452 

Kowloon, see Kaulun 

Kra, 509 

Krain, 304 

Krakatao, 563 

Krakow, 313 

Krapf, explorer, 

Krasnoyarsk, 418 
Krat hills, 510 
Kratji, 973 
Krefeld, 295 
Kremenets, 392 
Kremlin, 413 
Krems. 303 
Kribi, 974 


1070 


The International Geography 


Krishna, river, 472 
Kriti, 350 

Kronstad, Orange Free State, 
1004 

Krumen, 960 ; in Sierra Leone, 

963 

Kuban river, 395 
Kuchar, 540 
Kuching, 560 
Kuiseb river, 1012 
Kuku-nor Lake, 541 
Kulja, 540 
Kulpa, river, 330 
Kuma, river, 395 
Kumamoto, 553 
Kumasi, 964 
Kunene river, 892 
Kupei-kow Gate, 532 
Kura river, 395, 416 
Kuram valley, 466 
Kurdistan, 440, 461 
Kurds, 403, 442 

Kurile (Chishima) islands, 429, 554 
Kurisches Haff, 272 
Kurna, 447 

Kuroshiwo current, 70, 547 
Kurt Dagh mountain, 449 
Kus, river, 904 
Kushk, 417 ; railway, 465 
Kustenji, 329 
Kuyunjik (Nineveh), 448 
Kwakioor people, 684 
Kwala Kangsa, 514 ; Klang, 514 ; 

Lampur, 514 ; Pilah, 5*5 
Kwango prov., 978 ; river, 982 
Kwangchow, 535 
Kwangsi, 535 
Kwang-tri, 517 
Kwangtung, 535, 536 
Kwanza river, 892 
Kwei river, 524 
Kweichow, 534 
Kweiyang, 534 

Kwen-lun mountains, 428, 522, 
539 

Kwita, 964 
Kwo-ibo, 968 
Kwo people, 967 
Kymmene Elf, 392 
Kyoto, 551, 552 ' 

Kyrene, 916, 917 

Kyrenia mountains, Cyprus, 445 
Kyulu mountains, 931 
Kyushu, 546, 553 


L A BREA, 811 ; Calle, 912 ; 
Ceiba, 886 ; Condamine, 
31 ; Guaira, 887 ; Guaira to 
Caracas, railway map, 887 ; 
Guayra Falls, 860 ; Maddalena, 
358 ; Mancha, 372 ; Pallice, 
252 ; Paz, 842 ; Plata, 854, 849 ; 
Plata, Bolivia, 842 ; Plata river, 
815, 850 ; Rioja, 855 ; Rochelle, 
252 ; Sagittaria, 656 ; Saona 
island, 802 ; Serena, 848 ; 
Superga, 355 ; Union, 788 ; 
Vaux, 264 
Laaland Island, 210 
Labrador, Climate, 674 ; Current, 
69, 1037 ; Peninsula, 700 
Labuan island, 559 
Lacerda, J. de, explorer, 900 
Laccoliths, 54 ; in Colorado, 761 
Lachlan river, 594 
Laconia (Sparta), 349 
Ladakh, 499 


Ladinos, 787 

Ladins in East Africa, 945 
Lado, temperature and rainfall, 

894 

Ladoga, lake, 128, 392 
Ladrone islands, 44, 655 
Lady Franklin bay, 1046 
Laeken, 228 
Lafia, 971 

Laghouat, temperature and rain- 
fall, 908 

Lagoa das Sete Cidades, 384 
Lagoon islands, 654 
Lagoons on South American 
coast, 814 * 

Lagos, 968 ; origin, 960 
Lahontan, lake, map, 766 
Lahore, 490 
Laibach, 305 
Laikipia scarp, 931 
Laing, explorer, 900 
Lajta river, 316 
Lakadiv islands, 500 
Lakeba islands, 652 
Lake District of England, 163 ; 
Rainfall of, 142 

Lake of the Woods, 113, 694 ; 
Region of Russia, 388, 392 ; 
Superior, navigation, 684 
Lakes, and land development, 
55 ; formation, 49 ; use of, hi ; 
of the Alps, 128 ; of Argentina, 
850 ; of Germany, 272 ; of 
Mexico, 776 ; of New England, 
724 ; of North America, 669, 
692 ; of Tasmania, 61 1 ; of 
West Australia, 622 
Lambayeque, 837 
Lammas, Mount, 648 
Lammermoor hills, 157 
Lampedusa island, 353 
Lampong islands, 565 
Lanark, 159 

Lancashire, 168 ; coal-field, 150, 
171 

Lancaster sound, 1035 
Langerote island, 952 
Lanchow, 532 

Land, Climatic influence of, 79 ; 
forms, 46-59 ; Forms, classifi- 
cation of, 48 ; Plants, Groups 
of, 88 ; and People, 116 ; and 
Sea Breezes, 79 ; and Sea, pro- 
portions of, 61 ; and Water, 
48 ; and Water, Effects of 
Heat on, 75 ; and Water, Ter- 
tiary distribution of, 97 
Land’s End peninsula, 167 
Lander, explorer, 900 
Landes, 236 
Landshut, 292 
Lang Son, 520 
Langres, 237 
Langdale, 163 
Langeland, 210 

Languages of Europe, 132 ; of 
India, 479 ; of Switzerland, 
map, 260 

Langue d’Oc, 240 ; d’Oil, 240 
Lao country, 517, 519 ; Kay, 519 
Laon, 249 ; Globe, 35 
Lapparent, Prof. A. de, Physical 
Geography of France, 233-239 
Lapps, 201, 403 

Lap worth, C., Fold Theory, 38, 
45 

Lara State, 887 
( Laraich (El-Araish), 905 


Larantuka, 572 
Larapinta land, 615 
Larat island. 573 
Larnaka, 446 
Larne, 193 

Larsen, Capt., in Antarctic, 1048 
Larut, 514 

Las Casas in Central America, 787 ; 

in Cuba, 796 ; Las Palmas, 952 
Latacunga, 833 
Latacunga basin, 830 
Lateral valley, definition, 50 
Laterite, Origin of, 57 ; in Asia, 
432 ; in South America, 820 
Latitude, definition, 15 ; Deter- 
mination of, 16 ; Origin of term, 
9 ; and Longitude as boun- 
daries, 1 14 

Lauderdale, Africa, temperature 
and rainfall, 894 

Lauenburg (Duke of York) is- 
lands, 640 

Launceston, Tasmania, 613 
Laurentian, Highlands, 668, 734 ; 
Plateau, 680 ; Plateau in Mani- 
toba, 695 ; Plateau in Ontario, 
693 ; Plateau in Quebec, 689 ; 
Uplands, 671 

Laurentide mountainsi 690 
Lauricocha lake, 835 
Laurion, 347 
Lausanne, 264 
Lausitzer mountains, 292 
Lava-plains, 54 
Lawrence, Mass., 725 
Lazi, people, 442 
Lazistan, 440 

Le Locle, 264 ; Mans, 251 j 
Murgie, 358 

Lea marshes, 183 ; river, 182 
Leadville, 761 
Lebanon, Mount, 449 
Lebda, 917 
Lee, river, 194 
Leeds, 170 
Leeuwarden, 222 
Leeward Islands (British), 807 j 
name, 813 

Leghorn (Livorno), 364 

Lehmann, map shading, 32 

Lei-Chu, 520 

Lei river, 525 

Leicester, 176 

Leicestershire, 174 

Leiden, 223 

Leine, river, 289 

Leinster, 192 

Leipzig, 291 

Leiria, 379, 382 

Leith, 151, 159 

Leitha (Lajta) river, 316 

Lek river, 218 

Leki, 968 

Leman, lake, 258 

Lemberg (Lwow) £ 313 

Lemnos island, 444 

Lempa, Rio, 784 

Lena basin, 426 ; river, 39$ 
400 

Lens, 249 

Leon, 376 ; Province, Ecuador, 

8 33 ; (Nicaragua), 783, 789 
Leonardo da Vinci, Maps of, 31 
Leontes river, 449 
Leopold II. lake, 975 
Leopold range, 622 
Leopoldville, 978 
Lepini Mountains, 357 


Index 


1071 


Leptis (Lebda), 917 
Lerma, Rio (Santiago), 776 
Lerma, valley 855 
Leros island, 444 
Lerwick, 155 
Les Eboulements, 690 
Lesbos island, 444 
Lesseps, Ferdinand de, 925 
Lesser Antilles, 805 ; Sunda 
islands, 571-573 

Lett people, 275 ; language, 132 
Letto-, Lithuanians, 403 ; -Slavs, 
108 

Leuk, alluvial fan at, 57 
Leukas island, 349 
Leukerbad (Loueche), 265 
Leusitz, 291 
Levant, 346 

Levees of the Mississippi, 750 

Leven, Loch, 157 

Levkosia, 446 

Levuka, 653 

Lewes, 180 

Lewis, island, 155 

Lewiston, Me., 725 

Lezirias, 380 

Lhasa, 541 

Liard river, 698 

Lias, Geological position of, 51 

Liau river, 538 

Liautung, 538 

Liberia, 959-960 

Libertad, 789, 837 

Libombo Range, 945 

Libyan Desert, 928 

Lichens, 89 

Liddesdale, 161 

Lidkoping, 205 

Liebana, valley, 371 

Liechtenstein, 304 

Lief Ericsen, 686 

Liege, 225, 229 

Liffey river 192 

Lifu island, 645 

Ligonia river, 944 

Liguria, 363 

Ligurian Appennines, 356 

Ligurian people, 107, 360 

Liim fjord, 210 

Likungu, river, 944 

Lille, 249 

Lima, 837 

Limagne, 252 

Limagne, Plain of 234 

Limay river, 850 

Limburg, 218 

Limerick, 190, 194 

Limestone Alps, 302 

Limestones, 52 ; Weathering of, 54 

Limnoplankton, definition, 92 

Limoges, 245, 252 

Limpopo river, 892, 945, 1007 

Lincoln, 178 

Lincolnshire Wolds, 178 
Linga, 463 
Linggi, river, 514 
Linnaeus, 96 
Linth river, 257 
Linz, 305 

Lion mountain, 992 
Lions in Rhodesia, 1001 
Lipari islands, 353 
Lippe, principality, 289 
Lisbon, 383 ; Longtitude of, 31 
Lissa, 315 

Litany (Leontes) river, 449 
Lithosphere=solid crust of earth, 
3,4,36; Areas of, 46 


Lithuanian language, 132 ; people, 

275 

Little Batanga, 974 ; Belt, 208 ; 
Don, river, 391 ; Karroo, 986 ; 
Popo, 957 ; Rock, Ark., 754 ; 
Rocky Mountains, 756; Russians, 
404 ; St. Bernard, 126 ; Searcies 
river, 962 ; Syrtes, 889 
Littoral Area of the Sea, 91 ; 
Fauna, 94 

Liverpool, 151, 172 ; Mountains, 
N.S.W., 594 

Livingston, Guatemala, 788 
Livingstone, David, 12, 900 
Livingstone mountains, 947 
Livorno, 364 
Lizard Head, 167 
Llama in South America, 821 
Llano Estacado, 673, 754, 759 
Llanos, 821 ; in Colombia, 82 
Lloro, 828 

Loanda, 984 ; Ambaea railway 
map, 983 ; climate, 983 ; dis- 
trict, 984 

Loando, temperature and rain- 
fall, 893 
Loan go, 959 

Lob (Lop) Nor lake, 540 
Lobos island, 836 
Lobsters in Newfoundland, 706 
Locarno, 265 
Lochy, Loch, 156 
Lockwood, Lieutenant, Arctic 
exploration, 1030 
Loddon district, 602 ; river, 607 
Lodz. 413 

Loess, Origin of, 57 ; in China, 
522 ; of Mississippi, 738 
Lofoten islands, 198, 199 
Lofty Mount, 614, 619 
Logan, Mount, 672, 681 
Logwood in British Honduras, 
790 ; in Central America, 787 ; 
in Cuba, 795 
Lohombo river, 947 
Loire, river, 235, 245, 251 
Lois river, 573 
Loja, 830, 832, 833 
Loko, 972 
Lokoja, 972 
Lokunja river, 974 
Loma Tina mountain, 801 
Lomami river, 975 
Lomas, definition, 834 
Lombardy, 363 ; plain, 354 
Lomblen islet, 572 
Lombok-Ombay Islands, 572 
Lombok Strait, 572 
Lomnicz, 316 
Lomond, Loch, 157 
London, 182 ; Growth of, 115 ; 
Maps of, 28, 29 : Plan of, 184 ; 
Port of, 150 ; Tertiary Basin, 
182 ; Ont., 695 
Londonderry, 191, 193 
Long-cheou, 520 
Long Island, 726 ; Range, 705 
Longitude, definition, 16 ; Deter- 
mination, 17 ; origin of term, 9 
Longitudinal valley, definition, 50 
Longonot mountain, 931 
Lontar island, 571 
Look-out. Cape, 720 
Lop Nor lake, 540 
Lord Howe island, 601 
Loreto, 839 
Lorient, 251 
Lorraine, 241, 287 


Los, Angelos, 768 ; Rios province, 

833 

Losuguta, lake, 931 
Loueche, 265 

Louisiania, 754 ; Acquisition, 711 
Louisville, Ky., 744 
Lourengo Marques, 945 
Louviers, 245 
Lovat river, 391, 393 
Lovili mountains, 982 
Low, Archipelago, 657 ; Countries, 
The, 216-232 ; plain, definition, 
49 

Lowell, Mass., 725 
Lower, Austria, 304 ; California, 
774 ; Greensand, Geological 
position of, 51 ; Tunguska 
river, 400, 426 

Lowlands, definition, 48 ; of Scot- 
land, 157 
Loxa, see Loja 
Loyalty Islands, 645 
Lozere, Mont, 234 
Lualaba province, 978 ; river, 
946 

Luang Prabang, 516, 519 
Luangw r a river, 948 
Luapula river, 947 
Liibeck, 294 
Lubiana, 305 
Lublin, 413 

Lucerne, canton, 264 ; lake, 258 

Luchu islands, 553 

Lukuga river, 947 

Lucknow, 489 

Lugano, 265 

Lugnaquillia, 193 

Lulea, 204 

Luleaberg province, 978 
Lund, 204 
Lunda district, 984 
Lune valley, 169 
Luneburg heath, 293 
Lungo-e-Bungo river, 947 
Lurio river, 944 
Lusitanian language, 382 
Lussinpiccolo, 315 
Lutheran Church, 214 ; in Den- 
mark, 209 

Luxemburg, 230-232 
Luzon Island, 558 
Lwow (Lemberg), 313 
Lyell, C., Theories, 38 
Lyell, Mount, 61 1 
Lynn, Mass., 726 
Lyons, 253 
Lyonesse, 167 
Lys river, 225 
Lysa Gora mountain, 392 
Lyttelton, 628 


M AAS, River, 216, 224 
Maastricht, 219 
Maazeh tribe, 926 
Macabi Island, 836 
Macao, 538 
Macassar strait, 566 
McCarthy Island, 961 
Macchie, 131 

McClintock, Sir Leopold, 1028 
MacCluer Gulf, 642 
McClure, Arctic voyage, 1028 
Macdonnell range, 615 
McDouall Stuart, explorer, 617 
Macedonia, 338, 343 
Macedonians, 334 
Macgillicuddy’s Reeks, 194 


1072 The International Geography 


MacGregor, Sir William, British 
New Guinea, 635 
Mackay, 591, 592 
Mackenzie, Alexander, explorer, 

699 

Mackenzie district, 702 ; Plain, 
629 ; river, 681 ; river navigation, 

685 

McLean Falls, 701 
Macquarie river, Tasmania, 61 1 
Mactan island, 559 
Madagascar, 889, 1015-1020 
Madeira Archipelago, 384 ; river, 
873 

Madjopait, ruins, 563 
Madras, 494 ; longitude of, 31 
Madrid, 376 ; longitude of, 31 ; 

Temperature and rainfall at, 372 
Madura, 495 ; people, 562 
Maeander river, 440 
Mafra, 383 
Mafrag river, 908 
Magaliesberg mountains, 1007 
Magallanes territory, 848 
Magas Tatra, 316 
Magdalen islands, 689 
Magdalena, 827, 838 ; river, 824, 
828 

Magdeburg, 294 

Magellan, 10, 558 ; Strait, 814 ; 
map, 843 

Maggiore, Lago, 127, 354 
Maghera, 923 
Magnesia, Anatolia, 443 
Magnesian Limestone, Geological 
position of, 51 
Magra river, 356 
Magunda Mkali, 942 
Magyarorszag, 315 
Magyars, 320 
Mahanadi, river, 471 
Mahanoro, 1020 
Mahavillaganga river, 504 
Mahe, 503 ; island, 1023 
Mahmel mountain, 907 
Mahogany in British Honduras, 
790 ; in Cuba, 795 ; in Ivory 
Coast, 957 
Mahon, 377 
Mahra, 455 
Mahren, 308 
Mahrisch Ostrau, 309 
Maidanpek, 336 
Maidstone, 180 
Maimachin, 539 
Main, River, 285 ; valley, 286 
Maine, 723, 725 
Mainz (Mayence), 286 
Maipo river, 847 
Maipure people, 869 
Maiquetia, 887 
Maitland, N.S.W., 600 
Maize in United States, 739 
Majerda river, 913, 914 
Majorca island, 370 
Majunga, 1020 
Makachinga, Mount, 398 
Makalla, 455 
Makar river, 914 
Makassar, 569 
Makri harbour, 439 
Makta river, 908 
Makwa people, 945 
Mala Island, 648 
Malabar, Coast, 494 ; forests, 477 
Malabrigo Island, 836 
Malacca, 512, 513 ; strait, 564 
Malaga, 372, 377 


Malagarazi river, 942 
Malagasy people, 1017 
Malaita (Mala) island, 648 
Malar lake, 200, 203 
Malaria in Italy, map, 359 
Malaspina glacier, 770 
Malay Archipelago, 555 ; penin- 
sula, 509 ; people, 557 ; States, 

511 

Malayans, 105 

Malayo-Polynesian people, 105 
Malden island, 658 
Malditos, Montes, 371 
Maldiv islands, 500 
Malinche (Matlalcueyatl), 775 
Malinke people, 956 
Mallee country, 607 ; scrub, 595, 
603 

Mallorca island, 370 
Malmesbury, Cape Colony, 991 
Malmo, 204 
Malstrom current, 199 
Malta, 365-367 
Malta group of islands, 353 
Malte-Brun, geographer, 12 
Maluti mountains, 1004 
Malvern hills, 164 
Malwa plateau, 497 
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, 93, 
732 ; remains in Siberia, 1046 
Mamore river, 841 
Man and Environment, 4, 115 ; 
primitive, 99 ; struggle for exist- 
ence, 97 

Manabi province, 833 
Managua, 789 ; lake, 784, 785 
Manaos, 873 
Mananjara, 1020 
Manapouri lake, 629 
Manar, Gulf of, 504 
Manaro mountains, 594 
Manasarowar lakes, 541 
Manchester, 172 ; district, map of, 
173 ; Ship Canal, 172 ; N.H., 725 
Manchuria, 538 
Mandal pass, 466 
Mandalay, 496 
Mandara mountains, 973 
Mandenga people, 961, 962 
Mandes, people, 956 
Mandingo mountains, 955 ; 

people, 956, 981 
Manga Reva, 658 
Mangalore, 494 
Mangoky river, 1016 
Mangoro river, 1016 
Mangroves in East Africa, 942 ; 
on Kamerun Coast, 973 ; in 
Yucatan, 778 
Manihiki islands, 658 
Manika plateau, 945, 997 
Manila, 559 
Maniototo plain, 629 
Manisa (Magnesia), 443 
Manitoba, 695-696 ; escarpment, 
696, 701 ; lake, 696 
Manitoulin island, 694 
Mankind, Distribution of, 96-108 ; 
Divisions of, 102 ; table of chief 
divisions, 103 • 

Manna river, 960 
Mannheim, 286 
Manning, Mr., in Lhasa, 541 
Manomet hills, 726 
Mansinam, 644 

Mantiqueira mountain, 865, 876 
Mantse people, 527 
Mantua, 363 


Manyami river, 998 
Manych, as boundary, 123 ; river 
395 

Manzanillo, 781, 798 
Maori people, 632 
Map projections, 20-23 
Maps and Map reading, 26-35 • 
general, 30 ; geological, 34 ; 
measurement of distances on of 
areas, 28 ; scale of, 27 ; topo- 
graphical, 29 ; of the World, 
value of, 13 
Mapocho river, 847 
Mar Chiquita, lake, 850 
Mar da Palha (Straw Sea), 381 
Maracaibo, 886 ; lagoon, 813 
lake, 886 

Maranon river, 816, 835 
Maranhao, 874 
Marathas, 481 
Marathi language, 479, 491 
Marave people, 945 
Marble, 52 

March river, 291, 308 
Marches, def., 112 ; Italy, 364 
Marco Polo, travels, 9 ; in 
Sumatra, 565 
Marcy, Mount, 734 
Mare island, 645 
Mareb, 454 
Maree, Loch, 155 
Marenga Mkali desert, 942 
Margaret island, 322 ; river, 639 
Margarita island, 888 
Margate, 181 
Margalong river, 602 
Marianne islands, 655 
Marie Galante island, 808 
Marienbad, 308 
Marinus, geographer, 26 
Maritime Cordillera of the Andes, 
835 

Maritsa river, 332 
Mark, definition, 112 
Markets, 121 

Markham, Admiral Albert Hast- 
ings, 1029 ; Sir Clements R., 
Bolivia, 840, Ecuador, 829, Peru, 
834 

Marlborough, 179 
Marlborough Downs, 178 
Marmarice, harbour, 439 
Marmora (Propontis) Sea, 330 
Marocco, 904-906 ; City, 905 
Maronite, people, 451 
Maros, 322 

Marowyne river, 882, 883 
Marquesas islands, 658 
Marsden, Samuel,, in New Zea- 
land, 632 
Marseilles, 253 
Marshall islands, 654 
Martapura, 568 
Martha’s Vineyard island, 726 
Martigny, 265 
Martinique island, 809 
Mar war, 496 
Mary river, 592 
Maryborough, 591, 592 
Maryland State, 731 ; boundary 
718 

Masai people, 898, 933 
Masandam, Cape, 452 
Masarwa Bushmen, 1003 
Masaya, 789 
Mascara, 912 
Mashad, 463 
Mashuna people, 1001 


Index 


I0 73 


Mashunaland, 998 

Masina, 954 

Mask, Lough, 193 

Mason, W. B., Japan, 545 

Massachusetts, 722 

Massape soil, 867, 875 

Massowa, 935 

Masulipatam, 495, 503 

Matabeleland, 998 

Matadi, 978 

Matagalpa, 784 

Matanzas, 798 ; province, 795 

Mataram, 572 

Matavai bay, 657 

Matchedash bay, 693 

Matese mountains, 356 

Mathematical Geography, 14-25 ; 

definition, 3 
Matlalcueyatl, 77 
Matlock, 169 
Mato Teepee, 758 
Matochkin Shar, 1045 
Mattas Virgeus, 868 
Matterhorn, 258 

Mat to Grosso, 820, 873 ; Moun- 
tains, 866 

Matupi island, 641 
Maturin, 888 
Mau, scarp, 931 
Maui island, 662 
Maule river, 844 
Maulmain, 496 

Mauna, Haleakla, 662 ; Kea, 660, 
662 ; Loa, 660, 662 
Mauritius, 1020 ; map, 1021 ; 

structure of, 41 
Maya-Quiche language, 779 
Mayaguana Island, 803 
Mayaguez, 800 
Mayence, 286 

Mayo Co., 193 ; Island, 979 ; Kebbi 
river, 970 

Mayon, Mount, 559 
Maypures rapids, 884 
Mazagan, 905 
Mazama, Mount, 768 
Mazamet, 245 
Mazaruni, 879 
Mazatlan, 781 
Mbomu river, 975 
Mecca, 453, 454 

Mecklenburg-, Schwerin, 293 ; 

Strelitz, 293 
Medain Salih, 453 
Medanos, definition, 834 
Medina, 453, 454 

Mediterranean, civilisation, 7 ; 
flora, 131 ; Origin of, 41 ; plant- 
region, 433 ; region, rainfall 
of, 130 ; Temperature and 
depth of, 66 
Medway, river, 180 
Meerut, 489 

Megalokastrom (Candia), 350 
Meiningen, 290 
Mejico, 774 
Mekenes, 905 

Me Klawng, River, 508; Kong 
river , 508, 509, 516, 517, 541 ; 
Nam Chao Praya river, 508 
Mekran, 457 
Melanchroi. people, 107 
Melanesia, 635-648 
Melanesian Chain of Islands, 651 ; 

Islands, 646; people, 5S7 
Melanesians, 104 
Melbourne, 605, 608 
Melilla, 377 


Melrose, 161 
Melsetter, 1002 
Melville island, 614 619 
Memel river, 270 
Memphis, 924 ; Tenn., 750 
Menado, 569 
Menai Strait, 164 
Mendana islands, 658 
Mendere Chai (Maeander) river, 
440 

Mendoza, 855 ; river, 850 
Mengo, 938 

Menorca island, 370, 377 
Mentawi islands, 557, 566 
Menzies, 625 
Meos tribe, 518 
Merakish, 905 
Meran, 306 
Mercator, n 

Mercator’s projection, 22 
Meridian, definition, 15 
Meridians, Initial, 31 
Merim, lake, 857 
Merka, 936 
Merkusoord, 644 
Merrick, Mount, 160 
Merrimack river, 723, 725 
Mersey estuary, 172 
Mersina, 443, 444 
Merthyr-Tydfil, 165 
Merv, 397, 417 
Mesa Toar, 794 

Mesas in United States, 673 ; in 
Venezuela, 885 
Meseta of Spain, 368 
Meshiya, 916 
Meskineh, 448 
Mesopotamia, 436, 447-448 
Mesorea, plain, 445 
Mesozoic Formations, Geological 
position of, 51 
Messenia, 349 
Messina, Strait of, 358 
Mestizos, 787 

Meuse (Maas) river, 224, 229 
Mexcala river, 776 
Mexican Cordilleras, 775 ; Indians, 
779 ; (Nahuatl Aztec) language, 
779 

Mexico, 774-78 i ; City, 776, 781 ; 
City rainfall, 777 ; valley, map, 
776 ; Longitude of, 31 
Mezas mountains, 982 
Mezen, 393 

Miautse or Mantse people, 527 
Michigan, Lake, old outlet, 740 
Micronesia, Origin of, 41 
Micronesian Islands, 653-656 ; 

Chain of Islands, 651 
Middle Tunguska river 426 
Middlesbrough, 177 
Middlesex, name, 144 ; Jamaica, 
804 

Mies, 307 

Migrations of Mankind, 97 
Mikados of Japan, 550 
Milan, 362, 363 
Mildura, 607 
Milford Haven, 164 
Miliana, 912 

Mill, Dr.H.R.— England andWales, 
161 ; Geography, Principles, and 
Progress, 1 ; Land Forms, 46 ; 
The Oceans, 60 ; Scotland, 152 ; 
United Kingdom, 138 
Millstone grit, 165 ; Geological 
position of, 51 
Milwaukee, site, 738 


Min river, 524, 535 
Minahassa, 569 
Minas Geraes, 866, 875 
Mindanao, 559 
Mindello, 980 
Minho river, 368, 380 
Minneapolis, 743 

Minnesota, 750, 751 ; river, 743, 
750 

Minorca island, 370 
Minsk, 403 

Miocene Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Miquelon, 708 
Mira river, 830 
Miranyas people, 869 
Mirim lake, 877 
Mirzapur, 489 
Misahohe, 973 
Mischabelhbrner, 258 
Misery, Mount, 808 
Misiones, territory, 854, 856 
Mississippi delta, 749 ; floods in, 
57 ; flood plain, 749 ; river, 743, 
748 ; river as boundary, 712 
Missolonghi, 348 

Missouri, 751 ; Coteau, 701 ; high- 
lands, 752 ; river, 756 
Mist, 76 

Misti, volcano, 838 
Mitla, 779 
Mitrevitza, 341 
Mitsni people, 970 
Mitta Mitta river, 602 
Mitylene Island, 444 
Mixteco-Zapoteca language, 779 
Mlanje, Mount, 944, 948 
Moab, 449 
Mobile, Ala., 746 
Mozambique, 944, 945, 946 
Mockler-Ferryman, Major A. F., 
Nigeria, 969 
Modling, 310 
Moen Island, 210 
Moeris, Lake, 924 
Moero Lake, see Mweru 
Mogadishu, 936 
Mogador, 905 
Mog^al Empire, 480 
Mohammed Ali, 925 
Mohammedanism in Asia, 437 ; in 
Egypt, 9 2( > I in Europe, 134 ; in 
Niger delta, 967 ; in Nigeria, 
970 ; in Persia, 460 ; in West 
Africa, 956 

Mohawk, as ancient outlet of 
Lake Michigan, 742 ; valley, 736 
Mohilev, 390 
Moi tribe, 518 
Mok-po river, 543 
Molasse, 51 
Moldau river, 307 
Moldavia, province, 327 
Mole, river, 180 
Molenbeek, 228 
Molise, 364 
Molocath river, 904 
Mologa, river, 389 
Molokai island, 662 
Moluccas islands, 570 
Mombasa harbour map, 937 
Mona island, 800 
Mona passage, 801 
Monadnocks, 59, 716 
Monastir, 341 
Monch, mountain, 258 
Moncorvo, 382 
Moncton, 689 


1074 The International Geography 


Mondega, cape, 382 
Mondego, river, 381 
Mong-tse, 520 
Monghyr, 488 
Mongolia, 539 

Mongolic or Yellow Race, 102, 105 
Mongols, 105 
Monmouth, 163, 164 
Mono lake, 767 
Monoclinal fold, 53 
Monongahela river, 734 
Monrovia, 960 
Mons, 225 

Mons Jovis pass, 126 
Monsoon region, 79 ; of Asia, 431 
Monsoons, 78 ; and ocean cur- 
rents, 68 ; of India, 474 
Montagne Noire, 234 
Mont Cenis pass, 126 
Montana, 756 
Monte Rosa, 258 
Montego bay, 804 
Montenegro, 337 
Monterey, 777 
Montevideo, 858, 859 
Montferrato hills, 355 
Monti Cristi mountains, 801 
Montmorency Fall, 690 
Montpellier, 253 

Montreal, 691 ; temperature and 
rainfall, 682 
Montreux, 264 
Montserrat, 807, 808 
Moonta, 619 > 

Moors in Algeria, 910 ; in Senegal, 
956 ; in Spain, 373 
Moore, Mr. J. S., on Lake Tan- 
ganyika, 93 
Mooroopna, 609 
Moquegua, 838 
Moradabad, 489 
Morant Cays, 805 
Morar, Loch, 155 
Morava valley, 332, 336 
Moravia, 308 
Moravian Gate, 291 
Morawhanna, 881 
Morecambe bay, 163 
Moreton bay, 590 
Morlaix, 251 
Mormons, 766 
Mormugao, 502 
Morne a Garou, 810 
Morne Diablotin, 807 
Morocco, see Marocco, 904 
Morro Punti, 795 
Morvan, 234 

Moscow, 413 ; Rainfall and tem- 
perature, 401 
Mosel, River, 287 
Moseley, Prof. H. S., 94 
Mosi-a-tunya Fall, 999 
Moskeneso, 199 
Moskva river, 413 
Mosquito Indians, 787 
Mossamedes, 984 
Mosses, 89 
Mossi plateau, 955 
Mostaganem, 91 1 
Mostar, 324 
Mosul, 448 

Motala, 204 ; river, 199 
Motatan river, 886 
Motril, 372 

Moulmein, see Maulmein 
Mount Desert, 723 ; Gambier, 619 ; 
Morgan, 593 ; Morgan gold- 
mine, 592 ; Royal, 690 


Mount’s Bay, 167 
Mountain Chains, 53 ; chains, 
origin of, 37 . Climates, 81 ; 
Papuans (Alfurs), 644 ; defini- 
tion. 49, and Climate, no; 
Rainfall on, 80 
Mourne mountains, 188, 193 
Moravian Gap, 308 
Moxo people, 841 
Mozambique, see Mozambique, 
944 ; Channel, currents, 70 
Mpini, 974 
Msta, River, 391, 393 
Muang-Tai (Siam), 508 
Muar, 515 
Mudania, 443 
Mud line, definition, 95 
Miihlhausen, 287 
Muir, Glacier, 770 
Muir, Dr. Thomas, Cape Colony, 

985 

Mukden, 538 

Mulattoes in Central America, 787 
Mulde district, 291 ; river, 291 
Muldraughs hill, 733 
Mull, 155 

Mullens, Rev. Dr., 1015 
Muller Range, 622 
Multan, 490 ; Temperature and 
rainfall of, 474 
Muluia river, 904 
Munchen, 284 
Miinden, 288 
Munich (Munchen), 284 
Munich, Longitude of, 31 
Muniong mountains, 594 
Munster, 193 
Munster, 294 

Munster’s " Cosmographia,” 11 
Mur, river, 303, 305 
Murchison district, W.A., 625 
Murcia, 373, 377 ; province, 371 
Murendat river, 931 
Murghab river, 397 
Murman coast, 412 
Murray, Sir John — Antarctic Re- 
gions, 1047 ; Divisions of Earth’s 
crust, 46 ; on the mud-line, 95 ; 
The Oceans, 60-71 ; Theory of 
coral islands, 63 

Murray district, 602 ; river, 577, 
578, 594, 603, 609 

Murrumbidgee, 601 ; river, 594, 
600 

Murshidabad, 488 
Murua Island, 635 
Murzuk, 918 
Muscat, 452, 456 

Muschelkalk, Geological position 
of, 51 

Muscovy Company, 1025 
Mush, 444 

Musk Ox in Arctic, 1039 ; in 
Canada, 683 

Muskhogean people, 106 
Muss Alla mountain, 332 
Mustapha Superieur, 912 
Mustique island, 810 
Muzo, 828 
Mweru, lake, 947 
Myres, J. L.— Tripoli, 916 
Mysore, 473, 498 
Mytho, 519 


N ADA Island, 635 

Nadir, definition, 15 
Nafa, 553 


Nagar, 499 
Nagar-Avely, 503 
Nagasaki, 553 
Naghamadi, 927 
Nagoya, 547, 552 
Nagpur, 493 
Naguabo, 800 

Nahr el-Kebir (Eleutherus) river, 
448 

Nahr ez-Zerka. river, 450 
Nahua tribe, 779 
Nahuatl Aztec language, 779 
Nahuel-Huapi, lake, 850 
Naiguata mountain, 887 
Nairn, 156 
Naivasha, lake, 931 
Nak-tong river, 543 
Nam, Ing river, 509 ; Kok river, 
509 ; Loe river, 509 ; Mun river, 
509 : Nan river, 508 
Namaland, 1012 
Namaqua people, 990 
Namuli mountains, 944 
Nan-shan mountains, 524, 533 
Nanchang. 533 
Nancowrie, 500 
Nancy, 250 
Nandi, 938 
Nangamessi, 572 
Nanking, 533 
Nankow pass, 532 
Nansen, Dr. Fridtjof, 12, 1031; 

The Arctic Regions, 1033 
Nanshan, mountains, 523 
Nantes, 251 
Nantucket, 726 

Naples (Napoli), 364 ; Tempera- 
ture and rainfall of, 359 
Napo river, 831 
Napoli, 364 
Naranjal basin, 831 
Narbada river, 471 ; valley, 473, 493 
Narellan, 600 

Narenta. 324 ; river, 313, 333 
Nares, Sir George, Arctic Voyage, 
1029 

Narev river, 391 
Naricual, 887 
Narova, river, 393 
Narragansett bay, 723 
Nashville basin, 733 
Nassarawa, 972 
Nassau, 803 

Natal, 993-997 ; Brazil, 874 
Natalia, 995 
Natchez, La, 750 
Nathorst, Professor, 1032 
Nations, definition, 109, 117 
Nauhcampatepetl, 775 
Naurouse, Passage of, 125 
Nauta, 816 
Navigation, 23 
Navigator Islands, 653 
Naxos, 347, 349 
Naze, The, 182 
N’Bundo people, 983 
Neagh, Lough, 188, 193 
Neapolitan Appennines, 356 
Nearctic region, 87 
Nebraska, 751, 759 
Neckar basin, 285 
Nederlandsch Oost Indie, 560 
Nefuds, 452 
Negapatam, 494, 495 
Negri Sembilan, 514 
Negritoes, 104 

Negro, or Ethiopic Race, 102 ; 
river, 873 


Negroes in Africa, 897 ; in Central 
America, 787 ; in Nigeria, 970 ; 
in Porto Rico, 800 ; in South 
America, 822 ; in United States, 
map, 747 
Neisse river, 292 
Nejd, 452, 456 
Nejef, 448 
Nejran, 453 
Nekton, definition, 90 
Nemours, Algeria, 91 1 
Neogoeic Realm, 88 
Neolithic Ages, 100 
Neotropical region, 87 
Nepaul, see Nipal 
Nepean river, 600 
Nerchinsk, 419 

Neritic region, definition of the, 
95 

Nerone, Monte, 356 
Ness, Loch, 156 
Nestorians, 442 

Netherlands, The, 216-223 ; Con- 
figuration, map, 217 ; History 
of, 136 

Netherlands India (Nederlandsch 
Oost Indie), 557, 560 
Netze river, 271 
Neuchatel, canton, 264 
Neuhausen, 263 
Neuilly. 250 

Neu-Pommern (New Britain), 640 
Neuquen river, 850 ; territory, 
856 

Neusiedler lake, 316, 318 
Neva river, 393, 410 
Nevada, 765 

Nevado de Colima, 775 ; de 
Toluca, 775 
Nevis island, 807, 808 
New Almaden, 768 ; Amsterdam, 
881 ; Bedford, 725 ; Benin, 968 ; 
Britain, 640 ; Brunswick, 688- 
689 ; Calabar, 968 ; Caledonia, 
644-646 ; Castile, 376 ; Chaman, 
466, 467 ; England, 721 ; Eng- 
land mountains, N.S.W., 594 ; 
Forest, 181 ; Georgia Island, 
648 ; Grenada, 827 ; Guinea or 
Papua, 635 ; Hampshire, 723 ; 
Haven, Conn., 723 ; Hebrides, 
646 ; Holland, 584 ; Ireland, 
640 ; Kanawha river, 728 ; 
Mexico, 762 ; Orleans, 715, 749 ; 
Orleans, site map, 750 ; Orleans, 
temperature and rainfall, 675 ; 
Providence, 803 ; Ross, 193 ; 
Siberian Islands, 1046 ; South 
Wales, 593-601 ; South Wales, 
rabbit-proof fences map, 595 ; 
Spain, 780 ; Westminster, B.C., 
700 ; Westminster, temperature 
and rainfall, 682 ; World, 36 ; 
York, 727, 729 ; York City, 715. 
730 ; York, temperature and 
rainfall, 675 ; Zealand, 627-634 ; 
Zealand, railway map of, 633 
Newara Eliya. 504 
Newburgh, N.Y., 736 
Newcastle - on- Tyne, 151, 169; 

Natal, 994 ; N.S.W., 596, 600 
Newchwang, 538 
Newer Appalachian Belt, 717, 727 
Newfoundland, 704-707 ; Grand 
Banks of, 69, 722 
Newhaven, 180 

Newnes,Sir George, and Antarctic 
Exploration, 1048 

70 


Index 


Newport, Mon., 165 ; R.I., 723 
N garni Lake, 1003 
Nganhwei, 533 
Nganking, 533 
Ngansichou, 539 
Ngauruhoe mountain, 628 
Nguru mountains, 941 
Niagara, 735 ; Escarpment, 694 ; 
Gorge, 742 ; and the Great 
Lakes, 741 ; river, 681 
Niaouli tree, 645 
Niari-Quillu river, 958 
Nicaragua, 789 ; Lake, 784, 785 ; 
physical geography, 784; sea- 
ports, 788 ; ship canal, 785 
Nice, 241, 253 

Nickel, in Canada, 694 ; in New 
Caledonia, 646 
Nicomedia, 443 
Nicosia (Levkosia), 446 
Nicoya Gulf, 783 
Nictheroy, 876 

Nielsen, Prof. Yngvar — The Scan- 
dinavian Peninsula, 197-202 
Niger basin, 892 ; Coast Protec- 
torate, 965-968; delta, climate, 
966 ; delta, map, 965 ; river, 

900, 954. 955. 958, 969 
Nigeria, 969-972 
Nihon (Nippon), 545 ' 

Niigata, 547, 55b 553 ; Tempera- 
ture and rainfall of, 547 
Nijmegen, 222 
Nikki, 958 
Nikko, 548 
Nikobar islands, 500 
Nikolayev, 409, 415 
Nile, basin, 892 ; delta, map, 921 ; 

river, 920, 930 
Nilotic peoples, 933 
Nilgiri hills, 472, 494 
Nimes, 253 

Nimrud Dagh mountain, 440 

Nineveh, 448 

Ningpo, 535 

Nipal, 503 

Nipe, 798 

Nipigon, lake, 694 
Nippon, 545 
Nish, 336 

Nisyros island, 444 
Nithsdale, 160 

Nitrate of soda in Chile, 844, 846 
Niuchwang (Newchwang), 538 
Nizarites, 453 

Nizhnii-Novgored, 406, 414 
Nonni river, 539 
Nordenfjeldske, district, 206 
Nordenskiold, Baron A. E., 1029 ; 

Sea, 423 ; Dr. O., explorer, 1048 
Nore river, 193 

Norfolk, U.S., 729 ; Va., site, 720 ; 

Island, 601 
Norge, 205 
Noric Alps, 316 
Norman Conquest, 144 
Normandy, 250 
Normanton, 591 
Norrkoping, 204 
Norrland, 204 

North America, climate, 673 ; 
America, configuration map, 
670 ; America, Continent of, 
664-678 ; America, map of 
glaciation, 669 ; Carolina shores, 
720 ; Dakota, 750 ; Devon, 
Arctic America, 1046 ; Downs, 
180 ; -East Land, 1044 ; -East 


1075 


Passage, n, 1026, 1029; Ger- 
man Low Plain, 292 ; Island, 
N.Z., 627, 629 ; Magnetic Pole, 
1028 ; Mountains, 686 ; Polar 
Regions, 1025-1046 ; Sea, Circu- 
lation of, 67 ; Shields, 151, 170 ; 
-West Passage, 11, 1026, 1028; 
-West Provinces of India, 488 ; 
-Western Territories of Canada, 
702 

Northern, Dvina river, 399 j 
Rhodesia, 946 ; Territory, South 
Australia, 614, 619 ; Zambezi a, 
946 

Northers of Texas, 755 
Northam, W.A., 626 
Northampton, 178 
Northumberland, coal-field, 150, 
169 ; county, 168 ; Strait, 686, 
687 

Northumbria, 153 
North wich, 174 
Norway, 205-207 

Norwegian, language, 214 ; Sea, 61 
Norwich, 182 
Nosibe island, 1016 
Nosob river, 1012 
Notogoeic Realm, 88 
Notre-Dame, Bay, 705 ; Moun- 
tains, 690 

Nottingham, 170; coal-field, 150; 

county, 17 1, 174 
Notwani river, 1002 
Nou island, 646 
Noumea, 645, 646 
Nouvelle Caledonie, 644 
Nova Goa, 502 
Nova Scotia, 685-687 
Novaya Zemlya, 423, 1045 
Novgorod, 392 
Novi-Bazar, 343 
Novo-Georgievsk, 409 
Nu-Aruak people, 822, 869 
Nuevitas, 798 
Nuevo Leon, 777 
Nuka-Hiva island, 658 
Nupe, people, 971 
Nuremberg, 286 
Niirnberg (Nuremberg), 286 
Nusa-laut island, 571 
Nutmeg in the Moluccas, 571 
Nutrias, 885 
Nuyts Land, 617 

Nyasa, Lake, 942, 947 ; discovery,. 
901 

Nyasaland, 946 
Nyborg, 210 
Nyika, 937 
Nyong river, 974 


O AHU Island, 662 

Oases, of Libyan Desert, 928 v 
of the Sahara, map, 905 
Oats in United Kingdom, 148 
Ob river, 397, 398 
Ob-Irtysh region, 426 
Obidos, 873 

Obsequent rivers, definition, 59 
Ocean, Basins, General form of,. 
60 ; Basins, Permanence of, 65 ; 
boundary, 113 ; current, 68; 
depth, greatest, 60 ; drift, 68 ; 
functions of, 71 ; as a highway, 
71 ; river, 8 ; surface tempera- 
ture, 65 
Oceania, 649 

Oceanic, climate, 81 ; civilisation. 


1076 The International Geography 


8 ; deposits, 64 ; islands, defini- 
tion, 62 ; plateau, 47 
Oceans, 60-71 ; Circulation of, 68 ; 
origin of, 41 ; in political geo- 
graphy, 120 ; salinity of, 63 
Ochil Hills, 157 
Ocos, 788 
Ocreza river, 381 
Odense, 210 
Odeondo, 968 

Oder river, 270, 291, 294, 308 
Odessa, 415 
Odyi river, 998 
Oea (Tripoli), 917 
Oesterreich (Austria), 300 
Oetanata river, 643 
Oetzthal, 306 
Ofanto, River, 357 
Ofoten fjord, 204 
0 gasawara- j ima, 545 
Ogowe river, 892, 958 
Oguta, 968 

O’Higgins, General, in Chile, 
846 

Ohio, region, 735 ; region, glacial 
action in, 738 ; river, 732, 737, 
744 ; river as boundary, 712 
Oich, Loch, 156 

Oil, Islands, 1023 ; palm in Niger 
delta, 966 ; seeds in India, 484 
Ojibways tribe, 683 
Oka river, 390, 414 
Okavango river, 1003, 1012 
Oker river, 293 
Okhotsk, Sea of, 398, 424 
Okhvat, lake, 391 
Okinawa island, 553 
Okinawa-ken, 553 
Oklahoma, 759 
Oland, Island, 199 
Olekma, river, 400 
Oleleh, 566 

Old, Calabar, 967 ; Castile, 376 ; 
Red Sandstone formation, Geo- 
logical position of, 51 ; Servia, 
343 

Old World, 36 ; World, Structure 
of, 40 

Oldenburg, 293 

Older Appalachian belt, 717, 722 
Oldham, 173 
Olifant’s river, 1007 
Oligocene Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Olinda, 875 

Olive trees in France, 244 ; in 
Italy, 360 ; in Palestine, 450 ; in 
Spain, 374 ; in Tunisia, 914 
Olfusa, river, 213 
Olmiitz, 309 
Olonets, 392 
Olten, 264 

Olympus, 345 ; Mount, 439 ; 
mountain, Cyprus, 445 

Omaha, 759 

Oman, 455 ; district, 453 
Omatoko, Mount, 1012 
Ombay islet, 572 
Omdurman, 925 
Omi, 547 
Omo river, 931 
Omotepe volcano, 784 
Omsk, 418 

Onega, Lake, 128, 393 
Onetapu plains, 630 
Onilahy river, 1016 
Onin, 642 

Ontake mountain, 546 


Ontario, 692-695 ; during the Ice 
Age, 742 ; peninsula, 693 
Oolite, Geological position of, 51 
Oolitic Escarpment, 161, 177 
Oozes, Oceanic, 38 
Opium in China, 526 ; in India, 
484 

Opobo, 968 
Oporto, 381, 384 
Oraefajokull, 213 
Qran, 91 1 ; department, 907 
Orange, 253 ; N.S.W., 600 ; basin, 
892 ; Free State, 1005 ; River, 
986, 1004, 1012 ; River Colony, 
1004-6 ; River Sovereignty, 1005 
Oranges in Jamaica, 804 
Oranienbaum, 41 1 
Orbe, river, 258 
Orchids, epiphytic, 93 
Ordnance Survey, 29 
Ordovician Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 

Oregon, 764, 765 ; acquisition of, 
711 

Orellana, 871 
Orenburg, 416 
Oresund, 197 
Orfordness, 182 

Oriental, or Indian region, 87 ; 

province of Ecuador, 833 
Oring-nor, lake, 541 
Orinoco, delta, 813 ; river, 816, 884 
Orissa, 486, 487 
Orizaba, mountain, 775 
Orkney, 155 
Orleans, 251 
Orleansviile, 912 
Ormuz, strait, 425 
Oro province, 833 
Orontes river, 448, 449 
Ortelius, cartographer, n 
Orthographic projection, 221 
Orthography of Geographical 
names, 33 

Ortler mountain, 302 
Oruro, 842 
Osage river, 753 
Osaka, 552 

Oscar, Frederiksborg, 204; Land, 
1044 

Oshima island, 553 
Osnabriick, 289 
Osterdal, 199 
Ostergotland, 204 
Ostersund, 204 

Ostrich, in Africa, 897 ; feathers 
in Cape Colony, 987 
Ostro-Goths, 260 
Otaheite, 656 
Othere, Voyage of, 1025 
Otomi language, 779 
Ottawa, 695 

Ottilia (Ramu) river, 639 
Ottoman, Empire, 340 ; Turks, 
436 

Otway, Cape, 602 

Ouachita Mountains, 753, 759 ; 

ridges, 673 
Oudh, 488 
Ourique, 380 
Ouro Preto, 875 

Ouse, river, 171, 180 ; as boun- 
dary, 162 
Ovalu Island, 653 
Ovampo people, 1013 
Ovens river, 602 
Overysel, 222 
Oviedo, 374, 376 


Ovifak (Uifak), 1041 
Ovis Poli, 403 
Owari, 552 

O-Wassa mountain, 953 
Owen Stanley range. 635 
Owhyhee (Hawaii), 661 
Oxford, 177 
Oxus river, 397, 465 
Oyapok river, 883 
Ozark Plateau, 752, 753 

P ACARAIMA Mountains, 879 
Pacaya, volcano, 783 
Pachitea, 839 

Pacific, Islands, 649 ; Ocean, Cur- 
rents of, 70 ; Ocean, Origin of, 
41 ; Ocean, Position of, 61 ; 
Slope of Siberia, 398 ; Slope of 
United States, 767-771 ; Tides 
of, 65 ; Volcanic Area, 425 
Padang, 566; highlands, 565 
Padre Island, Tex., 754 
Padua, 363 

Pago-pago, island, 654 
Pahang, 515 
Pahoin people, 959 
Paijanne, lake, 392 
Paik-u-san, 543 
Paisley, 159 
Palaearctic region, 87 
Palseocrystic Sea, 1029 
Palaeolithic Ages, 100 
Palaeozoic Formations, Geological 
position of, 51 
Palapye, 1003 
Palatinate, Bavarian, 286 
Palatines, 276 
Palawan, island, 559 
Palembang, 566 ; river, 564 
Palenque, 779 
Palermo, 365 

Palm-oil, in Gold Coast, 964 ; in 
Ivory Coast, 957 ; in Niger 
Delta, 968 ; in Nigeria, 970 ; in 
Sierra Leone, 963 
Palma, 377 ; Island, 952 
Palmas, Cape, 959 
Palmer gold-field, 591, 592 
Palmerston, 619 
Palms in Egypt, 922 
Palmyra island, 658 
Palti (Yamdok-tso) lake, 541 
Pamirs, 49, 396, 427, 464, 470, 
540 

Pamlico sound, 718 

Pampa, 820 ; region, South Ame- 

» rica, 815 

Pampas, 89, 852; territory, 856 
Pamplona, 376 
Pan Guajaibon, 794 
Panama, 828 ; isthmus, 824 ; pro- 
vince. 827 
Panaro river, 356 
Panay Island, 558, 559 
Pangani river, 941 
Pangkar islands, 514 
Panie, Mont, 645 
Panikotta, 502 

Panjab, 471, 489 ; climate, 476 
Panjabi language, 479 
Panjim, 502 
Panos (people), 869 
Pantar islet, 572 
Papeete, 657 

Papua (New Guinea), 635; Gulf 
of, 636 

Papuan people, 637 
I Papuans, 104, 644 


Index 


Para, 873 ; temperature and rain- 
fall, 819 

Paraguassu river, 875 
Paraguay, 859-862 ; river, 850, 860 
Parahiba, do Norte, 874 ; river, 
874 

Parallax, definition, 14 
Paramaribo, 882 
Paramillo, 824 
Paramos in Andes, 826 
Parana, 854 ; State, 876 ; river, 
850, 860, 874, 876 
Paranagua, 876 
Paranapanema river, 876 
Paraguana peninsula, 886 
Pardo river, 875 
Pare, mountain, 941 
Paria, lake, 840 
Parima, Point, 834 
Paris, 246, 250 ; longitude of, 31 ; 

Tertiary Basin, 235, 236 
Parit Jawa, 515 
Park, Mungo, Explorer, 900 
Parks in Rocky Mountains, 763 
Parnahyba river, 874 
Parnassus, 345 
Parnkalla language, 584 
Paros, island, 349 
Parramatta, 600 

Parry, Sir Edward, Arctic Voyage, 
1027 

Parsi, people, 479 
Pasir, 568 
Pass, definition, 50 
Passes of the Mississippi, 749 
Pastaza river, 830 
Pasterze glacier, 304 
Pasto, mountain, 824 
Patagonia, 850 ; Pampa Area, 815 
Patagonian, people, 822; platform, 
45 

Patani, State, 509 
Patmos, island, 444 
Patna, 487 
Patos, lake, 877 
Patras, 349 
Patzcuaro, lake, 776 
Pau, 252 
Pauillac, 252 

Paumotu Island Chain, 651, 657 , 
Paute, river, 830 
Pavia, 363 
Pavlovsk, 41 1 

Payer, Lieutenant, 1030 ; Arctic 
Voyage, 1029 
Pays de Caux, 250 
Paysandu, 857, 859 
Payta, 837 
Peace river, 681, 698 
Peak, district of Derbyshire, 168 ; 

of Tenerife (Picode Teyde), 952 
Pearl river, 535 

Peary, Mr. R. E., Arctic explorer, 

1032 

Pechili, 531 
Pechora river, 399 
Pecos river, 759 
Pedro Cays, 805 
Pedrotalagalla, 504 
Peel, 186; river, 600 
Pegnitz river, 286 
Pegu, 496 

Pei-ho (Southern) river, 531, 535 
Peipus, 128 ; Lake, 393 
Pekan, 515 

Peking, 531 : climate, 526 
Pelagic, definition, 90 ; deposits, 
64 ; fauna, origin of, 95 


Pelasgians, 107 
Pelee, Mont, 809 
Peleponnesus, 348 
Pelew islands, 655 
Peloritanian mountains, 358 
Pelvoux, Mont, 237 
Pemba Island, 939 
Pembroke, 164 
Penang, 513 

Penck, Prof. A , 48 ; Austria, 302 ; 
Austria-Hungary, 298 Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, 324 
Pendactylon mountain, 445 
Peneplain, definition, 58, 59 
Peniche peninsula, 379 
Peninsula, Cape, 985 
Pennine Alps, 258 ; Chain, 163, 
168 

Pennsylvania, 718, 727, 733 
Penobscot river, 723 
Pentapolis, 917 

Pentland Firth, 155 ; Hills, 157 

Penrhyn island, 658 

Penzance, 167 

Pepper in Sumatra, 566 

Pera, 342 

Peradeniya, 506 

Perak, 514 

Perdu, Mont, 371 

Perihelion, 72 

Peripli = Compass Charts, 26 
Perim island, 452, 455 
Perm, 414 

Permian Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Pernambuco, 874 
Persia, 457-463 ; Telegraph map, 
462 

Persian Gulf, Origin of, 41 
Perth, 157 ; county, 156, 157 ; 
W.A., 625 ; W.A., Temperature 
and Rainfall, 580 
Peru, 834-840 ; railways, map, 
837 

Perugia, 364 
Pescadores islands, 553 
Peschel, Otto, geographer, 12 
Peshawar, 467, 490 
Pest, 321 

Pet, Arctic Voyage, 1025 
Peten, lake, 785 ; plain, 783, 786 
Peter Botte mountain, 1021 
Peter’s Island, 807 
Peterborough, 178 
Peterhead, 156 
Peterhof, 411 

Petermann, Land, 1044 ; Peak, 
1040 

Petherick, Edward A. — New South 
Wales, 593; South Australia, 
614 ; Victoria, 602 
Petit Codiac river, 689 
Petriu, 508 
Petrokow, 405 

Petroleum in Caucasus, 416 ; in 
Pennsylvania, 733 
Petropolis, 875 
Peulh people, 956 
Peunong tribe, 518 
Pevensey, 181 
Pezo da Regua, 381 
Pfeil, Graf von — German East 
Africa, 940 ; German New 
Guinea, 639 ; German South- 
West Africa, 1012 ; German 
West Africa, 972 ; Kiau-chou, 
538 ; Marshall Islands, 654 
Phanar, 342 


1077 


Philadelphia, Pa., 715, 720, 730; 

Anatolia, 443 
Philippeville, 912 
Philippine islands, 558-559 
Philippopolis, 339 
Philippson, Dr. A. — Danubian and 
Balkan States, 327-351 
Phillip, Governor, 597 
Phipps, Arctic voyage, 1027 
Phlegraean fields, 357 
Phoenician colonies, 118, 917 
Phosphate in Algeria, 908 ; in 
Florida, 747 ; in Redonda, 807 
Phu-lang-thuong, 520 
Physical Geography, definition, 
3 

Physiography, definition, 2 
Phyto-Geographical regions, 88 
Piacenza, 363 
Piauhi, 874 

Pichincha, mountain, 830; pro- 
vince, 833 

Pico de Penalara, 369 ; de Teyde, 
952 ; de Vara Mountain, 384 ; 
del Turguino, 794 ; Island, 384 ; 
Mountain, 384 ; Ruivo, 384 
Picos de Europa (Torre de Cer- 
redo), 371 

Pictou Harbour, 686 
Piets, people, 144, 153 
Piedmont, 355, 363 
Pietermaritzburg, 994 
Pilatus, mountain, 258 
Pilcomayo river, 841, 850 
Pile-dwellings, Lacustrine, ioi 
P illars of Hercules, 378 
Pillau, 294 
Pilot Knob, Mo., 753 
Pilsen, 308 

Pinar del Rio, 797 ; province, 795 
Pindus, district, 348 ; range, 345 
Pine-apples, in Cuba, 797 
Pine, Creek, 619 ; forests of Gulf 
States, 745; ridges, 786 
Pinega river, 399 

Pines, Isle of, Cuba, 794 ; New 
Caledonia, 644 

Pinzon, Vicente Janez, Dis- 
coverer, 870 
Piraeus, 348 
Piranhas river, 874 
Pisa, 361, 364 
Pisco, 838 

Pitcairn island, 659 
Pitch lake, Trinidad, 81 1 
Piton, de la Fournaise, 1024 ; de 
la Rivi&re Noire, 1021 ; des 
Neiges, 1024 
Pitons, mountains, 809 
Pitt river, 767 
Pittsburg, Pa., 734 
Piura, 837 
Piz Kesch, 259 
Pizarro in Peru, 836 
Placentia Bay, 705 
Plains, Kinds of, 49 
Plankton, definition, 90 
Plans, 28 

Plants and Animals, Distribution 
of, 83 

Plateau, definition, 49 
Plate river, 857 
Platte river, 758, 759 
Platten lake, 318 
Playa, 800 

Playas, definition, 766 
Playfair, Sir R. Lambert — Aden, 
454 ; Algeria, 906 ; Cyprus, 445 ; 


1 07 8 The International Geography 


Gibraltar, 378-379 ; Malta, 366, 
367 ; Marocco, 904 ; Perim, 455 
Plaza Almanzor mountain, 369 
Pleffer on Shore fauna, 91 
Pleisse river, 291 

Pleistocene Formation, Geolo- 
gical position of, 51 
Plenty, Bay of, 627 
Plevna. 339 

Pliocene Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Ploesci, 329 
Plutonic rocks, 52 
Plymouth, 167 ; Mass., 722, 726 ; 
Montserrat, 808 

Po, River, 355, 363; Valley of, 

125 

Podgoritza, 337 
Podolian plateau, 311, 312 
Poik river, 303 
Poitiers, 252 
Poitou, Strait of, 235 
Pokomo people, 933 
Pola, 315 

Poland, 276, 300, 313, 412 ; History 
of, 136 

Polar Eddy, Atmospheric, 81 
Polar Regions, The, 1025-1052 ; 

Regions, Climates of, 81 
Polarity, 3 

Polders, definition, 217 ; at Am- 
sterdam, 222 

Poles of Earth, definition, 15 
Poles, people, 312 ; in Germany, 
276 

Political Geography, 109-121 ; 

definition, 5 
Polino, Monte, 357 
Polynesia, Origin of, 41; Southern, 
656 

Pomaks, 343 
Pomarao, 381 
Pomaria, 912 
Pomerania, 294 
Pomeroon river, 879 
Pomona island, 155 
Pompeii, 365 

Pomponius Mela, Map of, 8 
Ponapi Island, 655 
Ponce, 800 ; de Leon, 798 
Pondicherry, 503 
Pondo people, 990 
Pondoland, 992 

Pongo de Manseriche,835; people, 

959 

Ponta Delgada, 384 
Pontevedra, 376 
Pontianak, 568 
Pontic Coast range, 439 
Ponupo, 797 
Ponza, island, 353 
Poona, 492 
Poopo lake, 840 
Popocatepetl, mountain, 775 
Population, maps, 34 ; of Asia, 
435 ; of the World, 108 
Porta Westfalica, 289 
Portas do Rodam, 381 
Port, Adelaide, 619 ; Albert, 602 ; 
Antonio, 804 ; Arthur, 409, 419, 
539 ; -au-Prince, 802 ; Augusta, 
S.A., 614, 619 ; aux Basques, 707 ; 
Blair, 500 ; Chalmers, 628; Curtis, 
588 ; 592 ; Darwin, 619; Darwin, 
(Falkland), 864 -.Darwin, tempera- 
ture and rainfall, 580 ; Dickson, 
515 ; Elizabeth, 985, 991, 992 ; 
Essington, 619 ; Fairy, 609 ; 


Jackson, 599 ; Lincoln, S.A., 614, 
619 ; Louis, Mauritius, 1022 ; 
Melbourne, 608 ; Moresby, 636, 
638 ; Natal, 995 ; Nicholson, 
627 ; of Spain, 812 ; Phillip, 585, 

602 ; Phillip, map, 608 ; Pirie, 
619 ; Royal, 804 ; Said, 927 ; 
Simpson, 697 ; Victoria, Sey- 
chelles, 1023 ; Weld, 514 

Portage la Prairie, 696 " 

Portages, 690 

Portland, 177 ; Bay, 605 ; District, 

603 ; Me., 723 ; Ore., 769 ; Vic- 
toria, 609 

Porto, Alegre, 877 ; Grande, 980 ; 

Rico, 798-801 ; Santo Island, 384 
Portrush, 193 

Portsmouth, 181 ; Dominica, 807 ; 
N.H., 723 

Portugal, 379-385 ; Origin of, 135 
Portuguesa river, 885 
Portuguese, Colonies, Statistics, 
385 ; East Africa, 944-946 ; 
Guinea, 980-981 ; India, 502- 
503 ; Timor, 573 ; West Africa, 
979-984 ; in Africa, 900 ; in 
East Africa, 937 
Posen, 292, 293 

Position, Determination of, 18 
Post-Tertiary = Quaternary, 51 
Potatoes in Germany, 280 
Poti, 416 

Potomac river, 718, 729 
Potosi mines, 820, 842 
Potteries, The, 175 
Poty river, 874 
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 736 
Powell in Antarctic, 1048 
Poyang Lake, 524. 53°, 533 
Pozsony (Pressburg), 322 ; basin, 
316 

Pozzuoli, 364 
Pra river, 963 
Praga, Poland, 412 
Prague (Prag, Praha), 308 
Praia, 980 

Prairie, as a misnomer, 757 ; 
Steppe, 695 

Prairies, 89, 673 ; and population, 
737 ; and trees, 739 
Praslin island, 1023 
Prayag, 488 
Prealpi, 126 
Precipitation, 76 
Pregel river, 294 
Prehistoric Age, 101 
Presidios, 377 
Pressburg, 322 
Preston, 173 
Pretoria, ion 
Pribilof Islands, 770 
Prince, Charles Foreland, 1044 : 
Edward Island, 687 ; of Wales’ 
Island, 513 ; Rupert's Town, 
807 

Princes island, 981 

Princess Royal Harbour, 620, 625 

Princeton, mountain, 760 

Principe (Princes) island, 981 

Pripet river, 313, 390 

Prisrend, 343 

Progreso, 781 

Projection for maps, 20-23 
Propontis, 330 
Provence, 239 
Providence, R I., 723, 726 
Province, of South Australia, 614 ; 
Wellesley, 513 


Provincetown, Mass., 726 
Provincial Districts in New Zea- 
land, 634 
Prusa, 444 
Prussia, 278, 293 
Prussians, 275 
Pruth nver, 313, 327, 329 
Przemysl, 313 

Przhevalski, Col., explorer, 540 
Przibram, 307 
Pskov, Lake, 393 
Ptolemais, 916 

Ptolemy, 26, 584 ; Editions of, n ; 

Maps of, 9 
Puerh tea, 535 

Puerto, Barrios, 788 ; Cabello, 887 ; 
Colombia, 828 ; Cortez, 788 ; 
Limon, 788 ; Montt, 848 ; Plata, 
802 ; Prado, 839 ; Princessa, 
559 ; Principe Province, 795 ; 
Real de Cabo Rojo, 800 ; Villa- 
mizar, 886 
Puget sound, 768 
Pulkova, Longitude of, 31 
Pulkovo, 41 1 
Pulo Pertja, 565 
Pulque, 778 
Puma in Chile, 845 
Puna, definition, 834 ; island, 831 ; 
region, 821 

Pungwe river, 945, 998, 1002 
Punjab, see Panjab 
Puno, 836, 839 

Punta, Arenas, Chile, 848 ; Arenas 
(Costa Rica), 788 ; Gallinas, 813 ; 
Parina, 813 

Purace, mountain 825 
Purari river, 636 
Pygmies in East Africa, 934 
Pyramids of Ghizeh, 924 
Pyramus river, 440 
Pyrenean-Cantabrian mountains, 
369 ; Region of France, 235 
Pyrenees, 235, 237, 371 ; Relative 
extent of, 396 ; ranges, Brazil, 
874 ; Victoria, 602 
Pytheas, 143 ; explorations, 8 ; 
Voyage of, 1025 


Q UANG-TRI (Kwang-tri) 517 
Quarnero, Gulf, 323 
Quartzite, 52 

Quaternary Formations, Geolo- 
gical position of, 51 
Quathlamba mountains, 1007 
Quebec, city, 692 ; province, 689- 
692 

Quechuan people, 107 
Queen, Charlotte sound, 697 ; Vic- 
toria desert, 622 
Queen's channel, 614 
Queenborough, 152 
Queensclifi, 609 
Queensland, 587 
Queenstown, 194 
Queguay river, 857 
Quelimane branch, 945 
Quelpart, 543 
Queretaro, 780 
Quetta, 466, 499 
Quetzal, 786 
Quezaltenango, 785, 789 
Quezaltepeque, volcano, 784 
Quiche, 787 

Quichua, in Bolivia, 841 ; language 
in Ecuador, 832 ; language in 
Peru, 836 ; people, 822 


Index 


1079 


Quincy, 111., 744 
Quindiu pass, 826 
Quirinal, The, 364 
■Quito, 833 ; basin, 830 ; tempera- 
ture and rainfall, 819 

R abat, 905 

Rabba, 972 

Rabbit-proof fences of New South 
Wales, map, 595 
JRabcza river, 316 
Races of mankind, 102 ; in Africa, 
map, 897 ; of the world, 108 
Radak, atolls, 654 
Rae, Dr. John, Arctic Exploration, 
1028 

Rafai, 959 
Raffles Bay, 619 

Raffles, Sir Stamford and Singa- 
pore, 512 
Ragatz, 263 
Ragged Island, 803 
Railways in Africa, map, 902 ; 
in Argentina, map, 853 ; of 
Australia, map, 585 ; of Belgium, 
map, 227 ; of Britain, map, 185 ; 
of China, 531 ; of Cuba, map, 
797 ; of Europe, 137 ; of France, 
246, 247 ; of India, map, 485 ; of 
New Zealand, map, 633 ; of 
North America, map, 677 ; of 
Peru, map, 837 ; on the Prairies, 
738 ; of Victoria, 609 
Rainfall, 76 ; Influence of Moun- 
tains on, 785 ; of Africa, 894 ; 
map of Australia, 580 ; of 
Europe, map, 130 ; of India, 
maps, 475 ; of South America, 
818 

Rainier, Mount, 767 
Raipur, 493 

Raised-beaches, 39 ; Scotland, 153 

Rajputana, 496 

Rakan river, 564 

Raleigh, N.C., site, 720 

Ralik, atolls, 654 

Ralum, 641 

Rameswaram islands, 504 
Ramsay, 186 
Ramsgate, 181 
Ramu river, 639 
Ranau, 566 ; lake, 564 
Rand, Transvaal, map, 1009 
Rangoon, 496 
Rannoch, Loch, 156 
Rapa Nui island, 659 
Raratonga islands, 656 
Ras el-Hadd, 452 
Ras Kasar, 935 
Ratisbon, 285 

Raveneau, Prof. L. — General Geo- 
graphy of France, 239-255 
Ravenna, 363 

Ravenstein, E. G. — Maps and Map 
Reading, 26 

Ravenswood gold-field, 592 
Ravi river, 490 
Rawalpindi, 490 

Rawlinson mountains, New Gui- 
nea, 639 

Razorback, Mount, 614 
Reaction Currents, 67 
Reading, 179 
Rebmann, Explorer, 900 
Recent Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Recife, 875 
Reclus, Elisee, 12 


Red, Basin of China, 522, 532, 534 ; 
Clay, 65 ; River of the North, 
696, 750 , River Rafts, 754 ; 
River Settlement, 696 ; River 
of Tongking, 516 ; Sea, circula- 
tion of, 64, 66 ; Sea Hills, 929 
Redjang river, 567 
Redon, 251 
Rednitz river, 285 
Redonda island, 807 
Re-entrant = incurve of the coast, 
668 

Reeves, H on. W. P. — New Zea- 
land, 627 

Regel, Dr. F ritz, Colombia, 824 

Regensburg (Ratisbon), 285 

Regina, 702 

Reichenberg, 308 

Reims, 245, 249 

Reindeer in Ar ctic, 1039 

Reka river, 303 

Relict mountai ns, 55 

Relief maps, 34 

Religion in Germany, 278 

Religions of Asia, 437 ; of Switze. 

land, map, 261 
Reloncavi, Gulf, 848 
Remscheid, 288 
Renfrew, 159 
Renmark, 618 
Rennell island, 648 
Rennes, 251 
Reno, river, 356 

Republica, May or de Centroame- 
rica, 787 ; Orie ntaldel Uruguay, 
856 

Reservoir on the Nile, 922 
Rethymnon, 350 
Reunion, 1024 
Reuss, 290 ; river, 258 
Rewah, 497 
Reykjavik, 215 
Rhat, 918 

Rhaetic Formation, geological 
position of, 51 
Rheingau, 287 

Rhine, Highlands, 268, 287 ; Pro- 
vince, 294 ; river, 216, 257, 270, 
285; valley of, 125 
Rhodanian depression, 236 
Rhode Island, 723 
Rhodes, island, 444 
Rhodesia, 997 

Rhodope, 338 ; mountains, 332, 340 
Rhon mountain, 288 
Rhondda valley, 165 
Rhone, river, 245, 258 ; valley, 57, 
125 

Ria, definition, 50 
Riam-Kina river, 568 
Ribble, river, 173 ; valley, 168 
Rice, in India, 484 ; in Indo-China, 
518 ; in Siam, 510 
Richardson, Dr., Explorer, 901 ; 

Sir John, Arctic voyage, 1028 
Richmond, Va., site, 720 
Rideau Canal, 695 
Riesengebirge (Giant’s Mount- 
ains), 267, 292 

Rift-valleys, 53 ; of East Africa, 
map, 930 
Riga, 409, 41 1 
Righi, mountain, 258 
Rikuchu, 547 
Rikuzen, 547, 553 
Rilodagh mountain, 332, 338 
Rimac river, 838 

Rimini, 364 | 


Rinjani mountain, 572 
Rio, Chico, 887 ; Chixoy, 783 ; del 
Rey, 974 ; Grande, 754, 762, 774, 
776, 841 ; Grande do Norte, State. 
874 ; Grande do Sul, 877 ; Negro, 
816, 850, 857, 884 ; Negro terri- 
tory, 856 ; Patia, 824 ; Tinto, 
374 ; Tocuyo, 886 ; de Janeiro, 
871, 875, 876; de Janeiro, 
longitude of, 31 ; de Janeiro, 
rainfall and temperature, 868 ; 
de Oro, 953 ; de la Pasion, 785 ; 
de la Plata Countries, 849-862 ; 
de las Balsas (Mescala), 776 
Riobamba, 830, 833 
Rion river, 395 
Riow islands, 565, 566 
Risdon, 612 
Ritter, Karl, 12 
Riva, 306 

Rivas (Nicaragua), 783 
River, Capture, 55, 59 ; Terraces, 
55. 56 ; Work— Constructive, 56 ; 
Work — Destructive, 55 
Rivers, and Boundaries, 112; and 
Canals of France, 245 ; Classifi- 
cation of, 58 ; of North German 
Plain (map), 271 ; use of, in 
Riverina district, 594 
[ Rivieres du Sud, 957 
Road Town, 807 

Roads, in Algeria, 91 1 ; in China, 
531 ; Roman, 133 
Roanne, 245 

Roaring forties in New Zealand, 
630 

Roatan island, 784 
Robertson, Sir G. S. — Afghanistan, 
464 

Roblet, Pere D., 1015 
Roca, Cape da, 379 
Rochdale, 173 
Rochefort, 252 
Rochester, N.Y., 736 
Rockhampton, 592 
Rockport, Mass., 722 
Rocks, Order of the, 51 ; Sedi- 
mentary, 51; and Weathering, 51 
Rocky Mountains, 671, 697, 760- 
767 

Rode Bay, 808 
Rodriguez, 1023 

Rodway, J. — Colonies of Guiana, 
878 ; Haiti and Santo Domingo, 
801 ; West Indian Colonies, 
803 ; West Indies, 791 
Roebuck Bay, 625 
Rofia fibre, 1019 
Rogachev, 390 
Rokel river, 962 
Rollers, 67 
Roman Roads, 133 
Romans in Britain, 144 ; in Eu- 
rope, 133 ; in Spain, 372 
Romanshorn, 263 
Rome, 364; Influence of, 133; 

longitude of, 31 
Romerbad, 306 
Romney Marsh, 181 
Ronne, 21 1 
Roon, 644 
Roper river, 615 
Roraima, mountain, 879, 884 
Roros, 205 

Rosa, Monte, 126, 258 
Roseau, 807 

Roses in Bulgaria, 339 ; in Euro- 
pean Turkey, 341 


1080 The International Geography 


Rosetta mouth, 921 
Ross and Cromarty, 155 
Ross, Sir James Clark, 60 ; Arctic 
voyage, 1028; Sir James Clark, 
in Antarctic, 1048 
Ross, Sir John, Arctic voyage, 1027 
Rossland, B.C., 116, 700 
Rostov, 416 

Rotation, 14 ; of Earth, Effects of, 
56, 68, 72, 76, 78 
Rotoava, 657 
Rotterdam, 223 
Rotti, 572 

Rotuma island, 652 
Roubaix, 249 
Rouen, 245, 250 
Rovuma river, 941 
Roxburgh, county, 160 
Roy, General, 29 

Royal Geographical Society, Rules 
for Orthography, 33 
Royal Niger Company, 969 
Royat, 252 

Rubies in Burma, 474 
Ruapehu mountain, 628 
Rudersdorf, 269 
Rudolf, Lake, 931 
Rudolstadt, 290 
Ruelle, 245 
Ruenya river, 998 
Rufiji river, 892 
Rufiji-Ruaha river, 941 
Rufisque, 956 
Riigen, 275, 269 

Ruhr, Coal-field, 288 ; valley, 282 

Ruiz mountain, 825 

Rukwa (Rikwa) Lake, 942, 947 

Rum Cay, 803 

Rum in Jamaica, 804 

Rumania, 327-330 

Rumanians, 320 

Rumbi mountains, 965 

Rupel, river, 225 

Rushchuk, 339 

Russia, Lake region of, 388 ; 
Density of population, map, 
404 ; Railway map, 419 
Russian, Empire, 386-421; Climate 
of, 401 ; Map of Resources, 406 ; 
Plain, 388 
Russell island, 648 
Ruthenians, 312, 313 
Rutherglen, Victoria, 609 
Ruwenzori mountain, 891, 931 
Rye, seaport, 181 

S AALE river, 290 
Saba island, 806 

Sabaeans, 447, 453 ; in South 
Africa, 1001 
Sabaki river, 931 
Sabanilla, 828 
Sabi river, 998 
Sable Island, 686 
Sabrata (Zuara), 917 
Saco, Me., 725 ; river, 725 
Sacramento, 768 ; river, 767 
Sacsahuaman, hill, 839 
Sado river, 380, 381 
Safed Koh, mountains, 466 
Safi, 905 

Safid-rud river, 458 
Safra, 453 

Sage brush, 764, 766 
Sagua, 798 ; la Grande, 797 
Sahara, 953 ; climate, 894 ; in 
Algeria, 907 ; in Tunisia, 913 
Saharan Oases, 90c 


Sahel in Tunisia, 913 
Sahyadri (Ghats), 471 
Saigon, 520 
Saihut, 455 
Saikyo, 552 
Saima. Lake, 392 

St., Andrews, 158 ; Anthony, 743 ; 
Antony, Cape Verdes, 979; 
Benoit, 1024; Christopher’s Is- 
land, 807, 808 ; Clair, Lake, 
Tasmania, 61 1 ; Canzian, caves, 
303; Catherine, Mount, 810; 
Croix island, 805; Denis, 250; 
Denis, Reunion, 1024 ; Elias 
Alps, 671 ; Elias, Mount, 672, 
681, 770; Etienne, 245, 253; 
Eustatius island, 806 ; Francois 
Mountains, 753; Gall, Canton, 
263 ; George, mouth of Danube, 
328; Georges, Grenada, 810; 
Gilles, 228; Gothard mountains, 
258; Gothard Pass, 127; Go- 
thard railway (map), 262 ; 
Helena Island, 1013; Helena 
(map), 1014 ; Helena, Moreton 
Bay, 592 ; Helens, 173 ; Helens, 
Mount, 767; John, N.B., 689; 
John island, 805 ; John river, 
688, 689; John's, Antigua, 807; 
John’s, Newfoundland, 707 ; 
Josse - ten - Noode, 228 ; Kitt’s 
Island, 807, 808 ; Lawrence, 
Gulf of, 679; Lawrence Plain, 
in Ontario, 693; Lawrence 
Plain, in Quebec, 690 ; Law- 
rence river, 681, 689, 728 ; 

Lawrence river navigation, 684 ; 
Lawrence river system, 665 ; 
Lazarus Islands, 558 ; Leon- 
ards, 181 ; Louis-Dakar rail- 
way map, 956 ; Louis, French 
Guiana, 883 ; Louis, Miss., 749 ; 
Louis, Senegal, 957; Louis, Miss., 
site, map, 751; Lucia, 809; 
Malo, 251 ; Martin’s island, 806; 
Mary’s Bay, 705 ; Moritz, 263 ; 
Nazaire, 251 ; Ouen, 250 ; Paul 
islet, 1024 ; Paul, Liberia, 959; 
Paul, Minn., 743 ; Petersburg, 
410 ; Pierre, 708, 809 ; Pierre- 
les-Calais, 249 ; Pierre and 
Miquelon, 707-708 ; Pierre, 
Reunion, 1024; Quentin, 249; 
Thomas, Island, 805; Thomas 
Island, West Africa, 981 ; Vin- 
cent, Cape, 380 ; Vincent, Cape 
Verdes, 979 ; Vincent Gulf, 614; 
Vincent, W.I., 810 
Ste. Croix, 264 
Saisi river, 947 
Sajama mountain, 840 
Sakai, people, 510, 512 
Sakalava people, 1018 
Sakaria (Sangarius) river, 440 
Sakhalin, island, 399 
Sakkar, 491 
Sal island, 979 
Sal (timber) in India, 476 
Sala, 203 
Salaga, 964 
Salama, rainfall, 785 
Salamanca, 376 
Salaier island, 569 
Salaverry, 837 
Salawati, 644 
Salazie, 1024 
Saldanha bay, 985 
Sale, Victoria, 609 


Salem, 495 ; Mass., 722, 725 
Salerno, 359, 365 
Salford, 172 
Salgir, river, 394 

Salisbury, 179 ; Plain, 179 ; 

Rhodesia, 1002 
Salish people, 684 
Salinity, and Circulation, 67 ; of 
Oceans, 63 
Sallee (S’la), 905 

Salmon in British Columbia, 699 
Salonica, 343 

Salt, in Bahama, 803 ; in Cuba, 
797 ; in Eritrea, 935 ; in Ger- 
many, 282; in India, 474 
Salt Cay, 805 ; Island, 807 ; Lake 
City, 767 ; Lakes, origin of, 63 ; 
lakes, position, 49 ; Lakes of 
Tunisia, 914 ; range, Panjab, 
472 

Salta, 855 
Salto, 857, 858, 859 
Saltwater river, 608 
Salvador, 789 ; physical geog- 
raphy, 783 ; seaports, 788 
Salzach river, 303, 305 
Salzburg, 305 ; duchy, 304 ; val- 
ley, 306 

Salzkammergut, 306 
Samang, people, 510, 512 
Samar, 559 
Samara, 390, 418 
Samarai, 636, 638 
Samarang, 563 
Samaria, 449 

Samarcand, 409, 417 ; province, 

395 

Samoa, 653 
Samos island, 444 
Samoyeds, 403 
Samsun (Amisus), 443 
San river, 391 

San, Bias, 781 ; Bias mountains, 
824 ; Cristobal, 886 ; Christoval 
island, 648 ; Diego, Cal., 768 ; 
Domingo, 381, 802 ; Fernando, 
812 ; Fernando de Apure, 885 ; 
Francisco, Cal., 675, 715. 768, 
769 ; Francisco mountain, 763 ; 
German, 800 ; Jose (Guate- 
mala), 788 ; Jose (Uruguay), 
859 ; Jose river, 857 ; Jose 
de Costa Rica, 789 ; Juan, 
Argentina, 855 ; Juan, Porto 
Rico, 800 ; Juan, Rio, 824 ; Juan 
river, 784, 785, 850 ; Juan del 
Norte (Greytown), 788 ; Juan 
del Sur, 788 ; Luis, 855 ; Luis 
de Apra, 656 ; Luis Valley, 762 ; 
Miguel, 789 ; Miguel de Piura, 
837 ; Miguel volcano, 784 ; 
Pablo lake, 830 ; Salvador, 783, 
789 ; Sebastian, 376 ; Vicente, 
789 

Sanaa, 454 

Sand, dunes, 57 ; in Central Asfa, 
431, 540 ; in Africa, 895 ; hills 
in Nebraska, 758 
Sandakan, 560 
Sanderson’s Hope, 1026 
Sandhurst, 608 
Sandstones, 52 

Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), 660 
Sangai mountain, 830 
Sangarius river, 440 
Sanghir islands, 569 
Sangke river, 509 
Sannaga river, 974 


Index 


1081 


Sannikoff land, 1046 
Sanpu river, 471 

Santa, Ana, 789 ; Ana, volcano, 
784 ; Catharina, 876 ; Clara, 
province, 795 ; Cruz, 647 ; Cruz, 
Tenerife, 952 ; Cruz de la Sierra, 
842 ; Cruz de Mar Pequena, 
953 ; Cruz Island, 806 ; Cruz 
river, 850 ; Cruz territory, 856 ; 
Fe, 854 ; Isabel, 953 ; Isabel 
mountain, 825, 953 ; -Lucia hill, 
847 ; Lucia river, 857 ; Luzia 
Island, 979; Maria, island, 384 ; 
Martha mountains, Brazil, 874 ; 
river, 835 ; Rosa, 859 
Santander, 376, 827, 828 
Santani Lake, 643 
Santarem, 873 

Santiago (Argentina), 855 ; pro- 
vince, 795 ; river, 776 ; Cape 
Verdes, 979 ; de Chile, 847 ; 
de Chile, longitude of, 31 ; de 
Cuba, 796,798 ; de Cuba, climate, 
795 ; del Estero, 855 ; de Com- 
postela, 376 

Santo Antao (St, Antony), 979 ; 
Antonio, 981 ; Domingo, re- 
public, 802 
Santorin (map), 349 
Santos, 876 
Sanyati river, 999 
Sauerland, 287 
Saugor, 493 

Sao, Francisco river, 866, 875 ; 
Luiz, 874 ; Marcos Bay, 874 ; 
Nicolao island, 979 ; Paulo, 870, 
876 ; Paulo de Loanda, 984 ; 
Roque, Cape, 874 ; Salvador da 
Bahia, 875 ; Salvador do Congo, 
983 ; Thiago (Santiago) Island, 
979 ; Thome (St. Thomas) island, 
981 ; Vicente, 870 ; Vicente, Cape 
(Cape St. Vicente), 380 ; Vicente 
(St. Vincent), 979 
Saone river, 236 ; and Rhone, 
valley of, 125 
Saparua island, 571 
Sapper, Dr.Carl — Central America, 
782 

Sapote forests of Yucatan, 778 
Saracens and the Crusades, 134 ; 

in Africa, 900 
Sarajevo, 324 
Saramacca river, 882 
Saratov, 414 
Sarawak, 560 
Sardinia, 358, 364 
Sarjektjokko, mountain, 198 
Sarrakole people, 956 
Sarstoon river, 789 
Sarus river, 440 

Saskatchewan, 702 ; district, 701 ; 
-Nelson river, 681 ; river, 701 ; 
river navigation, 685 
Sassak people, 572 
Sassandra river, 957 
Sassari, 365 
Sassnitz, 203 
Sasuto language, 1003 
Satlaj river, 471 
Satpura range, 471 
Sault St. Marie, 692, 735 
Saxon Switzerland, 291, 307 
Saxons, 144 ; in Germany, 276 ; in 
Holland, 220 

Saxony, kingdom, 291 ; province, 
290, 294 

Savannas, 89 ; in Angola, 983 ; in 


Africa, 896 ; in Asia, 433 ; in 
Brazil, 820, 868, 874 ; in Central 
America, 786 ; in Colombia, 825 ; 
of Venezuela, 884 
Savannah, Ga., site, 720 
Save river, 303, 945 
Savoy, 241 
Savu islet, 572 
Sawatch mountains, 760 
Sayan mountains, 398, 400 
Sbeitla (Suffetula), 915 
Scafell Pike, 163 

Scandinavia, 197-21 1 ; Geology of, 
128 ; highland region of, 124 
Scandinavian peninsula, 197-202 
Scandinavians, 108 
Scania, 203, 204 
Scarboro’ Heights, Ont., 695 
Scarborough, 177 ; Tobago, 812 
Scarp, definition 49 
Scenery, dependent on nature of 
rocks, 52 
Schaerbeek, 228 
Schaffhausen, Canton, 263 
Schaumburg-Lippe, principality, 
289 

Schelde river, 224, 229 
Schenectady, N.Y., 736 
Schiedam, 223 
Schist, 51 

Schlesien, Germany, 292 ; Austria, 
308 

Schleswig, 294 ; duchy, 209 
Schneekoppe, 267, 306 
Schollengebirge = crust - block 
mountains, 53 
Schollenland, definition, 268 
Schuylkill, 730 

Schwarzburg- Rudolstadt, 290; 

-Sondershausen, 290 
Schweinfurth, Explorer, 901 
Schweiz (Switzerland), 256 
Schwerin, 293 

Schwyz, Alps of, 258 ; canton, 
263 

Scilly islands, 167 
Scirocco wind, 314 
Sclater, Dr. P. L., Zoological 
regions, 87 

Scoresby, expl., 1027 ; Fjord, 1041 
Scotia, ship, 1048 

Scotland, 152-161 ; Earliest people 
of, 101 ; raised beaches in, 39, 153 
Scots, 153 ; of Ireland, 190 
Scott, Capt. R. F., explorer, 1048 
Scottish Coal-fields, 150 ; High- 
lands, rainfall of, 142 
Scratchley, Mount, 635 
Scree, definition, 57 
Scugog, Lake, 694 
Scutari, 342, 343 ; Lake, 337 
Scythians, 479 

Sea, Island cotton, 720 ; -level, 46 ; 
-level, changes in, 39 ; -level, un- 
certainty of, 39 ; -lochs, defini- 
tion, 50 ; Mountains (Serras do 
Mar) of Brazil. 866 ; -water, 63 
Seaports of United Kingdom, 150 
Seasons, 72 ; cause of, 23 
Seattle, 769 
Sebang-hien, 517 
Sebastea, 444 
Sebbe, 973 
Sebekar bay, 642 
Sebele’s Country, 1003 
Sechuana language, 1003 
Sechwan, 525, 534 


Sedan, 245 
Sedeir district, 456 
Sedimentary rocks, 51 
Sediments, 51 
Seeland, 210 
Segovia, 376, 784 
Segre river, 370 
Seihun, river, 397 
Seine river, 235, 246, 25c 
Seistan swamps, 466 
Sekar, 644 
Selangor, 514 
Selaru island, 573 
Sele, river, 356 
Selenga river, 400 
Seliger, lake, 390 
Selizharovka river, 390 
Seljuk Turks, 441 
Selkirk, county, 160 ; Mountains* 
B.C., 671, 698 

Selous, F. C. — Southern Rhodesia 
and Bechuanaland, 997 
Selvagens, island, 384 
Selvas, 820 ; in Brazil, 868 ; io 
Colombia, 825 ; Venezuela, 885 
Semeni river, 333 
Semien mountain, 934 
Semites, 107 ; in Africa, 897 
Semmering Pass, 305 
Sendai, 553 ; Bay of, 547. 

Senegal, 956 ; river, 892, 955 
Senegambia, 958 
Senga people, 945 
Senne, river, 228 
Senussi Arabs, 916, 928 
Sentis mountains, 258 
Seoul, 544 
Septimer pass, 127 
Seraing, 229 
Serang island, 570 
Serchio river, 356 
Seremban, 514 
Serere, people, 956 
Seres, 343 
Sereth. river, 327 
Sergipe, 875 
Seri tribe, 779 
Seringapatam, 498 
Serra, Central of Brazil, 866 ; 
Geral, 866 ; Morumbala, 945 ; 
d’Urbion, 380 ; da Arrabida, 
380 ; da Estrella, 381 ; da 
Gorongoza, 945 ; da Gral- 
heira, 379 ; de Cintra, 379 ; de 
Grandola 380 ; do Mar, 866, 
875. 876 
Serrano, 570 
Serras do Bouro, 379 
Sert, Gulf of, 916 
Servia, 335-337 
Servians, 334 
Serwatty islands, 573 
Setif, 912 

Sete Quedas falls, 860 
Seto, 553 
Setubal, 381, 384 

Sevastopol, 409, 416 ; rainfall and 
temperature of, 401 
Seven Islands, 1044 
Sever river, 381 

Severn tunnel, 166 ; valley, 165 

Sevenoaks, 130 

Seville, 376 

Sevres, 245, 250 

Sextant, n, 16 

Seybus river, 908 

Seychelles, 1023 ; structure of, 41 
Seymour Narrow's, 697 


io8 2 


The International Geography 


Sfax, 915 

s’ Gravenhage, 223 
Shackerley Mountains, 807 
Shahi lake (Urumiya), 463 
Shahjehanpur, 489 
Shale, 52 

Shamo, desert, 539 
Shan States, 518 
Shanghai, 531, 533 
Shanhaikwan, 531 
Shannon, river, 189 
Shansi, 525, 532 
Shantung, 532, 538 
Shari river, 892, 974 
Shark Bay, 578 
Shashi river, 998 
Shasi, 534 
Shasta, Mount, 768 
Shatt-el-Arab, river, 447 
Sheep in Algeria, 910 ; in Argen- 
tina, 853 ; in Australia, 586 ; 
in the Falklands, 863 ; in Trans- 
vaal, 1008 

Sheet-flood, definition, 766 
Sheffield, 170 
Shelif river, 908 
Shelon, river, 393 
Shenandoah valley, 728, 747 
Shengking, 538 
Shensi, 532 
Sherbro river, 962 
Sherbrooke, Canada, 692 
Sherwood Forest, 171 
Shetland, 155 
Shibam, 455 

Shickshocks mountains, 690 
Shiel, Loch, 155 
Shihite Mohammedans, 460 
Shikarpur, 491 
Shikoku, 546 
Shilka river, 400 
Shillong, 495 
Shinana-gawa, river, 547 
Shinshu, 547 
Shiraz, 463 
Shire river, 945, 947 
Shires, definition of, 162 
Shoan people, 933 
Sholapur, 492 
Shoshonean people, 106 
Shotts of Algeria, 908 
Shreveport, 754 
Shrewsbury, 164 
Shuri, 553 

Si-Kiang river, 524, 530, 535 

Siam, 508-511 

Siang river, 525, 530 

Siangtan, 533 

Siao-ho river, 534 

Sib-Song-Panna, 519 

Siberia, 388, 1045 ; configuration, 

387 

Siberian railway (map), 418 
Sibree, Rev. James — Madagascar, 
1015 

Sicily, 353. 358, 364 
Sidi Bel Abbes, 912 
Sidlaw Hills, 157 
Sidon, 450 
Sidra, Gulf of, 889 
Siebengebirge (Rhine), 287 
Siena, 364 

Sierra, Leone, 962-963 ; Leone, 
origin, 960 ; Luquillo, 798 ; 
Luquillo river, 799 ; Madre, 
672, 775; Maestra, 794, 797 ; 
Maraguaca, 884 ; Morena, 369 ; 
Nevada, 672 ; Nevada (Spain), 


370; Nevada of California, 
767; Nevada de Cocui, 825; 
Nevada de Merida, 886 ; Nevada 
de Santa Marta, 825 ; Parima, 
884 ; de Amambay, 860 ; de 
Bejar, 373 ; de Gredos, 369 ; 
de Guadarrama, 369 ; de 
Mbaracayu, 860 ; de Perija, 886 ; 
de Toledo, 369; de Las Minas, 
783 ; de los Organos, Cuba, 
794, 796 ; del Mico, 783 
Sievers, Dr. W. — Venezuela, 884 
Sigilmassa, 906 
Sihanaka people, 1018 
Sihun (Sarus) river, 440 
Sikasso plateau, 955 
Sikhota-Alin range, 399 
Sikhs, 481 
Sila, 357 
Sileraki, 644 

Silesia (Schlesien), 292, 293, 308 
Silistria, 339 

Silk, in China, 527, 529 ; in Japan, 
. 55 1 

Silla de Caracas, mountain, 887 
Silurian Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 

Silver, in Bolivia, 842 ; in British 
Columbia, 699 ; in Mexico, 780 ; 
in New South Wales, 601; in 
Peru, 836 
Silverton, 601 
Simbirsk, 390 
Simbor, 502 
S mcoe, Lake, 694 
Simon’s Bay, 985 
Simplon, 265 ; Pass, 127 ; Tunnel, 
262 

Simpson, T., Arctic Explorer, 1028 
Simum, 456 

Sinai peninsula, 919, 923, 929 
Sindh, 471, 490 ; -Pishin railway, 
499 

Singapore, 513 
Singareni, 497 
Singan, 532 
Sinic formations, 52^, 

Sinkiang, 539 
Sinnamarie river, 883 
Sinni, river, 357 

Sino-Japanese plant region, 433 
Sinope, 439 
Sintsiang, 539 
Sion, 265 

Siouan people, 106 
Sioux people, 684 
Sipan Dagh, mountain, 440 
Sirikol mountains, 465 
Sisal hemp in Bahama, 803 
Sitka, 770 
Sittang river, 473 
Siva (Siwah), 916, 928 
Sivas, 443 ; (Sebastea), 444 
Skagen, 208 
Skagerrak, 197 
Skaw, 208 
Skeena river, 698 
Skiddaw, 163 
Skjaergaard, 199 
Skroe, 644 

Skutari (Chrysopolis), 443 
Skye, 155 

Slate, 52 

Slave, States of U.S., map, 747 ; 

trade in Africa, 899 
Slavery, in Brazil, 871 ; in United 
States, 746 

Slavonic languages, 132 


Slavs, in Balkan Peninsula, 334 ; 
in Germany, 276 ; of Russia, 
403, 404 

Slesvig, duchy, 209 

Slieve Bingian, 193 ; Bloom, 189 ; 
Donard, 193 ; Felin, 189 ; Liag, 
187 

Sligo, 193 

Slopes, definition, 50 

Smith, Mr. Leigh, Arctic Explora- 
tion, 1030; Andrew, Explorer, 
900 




Region Map, 1029 
Smolensk, 390 
Smyge Huk 197 
Smyrna, 443 

Smyth, H. Warington— Siam, 508 
Snaefell, 186 

Snake river, 764 ; Canyon, 672 
Snow, effect of, on Climate, 76 ; 
-line on Alps, 126, 259 ; -line in 
Caucasus, 395 
Snowdon, 164 
Snowy river, 594, 602 
Soar, river, 176 
Sobat, river, 920 
Sobo people, 967 
Sobrarbe, valley, 371 
Society Islands, 656 
Soerabaya, 563 
Sofia, 339; basin, 331 
Soils and heat, 75 ; of Ohio region, 
738 


Sokhondo 398 

Sokoto, 969, 971, 972 ; river, 970 
Sokotra, 936 

Solar Energy on the Earth, 4 ; 

Heat, Distribution of, 72 
Solent, 181 

Soleure (Solothurn) canton, 264 
Solingen, 288 
Solo river, 563 
Sologne, district, 251 
Solomon Islands, 647 
Solor islet, 572 
Solothurn canton, 264 
Solway Firth, 16a, 163 
Soma, 443 
Somali people, 898 
Somaliland, 936 
Somers’ Islands, 709 
Sondenfjeldske district, 206 
Sondershausen, 290 
Sonmiani, 499 
Sonnblick mountain, 303 
Sonneberg, 290 
Sonrhai people, 956 
Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) Canal, 735 ; 
map, 692 

Sorata Mount, 817, 840 
Sorong, 644 
Sorraia, river, 380 
Soufriere, Hill, 808; St. Lucia, 
809 ; St. Vincent, 810 
Sound, The, 197, 208, 210 
Soundings, 48 

South Africa, 985-1014 ; Company, 
950 ; Geology, 986 ; Mountain 
System of, map, 986 
South African Republic, 1010 
South America, Climate, 818 ; 
Continent of, 813-823 ; Con- 
figuration (map), 814 ; Fauna, 
821 ; Flora, 820 ; unexplored 
areas, 12 

South, Australia, 614-620; Carolina 
Islands, 720 ; Dakota, 751, 757 ; 


Index 


1083 


Downs, 180 ; Esk river, Tas- 
mania, 613; Holland, 222; 
Georgia, 864; Island, N.Z., 627, 
629 ; Perth, 625 ; Sea Islands, 
649; Shields, 170; Shields, port 
of, 151; Wales Coal-field, 150, 
164, 165 

Southern, Alps, 627, 628 ; Coastal 
Plain of U.S., 745 ; Conti- 
nent, hypothetical, 11 ; Cross. 
626 ; Cross, ship, 1048 ; Hemi- 
sphere, 42 ; Ocean, 1047 ; Ocean, 
currents of, 70 ; Ocean, posi- 
tion of, 61 ; Ocean, tides of, 
65 ; Rhodesia, 997-1002 ; Rho- 
desia and Bechuanaland, 997- 
1003 ; Rivers (Rivieres du Sud), 
957; Uplands of Scotland, 153, 160 
Southampton, 181 ; Port of, 151 
Southland, 629 
Southport, 174 

Spain, 368-378; origin of, 135; 

and South America, 8 22 
Spalato, 315 
Spandau, 294 

Spanish in Cuba, 796 ; Towm, 804 ; 
Sahara, 953 ; West Africa, 952- 
953 

Sparta, 349 

Speke, Capt., Explorer, 901 
Spencer Gulf, 579, 614 
Sperrin mountains, 193 
Spetsae island, 349 
Spey, river, 156 
Spezia, 363 
Sphakiotes, 350 
Sphere of influence, 119 
Spice Islands, 570 
Spinifex, 622 
Spithead, 181 

Spitsbergen, 1044; first crossing 
of, 1032 
Spokane, 764 

Sponge fishing in Anatolia, 444 

Sponges in Bahamas, 803 

Spree river, 271, 295 

Spurges, 89 

Spurn Head, 179 

Srinagar, 499 

Staaten Land, 632 

Staffordshire, 174 ; Coal-field, 150 

Stambul, 342 

Stanislau, 312 

Stanley, Sir H. M., 12, 901 ; on 
Congo, 977 

Stanley (Falklands), 864 ; Falls, 
978 ; Falls province, 978 ; Moun- 
tains, 594 ; Pool, 959, 978 
Stanovoi mountains, 398 ; Khrebet, 
399 

Stans Foreland, 1044 
Starnberg lake, 272 
States, definition, 109 
Statistics, use of, 120 
Stavanger, 207 
Stawell, 609 
Stefanie, Lake, 931 
Steiermark (Styria), 304 
Stereographic projection, 21 
Steppe, varieties of, 388 ; Vegeta- 
tion, 89 

Steppes, of Asia, 432 ; Govern- 
ment of, 395 ; of Russia, 402 ; 
of Turkestan, 396 
Stettin, 294 
Stett ner Haff, 270 
Stevenson, R. L., on South Sea 
Islands, 649 


Stewart Island, 628, 629 

Stikine river, 698 

Stirling, 158 ; Range, 622 

Stockholm, site of, 203 

Stone rivers of the Falklands, 863 

Stonehenge, 179 

Stonehouse, 167 

Stoney Tunguska river, 426 

Store Skagestolstind, 198 

Stornoway, 155 

Stour, river, 180 

Straits Settlements and Malay 
States, 511-515 
Stranja hills, 332 
Stranraer, 160 
Strassburg, 287 
Stratford-on-Avon, 174 
Strathmore, 157 
Straw Sea, 381 
Stream-line, definition, 50 
Strigonium, 322 
Strike, 59 ; definition, 55 
Strome Ferry, 155 
Stromfjord, 1041 
Strom 6, 21 1 

Strophanthus in British Central 
Africa, 948 
Stroud, 177 
Striib, 210 

Strzelecki, Count, 602 
Sturt, explorer, 617 ; explorations 
by, 596 ; Creek, 576 
Stuttgart, 285 

Styria (Steiermark), 304, 305 
Suaiieli people, 933, 942 
Subsequent rivers, definition, 59 
Subsidence and elevation, 40 
Suchow, 533 
Suck, river, 189 
Sucre, 842 
Suda Bay, 350 

Sudan, 897 ; (French), 958 ; 

(Egyptian) provinces, map, 928 
Sudbury, 694 
Sudetes, 268, 291, 306, 308 
Sueira, 905 
Suess, Prof. E., 38 
Suess, Lake, 931 

Suez, 927 ; Canal, 925, 928 ; Canal 
map, 921 
Suf, 908 
Suffetula, 915 

Sugar, in Barbados, 81 r ; in British 
Guiana, 880 ; in Cuba, 796 ; in 
Fiji, 652 ; in Germany, 281 ; in 
Hawaii, 661 ; in Jamaica, 804; 
in Mauritius, 1022 ; in Porto 
Rico, 799-800 ; in Reunion, 
1024 ; -cane Industry, 117 
Sugar Loaf Mountain, Ecuador, 
825 

Suir river, 194 
Suisse (Switzerland), 256 
Sukhona, river, 391, 399 
Sulaiman range, 499 
Sulden, 306 

Sulina mouth of Danube, 328 
Sulitelma, 205 

Sulphur in Chile, 844 ; in Sicily, 
354 

Sulu islands, 559 ; people, 567 ; 

Sea. 566 
Sumao, 535 
Sumatra, 564 
Sumba, 572 
Sumbawa island, 572 
Sumida-gawa, river, 552 
Sunda, Islands, 561-573 ; Strait, 563 


Sundanese people, 557 
Sunderland, 170 
Sundswall, 204 
Sungari river, 539 
Sungei Ujong, 514 
Sunk Plain, definition, 49 
Sunni Mohammedans, 460 
Superior, Lake, 692, 734, 737 
Surat, 492 
Surghab river, 397 
Suriname river, 882 
Surma valley, 495 
Surinam, 882 

Surrey, 181 ; Jamaica, 804 
Surveys, extent of, 12; trigono- 
metrical, 29, 30 
Susquehanna river, 731 
Sussex, name, 144 
Susu people, 956 
Sutherlandshire, 148, 155 
Suva, 653 
Sveaborg, 409, 412 
Svealand, 203 
Sverdrup, Captain, 1032 
Sverige (Sweden), 202 
Svir river, 393 
Swabians, 276 
Swakop river, 1012 
Swakopmund, 1012 
Swallow-holes, 54 
Swan river, 621, 625 ; Settlement, 
624 

Swansea, 165 
Swaziland, 1010 
Sweden, 202-205 
Swedish Deep, 1034 
Swiss Plateau, 256 
Switzerland, 256-265 ; map of 
languages, 260 ; map of reli- 
gions, 261 

Sydney, N.S.W., 599 ; climate, 
594 ; longitude of, 31 ; Tempera- 
ture and Rainfall, 580 
Sylhet, 495 

Symmetry of land round North 
Pole, 44 

Syme island, 444 
Syncline, definition, 53 
Syr-daria, province, 395 ; river, 
396 

Syra, 349 

Syracuse, 365 ; N.Y., 736 
Syria, 448-451 
Syrian desert, 449 
Syrtes, 889 
Syrtis major, 916 
Syzran, 390 
Szamos river, 322 
Szeged, 322 

Szekesfehervar (Alba Realis), 322 
Szent Endre, island, 317 
Szigetkoz, island, 317 

T A BANG, 567 

Table Bay, 985 ; Mountain, 

985 

Tableland, definition, 49 
Tablet-tea, 529 
Tabriz (Tauris), 462 
Tabu in Pacific islands, 661 
Tacana, Mount, 783 ; Volcano, 
783 

Tachin river, 508 
Tacoma, 769 
Taconic Mountains, 722 
Tacora, Mountain, 841 
Taff valley, 165 
Tafilet, 905 


70 


1084 The International Geography 


Tagus river, 368, 369, 379, 380, 381 
Tahiti, 656, 657 
Tai-dong river, 343 
Tai-o-hae, 658 

Taimyr land, 1045 ; peninsula, 

423 

Taipa island, 538 
Taiping rebels, 533 
Taita mountains, 931 
Taiwan island, 553 
Taiyuen, 532 
Tajik, people, 467 
Tajumulco, Mount, 783 
Tajura, Bay, 935 
Takao, 554 
Taklamakan, 431 
TaKU, 531 
Talage people, 655 
Talca, 848 
Talcahuano, 848 
Tali, 535 

Talienwan (Dalni) 419, 539 
Talus= Scree, 57 
Taman, 394 

Tamar, river, 162, 167 ; river, 
Tasmania, 611 
Tamarida, 937 
Tamatave, 1020 
Tamboro mountain, 572 
Tamega river, 381 
Tamil, language, 479 ; people, 505 
Tampico, 781 
Tamsui, 554 
Tamworth, N.S.W., 600 
Tana river, 892, 931 
Tanala people, 1017 
Tanaland, 938 
Tananarive, 1019 
Tanaro valley, 355 
Tancitaro, 775 
Tandjong Priok, 563 
Tanganyika, Lake, 931, 942, 947 ; 

fauna of, 93 ; discovery, 901 
Tangarong, 568 
Tangier, 905 
Tanjore, 495 
Tanna island, 647 
Tantah, 927 
Taoism, 528 
Tapa-shan range, 524 
Tapajoz, 873 

Tapti river, 491 ; valley, 471, 492 
Tapuae-nuku mountain, 628 
Tarapaca, 846, 847 
Tarasp, 263 

Tarbagatai mountains, 396, 398 
Tarento, 365 
Tarhuna plateau, 916 
Tariffs, 121 
Tarija, 842 

Tarim region, 433 ; river, 540 
Tarma, 839 
Tarnopol, 313 
Tarnow, 313 
Tarragona, 377 
Tarsus, 443 
Tartars, see Tatars 
Tashkent, 409, 417 
Tasman in New Zealand, 632 ; 
Range, 628 

Tasmania, 576, 610-613 > climate, 
580 ; geology, 579 ; rivers, 578 
Tasmanian devil, 612 
Tatars, 130, 435 ; in Russia, 403 
Tateyama mountain, 546 
Tatra, 311 
Tatta, 491 
Taunus, 268, 287 


Taupo Lake, 629, 630 
Tauris, 462 

Taurus, Mount, 439 ; range, 41 
Tav Bridge, 158 ; Loch, 156 ; river, 
156, 157 

Taygetos, Mount, 345 
Te Anau lake, 629 
Tea, in China, 529 ; in Ceylon, 505 ; 
in India, 484 ; in Japan, 551 ; in 
Natal, 994 

Teak, in India, 476 ; in Siam, 508, 
5io 

Tebessa, 908 
Tees, as boundary, 162 
Tegernsee, lake, 272 
Tegetthof Expedition, 1030 
Tegucigalpa, 789 
Tehama, 452 
Tehran (Teheran), 462 
Tehuacan, 778 
Teima, oasis, 456 
Teixeira, Pedro, Explorer, 871 
Telegraph cables, 60 
Tell in Algeria, 907 ; in Tunisia, 
9i3 

Telok-betong, 566 
Telokh Berau, 642 
Telugu language, 479 
Teluk Anson, 514 
Temperate Zone, definition, 78 
Temperature, 74 ; of deep water, 
66; of Ocean, 65; and Rain- 
fall, 141 ; Zones of hydrosphere, 
66 

Tenasserim, 472, 496 
Tenedos island, 444 
Tenerife island, 952 
Tenez, 911 
Tengri-nor, lake, 541 
Tennessee, caverns, 732; river, 728 
Tenochtitlan, 781 
Tenryu-gawa, river, 546 
Tenterfield, 600 
Teplitz, 307, 308 
Tequixquiac, 777 
Terceira island, 384 
Terek, river, 395 ; -davan pass, 540 
Terekti pass, 540 
Tergeste, 315 
Ternate island, 570 
Terra Australis, 584 ; roxa (Mas- 
sape) soil, 867 
Terre Napoleon, 617 
Terrigenous deposits, 64 
Territories, of Canada, 700-704 
Territory, leasing of, 120 
Tertiary Formation, Geological 
position of, 51 
Teslin lake, 703 
Teton mountains, 760 
Tetrahedral Theory of the Earth, 
42 

Tetuan, 905 

Teutoburger Wald, 289 
Teutonic language, 132 ; tribes, 
144 

Texas, 754 ; Acquisition of, 71 1 ; 

Coastal Plain, 754 
Texcoco lake, 776 
Thai Binh, 516 ; people, 518 
Thales, 26 

Thalweg = dale - way, 50 ; as 
boundary, 114 

Thames, as boundary, 162 ; 
Estuary, 182, 183 ; river, 177, 
182 ; river, Ont., 695 
Than Hoa, 519 
Thanet, Isle of, 181 


Thasos, island, 343 
Thebes, 348 
Theiss, river, 317 
Therezina, 874 
Thessaly, 345-348 
Thiele (Zihl) river, 258 
Thingvallavatn, lake, 213 
Thirlmere, 163 
Thisted, 210 

Thompson, David, Explorer, 699 
Thomson, Joseph, Explorer, 902 
Thomson, Prof. J. Arthur, on 
Distribution of Living Crea- 
tures, 83 

Thoroddsen, Dr. Thorvald— Ice- 
land, 212-215 
Thorsa, river, 213 
Thorshavn, 211 
Thos, people, 518 
Thousand Islands of Java, 563 ; 

Ontario, 693 
Thrace, province, 332 
Thracians, 334 

Thraco-Macedonian Region, 332 
Thun, 264 

Thurgau canton, 263 
Thurgovia (Thurgau), 263 
Thuringia, 290 
Thuringian Basin, 268 
Thuringians, 276 
Thursday Island, 592 
Thurso, 155 
Thyateira, 443 

Tian Shan mountains, 396, 398 

Tiahuanaco, 100 

Tiaret, 912 

Tiber river, 356 

Tiberias, 450 

Tibet, 540 

Tibetan region, 433 
Tibeto-Burman people, 480 ; 
-Chinese People, 105 ; -Indo- 
Chinese People, 105 
Tiburon peninsula, 801 
Ticino, Alps of, 258, 259 ; canton, 
265 ; river, 363 
Tidal Current, 65 ; Wave, 65 
Tides, action of, 56 ; cause of, 24 ; 

nature of, 65 
Tidikelt oasis, 906 
Tidore islet, 570 
Tientsin, 531, 532 

Tierra Caliente in Andes. 825 ; 
in Central America, 786 ; in 
Mexico, 777 

Tierra del Fuego, 814, 851 ; map 
of (unnamed), 843 
Tierra Fria in Andes, 826 ; in 
Central America, 786 ; in 
Mexico, 777 

Tierra Templada in Andes, 825 ; 
in Central America, 786 ; in 
Mexico, 777 
Tiete river, 876 
Tiflis, 416 

Tiger, in India, 477 5 range of, 84 

Tigris river, 440, 447 

Tih desert, 449 

Tihany, peninsula, 318 

Tikhvin canal, 406 

Tilburg, 222 

Tilbury, 184 

Timber in Argentina, 851 ; in 
Canada, 691, 694 ; in India, 
476 ; in Sweden, 202 ; in 
Western Australia, 621 
Timbo, 957 
Timbuktu, 958 


Index 


1085 


Time, 17 ; reckoning in North 
America, 678 
Tinine people, 962 
Timor, 572 ; -laut islands, 573 
Timsah, Lake, 928 
Tin, in Banka, 566 ; in Malay 
Peninsula, 51 1; in Siam, 510; 
in Tasmania, 61 1 
Tinne tribe, 684 
Tipperary Co., 194 
Tiquina, strait, 840 
Tiracol, 502 
Tirol, 304 

Tisza (Theiss) river, 317 
Titicaca, island, 840 ; Lake, 817, 
835. 840 
Tji-liwong, 563 
Tjilatjap, 563 
Tlemcen, 912 
Toba lake, 564, 566 
Tobacco in Cuba, 796 ; in Egypt, 
922 ; in Sumatra, 566 ; in Trans- 
vaal, 1008 ; trade of Bristol, 
166 

Tobago island, 812 
Tobol river, 398, 426 
Tocantins river, 873, 874 
Todi mountains, 258 
Togo, 972 
Tokaido, 552 
Tokushima, 553 

Tokyo, 551, 552 ; temperature and 
rainfall of, 547 

Toledo, 376 ; O., 743 1 O. site, 738 

Tolima, 827 ; mountain, 825 

Tolmezzo, 359 

Toltecs, 779 

Tomsk, 418 

Tonegawa river, 547 

Tonga, 653 

Tongaland, 996 

Tonga-tabu island, 653 

Tongariro mountain, 628 

Tongas in East Africa, 945 

Tongking, 516 

Tonle Sap lake, 517 

Tdnsberg, 206 

Toowoomba, 593 

Topography = description of 
places, 2 
Torbes river, 886 
Tordesillas, Treaty of, 822 
Tornadoes of the Mississippi 
Basin, 751 
Toronto, 695 
Torquay, 167 
Torre de Cerredo, 371 
Torrens, Lake, 615 ; river, 619 
Torrid Zone, definition, 78 
Tortola island, 807 
Tortuga, 801 ; island, 802 
Totonicapan, 786 
Toucouleur people, 956 
Toul, 250, 

Toulon. 253 
Toulouse, '2 

Torn ane (Turan), 520 ; bay, 517 
Tourcoing, 249 
Tours, 251 
Towarah tribe, 926 
Towik (Nejd), 456 
Towns, origin of, 115 ; of India, 
486 ; in Russia, 409 
Township plan in Canada, map, 
684 

Townsville, 591, 592 
Trade-wind Belts, climate of, 78 
Tralles, 443 


Trangsund, 412 
Tranh-Ninh, 519 

Trans, -Alai mountains, 396 ; -Cas- 
pian district, 396, 416 ; -Caspian 
Railway (map), 417 ; -Mississ- 
ippi States, 750; -Saharan rail- 
way project, 958 
Transbaikalia, 398, 419 
Transcaspia, 388 

Transcontinental Telegraph in 
S. Australia, 618 
Transdnieperia, 388 
Transmontano mountains, 3^0 
Transitional Area, 46 
Transport, Means of, 121 
Transtagano, 380 
Transylvania (Erdely), 318, 322 
Transylvanian Alps, 327 
Transvaal Colony, 1007-1011 
Transverse Valley = defile; 50 
Trapezus, 443 
Trarza, people, 956 
Travancore, 498 
Trave river, 294 
Traz-os-Montes, 380 
Treaty-ports in China, 529 
Trebbia, river, 356 
Trebizond (Trapezus), 443 
Tree-Kangaroo, 589 
Trelleborg, 203 
Trembling Mountain, 690 
Trent, river, 170, 171 
Trento, 306 

Trenton, N.J., site, 720 
Tres Sorores (Mont Perdu) mount- 
ains, 371 
Treves, 288 

Triassic Formation, geological 
position of, 51 

Tribal or Racial boundaries, 114 
Trichinopoli, 495; temperature 
and rainfall of, 474 
Trient (Trento), 306 
Trier (Treves), 288 
Triest, 315 ; climate of, 298 
Trikkala, 348 
Trincomali, 506 
Tring Kanu, State, 509 
Trinidad, Cuba, 796, 798 ; Island, 
811 

Trinity bay, 705 
Tripoli, 916, 917, 918 
Tristan da Cunha, 1014 
Triumfo, 788 
Trois Freres island, 1023 
Trollhatta Canal, 203 
Trombetas river, 867, 873 
Tromso, 207 
Trondhjem, 207 
Troodos mountain, 445 
Tropical plant division, 88 
Troppau, 309 
Troy, N.Y., 729, 736 
Troyes, 249 
Truk Islands. 655 
Truxillo, 837 
Tsana, Lake, 931, 934 
Tsanpo, river, 541 
Tsetse fly in British Central 
Africa, 949 : in East Africa, 

932 ; in German East Africa, 
942 

Tsiami tribe, 518 
Tsientang-kiang, 535 
Tsimshiian people, 684 
Tsinan, 532 

Tsinling-shan, mountains, 522 ; 
range, 524 


Tsiribihina river, 1016 
Tsitsihar, 539 
Tua river, 381 
Tual, rainfall, 785 
Tuamotu islands, 657 
Tuareg Berbers, 956 ; people, 898 
Tuat oasis, 906 
Tubuai islands, 656 
Tucacas, 887 
Tucuman, 855 
Tugela river, 996 
Tukang Bessi island, 569 
Tula, 414, 779 
Tulcan, 833 
Tumbez river, 831 
Tumen river, 543 
Tunbridge Wells, 18 1 
Tundra, 89, 402, 432, 1045 
Tung-Kiang river, 535 
Tungaragua province, 833 ; vol- 
cano, 830 

Tungting lake, 524, 530, 533 
Tunis, 915 
Tunisia, 913-916 
Tupi people, 822, 869 
Turan, 425 (Annam) 517 
Turanian steppes, 433 
Turfan, 540 

Turin, 362, 363 ; temperature and 
rainfall of, 359 

Turkestan, 540 ; Russian, 395 
Turkey in Europe, 340-344 
Turki people, 105 
Turkish Old Servia, 335 
Turks, 334, 442 ; in Europe, 134 ; 

invasion of Europe, 10 
Turks Islands, 805 
Turquell river, 931 
Turrialba, volcano, 784 
Tiirst, K., maps of, 31 
Turumiquire mountain, 887 
Tuscany, 364 
Tussac grass, 863 
Tuticorin, 494 
Tutuila island, 654 
Tweed, river, 160, 169 
Twelve Bens, 188 
Twilight of high latitude, 75 
Tyne, 169 ; as boundary, 162 ; 

ports, 151, 169, 170 
Tyre, 450 

Tyrrhenia, 353, 358 
Tyrrhenian Sea, 353 
Tyrrell, J. B. — Dominion of 
Canada, 679-704 ; Newfound- 
land, 704-707 

U BANGI province, 978 ; river, 
959. 975 

Ucayali river, 816, 835 
Udepur, 497 
Ufa, 418 
Uganda, 938 
Ugi island, 648 
Uifak, 1041 

Uinta mountains, 761, 763 
Ukamba, 938 
Ukami, 941 
Ulanga river, 942 
Uliasutai, 539 
Ullswater, 163 
Ulm, 127, 284 
Ulster, 193 
Ulu-kem river, 400 
Ulyungur river, 400 
Um Delpha (Es Shayib) moun- 
tain, 929 

Umanak fjord, 1041 


io86 The International Geography 


Umbria, 364 

Umbrian Appennines, 356 
Ume&, 204 

Umm Keis (Gadara), 450 
Umniati river, 998 
Umtali, 1002 
Unare river, 885 
Ungava, 700 
Union island, 810 
United Empire Loyalists, 694 
United Kingdom, 138-196; coal 
of, 149 ; government of, 145 ; 
total trade of, 151 ; seaports 
of, 150 ; statistics of, 194, 195 
United Provinces, 226 
United States of America, 710- 
773 ; boundary, 113 ; coal pro- 
duction, 149 ; Pacific Islands, 
651 ; and the Philippines, 558 ; 
physical divisions of (map), 
719 ; total trade of, 151 
Unstrutt, river, 290 
Unterwald, Alps of, 258 
Unterwalden, canton, 263 
Unyamwezi plateau, 941 
Unyoro, 938 
TJomatako, 1012 
Upernivik, 1043 ; glacier, 1042 
Upland plain, definition, 49 
Uplands, definition, 48 
Upolu island, 654 
Upper, Austria, 304 ; Greensand, 
geological position of, 51 ; 
Rhine Plain, 272 ; Tunguska or 
Angara river, 400, 426 
Upsala, 204 

Uraba (Darien), Gulf, 828 
Ural mountains, 398, 414, 426 
Ural-Altaic people, 105 
Ur fa (Edessa), 448 
Urga, 539 
Ur gel, 377 

Uri, canton, 263 
Urmi, 463 

Uruguay, 856-859, 871 ; river, 850, 
857, 876 
Urumchi, 540 
Urumiya (Urmi), 463 
Urumtsi (Urumchi), 540 
Urungu river, 400 
Usambara Mountains, 941 
Usbek, people, 467 
Usedom, island, 270 
Usk, river, 165 
Uskub, 341, 343 
Usoga, 938 
Ussuri river, 400, 539 
Ust Urt, 425 

Usumacinta river, 776, 785 
Utah, 765 
Utica, N.Y., 736 
Utila, island, 784 
Utrecht, 219, 222 
Uvea island, 645 
Uxmal, 780 

V AAL river, 1004, 1007 
Vadso, 207 
Vsero, 199 
Vaga river, 399 
Vaitaca people, 869 
Valaam island, 393 
Valais, canton, 265 
Valdai hills, 389 ; plateau, 128 
Valdeon, valley, 371 
Valdivia, 848 
Valdivia. Pedro de, 845 
Valdivia , voyage of ss., 1050 


Vale of York, 170, 171 
Valenga do Minho, 383 
Valencia, 377, 887 ; Lake, 887 
Valentia, island, 194 ; temperature 
and rainfall, 141 
Valera, 886 
Valetta, 367 
Valira river, 377 
Valladolid, 374, 376 
Valley, definition, 50 
Valona, 344 

Valparaiso, 847 ; site, map, 847 ; 

temperature and rainfall, 819 
Van (Dhuspas), 444 ; district, 440 
Van, Rees mountains, 642; Diemen 
Gulf, 614 ; Diemen’s Land, 612 
Vancouver, B.C., 116, 700 ; is- 
land, 697, 699 
Vanikoro island, 647 
Vanua Levu island, 652 
Varanger fjord, 207 
Vardar river, 332 
Vardo, 207 
Varna, 339 
Varthema, 565 
Vasco da Gama, 10 
Vasconcellos, Capt. Ernesto de — 
Portugal, 379 ; Macao, 538 ; 
Portuguese East Africa, 944 ; 
Portuguese India, 502 ; Portu- 
guese Timor, 573; Portuguese 
West Africa, 979 
Vassili Ostrov, island, 410 
Vatican, The, 364 
Vatnajokull, 212 
Vatomandry, 1020 
Vatwa race, 945 
Vaud, canton, 264 
Vedda people, 505 
Vega, 377 
Vega Real, 801 

Vegetation map of Africa, 895 

Veile, 210 

Veldt, 986, 1007 

Velikaya, river, 391, 393 

Vener, Lake, 200 

Venersborg, 205 

Venetia, 363 

Venezia (Venice), 363 

Venezuela, 884-888 

Venezuelan Coast Ranges, 885 ; 

Guiana, 884 ; Range, 818 
Venice, 361, 363 
Ventuan river, 884 
Venus, Point, 657 
Vera Cruz, 781 
Veragua mountains, 824 
Verano, Central America, 785 ; 

Colombia, 826 
Verde, Cape, 954 
Verdun, 250 
Vereczke Pass, 316 
Verkhoyansk, 429 ; climate of, 
200 ; rain and temp, curves for, 
401 ; -Stanovoi heights, 426 
Vermandois, 249 
Vermont, 724 
Versailles, 250 

Vertical, Circles, definition, 15 ; 
Relief, Climatic Influence of, 
79 

Vestenfjeldske district, 206 
Vesteraalen islands, 199 
Vestfjord, 199 
Vesuvius, Mount, 365 
Vetter, Lake, 200 
Vevev, 264 
Viborg, 412 


Vichy, 252 

Vicksburg, Miss., 750 
Victoria, 602-610 ; B.C., 700 ; 

(Hongkong), 537 ; Kamerun, 
974 ; Rhodesia, 1002 ; Falls, 
999 ; Lake, Pamirs, 465 ; Land, 
Antarctic, 1049; Mount, New 
Guinea, 635 ; Mountains, 603 ; 
Nyanza, 930, 931 ; Nyanza, dis- 
covery, 901 ; Peak, Hongkong, 
537 ; river, S.A., 614 
Vicunas in Peru, 837 
Vidago, 382 
Vidin, 339 

Vienna (Wien), 309, 31 1 ; Climate 
of, 298 ; Congress of, 136 
Vienne, 253 
Vieques island, 800 
Vigo, 376 

Vilcamayu, vale, 839 
Vilcanoto, knot of, 835 
Villa, Boa, 874 ; Clara, 797 ; Con- 
cepcion, 862 ; del Pilar, 862 ; 
Nova de Gaia, 381 ; Real de 
Santo Antonio, 381 ; Rica, 862, 
875 ; Velha de Rodam, 381 
Villages in India, 483 
Vilna, 406, 409, 41 1 
Vilyui, river, 400 
Vincennes, 250 
Vincent Pinion river, 883 
Vinchiaturo Pass, 356 
Vindhya, hills, 471, 473 
Vindobona (Vienna), 31 1 
Vindouissa, 264 

Vine, in France, 243 ; map, 244 
Vinh, 519 

Virgin, Gorda, 807 : Islands, 805, 
807 

Virginia, boundary, 718 ; City, 
767 ; mountains in, 727 
Visby, 205 

Vistula (Weichsel) river, 270, 294, 
299, 391, 412 
Vitebsk, 391, 409 
Vitegra, river, 393 
Viti Levu island, 652 
Vitim plateau, 400 
Vitoria, 376 

Vitosh mountains, 331, 339 
Vivi, 978 
Vizella, 382 

Vladivostok, 409, 419 
Vogelsberg, 288 

Voiron, 245 

Volcanic, Action in East Africa, 
931 ; Islands, definition, 62 ; 
necks as Town sites, 53 ; rocks, 
52 

Volcanoes, of Java, map. 561 ; of 
Mexico, 775 ; Extinct, of Vic- 
toria, map, 603 
Volga, river, 390, 414 
Volgo, Lake, 390 
Volkhov, river, 393 
Volo, 348 

Volta, river, 892, 963 

Volturno, Monte, 358 

Volturno, river, 356 

Voralpen, 126 

Vorarlberg, 304 

Vorosvagas, 318 

Vosges mountains, 237 

Vuelta Abajo, 796, 797 ; Arriba, 797 

Vuoxen, river, 392 

Vychegda river, 399 

Vyrnwy river and lake, 165 

Vyshnii-Volochek Canal, 406 


Index 


1087 


W AAL, river, 218 

Wad, Draa, 904 ; Gheris 
river, 906 ; Ghir river, 906 ; 
Messaoud, 906 ; Ziz river, 906 
Wadelai, 921 

Wadi, Arabah, 919, 929 ; Feiran, 
923; Haifa, 927; Hams, 454; 
Kina, 929 ; Refah, 918 
Wagadugu, 958 
Waganda, people, 933 
Wagga-Wagga, too 
Wagner, Prof. H., hypsographic 
curve, 46, 47 

Wahsatch mountains, 760, 761 
Waikato, river, 630 
Waikolo, lake, 571 
Waini river, 879 
Wairarapa, 630 
Waitemata, 627 
Wakamba people, 933 
Wakatipu Lake, 629 
Wakefield, Edward Gibbon and 
New Zealand, 632 
Wakhi-jui, 465 
Walachia, 327, 329 
Waldeck, Principality, 289 
Waldenburger hills, 292 
Waldseem filler, 11, 35 
Wales, f63-i65 ; derivation of, 
162 ; rainfall of, 142 
Walfish Bay, 985, 1012 
Wallace, Dr. A. Russell, 12, 87 ; 
Island Life, 86 

Wallace’s Line, 422 ; map, 555 
Wallaroo, 619 
Walloon, people, 225 
Wami river, 941 
Wanganiu river, 630 
Wanyika people, 933 
Warehouse (Vardo), 207 
Warnemiinde, 210 
Warrnambool, 579, 609 
Warsaw (Warszawa), 406, 409, 
412 

Warwick, Queensland, 593 
Warwickshire, 174 
*A 7 ash r The, 179 
Washburn, Mount, 763 
Washington, D.C., 731 ; D.C., 

longitude of, 31 ; D.C., site, 
720; Mount, 717; State, 764 
Wastwater, 163 
Wataita people, 933 
Watana, 508 

Water-parting, definition, 50 
Water-partings of Brazil, 866 
Water Power in New England, 
725 ; of Ohio region, 740 
Waterbury, U.S., 726 
Waterfall, 56 
Waterford, 194 
Wateringues, 249 
Waterloo, field of, 227 
Watershed, definition, 50 
Watersheds, changes in, 55 
Waterways in China, 530 ; of 
France, 245 

Watling Island, 803 ; Street, 183 
Watten, shallow flats, 270 
Waves in Ocean, 67 
Waziri, people, 467 
Weald, The, 180 

Wealden, Geological position of, 

5i 

Wear river, 170 
Weaver river, 174 
Webi Shebeyli river, 931, 936 
Wed-el-Kebir, 908 


Weddell, Capt. J„ Antarctic ex- 
plorer, 1048 
Wei river, 523, 532 
Weichsel (Vistula) river, 270 
Weihaiwei, 533 
Weimar, Grand duchy, 290 
Weisshorn, mountain, 258 
Welle province, 978 
Wellesley Islands, 587 
Wellington, Mount, 613 ; N.Z., 
634 

Welsh language, 145, 163 
Wemberre rift, 941 
Wenchou, 535 
Wend people, 275 
Wenham ice, 725 
Wen lock Edge, 164 
Wentworth, N.S.W., 600 
Wepener, 1004 
Werra valley, 290 
Weser river, 270 ; Uplands, 
289 

Wessex, name, 144 
West, Africa, 952-959 ; end of a 
town, 141 ; Ham, 184 ; Indian 
Colonies, 803-812 ; Indies, 667, 
791-812 ; Indies, discovery of, 
10 ; Indies, map, 791 ; Indies, 
Sugar-cane Industry of, 1 17 ; 
Prussia Province, 293; Riding 
Coal-field, 170 ; Virginia, 733 
Western, Alps, 126; Cordillera of 
Andes, 816 ; Australia, 620-626; 
Dvina river, 391 ; Ghats, cli- 
mate, 475 ; Port, 602, 605 
Westerwald, 287 
Westminster, 183 
Westphalia, 288, 289, 294 
Wetta island, 573 
Wetterhorn, mountain, 258 
Wexford, 193 
Wexio, 204 
Wey, river, 180 

Weyprecht, Lieutenant, Arctic 
voyage, 1029, 1030 
Whales in Antarctic, 1051 ; in 
Arctic, 1039 
Wharfe valley, 168 
Wharton Range, 635 
Wheat in Egypt, 922 ; in France, 
243 ; in India, 484 ; in Manitoba, 
696 ; in United Kingdom, 148 ; 
in United States, 715 ; in Wash- 
ington State, 764 
Whitby, 177 
Whitney, Mount, 767 
Whitsunday Passage, 588 
White, Fish in Canada, 696 ; 13- 
land, 628 ; Mountains, N.H., 
670, 716, 717 ; Nile, 920 ; races, 
in Tropical Countries, no ; 
Russia, 41 1 ; Russians, 404 ; 
Sea, 407 

Whittle, Cape, 689 
Whyda, 957 

Wiche (King Karl’s) Land, 1044 

Wick, 155 

Wide Bay district, 592 
Wieliczka, 312 
Wien (Vienna), 311 
Wiener Wald, 310 
Wiener’s Diagram of Solar Heat, 
72 

Wiesbaden, 288 
Wiide Bay, 1044 
Wilcannia, 600 
Wilhelm, Mount, 639 
Wilhelmshaven, 294 


Wilkes, Lieut., in Antarctic, 1048 
Willemstadt, 806 
Williamstown, 608 
Willoughby, Arctic voyage, 1025 
Wilmington, N.C., site, 720 
Wilson, Sir Charles \V. — Arabia, 
451 ; Asiatic Turkey and Arabia, 
439 ; Mesopotamia, 447 ; Syria, 
448 

Wilson Promontory, 602, 604 
Wimmera D. strict, 603, 609 
Winchelsea, 181 
Winchester, 179 

Wind, 75, 76 ; and Water, 67, 68 
Windermere, 163 
Windhoek, 1013 
Windmill Hills, 613 
Windsor, 182 

Winds, Normal system of, 71 
Windward, Passage, 801 ; Islands, 
809 

Wine in Algeria, 909 ; in Cape 
Colony, 987 ; in France, 243 ; 
in Italy, 362 ; in Peru, 836 
Winnipeg, 696 ; Lake, 696 ; river, 
696 ; Temperature and rainfall, 
675 

Winnipegosis, Lake, 696 
Winterthur, 263 
Winton, 591 

Wisconsin - Michigan Uplands, 
734 

Wishaw, 159 
Witham river, 178 
Witkowitz, 309 
Witwatersrand, 1009 
Wodonga, 609 
Wollin, island, 270 
Wolof people, 956, 961 
Wolverhampton, 176 
Woods and Forests, 89 
Wool in Cape Colony, 987 ; in 
N.S.W., 596 ; in Victoria, 603 
Woolwich, 184 

Worcester, 166 ; county, 174; 
Mass., 726 

Woshin district, 456 
Wrangell Land, 1031 
Wuchang, 534 
Wuchou, 530, 535 
Wuhu, 533 
Wupper river, 288 
Wurno, 972 

Wiirttemberg, Kingdom, 285 
Wurzburg, 285 
Wusung, 531 ; river, 533 
Wyoming, 757, 760, 762 
Wvtfliet, 584 

Wyville Thomson ridge, 1034 

X ANTHOCHROI, 107 
Xerophytes, 89 

Y ABLONOVYI Khrebet, 398 
Yachou, 534 
Yaila Tagh, 394 
Yak in Tibet, 541 
Yakoba, 972 

Yakutsk, climate of, 402 
Yale mountain, 760 
Yalu river, 543 
Yambo, 454 
Yamdena island, 573 
Yamdok-tso lake, 541 
Yana river, 426 
Yanaon, 503 

Yangtse river (Yangtse-kiang), 
522, 526, 530, 53.3, 534, 541 


io88 The International Geography 


Yao people, 949 
Yap island, 655 
Yaracui, 887 

Yari-qa-take mountain, 546 
Yarkand, 540 ; oasis, 540 
Yarmouth, 182 
Yarra Yarra river, 603, 608 
Yarrawonga, 609 
Yatong, 541 
Yatung, 541 
Yaunde, 974 
Yautepec, 778 
Yea, 838 
Yedo, 552 
Yetren, .916 
Yekaterinoslav, 415 
Ycketerinburg, 414 
Yellow Sea, 424 ; River (Hwang- 
ho), 424 

Yellowstone canyon, 763 ; lake, 
763 ; Park, 763 \ river, 756 
Yemama, district, 456 
Yemen, 453, 454 „ 

Yenisei, river, 398, 399, 400, 423, 
426 

Yeniseisk, 418 
Yeou river, 970 

Yerba-mate in Argentina, 851 ; 
in Brazil, 876; in Paraguay, 
861 

Yes Tor, 166 

Yeshil Irmak (Iris) river, 439, 

440 

Yezd, 463 
Yezides, 447 
Yezo island, 546, 547 
Yo Semite Valley, 767 
Yobe river, 970 
Yochou, 534 
Yodogawa, river, 552 
Yokohama, 553 
Yola, 972 

York, Cape, 587 ; Peninsula, 616 ; 

town of, 171 ; W.A., 626 
Yorkshire, 168 ; Coal-field, The, 


150; Moors, 177; Plain, 171 ; 

• Wolds, 178 

Yoruba (Ilorin), 967, 968, 971 ; 
people, 971 ; -Jekri people, 
967 

Yser, river, 225 
Yu-men or Jade Gate, 523 
Yucatan, 774, 778 
Yuccas, 766 
Yug river, 399 

Yukon, delta, 667 ; District, 702, 
703 ; river, 681, 698, 770 
Yule, Mount, 635 
Yunque, 798 
Yuruari territory, 884 
Yungus, definition, 842 
Yunnan, 524, 525, 534 
Yzabal (Golfo Dulce) Lake, 785 

Z AB river, 440 
Zacatecas, 780 
Zagazig, 922 

Zaghwan, 915 ; Mount, 914 
Zagreb (Agram), 321, 323 
Zagros chain, 458 
Zaila, 936 

Zaire (Congo) river, 975 
Zaisan Lake, 400 

Zambezi, basin, 892; name, 947 ; 

river, 944, 946, 982, 998, 999 
Zambezia, 945 
Zamboango, 559 
Zambos in Central America, 787 
Zamora river, 830 
Zante island, 349 

Zanzibar, island, 939 ; map, 939 ; 

temperature and rainfall, 893 
Zaparo people, 832 
Zapata Cienaga, 794 
Zara, 315 

Zarafshan (Zerafshan), 540 ; river. 
397 

Zaragoza, 377 
Zaria, 972 


Zaruma, 833 ; basin, 831 
Zealand, Denmark, 210 ; Nether- 
lands, 222 
Zebu, 558, 559 
Zeehan, Mount, 611 
Zella, 916 
Zemio, 959 

Zenith, definition, 15; Distance, 
definition, 15 
Zermatt, 258, 265 
Zeta river, 337 
Zezere river, 381 
Zihl river, 258 
Zillerthal, 306 

Zimmermann, M.— French India, 
503 ; French Indo-China, 515 ; 
French West Africa, 953 ; 
French West Indies, 808 ; Re- 
union, 1024 ; St. Pierre and 
Miquelon, 707 
Zirknitz, lake, 303 
Zlatoust, 418 
Zollverein, 23, 118 
Zomba, 950 

Zones of Climate, 78; of human 
culture, 98; of Uncertain Rain- 
fall in India, 476 
Zoo-Geographical Regions, 87 
Zorn, Valley, 287 
Zuara, 917 
Zuchiate River, 774 
Zug, canton, 264 
Zugspitze, 267 
Zulfikar, 465 
Zulia, 886 

Zulu language, 1003 ; people, 990 
Zululand, 996 

Zulus in Rhodesia, 1001 ; in Natal, 
995 

Zumpango, Lake, 777 
Zungeru, 972 

Zurich, canton, 263 ; lake, 258 
Zwickau, 291 
Zwolle, 222 
Zyrian people, 403 


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